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

Year: 2005

Vodafone to Block Some Spam Mail

Vodafone K.K. said today today they would introduce a new function that blocks mails with URL links sent via the Internet containing invitations to dating and adult sites, starting late March. The company said they “aim to make [the] Vodafone live! mobile Internet service more dependable for customers.” The major source of unsolicited mail in Japan has traditionally been Internet mail servers from which spammers dump mail addressed to mobile terminals into the carriers’ wireless Internet services. It is free to send mobile-terminated mail, unlike in countries that use GSM network systems.

DoCoMo Leaks Personal Data

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday the phone numbers and other personal data of about 24,600 of its clients have been leaked. The mobile phone operator said it has launched in-house investigations because there is a high possibility that the data were leaked by insiders. The leaked information appears to be partial lists of customers in Niigata Prefecture and neighboring areas, with names, addresses, mobile phone numbers and phone numbers used for inquiries.

NEC to Demonstrate Next-generation HSDPA Network at 3GSM 2005

NEC announced that it has realized a total solution for advanced mobile networks boasting interoperation of HSDPA, advanced packet core, and IMS, representing its first step toward the realization of a next-generation network with an converged fixed/mobile environment. “NEC is ready to provide a total solution composed of a 3G advanced packet core, a HSDPA radio network, IMS, and other related applications to commercial services.” said Katsuhiro Nakagawa, Associate Senior Vice President of NEC Corporation. For more information regarding NEC’s activities at 3GSM, please visit: http://www.nec-3gsm.com

Vodafone's Japan Exit: Thinking the Unthinkable

From the WWJ newsletter; Last Monday will go down in history as Black Monday for Vodafone Japan as the carrier’s January subscriber numbers hit the street. The situation is so bad that speculation on a Japan exit strategy, which until recently was kept quiet behind closed doors, has finally hit the open press. The 12 February issue of Business Week wonders whether the parent Vodafone might “bail out altogether” with Masayoshi Son’s Softbank being the prime candidate to step in and buy up the pieces. (For the full article, access the WWJ Newsletter archives here.)

Cell Phone Becomes Teacher's Pet

When cellphones began to spread among teenagers in the late 1990s, it became something of a teacher’s nightmare, and nowhere more so than in rules-oriented Japan. Mobile phones were immediately banned, but students’ enthusiasm could not be contained: phones went off in the middle of classes, students relayed emails to friends all day long, and cheating using the phone during exams became pervasive. But recently, there has been a change of heart among some Japanese educators. In fact, some teachers at universities and high schools are requiring that their pupils show up in class with a mobile phone.

EZ Game Street: Watch Out, DoCoMo

EZ Game StreetKDDI rolls down EZ Street with an engaging new mobile gaming platform due to go live today. Designed for KDDI by Square Enix –- the gaming powerhouse behind the massively popular Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises — EZ Game Street invites gamers to stroll rather than scroll down a cellular landscape of 350 games from 43 of the world’s top game makers, including Capcom, Disney, Koei, Hudson and Namco.

Text-based searches give it up for interactive icons in the new BREW-powered platform created for KDDI/au CDMA 1X WIN 3G phones. Users click on the icons for more info plus a sample of the game’s theme song. Admittedly, there is some initial text-bar crawling: users first click on “games” in the KDDI WIN menu to reach Game Street. There, the menu is divided into six choices: title, genre, new games, producer, randomizer and recommended. Click on any line and a colorful screen pops up decorated with familiar characters from each game -– up to nine per screen. Pick a character and click through the payment/subscription screen to play. Options include one-time game play, monthly subscription plus game information sites, online communities and game software sales.