Japan’s NHK has announced they will broadcast one of the first programs to accept input from both remote control and cellular phone. A special Christmas Edition of the “Two Way TV World * Go Round” quiz show will add capabilities to accept input from up to four people per household. One person in the household will use the TV’s remote controller to respond to quiz questions, while three others will use their cellular phones. [in Japanese]
NEPRO Japan published a report [in Japanese] giving results of a study into mobile phone GPS usage. At the moment, KDDI/au has more than 15 GPS-enabled models (DoCoMo has 2; Vodafone has none). In December 2003, au introduced their NAVI-Walk personal navigation service with an aggressive TV campaign presenting the advantages of mobile-phone GPS.
The latest word from Tokyo street-level retailers for the Top 20 DoCoMo mobile phones sold between 4-10 November. Sorted by maker, model, and color (and link to product site), this interesting tidbit should give marketers a clear snapshot of what customers are actually buying. It’s no surprise that NEC scored 8 of the 20 positions with 6 in the top 10.
Visto Corporation, the leading global provider of personal and corporate wireless e-mail and PIM solutions to mobile operators for the broadest set of mobile device platforms, today announced the expansion of its global presence through the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Japan.
The organizer of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture launched a cell phone website Thursday to provide the latest news about the event as well as information about tickets and access to the venue through the website. Reservations for some pavilions and events can also be made through the website starting Feb 25, a month ahead of the March 25 opening of the exposition.
JCB, a leading international payment brand, has developed contactless credit for MOPASS cards [.jpg image] conforming to ISO/IEC14443 for Type B communications. The MOPASS card (MObile PASSport), created in cooperation with Hitachi Ltd., combines smart card microprocessor functions with the flash memory card format for use in PCs, mobile phones, PDAs and other information devices with a memory card slot. JCB demonstrated the card at the 9th JCB World Conference on October 18 and 19 in Kyoto, Japan.
Wi-LAN Inc., the global provider of market-leading broadband wireless communications products and technologies and the original charter member of the WiMAX Forum, today launched Mobilis, the first commercially available two-way broadband wireless product designed for a high-speed mobile environment, at the ITS World Congress 2004 in Nagoya, Japan. Wi-LAN is initially targeting Mobilis at the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) market. ITS wireless applications include real-time video surveillance, streaming advertising, and hotspot Internet access for passengers.
SkyWave, Inc., Ltd., a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) pioneer and leading provider of VoIP services and solutions in Japan, and LignUp Corporation, a leading provider of SIP-based voice applications and software infrastructure for the enterprise, today announced that the companies will build on channel and customer successes in Japan by partnering to jointly develop and market SIP solutions that enhance enterprise communications while reducing long distance costs, reducing telecom operating costs, and eliminating redundant infrastructure costs.
IT researcher and consulting firm Gartner Japan has announced sales in Japan of cellular phones between January and June. Sales reached 22,133,100 units, down 8.5% over the same period last year. The company attributes the decline in sales to the fact that demand for camera phones was not as brisk as a year ago. Gartner also reports that W-CDMA phones accounted for almost 15% of total cellphone sales.
Softbank has apparently asked a Tokyo court to block the Japan government’s plan for distributing 3G spectrum to mobile phone operators, saying it would bar new entrants until 2012. The company argued the plan favoured the existing top two mobile phone operators — NTT DoCoMo and KDDI — in the 800-Mhz band used for high-speed wireless services, impeding Softbank’s mobile business plans.
