Mobile Users

Context is King in the MobileNet

July 11, 2003 September 30, 2023

Campaigns targeting MobileNet consumers must go beyond considerations of location and time focusing on broader user context in order to be effective, according to a study released today by researchers at the International University of Japan. Based on the results of 14,000 mobile user responses nationwide, the researchers have created an approach that includes user context for developing and deploying MobileNet solutions. Although physical location and time of day at which users access the MobileNet is important and correlated to some extent with user content choice, the results suggest that such factors provide no true foundation upon which to build effective marketing campaigns or profitable business models.

Lucky climber gets caught on scrub in fall from cliff

June 23, 2003 September 30, 2023

A climber luckily escaped death after falling over a 120-meter cliff when he was stopped by scrub just 18 meters below the edge.

Dozing driver delays long-distance bus

June 23, 2003 September 30, 2023

A West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) bus arrived at its destination 35 minutes late after the driver took a nap during the journey and forgot to set his alarm clock, it has been learned.

Teacher resigns over upskirt snapshot

June 20, 2003 September 30, 2023

An elementary school teacher who used his camera-equipped cell phone to take a snapshot up a girl’s skirt has resigned in disgrace after being suspended for three months, it has been learned.

Japan: The birth of the Wireless Information Society

June 10, 2003 September 30, 2023

Almost exactly 30 years ago, Motorola’s Martin Cooper, now regarded as the father of the modern cellphone, unleashed an entire industry when he made some of the first calls with a portable cellular phone in New York city. The rest, of course, is history – a lot of which is being written right here in Asian countries like Japan.

Swamped by Euro Feedback – Now Let's Look at America

April 30, 2003 September 30, 2023

Go ahead and feel free to mail me with your notes on which US/Canadian companies, technologies, business models, and content services bear watching. Can m-mode delivered via GSM/GPRS by AT&T Wireless sweep the US? Or does the backwards compatibility and high speed of CDMA 1x technology have an overwhelming advantage – making the CDMA carriers the ultimate market winners? Republishing your collected, collective wisdom on the European and North American mobile Net markets in the final two WWJ newsletters strikes me as being the best way I can pay back your loyal readership and spread around some of the local-market knowledge that WWJ subscribers have amassed.