European Market
European Market

European Market

NEC Enables Telefonica Mobile Services

NEC Corporation announced an agreement with Telefonica Moviles Espana, S.A. for delivery of its Liberty Enabled Proxy. The solution enables the introduction of an easy sign-on environment for multiple service access by end-users through a single authentication process over WAP and i-mode mobile Internet browsing. NEC’s Liberty Enabled Proxy, certified by Liberty Alliance through its conformance tests, enables terminal independent single sign-on services over WAP and i-mode. Without the proxy, special client software for mobile terminals is usually necessary to benefit from the Liberty single sign-on service.

KDDI Making Moves Overseas

KDDI Corp of Japan has signed a joint venture agreement with the UK’s BT Group to start offering global communications networks services from August. According to a statement from KDDI, the new alliance will target Japanese companies with overseas operations as part of the carrier’s plan to strengthen its worldwide operations by building new broadband networks at lower costs. According to a report in the UK Financial Times, pair aim to generate revenues of USD1 billion from the alliance within three to five years.

JCB to Trial NFC in Netherlands

JCB, the Japan-based payment card company, says it will trial a Near Field Communication (NFC)-based mobile-phone payment service in Amsterdam beginning this autumn, according to an online article. The company says it is conducting the pilot because it sees payment applications on mobile handsets as a way to convert small-value transactions to its card scheme. Seven other companies are involved in the pilot, providing chip, personalization services, payment terminals, the phones and transaction processing.

New Sharp 3G Handsets for Europe

Sharp Corp. said Friday that it will start selling later this month in Europe two new 3G models specifically designed for that market. The Osaka-based consumer electronics maker, known for its “Aquos” brand LCD TVs, will supply the new mobile phone handsets to Vodafone Group Plc, a Sharp spokesman said. He declined to comment on the price tag, which will reportedly be set in the EUR150 to EUR200 range, on par with similar cellphones sold in Europe.

MTS Orders NEC i-mode Handsets

The largest mobile operator in Russia, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), has signed an agreement to buy 40,000 mobile handsets from NEC Infocommunications, a subsidiary of Japan’s NEC. The handsets will be delivered by July, according to a press release by NEC Infocommunications, without disclosing the financial details of the deal. Prime-Tass reports that NEC will supply six models of handsets – N412i, N343i, N411i, which all support i-mode function, and e121, e1101 and e540.

Japan Good Design Awards in Milan

Good Design Award 50 Years is an exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Japan’s foremost design awards, the Good Design Awards (also called the G-Mark system). Besides celebrating a half-century of Good Design Awards history, this exhibition at Triennale di Milano introduces the design efforts of twenty longtime participants, focusing on their award-winning products. Organized by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO), the event runs from April 5th – 10th.