Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

Suica Mashup Mapping

Sherelog is a system that fetches data from JR’s Suica RFID train pass and visualizes personal train-ride records on a large public map (or Google Map). Koutaro Hashimoto, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Toshio Iwai, Michitaka Hirose showed this system at the Japan Media Arts Festival earlier this month. The developers’ intentions seem to be (1) to support people to remember their personal travel histories and reflect upon them and (2) to create unique opportunities for communications by making it extremely easy to share personal travel histories.

Japan 3G Customers Become Majority

The Telecom Carriers Assoc. stats just released for February sales activity indicate that the majority of mobile phone customers in Japan have now migrated to 3G. DoCoMo added over 828,000 new 3G contracts for a total of 22 million, KDDI/au added 309,000 for 21 million and Vodafone managed to sign-up 195,000 new 3G customers for a total of just under 3 million.

E-Paper Enters Practical Use

E-paper is being considered for use in not only a few announced applications, but in a wide range of perhaps less obvious applications. Examples of such applications include various cards, such as smart cards and electronic money, displays for devices like universal serial bus (USB) memory, advertising above windows or on hand straps in trains, rear displays on mobile phones, and mobile viewers. E-paper is also being eyed for possible use in products like home appliances and toys.

Mitsubishi Pulls Out of China

Mitsubishi Soyea Mobile Communication Equipment Co., Ltd. announced the Japanese party would remove the investment and the company would dismiss its branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. According to the announcement, all the staff of the venture except those at the Hangzhou production base would be dismissed. Mitsubishi Soyea Mobile Communication Equipment was a joint venture between Mitsubishi Electric and Soyea Technology that was controlled by the Japanese company.

Unseen Perils of Mobile-Phone Use

Opening her daughter’s monthly cell phone bill, the woman’s jaw goes slack with astonishment. Three million yen (approx. $26,000 usd). This is surely a mistake, she thinks. Why, my daughter wasn’t even in Japan for most of that time. “The figure is correct,” confirms a staff member of the carrier company, in a no-nonsense tone. “You are obliged to pay.” This state of affairs, explains Yomiuri Weekly, came about when her daughter’s cell phone was stolen during an overseas trip. Ironically, this particular phone could only be used to make calls in Japan. (Theft like this underscore the increasing amounts of personal data & cash carried on phones in Japan. The point here is that even if the phone itself won’t work overseas, the UIM card will, once transferred to a compatible GSM/WCDMA phone outside Japan — and many Japanese, unfamiliar with GSM-era SIM cards and PIN codes — don’t password-protect their UIM cards. — Eds.)