This could be 3G’s biggest nightmare. Claiming to have a truly foolproof technology to switch cellphone users to and from WiFi, Calypso Wireless has done a $500 million deal with a Chinese phone network, due to roll out over the next three years. It is also “in negotiations with one of the largest cable companies in the US” to use this technology. And field trials in four (or more) European countries are due to start in January.
Hutchison Whampoa’s 3G business has been viewed too gloomily by the market, as its current setbacks are only short-term and supply-related, Merrill Lynch says. The investment bank holds the contrarian view that Hutchison’s disappointing take-up rate in Europe was mostly to do with a lack of handsets supply, rather than a lack of demand. It said Hutchison may spin-off part or all of its 3G assets in an initial public offering in 2005 or 2006.
It’s sassy, not clunky – but analog only. If this sounds like an ode to Japan’s first Tellycelly, please make your call swift: The TV will only run about an hour before the batteries poop, but the sales potential is, we think, killer. Vodafone’s V601N [.pdf] from NEC, on sale in December, follows Japan’s long consumer electronics tradition; namely, a cool, high-tech gadget that will sell at a premium by the truckload. Watch the tube, no pesky packet fees, grab screen shots and capture live video from broadcast programs, access TV guides via browser, and use it as a remote to control your karaoke machine. Watch our exclusive WWJ video clip of the ‘next big thing’ in action at Vodafone’s October press conference when the unit was introduced.
Last December, professor Philip Sidel of the International University of Japan served up some nasty lessons for believers in location-based marketing strategies (WWJ video here). Last week, Sidel and professor Glenn E. Mayhew presented their latest findings on mobile Internet (MobileNet) usage in Japan, and have come up with a new set of surprises, some nasty… and some nice. At a lecture at the American Chamber of Commerce Japan’s e-Business forum, the Sidel/ Mayhew team again cut swaths through several layers of hype and slashed up several misconceptions marketers might have. In our recent Viewpoint article, we noted how surprised some European consultants were about the lack of business apps in Japan’s MobileNet. Now prepare for some more; data gleaned in their most recent study shows that less than half of Japan’s MobileNet users plug in to keitai Internet for more for more than 5 minutes a day, and, perhaps, only a quarter of users are willing to pay for content and this is just the beginning.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that it will market P2402, the first FOMA CompactFlash card that will enable 3G videophone and other wireless data communications via PCs and PDAs such as DoCoMo’s sigmarion III, beginning November 28, 2003. The new flash card will enable PDA users to begin enjoying FOMA services, as DoCoMo presently provides the PC typed FOMA card that is only applicable to PCs with PC card slots.
Lost your forklift in your cluttered factory? Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Cable Ltd have announced they are launching the IEEE802.11b-WLAN/ GPS Hitachi AirLocation system that can locate it. With an accuracy of 1-3 meters, the system works with twin servers and five dedicated basestations to find whatever, for a cost of 5 million yen for the system.
