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

Yet Another Baby i-mode

NEC’s Mobile Internet Platform and i-mode Mobile Handset to Operate at COSMOTE i-mode Service in Greece. NEC Corporation and its subsidiary NEC Italia s.r.l today announced the delivery of its Mobile Internet Platform and mobile handsets to COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications S.A.’s “i-mode(r)” service, which will be provided commercially, with an initial free period, from 7 June 2004. NEC has achieved rapid implementation in cooperation with COSMOTE, so that the i-mode service can be launched well in advance of the “Athens 2004” Olympic Games, of which COSMOTE is a Grand National Sponsor.

NEC Going for 3G Broke in China

Don’t say we haven’t mentioned this one before, but the good ol Brit boys (and girls) at The Reg have spotted that NEC is targeting China for 3G phones. Here it is from the horse’s mouth: NEC is setting up a new company in China with the primary goal of developing the Chinese 3G mobile market. The company, facing declining sales in Japan, believes China will be a vital new growth area particularly in 3G.

Panasonic to Consolidate 3G Mobile Phone Production in Japan

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand name, today announced plans to reorganize and consolidate its mobile phone and automotive electronics production in Japan. Under the proposed plan, mobile phone manufacturing carried out at the Hanamaki plant in Iwate Prefecture will be shifted to Shizuoka Prefecture and automotive electronics manufacturing to Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture. The plan is a part of Matsushita’s new 3-year business plan, the “Leap Ahead 21” Plan, aiming at further enhancing the company’s strategy to achieve an optimum system for global production.

WWJ Launches REAL Credit Card Billing

Boy-oh-Boy! We are absolutely delighted to have real-time credit-card processing on the WWJ site, courtesy of eSellerate! We have just switched the new subscription processing system ON, and will do a full announcement in this week’s newsletter; there are also new pricing, term, and multi-user-discount options. If you have any problems whatsoever with subscribing, please drop us a note (send mail to support [at] wirelesswatch.jp) and we’ll get back to you immediately. More announcements shortly…

DoCoMo Unveils New FOMA 900is

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries today unveiled three highly advanced handsets that will bring unprecedented functionality to the 3G FOMA® 900i series. The release date for each model will be announced soon. The companies also announced that the number of FOMA service subscribers surpassed the four million mark yesterday, just two months after reaching three million. The coming release of three new 900i handsets is expected to stimulate continued rapid growth of the FOMA subscriber base.

Mobile Wallets for 1 Billion People

DigitaLife ’04, a consumer electronics exhibition to be held in the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, will offer patrons the ability to carry their wallets, digitally, inside their mobile phones. Upon purchase of their tickets, visitors will be able to carry their event tickets, business cards, ShowCash debit cards and a loyalty card, all in their phones. Tickets will be issued via SMS, and ID cards saved as address book entries. These tickets and ID cards can then be scanned, as if they were physically presented in their paper or plastic form.

Terrestrial TV-Enabled Cell Phone

KDDI R&D Laboratories have jointly developed a mobile-phone terminal that receives digital terrestrial TV broadcasts with interactive services in conjunction with NHK Science and Technical Research Labs. The two companies are the first in Japan to develop such a product in advance of digital TV broadcasting aimed at mobile terminals, which is due to commence in fiscal 2005. We visited NHK’s open house for a peek at their prototype, a modified Hitachi W11H handset. The demonstration allowed users to watch a newscast and scroll through a menu selection of relevant links to view different segments, like weather forecasts or sports highlights. A few frame-grabs below, or see the video program here.

The Future of Mobile Media Distribution

Analog TV handsets led the way in Japan last year. Now cell phones with sophisticated digital services pursue parallel paths into the future. These complex systems may migrate out of the country, but audience usage preferences are still an unknown. The following is a map to this new world of Japanese mobile technology — how digital FM cell phones have come of age and hand-held digital TV, delivered by satellite, may not be far behind. The second of a two-part series by Daniel Scuka.

NEC Scales for New Heights in China's Mobile Telecoms

NEC Corporation today announced the establishment of new business structure “NEC Telecommunications (China)” and the appointment of business veteran Brian (Lei) Lu as head of the new structure to pursue mobile communications business in China. The new business structure is the results of reorganization among NEC’s telecom manufacturing, marketing, service and maintenance operations in China to fully adapt to mobile internet and 3G mobile business.

100th Webcast: Japan Mobile Rocks!

100th Webcast: Japan Mobile Rocks!From Tokyo’s ultra-buttoned-down cellco headquarters to the funky, cell-phone-using youth masses, Wireless Watch Japan brings you first-hand video reporting on this country’s mobile revolution — and now we’ve done it 100 times! To celebrate, the WWJ team decided to show you more of what makes Japan’s wireless Internet the world’s test-bed for high-speed W-CDMA and CDMA 2000 networks and ubersophisticated mobile applications. Today’s program serves, we think, as a showcase for the incredible developments happening in the Japan market — and provides highlights from some of the past episodes we’ve had the pleasure to bring you. Phew! Happy 100th webcast to us! Full Program Run-time 5:41.. Oh, wait there’s more… 😎