Bandai Networks has announced that as of today it will offer a custom mobile service based on their popular Gundam character through KDDI’s ‘Au one avatar’ platform. Members will be able to create and update their own unique avatar from an initial choice of three characters; “Mobile soldier Gundam”, “Gundam SEED DESTINY”, and “Fmofmo” which can then also be used across several of the carriers other Au one portal destinations.
The March edition of Nikkei Electronics Asia features an interesting peek under the hood of three current handsets now available in Japan. They expose how the insides of these so-called “All in One” multi-function models; the P905i VIERA from Panasonic, W53H from Hitachi and the 920SH by Sharp, are designed in cooperation of a local electronics manufacturer. Interesting to note the OLED screen on the W53H ‘Wooo’ by Hitachi was produced by Samsung and that efforts to slim the design while increasing battery power, to a whopping double 1-Seg. viewing time, are key considerations.
Fujitsu has announced that its outdoor base station for mobile WiMAX, BroadOne WX300, was selected by UQ Communications for the company’s nationwide WiMAX services infrastructure in Japan. UQ is jointly owned by KDDI, Intel, JR East, Kyocera, Daiwa and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and intends to begin offering commercial WiMAX service in Japan starting in 2009 according to the press release issued by Fujitsu.
The official announcement from Mitsubishi Electric indicating they will exit the mobile handset business just hit the newswire. Noting fierce competition and downtrending market share they are the second Japanese ODM to terminate their manufacturing operations this fiscal year. According to their statement, the company estimates 2.1 million units sold over the year for approx. $1 billion and plans to “maintain and further strengthen the partnership with NTT DoCoMo through the communication related business”, essentially so-called ‘hard iron’ base station network segment.
Backed by their telecom operator partner SoftBank Mobile, and with Hillary Duff as the campaign face, SoftBank Mobile held splashy launch parties in locations around Tokyo this week-end. Drawing attention to the companies branded offerings, with over 3 million content subscribers established in Japan over their last seven years operating here, the new MVNO is bullish about it’s domestic market potential. They have indicated a target segment focus, young women, and have a strong industry partners in SoftBank Mobile, including Yahoo!, to run a viable service offering.
Morpho, Inc., provider of image processing software solutions for mobile devices, has announced that it received an investment in the amount of 165 Million JPY (approx. $150 Million) from Nokia Growth Partners, the venture capital arm of Nokia. The investment from Nokia Growth Partners, its first ever in a Japanese company, follows Morpho’s recent announcement that it had received an investment from DoCoMo. With these latest rounds of funding Morpho plans to grow its overseas operations to meet the increasing demands of customers worldwide.
