<span class="vcard">editors</span>
editors

Au Blitz Unveils Seven New Handsets

KDDI has just held a press conference in the New Otani hotel to introduce another seven new handset models for the summer season just as the most recent batch announced earlier this year are now hitting the streets here in Japan. The new hardware on tap includes a Walkman branded model from Sony Ericsson and Casio’s follow-up to last years popular G’zOne water-proof ‘tough phone’ offering. They have also announced another Hitachi handset with the felica mobile wallet chip, a super-slim Kyocera coming in at 18mm thick with a 2.4inch ASV liquid crystal screen (and analog tv tuner), a new Toshiba ‘mass music’ model with bluetooth and 1GB memory on-board plus an additional digital TV tuner enabled unit (with PC site viewer) coming from Sanyo.

Advanced Cellphones Running out of Power

With an escalating array of features, including TV reception, supported by ever greater capacity of microchips, what’s to keep cellphones from adding functions with ever increasing complexity? Power. Even advanced lithium-ion batteries are being overwhelmed by the demands of new functions and an increase in flat-rate services for calls and data transmissions, which have lengthened the duration phones are used. Cellphone carriers are accelerating development of fuel cells to meet subscribers’ demand for longer operating times and upgraded functions.

SoftBank Talking Smartphone with HTC

High Tech Computer Corp, the world’s biggest maker of handsets operating on Microsoft Corp’s mobile operating system, is set to gain a stronger foothold in the Japanese smartphone market by winning orders from Japanese Internet conglomerate Softbank Corp, analysts said yesterday. “The visit of Softbank to High Tech Computer this week will benefit the latter as High Tech Computer has stepped up efforts in making inroads into the Japanese market this year,” Ann Liang, principal analyst at research firm Gartner Inc’s Taiwan branch, told the Taipei Times.

KDDI Adopts Google for Mobile Search

KDDI and Google held a joint press conference today to announce Google search will launch on KDDI/au’s EZ Web mobile platform starting in July. The new service will apparently also include contextual Adwords based on the input text and the companies have stated the tie-up will allow them to test, improve and add more services in the future. The announcement indicates this new tie-up is not aimed exclusively at mobile phones, but will also provide an extensive search service that targets content on fixed-line PCs as well.

Vodafone K.K. Announces Nokia WLAN Handsets

In a rush of press releases from the local carriers today, the news from Vodafone K.K. that it plans to offer two new mobile business devices in autumn 2006 was notable. Both devices, manufactured by Nokia, will run on Vodafone K.K.’s 3G network and on wireless LANs. They are based on the Nokia E60 and E61 models, which are currently available for enterprise customers in Europe and Asia.

We talked about the entry of Nokia e-series business devices back in October 2005; looks like a year later it will finally happen!

Will it be SoftBank or J-Phone?

Since the news first broke that SoftBank was taking over Vodafone K.K., speculation has been rife in the media over the new name of the company. Several (including us) pointed out the logic that switching back to the former well-known and loved J-Phone brand would be a strong move to hit the ground running. However, local media reports over the last few days have carried leaked news stating that it may indeed be called ‘SoftBank Mobile.’ Better place your bets now because the official announcement is due to hit the wires in the next hour or so via a press conference at a downtown Tokyo hotel with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Vodafone’s Arun Sarin on hand.

(Update) It’s official: SoftBank Mobile wins! [.PDF]. The press conference live stream is here.

The Girls Love Mobile Manga

We noticed in a online recent article that the most prominent mobile manga viewers are actually female! Apparently statistics show more than half of the viewers are women and some stories are dominated by majority of 70 percent or more. So, when do those ladies watch manga..?!? According to the story a spokeman said: “Midnight, just before falling asleep in her bed, she watches quietly under the blanket… that’s the trend, I guess.”

Japan Operators Announce Number Portability

A blast of press releases from all three mobile operators in Japan came though just now stating: “NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries, KDDI Corporation, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company, and Vodafone K.K. today announced the basic procedures for customers to switch mobile phone operators under the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) system, which is scheduled for implementation by November 1, 2006.” (WWJ subscribers log in for details.)

World First Mass-producible Polymeric UWB Antenna

Omron announced that it will introduce a new SMD Polymeric Antenna for short-range, wireless Ultra-Wideband (UWB) applications. Product launch is scheduled for June 1, 2006. UWB is a recently commercialized short-range wireless technology, expected to be widely adopted in consumer goods. Applied in dongles, personal computers, printers, mobile telephones, digital televisions and DVD players, UWB functions as a low-power-consuming wireless USB (universal serial bus), allowing users to transfer large amounts of data rapidly between various devices in close range.

InnoPath Appoints New President for Japan

InnoPath Software, Inc. today announced telecommunications industry veteran Shinichi Sawai as the president of InnoPath’s Japan operations. Sawai brings more than 20 years of expertise and knowledge in the Japanese telecommunications industry and will be responsible for continuing InnoPath’s positive growth of influence within the Japanese mobile device management (MDM) market. Sawai recently oversaw the successful promotion of global business for NTT Data Corporation, a system integrator group comprised of 100 subsidiaries and affiliates. Prior to NTT Data Corporation, he played a major role in developing 3G radio systems for Lucent Technologies, Japan.