Japan Mobile Industry News Mash-up
It’s been a rather hectic few weeks here, as mentioned at the end of our latest WWJ Newsletter, so we thought a chocolate covered bundle of tidbits would be in order today. With 3GSM running this week in Barcelona, on top of the usual post January speed cycle, we’ve clipped over a dozen highlights together for a sweetheart ‘Valentines Eve’ post chalk full of wireless news goodies collected over the last little while, just for you after the jump.
51.7m Symbian Smartphones Shipped in 2006
Symbian Limited, developer and licensor of Symbian OS, the market-leading operating system for advanced, data-enabled mobile phones known as smartphones, today released the following unaudited financial and operational figures for both Q4 2006 and the full year ended 31 December 2006…
Flash Enabled Mobile Devices Pass 200 Million
Today, more than 300 Flash enabled phones and consumer electronics devices have been manufactured, and more than 70 percent of all Flash devices now ship outside of Japan, forging new markets for Adobe, developers and content creators. In addition, FlashCast trials are under way in all major regions across the world, and with over eight million subscribers NTT DoCoMo has seen impressive growth in Japan with i-channel™, a rich news and information delivery service powered by FlashCast technology…
Adobe Flash Lite To Support Video for Mobile Handsets
At the 3GSM World Congress, Adobe Systems today announced that support for video will be integrated in the next generation of Adobe Flash Lite software, Adobe’s award-winning Flash Player runtime specifically designed for mobile phones. Flash Lite 3, expected to be available in the first half of 2007, will bring the Adobe Flash Player video format from the desktop to mobile phones and devices, enabling operators, handset manufacturers and developers alike to deliver more compelling and engaging experiences to mobile users…
On2 Technologies Unveils Solution for Delivering Web Video Content to 3GPP Mobile Devices
On2 Technologies today unveiled the Flix Engine 3GPP transcoder which converts popular web and user generated content for viewing on 3GPP mobile handsets. Among the desirable features is the ability to convert On2 VP6 files used in Flash video, and dominant in video portals and user generated content, to 3GPP formats…
Also see this video interview with Bill Joll, On2’s CEO on Beet.TV
Yahoo! Extends Mobile Advertising
Yahoo! Inc. today launched its mobile display advertising platform on the company’s Yahoo! Mobile Web service (m.yahoo.com) in 19 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas instantly enabling advertisers to reach consumers around the globe on their mobile phones. This worldwide launch demonstrates Yahoo!’s continued focus on extending our leadership in display advertising and intension to be number one in mobile monetization…
3GSM: Toshiba brings notebooks and phones together
Toshiba used the opening day of the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona to signal its entry into the smartphone market by launching its first Windows Mobile phones. The G500 is a smartphone running Windows Mobile Standard, while the G900, with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard and three inch VGA screen will be one of the first phones to support the recently-launched Windows Mobile 6 operating system. Also see the Toshiba site Here.
Get all the 3GSM related PR at this RSS Feed 3GSM World Congress Media Zone
Softbank could lose control of mobile unit if it fails to meet creditor targets
According to The Financial Times, Japanese internet conglomerate Softbank Corp stands to lose control of the mobile business it acquired from Vodafone Group in 2006 if it fails to meet strict performance targets laid down by its creditors. The UK newspaper claims to have seen details of a 320-page loan document which says the management of Softbank Mobile will have to strike a balance between signing up new subscribers and simultaneously improving earnings. The strict profit targets will prevent the unit from waging an all-out price war to raise its customer base, but at the same time creditors are calling for a net two million increase in the subscriber base by 2019…
Related:
Softbank Profit Falls; Sales Double on Vodafone Japan
Softbank Corp., Japan’s third-biggest wireless operator, said profit in the third quarter fell 66 percent because asset sales inflated earnings a year earlier. Net income fell to 7.5 billion yen ($62 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from 22 billion yen a year earlier, the Tokyo-based company said today. Sales almost doubled to 702.2 billion yen, as the company added revenue from the Vodafone Group Plc Japan unit it bought in April…
Option Wins eMobile Business in Japan
Option today announced that it is supplying eMobile Japan with broadband wireless products. Option is currently shipping eMobile branded and customized products to the Japanese mobile operator in anticipation of the imminent commercial launch of data devices on its 1.7GHz HSDPA network…
Monster Wi-Fi network brings Skype to the masses
Logitec’s latest Skype-toting pseudo-phone to be released in Japan stands more chance of success than most, as it comes as part of a deal with one of Tokyo’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot operators. The ¥25,100 802.11b/g handset weighs 104g, has a 1.8in color screen and a USB rechargeable (and replaceable) battery that provides three hours of talk time…
Note: We saw the Livedoor WiFi enabled Net2Com handset as launched just before CEATEC in late 2005 and WWJ posted this video report of their prototype version on display at the Fujitsu Forum back in the summer of 2004.
Japanese Tobacco vending machine with adult identification function
From March 2008 Japanese will be able to buy cigar from vending machines with a taspo card only. Taspo, the Tobacco Card is a smart card being developed by the Tobacco Institute of Japan (TIOJ), the nationwide association of tobacco retailers and the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association for introduction in 2008…
Note: This one was not exactly news (posted here in March 2006) but we’d be willing to bet that somebody is working on getting the function embedded into Felica enabled handsets.. for Sake Pass too!
GPS Map Chat Application Launches
iMapFan is a map service for imode which offers a range of services including a map-based search, car navigation and “I’m here!” emails. Today they launched a new service, Map Messenger – a map-based GPS chat application…
ScanR goes to Japan targeting cameraphone users
In an unusual move, the US-based company is going to bring its mobile technology to Japan. A start-up called ScanR provides business users with a capability to capture an image of a document, business card or message on a whiteboard with their cameraphone or digital camera and send it to their email via the ScanR’s servers that do the job of converting the image data into pdf or vCard formats.
**WWJ met with the ScanR folks while they were in Tokyo in early Feb. We look forward to shooting a hands-on video demo. and chatting about their Japan market entry plan when they return for follow-ups in March.
Tokyo micro garden ketai strap
Like plants, but don’t have a green thumb? These plants have everything they need within the nutrient-rich gel they grow in.. with minimal phone-drops your Tokyo micro garden can last you 6-8 months!
Flash Screen Video Demos [Japanese]
Some great videos (DSL connection advised) of Flash running PC Site Viewer on the latest Japanese handsets, incld. the new W52T. Also has screenshots of the Opera 8.60 browser and Ajax Google Maps.