Editor’s Note
Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

Mobile Intelligence Japan: Now We're Cooking!

Mobile Intelligence Japan: Now We're Cooking!Another full day on the run for the Mobile Intelligence Japan mission-to-Tokyo crew, with three hours this morning focused on e- and m-payments. This is one of the hottest areas of interest for the wireless industry and we had a couple of great seminar room presentations that really helped everyone put the past, present and future road maps in perspective. Heading out on the street for afternoon sessions in Harajuku and on the Ginza, we managed to get our hands on some of the latest handsets coming from KDDI/au and got an inside peek at the possible future evolution of QR codes from ColorZip.

The evening’s local experts’ dinner, in a very traditional Japanese restaurant — with some fantastic food and conversation — was the perfect way to finish off the day. A dozen hard-core mobile pros gathered to exchange views and opinions about domestic and international markets and strategies while trying to keep up with all the plates and pitchers that just kept coming from somewhere on the other side of the koi pond. Like the title says… Now We’re (Really) Cooking!

Mobile Monday Tokyo: Hot Flash and Cool Java

Mobile Monday Tokyo: Hot Flash and Cool JavaThe first full day of our Mobile Intelligence Japan tour has wrapped up with yet another stellar turn-out at Mobile Monday Tokyo’s OktoberZestEvent in Ebisu tonight. After a jam-packed schedule that included our visit to DoCoMo for a hands-on product demonstration and a meeting with Japan’s first (and still only) MVNO, the MIJ team settled down for a few margarita’s with bratwurst and sauerkraut to take in the evening’s feature presentations from G-Mode and Macromedia. Akio Tanaka and Dwight Rodgers (photo, right) from Macromedia Japan provided a fantastic overview of FlashLite and their new FlashCast mobile service (branded i-Channel on DoCoMo) to the almost 250 MoMo attendees.

Mobile Internet: See it. Hear it. Breath it. Understand it.

We really hit the ground running today with a detailed market introduction from WWJ’s editor-in-chief (and MIJ host) Daniel Scuka, followed by a mobile music report and then a working lunch before heading out into the jungle. Tomorrow, we focus on mobile payments and we will visit another carrier before winding down for a relaxed ‘local experts’ dinner.

Mobile Intelligence Japan – Akihabara Walking Tour

Mobile Intelligence Japan - Akihabara Walking TourAfter months of preparation, our MIJ mission to Tokyo kicked-off Sunday afternoon with a casual walk-about through the famous Akihabara electric town district. Over the coming week of scheduled meetings and events, we plan to post a daily update — right here on WWJ — of the highlights to provide subscribers a current snapshot of Japan’s mobile space. MIJ has an extensive agenda lined up, including company visits and presentations from many of what we believe to be the most interesting local players, a major networking event at Mobile Monday tomorrow night and a whole day out at Tech Disneyland — the CEATEC trade show.

You’ve got to experience it to believe it!

While most of these discussions will be held ‘off-the-record’ to gather info just for MIJ participants, we are looking forward to gaining an even deeper insight of where the industry is today and how things are shaping up for 2006 and to sharing what we can.

Mobile Intelligence Japan: Seats Available

If you’re in Tokyo next week, plan to join the Mobile Intelligence Japan (MIJ) mission for one or more (or all!) sessions with some of the coolest companies making mobile in Japan happen. Agenda sessions include: carriers, content providers, application developers, technology vendors, m-commerce developers and more! MIJ is analyzed and interpreted by your guide and host Daniel Scuka, Chief Editor at Wireless Watch Japan, and the experts at Mobikyo KK, Japan’s leading source of mobile intelligence (and WWJ’s publisher). For complete details on the MIJ agenda contact us here.

Japan and China Sign Mobile MOU

The governments of China and Japan plan long-term co-operation for the development and standardization of future mobile communications technologies. Ministries of the Chinese and Japanese governments have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the two countries collaborate on the development and standardization of advanced mobile communications. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) and Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) will co-operate on what they call fourth-generation, or “beyond the third generation” (B3G) technologies.

Next Frontier: TV for Mobile Phones

The IHT posted a story on Monday on issues related to television for mobile phones. The story says, in part, “Before true mobile broadcast services can take off, a number of questions have to be answered: Which of at least five delivery methods, ranging from cellular technology to mobile broadcasting via separate wireless frequencies, works best? How will the relationship between television content providers, channel owners and mobile phone operators evolve? What kind of programming, if any, do mobile viewers want, and how much will they be willing to pay for it?” All good questions, we think, but the story fails to report the first real brick wall that that mobile TV services/technologies will hit.