Smart-phone operating system developer Symbian released figures that indicate a big jump in demand for devices based on its software. Some 7.8m Symbian-based handsets shipped in Q2 FY2005, the three months to 30 June 2005, Symbian said – three times the figure for Q2 FY2004, 2.6m. As a privately held company Symbian did not publish financial performance figures.
KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, will procure handsets with high-speed Internet access capabilities from South Korea’s Pantech Co. to reduce costs. Pantech, South Korea’s third-largest mobile-phone maker, will offer 3G handsets to KDDI by the end of the year, KDDI spokesman Haruhiko Maede said, confirming a report today in the Nihon Keizai newspaper.
Kyocera Corp. is planning to implement a capital investment program worth 100 billion yen [about USD$1 billion] in fiscal 2005, an increase of 60 percent from fiscal 2004, according to Kyocera President Makoto Kawamura. “We are pushing a plan to build a factory for liquid crystal-related products in Kagoshima Prefecture” and other parts-making facilities elsewhere, Kawamura said in an interview.
NTT DoCoMo has teamed up with Urahara.org and TechFirm to launch a new Felica-enabled service called TownPocket in Harajuku. Customers with RFID chip handsets will have access to easy registration for coupon campaigns, contests and prizes at 153 participating stores in the youth-trendy downtown shopping district. The campaign is set to launch on 8 August and organizers are targeting a total of 300 participating locations in the area by the end of September. [Japanese Press Release]
Samsung Electronics have announced the release of their SCH-V670 handset [ .jpg image ], which apparently provides automatic roaming services [Via: Anycall?] between Korea and Japan. The specs indicate it runs on an EV-DO chipset, supports .PDF file viewing, has an integrated MP3 player and touts a “New Concept” Flash-based UI. It even has a GPS support function to help those Korean businessmen WWJ sometimes sees wondering around downtown Tokyo!
Ecrio Inc., a global provider of advanced software for mobile phones, today announced that Diamond Capital Company Ltd., the venture capital arm of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., has invested $3M in its new strategic investment round. They join current investors Nexit Ventures, Cypress Ventures/CIR Ventures and CDB Webtech. “We are very impressed by Ecrio’s technology and the traction the company has generated in the mobile phone software market for advanced 3G services,” said Mr. Tetsuya Mori, Director of Diamond Capital.
