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editors

Euro Mobile Web 5 Years Behind Japan

According to a recent research report by Forrester, when it comes to mobile services, Japan is still ahead of Europe by a whopping five years, even though operators in both regions introduced mobile Internet services at roughly the same time in the late 1990s. So it’s no wonder that Europe’s mobile operators and content and media firms wanting to enter the mobile channel look at the Japanese market to try to predict the future success — or lack thereof — of new mobile Internet services. European mobile operators should focus on the needs of mobile users on the go: their desire to communicate and access to timely and location-relevant content.

[“..focus on the needs of mobile users..” what a great concept — Eds]

DoCoMo to Display 3G Handset in Milan

DoCoMo announced today that a new 3G FOMA handset developed with award-winning designer Stefano Giovannoni will be globally premiered during Design Week from April 18 to 23 in Milan, Italy. Giovannoni, creator of highly acclaimed designs for world-famous companies such as Alessi, Fiat and Siemens, designed the new handset in collaboration with handset manufacturer NEC Corporation and DoCoMo.

DoCoMo Announces New Business Handset

DoCoMo just announced they will begin marketing the F903iBSC, by Fujitsu, business-use to enable companies to address security issues such as information leaks and non-work-related use of corporate phones. Security is enhanced by a tool that automatically locks all functions when the handset is shut. Unlocking can be handled with biometric fingerprint authorization or a password. DoCoMo will market this new 3G FOMA handset in Japan from March 19 exclusively through corporate business divisions, and will not be available at DoCoMo shops.

NTT Rolls Out WiMax in Okinawa

Alvarion announced that NTT West Okinawa has successfully adopted the the companies BreezeACCESS VL WiMAX system at 4.9 GHz to answer their Tier 1 carrier requirements for offering wireless broadband services and fast Internet access to residences and municipalities on the Okinawa islands of Tokashiki, Zamami and Aka. This OFDM technology implementation features extended reach of more than 30 kilometers at high capacity of up to 54 Mbps to enable carriers and other service providers to offer triple play services to both business and residential subscribers.

Acrodea and Aztec Announce Co-op

AZTEQ mobile, an advanced provider console-class gaming solutions for mobile devices and Tokyo-based Acrodea, a leader in the mobile middleware space providing products such as VIVID UI and X-Forge, have announced their collaboration effort to commercialize OpenKODE. Developed by the Khronos Group, OpenKODE is a royalty-free, cross-platform standard that combines a set of native APIs into a comprehensive media stack specification for accelerating rich media and graphics applications. See full press release Here.

DoCoMo Reports Roaming Glitch

According to this report on Reuters, DoCoMo has said that as many as 240,000 users may not be able to use their phones overseas because of a software glitch. Faulty SIM cards on certain models are apparently preventing connections for messages and voice calls on networks outside Japan. DoCoMo said the glitch and it will replace faulty SIM cards for free.