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

Year: 2005

3G Roll-out in Singapore

Unless there are dramatic improvements in quality, it’s hard to see how video phone calls can become a killer application for 3G. If video calls are not likely to be so hot, then what will be? That is the million-dollar question. The search for the killer application for 3G mobile services has become a sort of Holy Grail for mobile service operators worldwide. This is because operators have to provide the customer with sufficient and compelling content so that the larger bandwidth is put to good use.

PCCW Eyes 3G in China

PCCW Chairman Richard Li, who negotiated a $1-billion investment from China’s second-largest phone company, plans to start businesses including broadband television and 3G mobile services in mainland China to make up for slumping Hong Kong sales. China is planning to issue licenses to operate 3G networks and Li said there is “a good chance” China Network will win a permit and that regulators will allow PCCW to take a 49-percent stake in cell phone ventures.

Flashing Phone Accessory

Not your usual spam: “Please note attached pictures of Mobile Phone accessories; we are supplying kinsmanship item for buyer in Japan. We [just] did done 12,000,000 pcs for Japan Coca-Cola company, so, I think [these] kinds [of] accessories will find a ready market in Japan.” An interesting look at what has to be one of the most profitable businesses related to mobile phones: accessories and customization.

DoCoMo Ending Prepaid Phones

NTT DoCoMo plans to stop accepting new subscribers for its prepaid mobile phone services by the end of March as they are increasingly used in crimes, company officials said Tuesday. Prepaid cellphones under existing contracts can be used for the time being, but NTT DoCoMo plans to discontinue prepaid mobile phone services after a transitional period of two to three years. DoCoMo had 81,000 prepaid cellphone subscribers as of the end of last year, accounting for only 3 percent of overall prepaid phone users.

Software Lets Mobiles Control PCs

Toshiba has developed software to remotely operate a PC using a mobile phone over a cellular network. The software will be available in Japan, in cooperation with one of Japan’s cellular networks in late March, a Toshiba executive said in a press conference today. The software, called Ubiquitous Viewer, is installed on the mobile phone and on a client computer running Windows. The software recreates the desktop of a PC or notebook PC on the mobile phone’s screen, allowing the user to complete tasks such as reading e-mails and editing documents on the PC via the phone.

Bitfone Expands Asia Operations, Relocates China Development Center to Beijing

Bitfone Corporation, the company that pioneered firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update technology for mobile phones, today announced it is expanding Asia Operations and has relocated the company’s China Development Center (CDC) to Beijing to support growing device management opportunities in the Asia Pacific market. This expansion includes the addition of Dr. De Ji, vice president of the CDC and Asia Pacific Professional Services, as well as increasing resources in Asia to 20 percent of Bitfone’s workforce.