Year: <span>2005</span>
Year: 2005

3G FOMA 901i Launch

3G FOMA 901i Series LaunchThe 901i-series of 3G FOMA cell phones is DoCoMo’s latest tactical weapon in Japan’s escalating “lighter and smarter” mobile arms race. The four 901i handsets come packed with sophisticated go-go fun: twin stereo speakers and spatially enhanced sound; fat video and music files (500KB); pre-loaded games from Square Enix, Capcom and others; FeliCa smart-card e-wallet functions (in three models); 2-megapixel cameras; a TV guide for accessing TV program listings as far as eight days in advance (in one model) with genre and keyword searches including customized settings and registration for favorite TV shows plus it doubles as a remote control for TVs, DVD-Ds and VTR machines. Wow!

DoCoMo 700i 3G Series: We Smell Fear

Sharp's SH 700iYou can think of DoCoMo’s newest handsets as “901i lite.” The cell carrier hopes four, slim 700i handsets will sing and dance their way into ever-stingier consumers’ hearts and wallets. They are packed with would-be FOMA functionality minus the FeliCa e-wallet and could just provide a significant competitive advantage at a time when KDDI and Vodafone are still rushing to market with fully featured 3G battleships that command heavy-duty prices. Sometime-WWJ commentator Ken Gai’s take on the move is that Big D is merely launching a shrewd counter-attack on KDDI/au… and will use this series as launch pad to boost migration to 3G — perhaps even passing KDDI for total 3G subs by Christmas. But WWJ wonders: What else are they afraid of? The 700i-series handsets are packed with FOMA functions: Chaku Uta ring tones, Chaku Motion ring videos, Chara Den (character avatars that project the caller’s image during video calling), Deco-mail (HTML-formatted virtual stickers for decorating mobile email) plus a QVGA LCD screen, Java and Macromedia Flash applications. In fact, these cellys are almost FOMA in all but name.

Epson and QUALCOMM Announce New 3G Mobile Display Interface

QUALCOMM and Seiko Epson Corporation, a global leader in imaging technology and products, today announced that Epson has developed an LCD controller chip, the S1D13751, with integrated Mobile Display Digital Interface (MDDI) technology by QUALCOMM. The MDDI standard is an optimized high-speed serial interface solution that directly connects LCD panels and camera modules to the Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) chipset, enabling the most advanced, reliable LCD panel and camera technology available today. MDDI is supported by select QUALCOMM CDMA2000® and WCDMA (UMTS) solutions.

DoCoMo's New 3G FOMA 700i-series

DoCoMo revealed the new 700i series of FOMA 3G handsets. The new series comprises four slim, compact models equipped for all standard FOMA services and functions, including videophone, ChakuUta ring songs, ChakuMotion ring videos, Deco-mail decorative emails, music player functions, i-appli JAVA and Macromedia Flash applications, QVGA LCD screen resolution and megapixel cameras. The new 700i series emphasizes style and ease of use while possessing all the basic FOMA services.

SingTel Pushing Video for 3G

SingTel announced a suite of content to be accessed on its 3G network in the coming months. Mr. Lim Chuan Poh, SingTel’s Executive VP for Consumer Business & CEO of SingTel Mobile, said: “SingTel ran two successful 3G consumer trials last year. From the trial, we found that video calls, high-speed Internet access and high-speed video streaming were among the most popular 3G services.”

NTT DoCoMo: SMS with Overseas

Japan’s top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo said it will offer text-messaging with five other Asian countries and advanced sound systems on phones, after predicting tough times ahead for the market. The new service is part of the company’s effort to meet Japanese subscribers’ growing demand for exchanging short text messages both at home and overseas. In Japan, short text-messaging is a key function of mobile phones.

WirelessMatch Bridges Investment Gap for Early Stage Wireless Companies

Today marks the launch of WirelessMatch.co.uk, an online mobile and wireless accelerator programme developed to match early stage wireless applications, content and technology companies with private equity investment of between £50,000 – £1.5m. Founded by senior executives from Gorilla Park, Move2Mobile and Lucent, WirelessMatch screens applicants that apply to be listed on the site by performing an expert technological, commercial and financial review. This process allows WirelessMatch to ascertain whether the applicants are investment ready.

DoCoMo Booth at 3GSM World Congress

According to the company, NTT DoCoMo will participate in 3GSM World Congress 2005, an exhibition of the latest telecommunications technologies, services and R&D. The event will be held 14-17 February 2005 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes, France. The company says it will exhibit its world-leading 3G services, which are based on W-CDMA technology. Visitors can enjoy demonstrations of videophones and movies on the latest FOMA 901i-series terminals, learn about the technology supporting 3G networks, and see i-mode FeliCa mobile phones equipped with contactless FeliCa IC technology. NTT DoCoMo will also provide touch & try demonstrations of 3G services.

DoCoMo and StarHub Form Strategic Partnership for i-mode in Singapore

NTT DoCoMo and StarHub Ltd., today jointly announced a strategic partnership under which StarHub will launch i-mode™ services exclusively in Singapore by the fourth quarter of this year. With this agreement, i-mode will be available in 22 countries and regions through 14 operators. Under the DoCoMo-StarHub agreement, StarHub will offer i-mode services over both its 2.5G and 3G networks with DoCoMo providing its expertise in patents, branding, marketing, knowledge and technology.

Notable Revelations from Japan's Cellcos

Japan’s Big Three cellcos, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Vodafone, released their Oct-Dec 2004 quarterly financials in the past fortnight, and there’s a lot of information to be digested. If the endless listings of multi-billion-yen profits bore you, then it might be interesting to take a look at some of the new technologies, service models, and data tariffs that were announced along with the financial results.