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2006: Japan's Year of the FeliCa eWallet Phone

2006: Japan's Year of the FeliCa eWallet PhoneAccording to the ancient Chinese calendar, 2006 is The Year of the Dog. More importantly, it’s shaping up to be The Year of the eWallet. Launched last summer, DoCoMo’s FeliCa-based wallet phones are a growing success and competitors Vodafone and KDDI have scrambled to launch their own FeliCa-equipped models.

A recent survey points to wide consumer satisfaction and even the BBC have started reporting on Osaifu Keitai (wallet phones). The BBC’s ‘Click Online’ producer caught up with me last month in Tokyo; they were in town to cover CEATEC, but also wanted the tech and business-model details on DoCoMo’s ‘i-mode FeliCa‘ mobile service, as well as how people are using them. The result was a pretty good TV programme (if I may say so myself), which you can watch on the Click Online site(WWJ subscribers log in for full story).

WWJ: Back from A Perfect Storm

By Daniel Scuka, WWJ Editor in Chief
Thanks to everyone who dropped us a note in the past two weeks while WWJ weathered The Perfect Storm: the power surged, the hard drives choked, the server crashed and the database disappeared. But the patient has recovered, and we expect to have everything tidied up shortly (if you find any broken links or misfunctions, let us know). Please accept our sincere apologies for the interruption! We now return to our regular, cutting-edge wireless coverage.

Accessibility for JIS Standard

The CIAJ has announced that the "JIS X 8341-4: Guidelines for Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities – Information and Communications Equipment, Software and Services – Part 4: Telecommunications Equipment" has been deliberated by the Japan Industrial Standards Committee, established as a JIS standard, and notified in an official government gazette. These guidelines define items which are essential and items which are desirable from an accessibility standpoint in the planning, development and design stages so that telecommunications equipment can be operated without difficulty by all people, including older persons and persons with disabilities.

Smell Tones for Mobile Phones

Aromatherapy wafts to a high tech edge with Japanese "smell tones" for mobile phones.  Scented mobile phone charms release a variety of fragrances to signal incoming calls and email using an electronically stimulated micro scent generator built into a cell phone-style charm. Keitai KunKun (KunKun is Japanese shorthand for the act of actually sniffing) releases a light burst of fragrance for five seconds after the arrival of a call/mail. At least pockets and purses will be sweetly scented. 

Japan Mobile Users Survey

InfoPlant performed a survey of mobile phone users, carried out through the main menus of internet-enabled phones from DoCoMo, au and Vodafone which was at least somewhat focused on flat-rate data trends [.pdf in Japanese]. 16,833 people replied during the survey, 67.4% of respondents were female, and iMode users, Ezweb users and Vodafone Live! users were 57.4%, 20.9% and 21.7% respectively. WWJ subscribers login for the English translation.

DoCoMo Subscribers Top 50 Million

NTT DoCoMo have just announced that subscribers to the companies mobile phone services exceeded 50 million today, about three years and 10 months after surpassing 40 million. DoCoMo subscribers refer to 2G mova, 3G FOMA and DoPa Single Service customers. In the first 10 years after DoCoMo began offering cellular services in 1979, subscribers grew at an average net rate of roughly 30,000 per year. From 1993, two years after DoCoMo launched its 2G mova service, the average annual net gain to the present time has been about four million subscribers.

Casio Pushing for U.S. Market

Japan’s Casio Computer Co. is making an overseas push with plans to supply 3G phones to U.S. mobile carriers and a deal to win shelf space for its digital cameras at U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy, Casio President Kazuo Kashio said on Wednesday. The company’s new waterproof and shock-resistant 3G phones (launched in Japan earlier this year), which make up more than a fifth of total sales, have received high marks, Kashio said in an interview, declining to identify the U.S. carriers involved.

Accton Launching Skype Cellphone

Taiwan-based Accton Technology unveiled its Skype-enabled Wi-Fi phone, the SkyFone WM1185-T, in Tokyo at the so-called "Skype day" event. The new unit [.jpg] enables a talk time of up to four hours with a stand-by-time of up to 20 hours and is likely to be initially priced at over US$150 in the retail market, according to sources. Accton also plans to introduce dual-mode mobile phones that support both GSM and Wi-Fi technology in early 2006.

Virtual Girlfriend for Your Mobile

Hong Kong-based Artificial Life, Inc., a provider of mobile 3G technology and applications, have just announced that its flagship and award-winning 3G product: V-Girl – "Your Virtual Girlfriend" – will launch with 3 in Hong Kong today. WWJ has been following the roll-out of Artificial Life products over the last few months and we expect to see them in Japan very soon as the company is in negotiations with the major carriers here.

Japan to Grant New Carrier Licenses

Competition in Japan’s already crowded cell-phone market is set to intensify as the government prepares to open the door to new entrants for the first time in 12 years. Softbank, eAccess and IP Mobile will be granted licenses by the government to offer cell-phone services, possibly from next year, Jiji Press and Kyodo News said Tuesday, citing unnamed informed sources.

Web Update: It’s official!