eMobile has introduced its new corporate logo along with a deployment schedule to commence mobile operations in March 2007. The company was allocated spectrum in the 1.7-GHz band and will initally offer services, only via HSDPA data cards, in major population areas of Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. Their plan calls for agressive network infrastructure development, at an estimated $2 bn, and providing embedded smartphone devices by fiscal 2008.
SoftBank Mobile and HTC Corp. held a press conference at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo today to annouce 14 October as roll-out date for HTC’s X01HT smartphone which is compatible with the carrier’s new high-speed HSDPA 3.5G network. SoftBank also confirmed their new dual-flat-rate pricing plan offer of unlimited data usage for 9,800jpy per month with a limited time trial offer of 5,700jpy until January 2007. We have video here of the same unit at DoCoMo’s booth during the Wireless Japan 2006 trade show in July.
Aplix Corp. announced its JBlend Java platform has been deployed in Sony Ericsson’s K610im 3G handset. The incorporation of Aplix’s JBlend technology enables a variety of compelling content and Java experience for K610im users to enjoy, including games and multimedia applications. JBlend platform will also be deployed in Sony Ericsson’s other models that are under development.
SoftBank Mobile announced yesterday it will begin sales of the Sharp 910SH [ .jpg ] 5-megapixel cameraphone in October. According to the specifications, the new model touts a 2.4-inch VGA view finder with blurring correction and a multi-point auto-focus system. Also noted, it has a 3-speed optical zoom feature, bluetooth and QR barcode reader along with face-recognition capability for its embedded FeliCa osaifu ketai (wallet-phone) function.
Japan’s Softbank plans to raise about $12 billion by securitizing earnings of the cell phone unit it bought from Vodafone Group, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday, allowing it to secure funds at a lower rate than with conventional loans. Earlier this year, Softbank bought Vodafone Japan for 1.8 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) after borrowing 1.3 trillion yen in short-term bridge loans, arranged by 17 banks led by Mizuho Financial Group, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.
Research In Motion (RIM) will soon be offering a Japanese-language version of its popular BlackBerry handheld. The announcement came as part of a press conference in Tokyo. During the press conference, the company’s President and Co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, said a BlackBerry solution capable of supporting the entry of Japanese fonts is expected to be available by the first half of next year. NOTE: No Japanese language text input! See here and here for more details.
