Qualcomm announced that it is sampling the industry’s first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G/LTE. According to the PR, these chipsets demonstrate significant progress toward enabling the mass-market commercial deployment of two next-generation network technologies that bring more advanced data capabilities to mobile devices for new global markets.
On the same afternoon that DoCoMo rolled their latest offering of 19 new models, across town SoftBank Mobile was also pitching their upcoming series of devices. Not only on the same day and time but SBM also introduced 19 new handsets for their winter 2009/10 lineup with 7 units coming from Sharp, 5 by Panasonic, 3 NEC’s, 2 Samsung and 1 by Toshiba. While Wi-Fi is certainly their keyword, taking advantage of the existing Yahoo BB network, the mystery Android handset marked for arrival in spring 2010 is getting all the buzz. Described only as a high spec. unit running a “Snapdragon” 1Ghz CPU with a 3.7-inch organic EL liquid crystal display – sounds like this Toshiba – and various new related services. Check-out the fancy Flash Gallery or watch the full 1:40 minute video presentation with English voice-over for all the details.
The ministry has recognized MediaFLO as one of two official technologies for nationwide mobile multimedia broadcasting services in Japan. This milestone signifies that MediaFLO-enabled mobile TV services may be deployed in Japan once spectrum is made available in 2011. Congrats to the team there as we have followed their course to enter the market here over the last few years, for example this video interview with Ali Zamari at Wireless Japan trade-show in 2007 and the presentation by Kazuhiko Masuda – President – MediaFLO Japan Planning Inc. at MoMo Tokyo later the same year.
Congrats to KDDI for “au Smart Sports” winner of 3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award for Innovation in Consumer Entertainment Service http://bit.ly/4Goauq
We made our way to the DoCoMo press conference held at the Tokyo Forum here yesterday afternoon to witness the wraps-off event of their Fall & Winter handset series. Under the tag line “Version Up” the lineup featured a total of 19 new designs on offer, with 5 Sharp units, 4 models by Fujitsu, 3 from each LG, NEC and Panasonic plus 1 Samsung. Considering the range of new devices – along with service announcements such as Auto-GPS for i-concier, MyArea Femtocell with exclusive AV contents for the home plus several Blu-ray capable units – there should, at least hopefully, be something appealing here for everybody. Check-out this Flash Gallery or see the full 80-minute presentation Video Here.
According to this report via Bloomberg, DoCoMo aims to rely on dividend payments and strategic investments to raise its share price from record lows. “The dividend is our top policy choice, followed by investments in growth areas; buying back shares comes after that,” Tsubouchi said in an interview today. “The share price is just too low.” Chief Financial Officer Kazuto Tsubouchi said.
