The U.S. unveiled the axis of telecommunications evil, charging China, India, Japan and others with protecting their home markets while taking advantage of international trading rights to build their global telecom businesses. The report was particularly critical of limitations on suppliers’ choice of technology in China and Korea. China, India, Japan, and Peru were cited in the report as countries “requiring particular attention.”
NEC Corporation today announced the successful development of a highly compact 60-GHz-band(1) wireless transceiver that transmits uncompressed high-definition television (“HDTV”) signals(2) realizing HDTV sets and displays without cable connections. The newly developed transceivers offer increased opportunities for broadband wireless video transmission throughout the home, office, and in commercial venues etc. Furthermore, this technology does not simply allow discrete wireless equipment, but can also be extended to various high-data-rate wireless applications involved in wireless personal area networks.
NEC has signed a letter of intent to resell RFID identification and tracking system for prisons from Alanco in Asia. The agreement is non-exclusive in Japan but exclusive in other, unidentified, Asian markets. A definitive agreement, worth several million, will be signed in the next thirty days, said Alanco.
Sony Corporation today announced the establishment of “ST Mobile Display Corporation”(hereafter STMD). This follows Sony’s purchase of the LCD panel manufacturing business previously owned by International Display Technology (hereafter IDTech). The new company will produce low-temperature polysilicon thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (hereafter LTPS-TFT-LCD) panels for mobile products.LTPS-TFT-LCD panels are used in various mobile products such as video cameras, digital still cameras and mobile telephones and Sony expects these markets to grow even further from now on.
Despite the date, this is no joke. Based on patented technology from ColorZip Media, those old 2D black & white barcodes are about to make a colorful splash into the Japan market. Evan Owens, director of ColorZip Japan, will present a brief outline of the company’s technology at MobileMonday in Tokyo, 18 April. WWJ is rather keen on this concept and we’ll file a report on Evan’s MoMo product demo as soon as MoMo is over.
The Mobile Intelligence Japan mission PR release hit the Web yesterday, and the April 2005 trip promises to provide in-depth know-how and actionable intelligence direct from the heart of mobile Japan. MIJ will comprise six days of intensive company visits, executive presentations, application demonstrations, user sessions, and networking events, guided and analysed by WWJ Chief Editor Daniel Scuka. The agenda (contact us for a full copy) is complete and includes visits to and sessions with some of Tokyo’s hottest mobile players, including carriers, content providers, application developers and technology vendors. Access the full release here. For additional information, fees and registration, access the MIJ site here.
Wireless computer networks across Japan are still vulnerable to illegal access, the National Police Agency said in an annual survey released Thursday. An increasing number of companies and local government offices have information security policies in place, but many of them have yet to establish measures to protect wireless local area networks, the NPA said. The NPA has conducted an annual survey since 2000 when Japan implemented a law making unauthorized access to computer networks illegal.
Vodafone K.K. announces today that it has decided to donate proceeds from recycled mobile handsets that are collected at Vodafone shops to the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan), starting 1 April 2005 for one year. In addition to reducing waste to minimise impact on the environment, Vodafone K.K. has been able to contribute to the effective use of resources through its mobile handset recycling activities. Vodafone K.K. began donating proceeds from handset recycling in fiscal 2002, and donated 20 million yen and 18.4 million yen in fiscal 2002 and 2003 respectively.
NEC Electronics announced the PD9971 melody chip [.jpg image ] for mobile phones, which offers a 3-D positioning function with built-in real-time processing, stereo 16-bit DA converter and 128 polyphonic tones. The combination of features will help OEMs deliver dynamic sound quality with on-chip functions including pitch bend, vibrato, delay, reverb, chorus, compression and Doppler. The chip is also compatible with Mobile XMF and Standard MIDI Files (SMF).
Softbank Corp. has withdrawn a lawsuit against Japanese telecoms regulators over a slice of coveted bandwith it wanted for its planned entry into the mobile phone business, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily said. The business newspaper said Softbank may have dropped the suit against Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications so as not to hurt its chances for a potential business alliance with Fuji Television Network Inc.
