Year: <span>2004</span>
Year: 2004

Year: 2004

Breaking Windows, DoCoMo Axes Mobimagic

If ever there was proof how far DoCoMo has lifted up its skirt and fled the Microsoft camp for Symbian and perhaps a Linux chaser, here’s the pudding; 39 months after Keiji Tachikawa and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer stood on a platform together and promised to “agressively” promote MS’ microbrowser technology and CE OS on DoCoMo Cellies, DoCoMo has finally cut the cord and axed its Mobimagic subsidiary, the company supposed to have us grappling with Windows on our handsets as well as our PCs

Powering Up Mobile Phones

We have been thinking of doing this for a long while, you know, writing about next-generation battery technologies for cellies. Well, we’ve just found a shortcut to the topic that covers some of the basics. WWJ watchers will have noted that Fujitsu has just become the latest Japanese IDM to announce a methanol fuel cell replacement for even Hitachi Maxell’s new Lithium Ion option. There is an interesting feature story of the market at NE Asia online.

Vodafone Japan's Losses To Widen

Despite a decentish 3Q. It looks as if Vodafone K.K.’s first good subsciber uptake month in a while – last December – has been too little and too late to prevent Japan’s number 3 carrier from posting a wider full-year loss for the year to March 31, 2004. Today, the carrier announced that its 3Q consolidated operating revenues increased from 385 billion yen for the three months to September to 1.28 trillion yen for the quarter to December 30, 2003.

DoCoMo Ducks Friday 13 Deadline?

For some strange reason NTT DoCoMo seems reluctant to sink more cash into loss-making AT&T Wireless – the most grumbled about carrier in the North American market – two years after seeing the value of its $8 billion investment in the “struggling” carrier come to zilch. At least DoCoMo has a footprint in the U.S. market, well one anyway, a demonstration room with a FOMA (Freedom tO Move Away from AT&T?) base station.

Toshiba Intros Latest VGA Module

As component shortages build for high-end and camera-enabled mobile phones, Toshiba looks as if it is coming up trumps with a brand new CMOS/ DSP VGA module that the company claims is one of the smallest around, ready for ramping this March. Also take a look at recent news item ‘Mobile Phones Enter 2-Mpixel Era’ Here noting a Complementary Oxide Comeback, with chips on the side, for camera phones.

Extracting 3G Profit Lessons from Japan

Extracting 3G Profit Lessons from Japan“The single biggest benefit that was discovered in Japan was that you need to be fair in sharing the revenues with the content developer. It is not fair to say to a Disney or a CNN, ‘Give me half your money, and then I will put you on my network.’ DoCoMo approached this with the rough idea they would like to keep 10% and give the content developer 90%,” says Tomi Ahonen, a long-time industry watcher, prolific mobinet author, and ex-Nokia consultant. He points to Japan’s stark contrast with Europe, where operators took a 50/50 or 60/40 approach. “Under these terms, [European operators are] very unlikely to attract a large community of developers.” He also has a pretty good ideas as to what EU and the US must do in 2004 to establish successful 3G services. Log on to hear these comments and much more in this lively interview.

Fujitsu Develops High Capacity Micro Fuel Cells

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of a new fuel-cell material technology that enables the use of 30% methanol – highly concentrated methanol – as a fuel source, as well as a prototype power unit that incorporates the technology. This technology enables much higher power capacities for passive micro fuel cells and realizes longer runtimes for mobile devices such as notebook PCs, PDAs and mobile phones.

Vodafone Introduces VRM301R Module for Mobile Communications

Vodafone K.K. announced today it developed the VRM301R remote module (manufactured by JRC, Japan Radio Co., Ltd.), which incorporates mobile handset communication components and functions. Vodafone K.K. will market the remote module to industrial and business machine manufacturers after mid-February 2004. By integrating the VRM301R into their products, manufacturers will be able to add communication features like Sky Mail, Long Mail (including e-mail) and voice in addition to other wireless data communication functions. As a result, manufacturers will be able to develop a wide range of low-cost applications that meet their needs, including ones for remote control and remote monitoring.

Vodafone Makes Man-Machine Move.

The former J-Phone lost considerable ground to DoCoMo in particular in man-machine business applications. The idea of being able to pay for stuff from your phone from Japan’s ubiquitous vending machines (24-hour booze, cigarettes and some really exotic stuff too) is old hat here. But, now, here’s a move that could presage a Vodafone move to remote monitoring business. Vodafone K.K. today announced that it would begin selling a remote module (the VRM301R) to industrial and business machine manufacturers.

Mobile Phones Enter 2-Mpixel Era

With the launch of Casio’s A5403CA for KDDI, Sharp’s SH505iS for DoCoMo, and our old friend the V601SH from Sharp to Vodafone, Japan has truly entered the 2-megapixel era. Beyond this, KDDI is planning A5502K with a xenon lamp flash unit this month. With two megapixels and onboard electronic flash, photography with mobile phones will make major inroads into digital camera territory.