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Vodafone Releases the V604SH

Vodafone K.K. just announced that on 19 November 2005 it will commence nationwide sales of the V604SH [ .jpg image ] entertainment handset made by Sharp, which features a 3.2 megapixel mobile camera with 2x optical zoom and auto focus, along with a built-in analog TV tuner. The V604SH also features a host of entertainment functions such as a high-quality, wide-angle view, large-size 2.4-inch Mobile ASV LCD, ‘Custom Screens’ for menu screen and icon customisation with popular characters including ones from Disney, a Music Player that supports AAC and SD-Audio MP3 music files for listening enjoyment and a ‘Motion Control Sensor’ that responds to movements for new mobile gaming experiences.

DoCoMo to Buy China-Made Handsets

NTT DoCoMo may buy cheaper handsets made in China by NEC Corp., its No. 2 supplier, to cut costs as revenue falls. The company is also offering handsets from overseas vendors such as Nokia Oyj and LG Electronics Inc. in the coming year, Chief Financial Officer Yoshiaki Ugaki said in an interview conducted on Nov. 15. Foreign-made phones can be as much as 10,000 yen ($84) cheaper than domestic handsets used on the company’s high-speed network, he said. DoCoMo expects costs to sell new handsets to rise in the fiscal second half as more customers typically upgrade or buy new phones at the end of the business and academic year in March, Ugaki said.

Vodafone Pursues Potential MVNO's

Bill Morrow, who heads Vodafone’s Japan operations, said on Wednesday the UK mobile operator was “feverishly in negotiations with quite a few” potential MVNOs. The world’s largest mobile operator by revenues wants to sign up to 10 MVNOs within two years, with the first contract expected to be signed in the next financial year. Such a deal would make Vodafone the first mobile phone network wholesaler in Japan. NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, the country’s largest mobile operators, have said they do not have enough capacity to lease their networks to MVNOs.

Vodafone Shares Plunge

Vodafone Group Plc warned that its struggling Japanese unit would curb profit margin growth in 2007, casting a pall over strong half-year results and sending its shares plunging almost 10 percent. Further disappointment that Japanese profit margins fell by 6 percentage points in the half-year, coupled with a warning of another "significant reduction" in the year to March 2007 and a cautious group outlook for 2007, helped propel the shares lower. "I think there’s no clear reason for Vodafone to remain in Japan," said Jim Wright, fund manager at the British Steel Pension Fund, a Vodafone shareholder.

Govt to Study Re-Organization Plan

Telecom minister Heizo Takenaka pledged Friday to examine NTT’s plan to reorganize its structure and eliminate overlapping businesses. The remarks from the minister of internal affairs and communications came two days after the telecom giant unveiled the reorganization plan, which is designed to offer Internet and telecom services, among others, for corporate clients at competitive fares.

NEC's Electronic Image Stabilizer

DoCoMo will launch the N902i [.jpg] developed and manufactured by NEC Corp., on November 18th. Although the effective pixel count of the image sensor is about two million, the camera may provide 4-megapixel still image resolution with the use of pixel interpolation by correcting blur using four photos taken at the same time. Instead of an optical image stabilizer which moves a lens mechanically, which is used by most digital cameras, this unit employs an electronic image stabilizer to record a much clearer image.