Mobile Users
Mobile Users

Mobile Users

Hardcore Mobile Gamer Dilemma

2005 was a big year for mobile gaming. $600 million big, or $1.5 billion if you want to talk globally. So where are all the mobile gamers? A quick visit around the busiest, most-trafficked gaming forums shows a mild interest in the mobile platform at best, and disdain for the medium at worst. It’s a given that the mobile platform will never generate the excitement and online chatter of the console or PC mediums, but why do hardcore gamers take such an apathetic stance towards mobile?

Index Trials Cameraphone Recognition

Index Solutions announced a joint venture today with Tokyo based Kuremen Technologies to trial an image recognition program using photos taken by the camera of mobile phones. The new service, called PicLin, will enable the company to provide users with additional information according to the picture sent via e-mail using image recognition technology powered by Kureman.

Phone photos of deceased controversial

A growing number of people are taking photos of deceased family members or friends during funeral services. In July last year, Akiko Deguchi, a funeral planner, saw a surprising scene at a funeral ceremony held at a Yokohama funeral hall — five to six attendees were taking photos of the deceased person’s face on their mobile phone cameras shortly before the lid was placed on the coffin.

Global 3G Platform Announced

NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Renesas Technology Corp., Fujitsu Limited, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Sharp Corporation today announced that they will jointly develop a comprehensive mobile phone platform combining a single-chip LSI for dual mode handsets supporting HSDPA /W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and core software such as operating systems. The new mobile phone platform will help accelerate the global adoption of W-CDMA services including FOMA, and lower the costs of these handsets. The companies expect to have the platform developed around Q2/FY2007 (July-September).

Mobile Phone Adoption Rates in Japan

Research and Markets have announced the new Wireless World Forum report: Japan Mobile Market 2006 – Your Statistical Guide To Understanding The Mobile Opportunities in Japan 2006-2007. Stating that data from the “Japan Mobile Market” statistical handbook shows that future growth in the Japanese mobile market will be centred on the under 14s and over 55s as 100% penetration is reached in all other age groups. Penetration in the 5-9 year-old age group will more than double from 29% in 2004 to reach 64% in 2007 but the largest number of new subscribers in 2006 will come from the 55-65 age group, with 1.62 million new customers.

Info Plant's Paid Mobile Site Survey

Online market researcher Info Plant has announced the results of a survey of 6,366 men and women on how people use paid mobile sites. The company conducted the survey from December 23 to January 3. When asked about how many paid sites they have used, 24.8% of the respondents answered “one”, followed by “two” (17.8%) and “three” (16.2%). By gender, more women than men have paid for mobile sites (80.0% vs. 74.6%). By age, about 80% of the men in their 20s and the women in their 20s to 40s have paid for a mobile site.