Users of Vodafone’s third-generation cell phones were unable to connect to the Internet or send or receive e-mail for over seven hours due to a network fault, company officials said Thursday, just days after a similar glitch caused problems for users.
Vodafone KK is hoping to appeal to a wider range of companies with changes to its Vodafone Mobile Office price plan. The company plans to reduce monthly basic charges for business customers from 1 June. Under the current scheme, customers form an on-net group of 20 lines or more under the same company account.
Roam, roam on the (wider) range. DoCoMo is extending international videophone and mobile roaming services for their 3G FOMA system. Starting 27 May, “World Wing” and “World Walker” roaming service users will be able to browse both i-mode and Web sites from China, keep the same i-mode mailing address while in the Middle Kingdom and access existing services for voice and SMS; China Mobile Communications Corp. will provide the local network. Data communications charges start at 50 yen for the first 50 packets and 0.2 yen per packet thereafter.
NTT DoCoMo Inc will halt development of new 2G (second-generation) cellular phone handsets after about two new models are released this year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without citing sources. Panasonic Mobile Communications Co and others that co-develop handsets with DoCoMo have already halted R&D operations for the products, the business daily said.
Vodafone K.K. announced today that it will enhance its Automatic Image Conversion function for Vodafone live! mail services from 30 June 2005 to make it possible to better receive Movie Sha-mail video messages from other Vodafone K.K. handsets and imaging files sent from non-Vodafone K.K. handsets and PCs. The Automatic Image Conversion function was first launched in September 2004, making it possible for Vodafone K.K. customers exchanging Sha-mail picture messages to have images automatically converted by the mail system to a size and number of colours optimal for the receiver?fs handset. The service does not require an application and customers are only billed for communication charges incurred when sending and receiving mails.
A first for a Korean manufacturer, LG Electronics Inc. is looking to set foot in the Japanese mobile phone market, the Seoul-based company said over the weekend. LG Electronics, the country’s second-largest electronics company, recently formed a task force to handle negotiations with NTT DoCoMo, the largest wireless communications company in Japan. Executives said that the company is aiming to supply 3G handsets to the Japanese communications giant.
