According to Reuters, UK-based O2 and Australia’s Telstra Corp. said on Tuesday they would end NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode Internet phone service. Mobile phone operator O2, which is owned by Spain’s Telefonica said the limited range of devices that carried the service had restricted its growth. O2 will continue to support the service for the next two years but will not launch any new i-mode handsets from July 2007, it said.
Several mainstream media reports indicate the powerful earthquake which struck northern Japan on Monday has caused disruption to communications services in the country. The earthquake struck just off the coast of Niigata prefecture, the magnitude 6.8 quake registered an intensity of 6+ on Japan’s scale of 0 to 7, in three locations. As a result of the temblor major telecommunications carriers have imposed restrictions on phone calls into and out of the affected area.
According to an article on Media in Canada, via Mobile Kawya, states; “QR technology has been incredibly successful for marketers in Japan and we expect similar success in Canada,” Michael Gramlow, CD interactive at Dentsu Canada, tells MiC. “It’s a great way to connect with a youth target that’s notoriously difficult to reach – not just because it offers something new and different for them to interact with, but also because it generates a lot of street buzz.” The four-week campaign, which ends on July 15, involves the wild posting of 1,100 posters on construction boards and within frames on office buildings.
NextWave Wireless announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all shares of IPMobile held by Mori Trust Co., Ltd., of Japan. Upon closing of the transaction, NextWave will hold a 69.2% stake in IPMobile. The agreement is subject to required government approvals. IPMobile has been working with IPWireless towards a commercial launch of a TD-CDMA wireless broadband network by November of this year. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
According to Kyodo news, Japan Communications has asked the Ministry to weigh in on its stalled negotiations to use DoCoMo’s network. Japan Communications, which has taken the action under the Telecommunications Business Law, is Japan’s first mobile virtual network operator and currently offers wireless data communications services using Willcom’s PHS network.
Yamaha has just completed a major reorganization, moving its entire content division out of the parent company and into a subsidiary called Yamaha Music Media (YMM). Until now, YMM has focused mainly on publishing instructional books and magazines for pianists, guitarists and other musicians. Under the new structure, this print media will be combined with Yamaha’s considerable mobile content assets, as well as its music software catalog.
