DoCoMo announced that the board of directors has met and proposed changes in executive positions for official approval at the shareholders and board of directors meetings scheduled to be held on June 20, 2008. Most notably the replacement of President and CEO Masao Nakamura who will hand over the helm after 4-years to Ryuji Yamada. Also noted as officially resigning, and widely reported, SVP Takeshi Natsuno. A quick trip down memory lane after the jump.
Qualcomm announced that it has successfully demonstrated the capability to support the MediaFLO and ISDB-T (1Seg) mobile TV standards on a multi-mode handset. Powered by their Universal Broadcast Modem — UBM — chipset, “the technology illustrates that MediaFLO technology can complement the free-to-air standard used in Japan and Brazil to enable a mix of free and paid mobile broadcast content and services to drive consumer adoption and revenue.” See our video interview with MediaFLO recorded here in 2006.
The PRADA Phone by LG will be available in DoCoMo shops, under the model number L852i, according to this official press release [.pdf]. The companies held a splashy launch event, with senior management in attendance, for assorted VIP guests and the media at the über modern Prada building in downtown Tokyo and Wireless Watch Japan was there, shooting video, of course!
Touting a 3-inch touch-screen and HSDPA 7.2mbs data speed connection with 2 megapixel camera featuring Schneider-Kreuznach lens, video player and document viewer capacity, the luxury brand design handset that has reportedly sold just under 1 million units in 40 countries worldwide will finally be on sale here in June. Full specs after the jump.
Local media is reporting that KDDI may show a net subscriber loss, for the first time ever, in the month of April as a result of phasing-out their legacy Tu-Ka network. According to Bloomberg news, comments made yesterday by KDDI’s CFO, Satoshi Nagao, indicate the net month-on-month decline could be in the 100,000 clients range. The company had just over 234,000 contracts for the service, less than 1% of their total customer base, as of April 1st.
A quick update from the eastern front as Japan gets back to work here after our annual Golden Week (spring vaction) break. As usual this time of year is a slow news cycle – combined with great weather outdoors – so we got a bit of fresh air and had some unusual free surf time. Hence this super clip from utube of the new Sumsing Turbo 3000 Xi model which seems to have a few ‘interesting’ options not yet available. We also tinkered with the MoMo.jp website so that it now “auto-renders” (hopefully) an improved custom mobile friendly version, give it a try from both your PC & handset. Little doubt that same style update is long overdue here on the Wireless Watch Japan site too. As usual, your valuable feedback is always most welcome.. Ganbarimasho!
The Korean mobile phone makers are increasing their market shares in the global market. Now, they are trying to show the same growth in the Japanese market. LG Electronics, supplying mobile phones to Docomo, set the target of 700,000 units for this year or double the 2007 sales volume. Pantech Group, supplying its devices to KDDI, is also preparing its new 3G product line to increase their share in the Japanese market. The company hopes to surpass 1 million units, up 20% from last year.
