Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

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?

RFID Tagged Students

In December, Furuedai Junior High School in the city of Suita, Osaka Prefecture introduced an RFID system. 160 of the 298 students at the school are wearing namebadges [.jpg image]. The objective of this system is to make the school safe. If a person who doesn’t have a legitimate RFID tag comes in through a school gate, the system notifies teachers and a surveillance camera starts recording the areas.

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.

Sanyo and Nokia to JV for U.S.

Sanyo Electric Co. has reached a basic agreement with Finland’s Nokia Corp. to set up a 50-50 joint venture in the US as early as next autumn to make 3G mobile phones, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported without citing sources. The new joint venture, which will likely be located in San Diego will produce CDMA2000 3G cell phones, the business daily said. For Nokia, the joint venture will likely help it absorb Sanyo’s know-how, particularly in the development of thin handsets, according to the report.

Motorola Looking to Japan

Motorola, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, could partner with a Japanese manufacturer to launch appealing phones that will help it boost its presence in Japan, its chief executive said Thursday. “We’re trying to figure out how to get into the market quicker with our brand and working potentially with someone else,” Chief Executive Ed Zander said, referring to Japan in an interview with Reuters in Tokyo. “(We’re) talking to the NECs, the Panasonics, the Sanyos, and looking at, ‘Is there technology collaboration to bring products to market?'” Zander said. “We’re exploring some of those things.”

IDC's 2006 Top 10 Telecom Predictions

The mobile wallet foreshadows a possible total change in consumer payment behavior. With various payment modes utilizing technologies such as infrared, SMS, interactive voice response, mobile scan and contact-less chips, the mobile phone is being transformed into a replacement for petty cash, debit and credit cards, with payments charged either through the mobile phone bill or even directly to the bank account. IDC expects the market to begin to take root, beyond the leading adopters of Korea and Japan, at least in the micro-payment segment.