Japan Market
Japan Market

Japan Market

KDDI Eyes Method for Advanced Mobile

KDDI Corp. intends to maintain the CDMA 2000 method, used for the current 3G mobile service offerings, for voice communications in future advanced mobile services, company officials have said according to JiJi press. For data transmission, however, KDDI plans to adopt the Long Term Evolution, or LTE, technology, an internationally supported method to be compatible with the wideband code division multiple access, or W-CDMA, mobile method now used by its rivals NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile the officials said.

QR Code Marker for your Grave

Somehow we missed this news from Ishinokoe (or “voice of stone”) who announced that they will begin offering tombstones with a unique Design QR code. The package will allow visitors to access a dedicated mobile site, complete with life history and photos etc., of the deceased. They also note that for the sake of privacy only people with a key, family members, will be able to open the chamber door in order to scan the data.

Exclusive Luxury Toshiba Handset Introduced

The Cosmic Shiner, a FanFun 815T model with diamonds, targeted at the ‘well-to-do’ was unveiled this week in Tokyo. This limited edition model, with only 1,000 available, is to be offered for $4,000 via an interesting invitation only scheme. In addition to the custom design features by Kansai Yamamoto discriminating buyers will also be entitled to a new “Prestige Gold” membership service.

Sharp Handsets Hold Top Market Share

Sharp increased it’s position as the top supplier of mobile phones in Japan in 2007 for the second straight year, according to a Jiji article press quoting market research company IDC Japan. In the October-December period, Sharp held on the top spot for the seventh consecutive quarter. The company took a 25.1 pct share of domestic mobile phone shipments, up from 18.6 pct in the previous year, thanks to the popularity of its Aquos branded models. Total shipments, across all handset makers, was up year-on-year 4.4 pct to 51.52 million units.

Nokia Growth Partners Buys into Japan

Morpho, Inc., provider of image processing software solutions for mobile devices, has announced that it received an investment in the amount of 165 Million JPY (approx. $150 Million) from Nokia Growth Partners, the venture capital arm of Nokia. The investment from Nokia Growth Partners, its first ever in a Japanese company, follows Morpho’s recent announcement that it had received an investment from DoCoMo. With these latest rounds of funding Morpho plans to grow its overseas operations to meet the increasing demands of customers worldwide.

Toshiba Introduces RoboPhone

Softbank Mobile has announced this Toshiba made 815T PB handset with an uber-cool Robo Design which is sure to grab lots of mainstream, not too mention full-blown geek luvin, media buzz. This transfomer styled device features a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, 2MP camera, music player, IrDA, Felica e-wallet and microSD card slot along with Push-to-Talk and usual slate of services.