Economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano and Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa have apologized to Diet leaders for watching TV on a cell phone during a House of Councilors plenary session. The incident took place on Oct. 3 when Shozaburo Jimi, vice leader of the tiny Kokumin Shinto (People’s New Party), was asking questions. The Upper House has banned cell phones from its floor since 1995.
DoCoMo has announced that it will form a joint venture company with Avex Entertainment Inc. for the production and on-demand distribution of video content packaged for the mobile phone environment. Unlike most mobile-content companies that distribute video works which were originally developed for movie theaters and DVD systems, the new company will produce and distribute content developed specifically for the small screens of mobile phones, giving special consideration to the challenges of delivering video content on a mobile device.
Verizon Wireless has quietly released Dashboard, a new storefront found on its phones using Adobe Flash according to MocoNews. So far, Dashboard has launched on the LG Chocolate 3, and more phones are expected by the end of the year, making it one of the largest mobile implementations of Flash in states to-date. The stoefront stands alongside the carrier’s ‘Get It Now platform’, and is designed to be an easy place for consumers to find from Verizon’s deck.
At least according to this post on WSJ. While we could take issue with several assurances therein, niggly details aside, it would seem that Steves amazing device is not exactly blowing the doors off at local retails shops after the first predictable wave of sales in early July. That being said the prediction for 1M unit sales in Japan was based on a full year and their price package, handset and monthly fee, is certainly competative enough. As usual there’s much more than meets the eye on a story like this!
According to this press release, a new paper written by Prof. Philip Sugai and Prof. Donghun Kim, both professors at the International University of Japan, consumers to mobile content are more loyal to those sites than subscribers to the same content accessed through the Internet. This research surveyed more than 400 PC and mobile phone subscribers in Japan, and tested their loyalty by finding out how much they would be willing to pay to remain loyal to their current mobile or PC content sites in light of a series of other competing offers.
How about that, this article via AP indicates the Japanese government is gearing up to help the domestic mobile industry push into new markets. According to the blurb: Details and budget plans for the government effort are being outlined in the next few months, but a proposal was approved at a ministry meeting last month. It will be interesting to see how this effort develops, especially considering the recent moves by GSMA. Perhaps your humble scribs here will get a call from the ministry since we have been covering this fascinating story for the last 7 years now!
