Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from TotemoTech on October 3rd, 2023. Luup, the sharing service company behind electric kick scooters and more, will be implementing new pricing plans starting from November 1st. Users who ride for more than 10 minutes will enjoy discounted rates compared to the existing plans. Additionally, Luup will offer a subscription plan for 3000 yen per month, allowing unlimited rides of up to 30 minutes for free.

In other news, the popular talent agency, Johnny’s Jimusho, has announced a change in its company name to ‘SMILE-UP.’ However, the chosen domain names, including ‘.com,’ ‘.co.jp,’ and ‘.jp,’ have already been taken by other companies, sparking discussions on Twitter.

Moving on, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2023 has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking research on mRNA vaccines, particularly in the context of combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a significant business merger, Z Holdings, LINE, Yahoo, and three other companies have joined forces to form ‘LINE Yahoo Inc.’ The merger, which was announced in February and the new company name unveiled in April, officially commenced operations on October 1st with Z Holdings as the surviving entity.

In the pharmaceutical realm, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical has recently filed a trademark application for ‘VR Yowanain,’ a potential remedy for motion sickness induced by virtual reality experiences. While details about the product are still scarce, the trademark falls under the category of pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, Metaps Cloud will be handed over to SmartHR, leading to the temporary discontinuation of the service as it undergoes integration with SmartHR’s system.

Lastly, Mitsui Sumitomo Card and CCCMK Holdings have adjusted the point exchange rate for their loyalty programs. Starting from October 2nd, customers can now convert 1 V Point to 1 T Point, an improvement from the previous exchange rate of 1 V Point to 0.8 T Point. Furthermore, a limited-time campaign offers a 20% increase in points for the exchange. And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to TotemoTech.

Keywords - japan, tech, news