New Tech & Services
New Tech & Services

New Tech & Services

Fujitsu Announces Micro Mobile HDD's

Fujitsu has announced their first hard disk drives that use perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) to deliver enhanced storage capacity. The company unveiled its MHW2 BH-series of 2.5-inch hard disk drives for mobile PCs which will go on sale to the industry in October this year. The two PMR models are the 160GB MHW2160BH, which Fujitsu claims has the industry’s highest storage capacity for a 5,400 rpm HDD, and the 80GB MHW2080BH. The company aims to ship six million units of the two models.

Yamaha Announces Compass Chip

Yamaha Corp. announced that it has developed the YAS529 Three-Axis Geomagnetic Sensor IC Chip, the world’s smallest class of three-axis geomagnetic sensor for applications related to mobile phones and compact navigation systems. Most phones with GPS functions show the user’s current location on a map, but the services are thought to be difficult to use because the maps provided do not rotate in response to the user’s movements nor do they indicate the direction in which the users is moving. End users have expressed a growing desire for a geomagnetic sensor with an electronic compass function that keeps the map oriented in the direction of their movement. Plans call for beginning to market the chip in October 2006.

Radvision's PC-to-Mobile 3G Solution

Radvision announced today the availability of its new PC-to-Mobile 3G solution. The solution transforms PCs into mobile handsets by opening a bi-directional channel for visual communication between 3G mobile devices and desktops. The PC-to-Mobile solution exponentially increases the 3G subscriber base to include PCs – immediately expanding 3G video call possibilities. “The PC-to-Mobile solution leverages the power of both PCs and 3G mobile devices to fuel 3G proliferation and enable subscribers to use any PC with a broadband Internet connection as an extension of their 3G mobile handsets, subscriptions and accounts.” said Alon Barnea, General Manager of Radvision’s Mobility and Service Provider Business Unit.

NEC, Panasonic to Form Joint Venture

Japan’s Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) is said to be considering forming a joint venture in the mobile-phone sector with NEC Corp. A Matsushita spokesman apparently declined to comment further. This handset vendor consolidation story has been brewing for some time now. Based on the tone of local reports, we expect a formal announcement in the coming days.

DoCoMo Shows Sound QR Technology

DoCoMo labs has demonstrated that they can insert audio data on broadcast signals – in music and voice – which can be translated by enabled mobile phones into text messages and URL links. The so-called “Sound QR” uses OFDM modulation technology which is transmitted in parallel by using two or more frequencies at the same time to suppress the influence of area noise and address the potential tone quality deterioration.

US and Japan to Lead Mobile TV Market

SoftBank Establishes Mobile TV DivisionSoftBank announced that it has established a new company, Mobile Media Planning Corp., which aims to conduct technical research on MediaFLO and plan new services utilizing such technology. Developed by QUALCOMM, the system enables distribution of multichannel broadcast optimized for mobile communications, including Clipcast, and distribute digital terrestrial broadcasts to mobile terminals and other devices. This technology is considered as one of the three major technologies following satellite broadcast and 1Seg broadcast, and it enables real time broadcast of 20 channels on one TV channel portion of frequency band (6MHz). We interviewed MediaFlo’s Ali Zamari during the recent Wireless Japan trade-show in Tokyo.

Mobile Media Planning plans to provide digital-tv broadcast distribution services for mobile terminals and other devices utilizing such technology for the development of mobile communications business of the SOFTBANK Group. Also, Mobile Media Planning will work on the study of technical potential of MediaFLO, by participating in the activities organized by external parties such as the VHF/UHF-band efficient use working group in Information and Communications Council, which discusses the proposal of multimedia broadcast technology including MediaFLO, and FLO Forum where supporting enterprises from around the world, such as QUALCOMM, participate.