Solectek Corporation has selected the MB87M3550 Fixed WiMAX SoC from Fujitsu Microelectronics as the standard silicon for integration into its new WiMAX-compliant series of SkyWay-MAX base stations and subscriber units. The SkyWay-MAX system will be available in limited quantities at the end of 2006, and will be generally available during the first quarter of 2007.
Despite the resounding silence from DoCoMo’s website, Tower Records (part-owned by DoCoMo) have just introduced a joint-venture service with Napster in Japan. The Tower Records Japan-Napster JV will provide music distribution services for PC and mobile from an initial catalogue of 1.5 million songs. The initial service launch only allows content purchased by premium subscribers – a subscription costs 1,980 JPY per month – to be moved from the PC to mobile devices – and at this time only one handset (F902is) is supported.
DoCoMo took a 42 percent share of Tower Records here in November 2005 and – if the on-scene hype at DoCoMo’s booth at this week’s CEATEC consumer electronics show is any guide – they appear ready to announce a more aggressive mobile music device line-up in the coming weeks.
The Tower Records initiative appears not unrelated to DoCoMo’s overall mobile music strategy, which has so far run a distant second to mobile market leader KDDI/au.
Since 2002, KDDI have seen strong traffic, sales and handset popularity with their Chaku Uta, Chaku Uta Full, and Chaku Motion full-track audio and video offering. More recently, their new ‘LISMO’ unified PC/mobile content download and syncing service has started to gain customers, while DoCoMo have only this year in June started pushing Chaku Uta Full.
The September presser with NTT DoCoMo’s President Nakamura contained some interesting bits of info on 3G coverage; WWJ subscribers can log in and listen to the entire event on MP3 audio (see today’s Viewpoint).
Yes, I know that there has been an ongoing drumbeat in the media reporting spotty coverage for FOMA users. But Nakamura devoted a lot of time to explaining their ongoing and upcoming base station and 3G FOMA network coverage plans, emphasizing that the carrier would boost coverage at “JR stations, universities, junior colleges and high schools.”
Nippon Television Network (NTV) and NTT DoCoMo have jointly developed a system to distribute and store video-embedded e-coupons and e-cards to and in cellular phones capable of receiving one-seg terrestrial digital broadcasting. The system uses the one-seg data broadcasting band to automatically store broadcasting program information in a one-seg-capable handset regardless of whether or not it displays broadcast video. NTV and DoCoMo are considering distributing location-dependent coupons and coupons intended for users with target attributes.
KDDI have announced that two of the new models introduced for their autumn line up will go on sale this weekend. The W43K by Kyocera and W42SA by Sanyo are both Win-series (CDMA 1X EV-DO) phones with features ranging from enhanced music and an m-commerce FeliCa chip to the PC-Site Viewer and cool new Camera-Dictionary functions. Details [in Japanese] here.
SoftBank Mobile have just issued a press release [.PDF in Japanese] announcing that four of their recently unveiled handsets – the 910T, 810SH, 811SH and 705P – will commence sales nationwide on Saturday, 7 October. The update has not been posted on their new website as of this moment, however we do look forward to seeing them come up to speed there as the old vodafone.jp site now resolves to softbankmobile.co.jp.
