New Tech & Services
New Tech & Services

Wireless Cash: Shopping with FeliCa!

Wireless Cash: Shopping with FeliCa!Here is the first of what we at WWJ think will be a rash of easy-to-use cell phone shopping applications using the FeliCa contactless IC chip solution. A few weeks ago we talked to Sony’s Shusaku Muruko, who told us that FeliCa Networks seeks to build a platform for a whole series of apps, and now here is NEC with its LightHolder i-appli technology to smooth the path into mobile online shopping, coupons and discounts, reservations and we hope, beer!
Full Program Run-time 11:30

New MPEG4 Decoder for Mobile Phones

Techno Mathematical Co., Ltd. announced it has successfully developed a H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard video decoding software that applies Digital Media New Algorithm (DMNA). The software will enable video processing on the CPU of the mobile phone alone, and is high-speed and suited to embedded solutions. TMC will begin to license the technology this month

NEC Launches New 3G Mobile Service Solution System

NEC Corporation has announced the launch of their 3GPP (3rd generation Partnership Project) compliant IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). NEC’s IMS and SIP solutions are now trialing with a number of mobile operators around the world as a core solution for the next generation of ubiquitous mobile multimedia services. The IMS platform enables new types of multimedia services on IP (packet) networks by utilizing IP and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) technologies.

DoCoMo Develops Speech Recognition

NTT DoCoMo Inc. demonstrated a couple of the technologies the operator is working on, including a speech recognition system that doesn’t require speech. The system, which is still a prototype, works by measuring the electrical activity in muscles that are used when a person speaks using a system called electromyography (EMG). This means the user still has to mouth the words as if they are being spoken but audible speech itself isn’t necessary.

FeliCa: Trashing the Leather Wallet

FeliCa: Trashing the Leather WalletAn exclusive interview with Shusaku Muruko, senior manager of Sony’s Mobile FeliCa Business Division, providing insight on how the FeliCa contactless IC chip (now being trialed on NTT DoCoMo handsets) will soon consign traditional leather wallets to the gomibako of history. In a speech last week, DoCoMo’s “Mr. i-mode,” Takeshi Natsuno, officially confirmed that FeliCa chips will be embedded in this summer’s 506i second-generation handsets — and likely in the next round of FOMA 900i-series 3G handsets as well. With FeliCa mandatory on all new DoCoMo cellies from this summer on, and with crucial partners including KDDI and JCB already on board, FeliCa m-payment technology has a very good chance, we think, of reaching the company’s 60-million-user target for Japan by 2008. If you’re hoping to sell anything via mobile anywhere on planet Earth, this program is a must-see. Full Program Run-time 13:38