Softbank's CEO, in a battle with Dish Network to acquire U.S. mobile operator Sprint Nextel, slammed a US$25.5 billion offer made by Dish, saying it is based on "imaginary" numbers and would create a company with "insane" amounts of debt.

News of the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs reached Japan on Thursday, as manufacturers hawked their latest iPad and MacBook clones at a giant trade show outside of Tokyo.

Softbank, Japan's third-largest mobile carrier and exclusive purveyor of the Apple iPhone in the country, said Thursday it would launch in November a new data network allowing downloads of up to 110 Mbps (megabits per second), faster than many wired connections provide today.

Japan's richest entrepreneur outlined a plan Monday to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure in the wake of its nuclear disaster, shifting the majority of supply to natural, renewable resources by 2030.