Sign of the Times

Dissecting the Japanese Mobile Phone

March 7, 2008 September 30, 2023

The March edition of Nikkei Electronics Asia features an interesting peek under the hood of three current handsets now available in Japan. They expose how the insides of these so-called “All in One” multi-function models; the P905i VIERA from Panasonic, W53H from Hitachi and the 920SH by Sharp, are designed in cooperation of a local electronics manufacturer. Interesting to note the OLED screen on the W53H ‘Wooo’ by Hitachi was produced by Samsung and that efforts to slim the design while increasing battery power, to a whopping double 1-Seg. viewing time, are key considerations.

Toshiba Introduces RoboPhone

February 27, 2008 September 30, 2023

Softbank Mobile has announced this Toshiba made 815T PB handset with an uber-cool Robo Design which is sure to grab lots of mainstream, not too mention full-blown geek luvin, media buzz. This transfomer styled device features a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, 2MP camera, music player, IrDA, Felica e-wallet and microSD card slot along with Push-to-Talk and usual slate of services.

NEC Exhibits Worlds First LiMo Handsets

February 12, 2008 September 30, 2023

NEC announced that it will exhibit the first LiMo-compliant mobile handsets in NEC’s Booth during the Mobile World Congress February 11-14 in Barcelona. The commercial LiMo handsets which will be introduced at MWC in Barcelona are the FOMA N905i, N905imu, N705i, N705imu from NTT DoCoMo. The key software modules for mobile phones contributed to the LiMo Foundation, are included in these four handsets.

Cyber University Warned by Ministry

January 24, 2008 September 30, 2023

The education ministry will issue a warning to Japan’s first all-Internet university to more diligently confirm the identities of students to prevent the use of ringers posing as students. Cyber University is operated by Japan Cyber Educational Institute, a SoftBank subsidiary established in January 2006, and began offering courses to the public in April 2007.

DoCoMo and Google Announce Partnership

January 24, 2008 September 30, 2023

DoCoMo and Google jointly announced they have formed a partnership that will include providing search services, search-related advertisement and potential applications to i-mode users. The two companies will also collaborate to enhance the user-friendliness of i-mode services, by making various Google services easier to access through i-mode handsets. The pre-loading of Google Maps application into upcoming DoCoMo i-mode handsets is one of the initial initiatives being discussed.

Kyocera Acquires Sanyo Mobile Division

January 22, 2008 September 30, 2023

Japan’s Sanyo is selling its mobile phone business to Kyocera as part of its ongoing restructuring, the company has announced. The two companies have been working on the deal since fall last year. As part of the agreement Kyocera will be able to use the Sanyo brand on cell phones sold in Japan and North America, Sanyo’s main markets.