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DoCoMo 2.0 — Message Lost in Translation?

DoCoMo 2.0 -- Message Lost in Translation? by Mobikyo KKOn Monday 23 April NTT DoCoMo unveiled their latest 3G handsets, the 904i-series, at a press conference held here in downtown Tokyo.

WWJ pointed to this webcast of their presentation, which clearly stated from the very beginning the new “DoCoMo 2.0” campaign theme.

We shouldn’t really be surprised that the main message, from Japan’s dominant mobile operator, contained in the announcement somehow managed to get 2.0 attention from the mainstream media. With few exceptions, the entire tech web focused on the motion-sensor for gaming application. Few if any noted how ironic it was that while the company insisted it was going to “focus on offering unique applications and services that will be difficult for the competition to duplicate” they were in fact introducing a functionality which was originally made available in Japan [video here] by Vodafone and Sharp over two years ago.

Perhaps the gritty details — such as the fact that all five new models will (of course) ship pre-installed with the Osaifu-Keitai FeliCa mobile wallet together with related security services — are less appealing to the overseas media than Nokia’s recent announcement that they, too, have the mobile wallet urge?

To be sure, there were a few interesting new offerings in Natsuno-san’s presentation, such as the 2-in-1 dual-identity option and flat-rate access to Napster’s full music library service. However, one of the main observations we take away from this news is that the rest of the world still tends to focus only on the most quirky headlines (wait until the MSM find out about this one). WWJ subscribers login for our thoughts on this latest development.

KDDI Announces FYE 2006 Financials

KDDI has released their final accounting statement for the 2006 fiscal year, which ended 31 March 2007, at a press conference here yesterday afternoon. As reported in several other media channels the company reported a slightly lower net income, down 2%, on the year despite higher operating income thanks to the “au” mobile unit performance, which was up 11%, with net profit from the wireless operations increasing 44%. The company also revealed that they gained a net subscriber addition of 853,000 customers since mobile number portability took effect here in October last year. The full presentation webcast – in English – runs 1:45 and is available in Windows Media player Here.

DoCoMo to Offer New Mobile Credit Card

DoCoMo has also introduced their new premium DCMX GOLD credit card at the 904i-series presser here this afternoon. This latest offering in their mobile credit card service joins the DCMX mini and the standard DCMX, which were announced in April 2006 [video here]. Like the DCMX mini and standard DCMX cards, this new gold card is compatible with iD, DoCoMo’s branded platform for mobile credit cards. Members will be issued a standard Visa or MasterCard magnetic card for use when making purchases overseas or at shops in Japan that do not have FeliCa enabled readers/writers.

The N904i to Debut in Milan

Following this press release on March 15, which indicated that DoCoMo would introduce a new 3G handset developed with award-winning designer Stefano Giovannoni, the company has announced the N904i, produced by NEC, will make its world debut during Milan’s celebrated Design Week. The exhibition will take place at Superstudio Più in Zona Tortona, a popular area of the city.

Sharp Announces New Mobile AQUOS

Sharp announced they have developed a new LCD, based on ASV (Advanced Super View) technology found in the companies AQUOS line of TVs, for mobile handsets which features the industry’s highest (as of April 17) contrast ratio of 2,000:1 with a wide viewing angle of 176 degrees and a high-speed response time of 8 ms. According to the statement, by September 2007 the company will start shipping samples of this new 2.2-inch at 240 x 320 (QVGA) screen, targeted for 1Seg digital-tv enabled cell phones in Japan. Sharp started this trend with their 902SH model for Vodafone Japan in 2004 and their popular 905SH cycloid style design launched here in June last year, just in time for the World Cup. They have since followed-up with the so-called “2nd model” 911SH.