Wireless Internet
Wireless Internet

Wireless Internet

UEFA Site Coming for i-mode

NTT announced it will launch an official “uefa.com” site for i-mode mobile with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The service is set to begin on April 19, 2004. They will provide the latest highlights from the official Japanese UEFA site “jp.uefa.com,” including updates from games such as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA EURO 2004. Other features will include interviews with popular players, information about individual players and their teams, and a variety of screensavers.

Huawei 3G – Made in China

According to Huawei spokesman Fu Jun, Huawei has already begun producing handsets for use with mobile systems that use the CDMA-1X standard backed by US-based Qualcomm Corp. Fu said Huawei is also developing handsets for W-CDMA, which is the European standard Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd is using in its 3G service now on offer in Britain and Italy. He added new 3G handsets are being designed in various partnerships with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co’s Panasonic, NEC Corp and Infineon Technologies AG. The company made headlines in December when it signed agreements with Emirates Telecommunications Corp and Hong Kong’s Sunday on the deployment of W-CDMA networks for the two telecom operators.

E-Learning on the Move

“The only device that’s really handy enough to let you study where, and when, you want is the cellular phone,” says Junko Ogawa, mobile-Internet content producer for Tokyo language-textbook publishing company, ALC Press. Streamlined study, testing and reference sites are used by everyone, from the salaryman hoping to cram in a little English vocabulary during his morning commute, to the high school student with five minutes to spare for brushing up on a few Chinese kanji characters.

New Menu Options on Vodafone live!

Vodafone K.K. announced today that from April 1, 2004 it will add a new menu option with links to third party portal sites on its Vodafone live! At the time of launch, customers will be able to easily access the portal sites of three major mobile portal operators – “infoseek mobile” (Rakuten Inc.), “excite mobile” (Excite Japan Co.,Ltd.), and “Keitai BIGLOBE” (NEC Corporation) – by following menus from the top page without having to input URLs.

DoCoMo 3G FOMA May Go Flat Rate

If the report is true, what we’ve been predicting for months is proving correct, with KDDI building up incredible momentum over the last quarter, DoCoMo, despite statements to the contrary has been forced to protect subscriber growth on FOMA. Here it is; the Nikkei has reported that DoCoMo is planning to introduce flat rate data charges “as early as the middle of this year.” Because it’s Saturday, and because it’s the Nikkei, we can’t be sure, so we’ll have to adopt the wire service caveat of “the paper said, without quoting sources.” According to the Nikkei, DoCoMo’s flat-rate the packet data charges on FOMA 3G services first and then move this to HSDPA next year.

One-Stop Shop for Series 60 Info.

The Series 60 community, headed by Nokia, has opened a new website offering a quick way of finding out what is happening with the Series 60 Platform. Launched and created by Nokia and the Series 60 licensees, Panasonic, Sendo, Samsung and Siemens, the site serves as the main portal for a wide variety of Series 60 Platform information for all key stakeholders.

Beyond 3G Networks with Lucent Mobility

Lucent has deployed more than 90,000 spread-spectrum base stations and has enabled more than 50,000 base stations in networks worldwide to support 3G CDMA2000 services, far more than any other equipment vendor. They have also deployed commercial 3G networks for more than 25 mobile operators in North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Australia and New Zealand region. An interesting interview with Lucent Mobility CTO Paul Mankiewich.

Vodafone Introduces VRM301R Module for Mobile Communications

Vodafone K.K. announced today it developed the VRM301R remote module (manufactured by JRC, Japan Radio Co., Ltd.), which incorporates mobile handset communication components and functions. Vodafone K.K. will market the remote module to industrial and business machine manufacturers after mid-February 2004. By integrating the VRM301R into their products, manufacturers will be able to add communication features like Sky Mail, Long Mail (including e-mail) and voice in addition to other wireless data communication functions. As a result, manufacturers will be able to develop a wide range of low-cost applications that meet their needs, including ones for remote control and remote monitoring.

KDDI Hits India, Attacks Viruses

KDDI seems to have heard its master’s voice and has just announced that it is following Qualcomm into India. In a separate announcement, KDDI also said it was introducing anti-virus measures into its phones in 2005. KDDI said today, January 19, that it is forming Indo-Fuji Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. with Fujitsu Platform Technologies taking a 12% stake, to provide network construction and spice up international data transmission services for the rapidly exploding Indian market.

Japan Mobile Industry Primed for 3G

Japan’s mobile phone industry expects to ring up a banner year for sales of 3G phones in 2004 and wireless operators around the world will be watching closely as they prepare for similar roll-outs. “(Japan) was always held out as the example that encouraged investors, operators, equipment vendors and so forth to pursue this vision,” said James Carrabino, global head of telecoms, media and technology for ABN AMRO. “2004 is a benchmark year for information flow on service (adoption), where the product differentiation is and how discerning the customer base is.”