First delivered Boeing 787 takes off for Japan (Reuters)

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner waggled its wings on Tuesday in a salute to workers who built the world's first carbon-composite passenger jet as it took off from its factory for the last time and headed for Japan at the start a new era of air travel.

The take-off into blustery, gray skies capped a three-day celebration, marking the first delivery of 787 to a customer. The light-weight airplane's delivery to All Nippon Airways is the pinnacle achievement so far for the troubled 787 program, which is three years behind schedule.

But many in the aviation world expect the Dreamliner, which provides unprecedented fuel efficiency and travelers' comforts, to revolutionize commercial flight.

Watching the jet take off was an emotional moment for workers.

"We were all choking up a little bit. I am just so happy to see the airplane in the hands of the customer. It makes me proud of our teams," Dan Mooney, vice president of 787-8 development, said after the take-off.

The Dreamliner left the runway at Paine Field north of Seattle shortly after dawn with 42 people on board for the 9-hour, 40-minute flight to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

The Dreamliner will go into service for Japan's All Nippon Airways on October 26.

Boeing has wrestled for years with delays caused chiefly by problems with a large number of companies that supplied parts for the plane.

Now the company faces another monumental task of producing the aircraft at a rate of 10 a month by the end of 2013. Boeing makes only two Dreamliners per month now, and some experts doubt the company can meet that target in two years.

The wide-body Dreamliner lists for about $200 million, depending on the model. Boeing has taken 821 orders, according to its Website.

Boeing shares were up 2.56 percent at $63.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Seattle and Kyle Peterson in Chicago. Editing by Robert MacMillan and Gunna Dickson)

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With new tablets, Sony takes aim at iPad in Japan (AP)

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press Tomoko A. Hosaka, Associated Press – 35 mins ago

TOKYO – Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan's growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices are used.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant unveiled its first tablets to the rest of the world Wednesday, diving into the intense race at home and abroad to catch Apple's iPad.

Sony will begin selling the Tablet S in Japan on Sept. 17 starting at about 45,000 yen ($584). The device is about the size of an iPad but features a wedge-shaped design that makes it easier to hold. It can also double as a universal remote control.

The smaller, dual-screened Tablet P will hit Japanese stores by November at a price yet to be determined.

The Tablet P is small enough to fit in a purse and opens like a book to reveal two screens. When used for e-book reading, it can be held vertically and show one page on each screen. When composing e-mail, the upper screen can show the message while the lower one shows a keyboard.

Akihiro Matsubara, corporate vice president of Sony Marketing Inc., told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that Japan's tablet market is expected to hit 2 million units this fiscal year through March and expand to 3.2 million the following year.

The iPad holds about 85 percent of Japan's tablet market, though Android-based tablets are expected to gradually gain ground.

Sony found that in Japan, tablets are purchased for casual, personal use, Matsubara said. The Tokyo-based company hopes to change that.

By integrating content from its other properties, Sony hopes to transform tablets into household necessities used by the whole family.

The devices will connect to Sony's cloud-computing based library of content such as movies and music, as well as to Sony PlayStation video games adapted for running on Android and digital books from Sony's Reader store.

Computing for the general user is no longer about hardware specs, Matsubara said.

"It's about what you can do with a tablet, and how easily you can do it," he said.

Whether consumers will bite is another matter. Initial reaction online has been mixed, with some reviewers underwhelmed by the user interface despite praising the wedge design.

Earlier this week, Macquarie Capital Securities downgraded its rating on Sony's stock one notch to neutral. It cited deteriorating sales of electronics and a more pessimistic long-term outlook about the company's key products.

Macquarie analyst Jeff Loff expressed concerns that prices may be too high for Sony's tablets.

Also, "we think the ... clamshell design will fail," he said.

Other electronics companies are trying to differentiate their tablets from the iPad as well. On Tuesday, Lenovo Corp. launched a "business-oriented" tablet that comes with a stylus.

___

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka

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With new tablets, Sony takes aim at iPad in Japan - San Francisco Chronicle

Koji Sasahara / AP

A man demonstrates Sony's new tablet computer Tablet P during a launch event in Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011. The Tablet P opens like a book to reveal two screens.

(09-01) 04:45 PDT TOKYO, Japan (AP) --

Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan's growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices are used.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant unveiled its first tablets to the rest of the world Wednesday, diving into the intense race at home and abroad to catch Apple's iPad.

Sony will begin selling the Tablet S in Japan on Sept. 17 starting at about 45,000 yen ($584). The device is about the size of an iPad but features a wedge-shaped design that makes it easier to hold. It can also double as a universal remote control.

The smaller, dual-screened Tablet P will hit Japanese stores by November at a price yet to be determined.

The Tablet P is small enough to fit in a purse and opens like a book to reveal two screens. When used for e-book reading, it can be held vertically and show one page on each screen. When composing e-mail, the upper screen can show the message while the lower one shows a keyboard.

Akihiro Matsubara, corporate vice president of Sony Marketing Inc., told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that Japan's tablet market is expected to hit 2 million units this fiscal year through March and expand to 3.2 million the following year.

The iPad holds about 85 percent of Japan's tablet market, though Android-based tablets are expected to gradually gain ground.

Sony found that in Japan, tablets are purchased for casual, personal use, Matsubara said. The Tokyo-based company hopes to change that.

By integrating content from its other properties, Sony hopes to transform tablets into household necessities used by the whole family.

The devices will connect to Sony's cloud-computing based library of content such as movies and music, as well as to Sony PlayStation video games adapted for running on Android and digital books from Sony's Reader store.

Computing for the general user is no longer about hardware specs, Matsubara said.

"It's about what you can do with a tablet, and how easily you can do it," he said.

Whether consumers will bite is another matter. Initial reaction online has been mixed, with some reviewers underwhelmed by the user interface despite praising the wedge design.

Earlier this week, Macquarie Capital Securities downgraded its rating on Sony's stock one notch to neutral. It cited deteriorating sales of electronics and a more pessimistic long-term outlook about the company's key products.

Macquarie analyst Jeff Loff expressed concerns that prices may be too high for Sony's tablets.

Also, "we think the ... clamshell design will fail," he said.

Other electronics companies are trying to differentiate their tablets from the iPad as well. On Tuesday, Lenovo Corp. launched a "business-oriented" tablet that comes with a stylus.

___

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.

___

Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka

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(09-01) 04:45 PDT TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan's growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices are used. The Japanese electronics and...

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China's yuan takes heat off prospects for yen intervention

--An appreciating yuan is welcome news for Japan's exporters

--Appreciating yuan should take the pressure off Japan's government to intervene against the dollar

--Japanese exporters habitually focus on the dollar

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Given the importance of Japan's trading relationship with China, the appreciating yuan is taking the heat off the prospects of another round of intervention to weaken the yen versus the dollar.

As the yen hit new highs against the U.S. dollar this month, Japanese exporters and other manufacturers complained about a loss of competitiveness, which put pressure on their government to intervene. But that view misses the ...

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Little League World Series: California takes title with walk-off win - Detroit Free Press

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- California returned the Little League World Series title to the United States with the type of victory even major leaguers dream about.

Nick Pratto singled in the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of sixth inning to give the boys from Huntington Beach a 2-1 victory Sunday over Hamamatsu City, Japan, and a championship.

With runners on first and second, an error by the shortstop on what could have been an inning-ending double play loaded the bases for California. After a force at the plate, the 12-year-old Pratto smacked a solid liner to center off reliever Kazuto Takakura that scored pinch-runner Eric Anderson with the winning run.

Pratto tossed his helmet into the air after rounding first before his teammates mobbed him in the infield.

"USA! USA," yelled fans before Pratto's single. A U.S. team has won six of the past seven World Series, with Japan's win last year the exception.

The teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before California's players posed at the mound with their new championship banner.

It was a fitting end to a tense game marked by excellent pitching and timely defense.

Braydon Salzman pitched a three-hitter for the win, striking out nine. Japan starter Shoto Totsuka struck out five over 4 1/3 innings. Totsuka gave up a homer to rightfield to Hagen Danner.

The first pitch was delayed more than 3 hours after the outer bands of Hurricane Irene brought more rain than expected to the Williamsport area. The clouds finally started parting midway through the game, and sunshine draped the complex by the time the California players left the stadium to cheers by friends and family.

Neither team could convert on several chances to break open the pitcher's duel earlier in the game.

With runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, third baseman Dylan Palmer blocked the bag from a sliding runner Ken Igeta on a bunt play to help California escape the inning.

California put runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth, but Takakura got a flyout to end the inning.

Playing rightfield in the second, Takakura also made a running catch on a fly down the line to save an extra-base hit with a runner on second.

In a gracious postgame gesture, Japan's players and coaches lined up and exchanged high-fives with the California kids after Huntington Beach did the traditional victory lap around the warning track.

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