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

Year: 2005

Asia's Mobile Advertising Model

Perhaps it’s news to some WSJ readers that Asian youth “are hooked on their cellphones, yet they hardly ever talk on them,” but the paper is really looking at mobile phones as an advertising platform. Just as i-mode is cited as a role model for every Western mobile data, evidently now Asian ad agencies are sharing their experiences on advertising to mobile devices, and US marketers are eating it up. While Asian marketers have a head start on their counterparts around the globe when it comes to mobile marketing, there’s the perpetual “if it’s Asian, it must be excellent” trap in to which the Western mobile industry falls.

Mobile Karaoke Rocks Russia

Launched last week by one of the leaders in the content provider market, a service called INFON offers 20 karaoke song files that can be downloaded on all mobile networks. The sing-along craze that originated in Japan moved into mobile telephony two years ago, based on Java applications that Irish technology firm Alatto developed for the European market. In 2003, Vodafone Japan launched a service that allowed subscribers to “practise” songs and, later, to plug their handset into a TV to watch the lyrics on the big screen, while singing into the phone mouthpiece.

BenQ Chooses Renesas SH-Mobile for its Latest 2.5G GSM Phones

Renesas Technology Corp. and BenQ Corporation today announced that Renesas Technology’s industry-leading SH-Mobile application processor will be incorporated into BenQ’s latest models of 2.5G multimedia GSM mobile phones. With the first launch of Z2 in April, followed by another model in June, both models will be available in Mainland China, Taiwan, Europe and other Asian areas. Mr. Dai Hirasawa, Chairman & CEO of Renesas Technology Taiwan Co., Ltd. said: “We are pleased to provide our SH-Mobile solution to BenQ, one of the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers. With this successful collaboration and promising business relationship in the future, I believe we will bring mobile phones powered by SH-Mobile to market faster and further increase our share in the mobile phone market.”

Vodafone K.K. Launches Disaster Message Board Service

Vodafone K.K. announced that on 27 April it will launch a service that lets customers confirm personal safety information concerning their family and friends via the Vodafone live! mobile internet service in the event of a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. For the two week period of 27 April to 11 May, Vodafone K.K. will offer a trial version of its Disaster Message Board Service so customers can get familiar with the service details and methods of use. After this initial period, the same trial service is scheduled to be available on the first day of every month (excluding the month of January).

Fujitsu Launches WiMAX Chip

Fujitsu Microelectronics has introduced a highly integrated WiMAX system-on-chip (SoC), the MB87M3400 [ .jpg image ], which complies with the IEEE802.16-2004 standard and that will enable development of a new generation of WiMAX-compliant broadband wireless access (BWA) equipment.

Livedoor Plans Tokyo Wi-Fi Venture

Internet service provider Livedoor is reportedly partnering with PoweredCom to set up some 100 WLAN access points in central Tokyo around the busy Yamanote train line according to a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. PoweredCom is the fixed-line service arm of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Though Tepco dominates PoweredCom with a share of 83.81 percent, other powerful investors include Mitsui and Mitsubishi. The Nikkei reports Livedoor’s investment in this venture is expected to hit 2-3 billion yen. The service, based on IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g WLAN standards, will be available for a monthly fee.

DoCoMo Staffer Held over Leak

The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 41-year-old temporary employee who formerly worked for NTT DoCoMo Inc. over a leak of clients’ personal data. MPD investigators arrested Yoshitaka Takemura on suspicion of obstructing business by force, alleging that he took data containing the personal information of about 24,600 clients out of the Tokyo-based company.

Will that be Cash or DoCoMo?

DoCoMo is in talks with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and JCB about investing in their credit card businesses in a step forward for the vision of integrating mobile communications with financial services. Japan’s largest mobile phone operator is looking to pay about Y100bn ($938m) for a 33.4 per cent stake in SMFG’s 100 per cent-owned card business, Mitsui Sumitomo Card, Japan’s number two credit card operator, and a smaller stake in JCB, the country’s number one card provider.

Family Flat Rate Voice Plan

Vodafone K.K announced today the company plans a staggered roll out of three new flat rate services: “Mail Flat-rate,” “Dual Packet Flat-rate” and “Family Call Flat-rate.” According to the company, these plans target all users from hard-core email addicts to fast-dialing families. Starting 1 October, the Family Call Flat-rate will make it possible for family members to call each other as often as they like with an additional flat-rate option that has a total fixed monthly charge of 315 yen. Matthew Nicholson, Vodafone Japan International Media Relations Manager, commented to WWJ: “This is the first time for such a comprehensive family call flat rate to be available in Japan.”