Year: <span>2003</span>
Year: 2003

NTT DoCoMo N504iS – as TV Remote Control and OCR Engine

DoCoMo’s N504iS can serve as a remote controller for your TV via the handset’s IR port; it can also be used to scan and then access a printed URL. Access URLs below for pics.

http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/11750.html
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2002/11/20/n504is012s.jpg
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/parts/image_for_link/37053-11750-6-2.html

Mobile Marketing is the Mobile Internet

Morinaga is a great example of the content providers that organize their offerings into more sophisticated “mini platforms” that support sales, marketing, and promotion campaigns for off-line products. In other words, they provide mobile content (images, ring tones, etc.) as part of an overall marketing effort (either for themselves or for clients) – usually combined with PC Web or non-electronic channels.

Preparing for 3G Day

Britain’s first next-generation mobile phone network, 3, launches next month. So it seems like a good time to look at the lessons from the Japanese market, where 3G has been available for 18 months, and ask when we’ll really be enjoying the benefits of 3G in the UK.

KDDI 3Q Rock'in Results and BREW Comes to a Boil

Berman warns, however, that with a typical handset cost of 37,000 yen in the latest quarter, “it will require about 23 months to cover [the] cost for upgrade customers.” He goes on to state that this creates a difficult situation for KDDI, wherein there’s lots of room for concern for the cost of the 2G-to-3G upgrade cycle. Remember, too, that KDDI has committed to launching a 1X EV-DO upgrade in late 2003. Will it have to commit to another two-year cycle to convert subscribers to the new system? If so, the expense half of their balance sheet may get a little out of control no matter how strong the revenue side remains.

Cell Phones that Surf for the News

On a cell phone someday soon, you’ll be able to instruct a personal news-gatherer to scour a dozen media sites for headlines within minutes after they are posted. Are you a football, baseball or soccer fan? A new technology will dish up a playback of your favorite team’s winning goal. The technology turns cell phones into computers that can download and execute programs just like PCs.