Lost your forklift in your cluttered factory? Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Cable Ltd have announced they are launching the IEEE802.11b-WLAN/ GPS Hitachi AirLocation system that can locate it. With an accuracy of 1-3 meters, the system works with twin servers and five dedicated basestations to find whatever, for a cost of 5 million yen for the system.
Japan and China are planning a joint experiment on a new generation of Internet-capable mobile phones for high-speed data transmissions between the two countries, telecommunications officials said Sunday. The three-year project, aimed at promoting better Asian information technology systems, will begin next month and use Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), the officials said.
KDDI Corporation and Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co., Ltd. have agreed to jointly develop and commercialize a new service integrating programming to be broadcast over digital terrestrial audio network and telecommunications on the KDDI wireless network. The service trials will be launched on October 10th. A prototype of the device being developed for that service will be presented during the CEATEC Japan 2003 event to be held from October 7 to 11th in Tokyo.
Nissan is harnessing the power of the AvantGo(R) mobile Internet service to extend its “Shift_” campaign to mobile and wireless devices. Nissan has launched a pioneering affinity marketing campaign for the Nissan 2004 Maxima called the “Mobile Concierge” that packages advertising for the new car with compelling entertainment content for consumers.
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Personal Digital Assistant and a decade of Enfour developing software for mobile platforms. That’s right, Enfour was the first company to develop commerical software for PDAs (back then the Newton) but now for all platforms. In fact, Enfour, Inc. was spun-off from Enfour Media Laboratory specifically to pursue development of software for handheld computers.
Ten years ago, the cell phone was a luxury item used by businessmen. Now just about everybody in Japan has a ‘keitai,’ and the ubiquitous little devices have transformed interpersonal communications. This essay by the inventor of the Personal Handyphone offers a look back over the brief history of the cell phone.
