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TTPCom and NEC Collaborate to Develop Dual-mode 3G/2G Chips

TTP Communications and NEC Electronics Corporation, the leader in single-mode (W-CDMA) 3G baseband chips in Japan, today announce that they are joining forces to develop dual-mode chips that will include TTPCom Limited’s EDGE/GPRS/GSM silicon and software architecture. This fast-track route to the development of 3G/2G chips will help NEC Electronics increase its presence in the global market. NEC Electronics is developing a dual-mode 3G/2G chipset to address the growing world market for dual-mode wireless products that can handover to EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks outside pockets of 3G coverage.

Underwhelmed by DoCoMo's Next-Gen premini

DoCoMo’s first premini mobile was a tiny (90mm) stripped-down, no-frills 2G phone weighing a feather-weight 69 grams. Just out is its successor, the bigger and juicer premini-II, redesigned with a 1.3-megapixel camera, enhanced music elements, bar-code reader and memory stick. While the premini nicely occupied an open niche in Japan’s mobile ecosystem (as a second celly to use where cam phones aren’t allowed), it’s difficult to see what need the more full-featured premini-II fulfills. Manufactured by Sony Ericsson, the premini-II is slim, polished, weighs 79 grams, has 1.9-inch QVGA screen and comes in three colors: silver, black and brown. Given its beefier size (105 mm), it should probably have been called the pre-midi.

Notable Revelations from Japan's Cellcos

Japan’s Big Three cellcos, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Vodafone, released their Oct-Dec 2004 quarterly financials in the past fortnight, and there’s a lot of information to be digested. If the endless listings of multi-billion-yen profits bore you, then it might be interesting to take a look at some of the new technologies, service models, and data tariffs that were announced along with the financial results.

Two New V603s: Killer Swivel Clamshells

Two New V603s: Killer Swivel ClamshellsVodafone raised the competitive bar a couple a couple notches today with the announcement of two new killer swivel clamshells phones: the V603T and V603SH (from Toshiba & Sharp; both 2G). The company said the V603SH is the first phone to feature a Motion Control Sensor that recognises and responds to movements. Jointly developed by Aichi Steel Corp. and Vodafone, the one-chip sensor allows customers to perform menu operations by moving the handset up, down, left or right. Vodafone think this will allow new possibilities with mobile gaming, such as aiming a gun by moving the handset while playing shooting games or swinging the phone like a golf club to hit a ball in golf games. Watch our video clip of the new V603SH above taken at the press event (shot with a V902SH handset); use Quick Time or Real Player to view this 3GPP video file.

Softbank Offers to Buy Tu-Ka Mobile

Softbank Corp. has offered to acquire the three Tu-Ka mobile operators from KDDI Corp. for more than 200 bn yen. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Saturday that the three are Tu-Ka Cellular Tokyo Inc., Tu-Ka Cellular Tokai Inc. and Tu-Ka Phone Kansai Inc.

Ed’s Note: The Tu-Kas have a total of 3.5 million customers and an established PDC 2G network; this offer might prove to be a more effective mobile-market entry plan for Softbank than going through the courts for 3G spectrum. Watch to see how KDDI reacts.

DoCoMo Releases N506is Handset

Yesterday, NTT DoCoMo announced the 2G N506iS by NEC [.jpg], which the company says is the world’s first mobile phone featuring a flat-panel display that also functions as a speaker. The flat-panel speaker emits sound by sending vibrations throughout the entire display panel. A user can hear the person on the other end by placing an ear anywhere on the panel. DoCoMo says that this makes audiovisual content more vivid than conventional handsets, whose speakers are located on the side of the display.