I last visited Japan 3 years ago while on MP3.com business and found them in the dark ages of Net access. What a dramatic change. High-speed 10MB DSL is available for as little as $20 a month. ISPs deliver 100MB business service for just $40/month. There are now more broadband homes in Japan than in the US. Japan has clearly leapfrogged the US in broadband deployment.
The purpose of my trip was to launch the Japanese version of LindowsOS with our exclusive partner EDGE. The press were keenly aware of the monopolistic position Microsoft has used to overcharge Japanese consumers. Meanwhile Microsoft was up to the same dirty tactics we've seen in the US: they forced us from the initial venue for the press conference, and examples surfaced of Microsoft's efforts to move our partners' displays to less desirable store locations.
On video: we now offer MPlayer via Click-N-Run for playing most popular video formats inline in web pages. Also announcing a licensed DVD player for Linux at just $4.95 for Click-N-Run members.
Michael Robertson, Lindows.com
