DoCoMo has announced they will unveil their next 700i-series line-up of FOMA 3G handset models this afternoon at a press conference to be held at Roppongi Hills Tower starting at 15:00 JST. They will broadcast a live video stream of the proceedings – Here. The on-demand version will also be available to view shortly afterwards Here.
DoCoMo announced yesterday that they have agreed to form a joint venture company with Casio to provide digital payment systems, mainly for DoCoMo’s iD mobile credit-card platform, and related customer relationship management services. Combining Casio’s digital cash-register technologies and retail support know-how with DoCoMo’s expertise in mobile payments, the joint venture, to be named CXD NEXT, will develop services centered around Casio’s new cash register with virtual private network capability and reader/writer compatibility for mobile e-wallet services.
SoftBank announced they have received a permit from the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications to run femtocell trials. The experiment, using 2GHz belt, will be conducted in partnership with ip.access, Motorola, Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson Japan, Samsung, Sonas, Ubiquisys and NEC. Femtocell is a micro cellular phone base station that can be set it up in the home or office and offer mobile handsets voice services via existing fixed-line ADSL connections.
KDDI has announced that the company reached an agreement with Microsoft to jointly develop and provide applications using a Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model for corporate users. The companies will also create an ecosystem to provide extensive support to independent software vendor (ISV) partners and spur the development of new service-enabled applications to drive momentum for new SaaS applications. The service will allow customers to access their data on a PC in the office or with a mobile phone when they are on the go.
Telcordia Technologies announced that it has enabled KDDI America, Inc. to launch a MVNO that offers prepaid services and tariffs targeted to Japanese communities in the United States. KDDI America will be relying on the Telcordia Hosted Solution for MVNOs, which offers pre-paid and post-paid wireless services without having to own or manage a network. KDDI America will specifically be providing a real-time pre-paid service that includes flexible rates on calls to and from Japan.
DoCoMo President Masao Nakamura announced at a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday that the company will offer a new family-plan package, from August 22, reducing monthly fees in a bid to retain dominant market share. The new Fami-wari MAX plan will enable each subscriber in a family to receive the discount rate of the longest-subscribing family member, or a maximum of 50% for subscribers who have been with DoCoMo for at least 11 years.
