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

Year: 2005

Locked into the Mobile Loop

Locked out of your Tokyo apartment? Forget the locksmith; call the phone company. Alpha Corp. has come up with a door locking/unlocking system that works with DoCoMo’s FeliCa IC card-equipped mobile phones. Similar systems have been around for several years, but this all-in-one door handle and locking unit can be installed on any existing entry without any special wiring. Previously mobile-phone activated locks were only available on new hot-wired apartment buildings. An extra subscription service even allows owners to check over their mobile if doors are locked or not (see also: Mobile FeliCa Trial Launch: Video Report from Dec. 2003).

Wearable Wireless: Dressed to Annoy

Excuse me, could you turn the volume on your jacket down please? Clothing manufacturer Goldwin has loaded flat-panel speakers right into their new line of snowboarding jackets. Grab some air — headphone free. Jack in directly to your MP3 player, choose your tunes and screen your mobile phone calls through the remote control unit that attaches to the sleeve. The Communication Concert jackets come in three styles. Costs start from 67,000 yen (approx. US$610).

Integration Associates and Oki Electric Enable ZigBee One-Stop Solution

Integration Associates and Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. today announced a one-stop Solution for ZigBee, considered the next generation low data rate wireless network technology. This one-stop solution consists of Oki’s LSI, the ML7065, and the ZigBee Stack by Integration. The solution has received its ZigBee Compliant certificate from the ZigBee Alliance, and will be available globally in December 2005 from Oki and Integration. Oki provides and supports the CompXs ZigBee Stack in Asia, including Japan, while Integration provides and supports the ZigBee Stack in N. America and Europe.

Yozan, Livedoor Announce Wi-LAN Deal

Yozan and livedoor announced yesterday that they have signed a basic agreement on the provision of livedoor Wireless, a wireless LAN servicve. Under the terms of the agreement, Yozan will deploy and provide maintenance support for a wireless network. Although the partners have yet to decide on the number of base stations and where to install them, Yozan will initially set up 4,000 base stations and gradually deploy them at more locations. The partners have also yet to decide a service launch date.

Ticket Guru Pia Goes For 3G Gaming

Japanese ticket and entertainment publishing powerhouse Pia has made its first tentative foray into mobile gaming in a tie-up with DoCoMo. Pet simulation game AquaZone swam onto i-mode screens a few days ago through Pia’s partnership with Frontier Group and its subsidiary Pia Digital Communications [press release in Japanese]. The PC version of AquaZone’s virtual Aquarium is already a hit with fish fanciers here and even on the small screen DoCoMo’s Foma 3G graphics keep the colors bright and clear. Subscriptions cost 315 yen per month (US$2.87).

Japanese Cell Phone Sales Set to Surge in 2006

Japanese Cell Phone Sales Set to Surge in 2006

Market research firm Gartner Japan has good news and bad news for cell phone manufacturers and telecos. The company predicts Japanese handsets sales could reach 49 million units in 2006 as mobile number portability finally makes it debut and consumers trade up to faster, smarter handsets on their carrier of choice. That’s good news since sales for 2005 are looking rather flat especially compared to those halcyon days of 2003 when the debut of the camera phone helped drive sales to over 48 million units. Bad news is that Gartner’s research [.pdf in Japanese] indicates sales will fall again sometime in 2007 once consumers have replaced their current handsets.

Of course it doesn’t take costly research to know telecos here have a lot to worry about. With the domestic cell phone market fast reaching saturation point DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone will have to depend not only on handset replacement but rolling out comprehensive mobile consumer, retail, and data-related services — both in-house and through partners — to retain customers and keep income flowing in the right direction.