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

Year: 2005

Software Lets Mobiles Control PCs

Toshiba has developed software to remotely operate a PC using a mobile phone over a cellular network. The software will be available in Japan, in cooperation with one of Japan’s cellular networks in late March, a Toshiba executive said in a press conference today. The software, called Ubiquitous Viewer, is installed on the mobile phone and on a client computer running Windows. The software recreates the desktop of a PC or notebook PC on the mobile phone’s screen, allowing the user to complete tasks such as reading e-mails and editing documents on the PC via the phone.

Bitfone Expands Asia Operations, Relocates China Development Center to Beijing

Bitfone Corporation, the company that pioneered firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update technology for mobile phones, today announced it is expanding Asia Operations and has relocated the company’s China Development Center (CDC) to Beijing to support growing device management opportunities in the Asia Pacific market. This expansion includes the addition of Dr. De Ji, vice president of the CDC and Asia Pacific Professional Services, as well as increasing resources in Asia to 20 percent of Bitfone’s workforce.

Storage Technologies to Remake Mobile Phones

Every so often, it’s a pleasure to break from our current wireless Internet and mobile telecoms coverage and take a look into the far distant future to see where mobile technology will take us in the coming decades. Esoteric technologies like super-miniature hard disk drives (HDDs) and 3-D holographic storage systems promise to radically remake the portable devices—phones, PDAs and iPods—that we tote with us every day. In the future, you’ll be able to stuff far more data into your cell phone than you can into your desktop PC today; and to my surprise this week, I found out that the far distant future isn’t so distant after all.

Vodafone K.K. to Sponsor Urawa Reds Football Team

Vodafone K.K. today announces that it has agreed on a main partner sponsorship agreement with the Urawa Red Diamonds (Urawa Reds) football club in the J.League Division 1 (J1) for a two year period starting with the 2005 season. As part of the main partnership agreement, the Vodafone logo will feature on the front of the Urawa Reds shirts [Photo]. With this new partnership, Vodafone K.K. plans to deliver special Vodafone live! content to customers, develop merchandise featuring the logos of Vodafone and the Urawa Reds and hold events at stadiums and Vodafone shops.

Pacific Telecom Conference

Pack your Aloha shirts and sunglasses. We’re off to Honolulu (virtually), for the annual Pacific Telecommunications Council conference running 16-19 January. PTC promotes the development, understanding and beneficial use of telecom and information technology throughout the entire Pacific Hemisphere. Sessions and exhibitors include VoIP pioneer Jeff Pulver, a WiMax SuperSession and new satellite businesses.

Softbank Offers to Buy Tu-Ka Mobile

Softbank Corp. has offered to acquire the three Tu-Ka mobile operators from KDDI Corp. for more than 200 bn yen. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Saturday that the three are Tu-Ka Cellular Tokyo Inc., Tu-Ka Cellular Tokai Inc. and Tu-Ka Phone Kansai Inc.

Ed’s Note: The Tu-Kas have a total of 3.5 million customers and an established PDC 2G network; this offer might prove to be a more effective mobile-market entry plan for Softbank than going through the courts for 3G spectrum. Watch to see how KDDI reacts.

Potential Sony PSP Upgrades

Some Japanese PSP owners have stumbled upon what they’re referring to as a ‘dummy updater’ on an official Sony website that might give some indication to the future direction of the portable gaming platform [Windows Media video]. Among other things, streaming TV services using Sony’s LocationFree technology might be in the works, as well as less traditional additions like word processing and spreadsheet software. Would Sony’s gaming machine turn out to make a good, all-purpose mobile computing device?

Samsung Announces Record Profit

Samsung, announced that its net income for last year exceeded 10.7 trillion won (US$10.3 billion), making it the first company in South Korea to achieve the landmark figure. Last year, Samsung said it sold 86.53 million handsets worldwide, up 55 percent from a year ago. For all of 2004, Samsung’s net income jumped 81 percent to a record 10.7 trillion won. Full-year sales rose 32.2 percent to 57.6 trillion won, the company said.

NEC Telecom China Opens First Mobile Phone Retail Store in Beijing

NEC Corporation announced that NEC Telecommunications (China) opened its first exclusive mobile phone retail store in Beijing on January 12th. Ben Nakamura, NEC’s Senior Vice President and member of the board commented at the opening ceremony: “China has the world’s largest consumer population and we are sure that NEC Telecom China will continue to drive success in this largest telecommunications market.” In addition to this Beijing store, NEC Telecom China has also opened another exclusive store in Guangzhou selling NEC mobile phones exclusively. The company is planning to open 10 more exclusive stores by the end of 2005.

Mobile E-Payments 2005 Forcast

The market for electronic settlements via portable handsets such as mobile phones is likely to start growing in Japan in 2005, say brokerage houses. Nomura Research Institute Inc (NRI), a unit of Japan’s largest brokerage house Nomura Securities, said in a report that it estimates the market of mobile platforms—infrastructures that support electronic settlements and electronic certification through mobile phones—will double to 52.2 bn yen in 2005 from 29.8 bn in 2004, and will expand by eight times to 240.1 bn yen in 2009.