Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips, said Tuesday that it has developed the world’s highest-capacity smart cards with wide-ranging applications for high-end mobile phones. The company said it had introduced the three memory cards with smart-card functions at an industry trade fair, Cartes Paris 2004, with the aim of becoming the world’s biggest smart-card vendor.
Sony Computer Entertainment today announced that it will release the Play Station Portable in Japan on December 12. The next-generation handheld gaming device will be priced at 19,800 yen ($185). WWJ scooped the Web — and almost crashed our server — with our September video report here.
Sharp Corporation has developed a large-capacity, high-transmission-speed contactless IC module for electronic passports (e-passports). The world’s first IC module based on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) e-passport recommendations, this product has just been put into use by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for an e-passport pilot program that began this October.
Siemens Communications will be the first vendor to bring an end-to-end solution for “High Speed Downlink Packet Access” (HSDPA) to market, complete with PC card. This UMTS extension will enable operators to significantly boost data rates in UMTS networks and provide their subscribers with average download speeds of up to 2 to 3 megabits per second. That roughly corresponds to what the fastest DSL connections are currently capable of offering. In January 2005, Siemens will be conducting the first live demonstrations with a HSDPA network.
China’s four top phone carriers have agreed to make short messaging services (SMS) between mobile and fixed-line phones interoperable, which is expected to boost the revenues of phone and SMS operators. China Unicom Ltd. said Thursday that its parent had signed an interclearing and interconnection agreement with China Telecom Corp. and China Netcom Group to allow the exchange of SMS between mobile and fixed-line users.
IT researcher and consulting firm Gartner Japan has announced sales in Japan of cellular phones between January and June. Sales reached 22,133,100 units, down 8.5% over the same period last year. The company attributes the decline in sales to the fact that demand for camera phones was not as brisk as a year ago. Gartner also reports that W-CDMA phones accounted for almost 15% of total cellphone sales.
