U.S Market
U.S Market

U.S Market

Sprint Introduces Espresso Mobile Phone

Consumers now have more choice in color mobile phones, as Sprint and Sanyo just announced the introduction of the SCP-3100 series. Available in four trendy colors, Pure Silver, Blue Energy, Always Pink, and the “hottest color to go mobile,” Espresso! According to Danny Bowman, vice president of product marketing for Sprint “Each family member can own the phone in a different color, making it easy to tell a child’s phone from a parent’s as you’re rushing out the door in the morning. Sanyo is the first in the U.S. to introduce the color Espresso in a handset.” [Funny, it looks sorta brown to us — Eds]

Casio G'zOne Headed to Verizon

According to PhoneScoop the FCC finally approved the NX9200 cellphone, the U.S. version of Casio’s popular G’zOne. The handset, which takes both styling and engineering cues from Casio’s G-Shock watch line, sports a Verizon logo in FCC documents. WWJ covered the launch here in May 2005 and said at the time “This could be a design winner should it land on US shores in time for the Christmas shopping rush.” Looks more like “almost in time for spring-break in Florida” instead!

Anime Network Launches on Sprint

Anime Network has announced a deal with Sprint to provide its mobile video content to Sprint Power Vision subscribers. The Anime Channel will be available first to Sprint Power Vision subscribers on select multimedia handsets on Sprint TV’s Channel 66. Sprint subscribers can access clips from up to five premium titles at a price point of an additional $4.95 per month plus standard data charges. Anime programming – delivered to Sprint through Zoovision – will include a wide range of genres such as Horror, Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy and Drama.

Major Mobile Commerce Trials Announced

Major Mobile Commerce Trials AnnouncedA group of major m-commerce companies announced a large-scale U.S. trial last week to include contactless payment, mobile content and premium arena services at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The companies claim the trial will be the first large-scale test of next-generation mobile-phone applications in North America. The grouping includes Chase, Cingular Wireless, Nokia, Philips, Visa USA and others. The contactless payment functionality will be based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology first developed by Sony and Philips. Other NFC trials are underway in Germany and France.

Wireless Watchers will know that the Sony/Philips NFC technology is also powering the super-successful “FeliCa”-branded mobile contactless payment services in Japan and has been adopted by NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone as the de facto market standard for m-commerce, e-wallets, transportation and other peer-to-peer data transfer services. Sony first deployed NFC on the Octopus card in Hong Kong in 1997 and rolled their mobile handset trial ran in Japan in December 2003 — see WWJ video here. Today, over 7 million FeliCa-enabled phones have already been sold by DoCoMo alone.

One might think the two-year jump on deployment and commercial experience, not to mention brand equity, in Japan would motivate Sony to transplant an obvious success story from Tokyo to markets elsewhere. Instead, it looks like the wheel is being reinvented all over again.

3G Poised to Take Off in US

Recent consolidation among commercial wireless operators in the U.S. will set the stage for 3G networks to proliferate in the U.S., said Nobuharu Ono, president and CEO of NTT DoCoMo USA, speaking at the Radio Club of America’s annual awards banquet. Ono credited U.S. vendors with wireless innovations such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX, but said “their impact is up for debate.” He also noted that the U.S. trails far behind Japan in the development of 3G networks and services.

Capcom: New Mobile Division

Capcom has revealed plans to establish a new Los Angeles-based Mobile and Interactive Division to expand presence in the U.S. mobile entertainment industry. Headed by Midori Yuasa, general manager and senior vice president, the new division plans to release more than 10 titles in North America from the extensive library of Capcom products. In the coming year, consumers will be able to play classic Capcom favorites such as 1942, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Mega Man and Resident Evil anywhere they like. Capcom began exploring the mobile world in 1999 in Japan, making them one of the first companies to start developing mobile strategies.

Hudson Adopts Tira Jump Suite

Tira Wireless have just announced that mobile gaming giant Hudson Entertainment, the U.S. subsidiary of Hudson Soft, has licensed their Tira Jump Product Suite. The agreement builds on a long-standing relationship in which Hudson has been using Tira Wireless’ professional services to adapt its content for global consumption. Hudson’s mobile division is a major publisher on Verizon Wireless and Cingular, offering a broad selection of popular titles, including Bomberman, Burger Time, Lode Runner, and Adventure Island.

Casio Pushing for U.S. Market

Japan’s Casio Computer Co. is making an overseas push with plans to supply 3G phones to U.S. mobile carriers and a deal to win shelf space for its digital cameras at U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy, Casio President Kazuo Kashio said on Wednesday. The company’s new waterproof and shock-resistant 3G phones (launched in Japan earlier this year), which make up more than a fifth of total sales, have received high marks, Kashio said in an interview, declining to identify the U.S. carriers involved.

Namco Offers SEGA Video Gametones

Through a licensing agreement with SEGA of America, Namco America today announced the availability of SEGA’s classic game sounds as ringtones. SEGA’s game tones will be available initially through Namco’s PAC-MAN’s Arcade Corner, an interactive ringtone application with a colorful, retro feel and a source for exclusive video game ringtones. The game tones are available now on BREW carriers, including Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Western Wireless, and will be available on other carriers in the future.

ACG Gets Kyocera KX5 Slider

The Associated Carrier Group (ACG) and Kyocera Wireless announced the debut of the Kyocera Slider Remix KX5 wireless phone. The feature-rich, music-enabled handset is exclusively offered for a limited time by the recently united ACG, and is also the first phone offered by the alliance. “By forming the ACG alliance, our members collaborate with manufacturers – like Kyocera – to provide cutting-edge products, quicken market entry and to leverage costs,” said Greg Latour, president of ACG. “It’s proving to be a smart and successful alliance for our member companies, which ultimately benefits our customers. We are pleased to be the first in the U.S. to offer the Slider Remix.”