DoCoMo announced today that from September 6, 2003 the service area for DoCoMo’s FOMA(R) third-generation (3G) mobile phones will cover 99% of the population in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region. Its eight regional subsidiaries will also expand the FOMA service area to 96% of the population nationwide by the end of September.
KDDI has announced a contract with Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia Ltd., a leading cellular phone carrier in Thailand, for the construction of a high-precision global positioning system (GPS). The contract is based on the gpsOne system which KDDI presently offers in Japan in cooperation with NEC as EZ NAVI, and is worth a total of approximately 1 billion yen. In constructing the new system, KDDI will cooperate with Snap Track, Inc., regarding the gpsOne system license and technological support.
DoCoMo announced today they will market the F672i (Raku Raku PHONE III) from September 5, 2003. This is the latest in DoCoMo’s easy-to-use handset series offering a range of innovative and convenient features. As with earlier handsets in the series, three large buttons on the outside of the closed phone each enable one-touch calling to an assigned number without even opening the phone.
The current buzzword in personal electronics is Wi-Fi, but the full potential of the latest laptops, cell phones and PDAs is being held back by batteries that last just a few hours. Major consumer electronics firms like NEC, Toshiba and Motorola, along with a number of startups.. are working on micro fuel cells, which theoretically can generate power 10 times longer than conventional batteries.
As the march towards rich-media solutions for mobile continues, some partsof the evolution remain a challenge – such as common standards and digitalrights management. But the Java virtual machine offers several advantagesfor the carriers, device manufacturers, content developers and end users. This week’s program digs into the details with Tim Smith, managing director of Hello Network Asia. *Disclosure Note* HNA has been an active technology partner for WWJ since our inception. However we strongly feel that this support should not exempt the company from fair coverage of their recent successful mobile application deployments. Full Program Run-time 17:20
iFone Ltd, the leading global wireless entertainment publisher, today announced the creation of content based on QUALCOMM’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform. The company plans to roll out an extensive catalog of BREW- based titles such as classic Atari favorites Centipede, Asteroids and Breakout. iFone is also creating BREW-based content that takes advantage of the company’s exclusive global wireless rights to Hasbro brands and is planning to offer BREW-based versions of family favorites, including Monopoly, Clue and Battleship.
