With today’s launch of the new 902/802/702-series of 3G cellys, No. 3 carrier Vodafone has upped the stakes significantly in a major (some would say desperate) bid to re-capture market share. The phones, from Sharp, Sony Ericcson, NEC, Motorola, and Nokia, are all (except 802N) dual-mode W-CDMA/tri-band GSM and represent the first major incursion of foreign-made models into Japan’s 3G battleground. English press release here.
ACCESS Co., Ltd., a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, today announced the immediate availability of its new i-mode Global Profile, an integrated software solution that is optimized for the i-mode services deployed NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode alliance partners. i-mode Global Profile is a new profile that forms part of ACCESS’ NetFront Mobile Client Suite. i-mode Global Profile includes ACCESS’ market-leading NetFront technology as well as a Multi-Media Messaging Client, Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and an SSL encryption module. All technologies comprising i-mode Global Profile were developed by ACCESS and offer tight integration and functionality optimized specifically for i-mode.
KDDI has just announced a new 3G handset, the A1403K by Kyocera [.jpg image], which will be available in Japan at the end of October. Touted as a “Friendly oval form which is comfortable to hold,” it was designed by Ichiro Iwasaki. We have a quick peek on video of what looks like an early prototype of this model at CEATEC 2002. See the press release [in Japanese] Here.
Vodafone’s cut-price mobile phone calls and its 680,000 SIM card giveaway in Brisbane last month have combined to give the company a back-office headache. Vodafone Australia chief executive Grahame Maher said the company had been unprepared for the popularity of its $79 and $149 capped price monthly call plans. One Vodafone dealer said: “Before the caps we were losing three customers a day. Now we are gaining an extra six.”
French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel is nearing a deal with a Chinese peer on cooperating to build 3G mobile phone networks using the Chinese TD-SCDMA standard, a senior executive said. Alcatel’s position in China has also been bolstered by gains in market share, Christian Reinaudo, the company’s head of Asia Pacific operations, said on Monday. “We’re in very serious talks with local Chinese firms to do something together,” Reinaudo said at the Reuters Asia Technology Summit.
Han Lian, chief executive officer of mobile game software maker BBMF Corp., said entering the Japanese market made him feel like an alien landing on a new world. BBMF, which stands for Big Blue Magic Fire, was founded in 2002 by Lian and a friend, Antony Yip. The Japan unit will be set up in the coming months and 10 titles are scheduled to be offered on KDDI and Vodafone handsets.
Thrilled to join with nice folks at HP Bazaar to co-host a rocking good MoMo Tokyo debut event on 13 September and it seemed as though most of the unwired digerati within commuting distance of the Pink Cow, in ubertrendy Shibuya, were there. In today’s Portable Reportable, Chief Editor Daniel Scuka quizzes WWJ’s Lawrence Cosh-Ishii on what he saw and heard at the Mobile Monday launch in Tokyo.
Sharp has developed a new, 2-megapixel CCD camera module featuring a 2X optical inner zoom lens. Intended for use in high-end cameraphones, the new LZ0P3738 [.jpg image] will be available in quantity beginning in October 2004. Sharp is already marketing the LZ0P3731 2-megapixel CCD Camera Module with auto-focus, but to provide even greater functionality, Sharp has successfully equipped this new module with an optical zoom lens that is switchable between normal and 2X zoom.
KTF Co., South Korea’s second-largest mobile phone operator, said Thursday its board decided to form a joint venture with Dentsu Inc., Japan’s biggest advertising company, to produce and sell advertisements on cell phones. KTF will invest 2.5 billion won (US$2.2 million) in the Seoul-based joint venture and hold a 51-percent stake, the venture will begin operations in November this year, KTF said.
Inmarsat is putting heavy emphasis on the Chinese market with its next-generation service, targeting both corporate users and rural communities not covered by cellular networks with data-capable communications. Three Inmarsat 4 satellites are scheduled to begin operation at the end of next year, at a cost of $1.5bn, offering 3G data rates at around $10 per megabyte through a $700, A4-size gateway box.
