Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

DoCoMo FOMA Tops 2 Million, Calls H.K.

The acceleration of DoCoMo’s fantastically subsidized FOMA handset uptake continues apace, with the company today announcing that subscriptions have just topped 2 million, about 2 months ahead of DoCoMo’s deliberately conservative estimates. (Once bitten, forever shy?) For a benchmark comparison, this places DoCoMo about 2 million handsets ahead of Vodafone K.K.’s 3G subscriber base and about 8 million behind KDDI’s. Still, it’s a nice christening present for the new and beautiful 900i handsets that the company is going to let loose on the network next month. See the DoCoMo press release for more details.

Breaking Windows, DoCoMo Axes Mobimagic

If ever there was proof how far DoCoMo has lifted up its skirt and fled the Microsoft camp for Symbian and perhaps a Linux chaser, here’s the pudding; 39 months after Keiji Tachikawa and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer stood on a platform together and promised to “agressively” promote MS’ microbrowser technology and CE OS on DoCoMo Cellies, DoCoMo has finally cut the cord and axed its Mobimagic subsidiary, the company supposed to have us grappling with Windows on our handsets as well as our PCs

Mobile Phones Enter 2-Mpixel Era

With the launch of Casio’s A5403CA for KDDI, Sharp’s SH505iS for DoCoMo, and our old friend the V601SH from Sharp to Vodafone, Japan has truly entered the 2-megapixel era. Beyond this, KDDI is planning A5502K with a xenon lamp flash unit this month. With two megapixels and onboard electronic flash, photography with mobile phones will make major inroads into digital camera territory.

Tu-Ka's Bone Cell Phone – Good Vibrations

The TS41 by Sanyo is a hot topic this month for one simple, you don’t have to press this small cell phone to your ear. Tu-Ka Cellular has the world’s first bone conduction cell phone. All you need do is put the top side of the phone on your jaw or any part of your head, and an installed vibration transmitter “Sonic Speaker” will transmit sound through the bone, enabling listening clarity even in noisy places such as a construction area, for example. Originally, this phone was designed for elderly people and others with hearing disabilities. Details in Japanese Here

Symbian to Lead Smartphone Boom

The mobile phone industry will sell 150 million smartphones in 2008, 15 times this year’s sales, with the Symbian OS leading the smartphone operating system market, according to a report published this week by ABI Research. The report projects strong growth for high-end mobile phones, with Microsoft’s market share trailing behind Symbian, and Linux bringing up the rear.

Fresh Fears Over CellPhones

The safety of cellphones has been called into question, again. This time the scientific community is paying very close attention. A Swedish study links mobile phones to brain damage, in rats, anyway. The findings have re-ignited a longstanding debate among scientists and cellphone manufacturers over cellphone safety.