3G
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3G

Mitsubishi Electric Selects ACCESS NetFront i-mode Global Profile

ACCESS announced that its NetFront(r) i-mode(tm) Global Profile integrated software solution was selected by Mitsubishi Electric for deployment in its M430i i-mode handset. The M430i is currently offered by leading i-mode operators such as Bouygues Telecom, COSMOTE, E-Plus, Far EastTone, KPN Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, BASE, Telestra, and WIND, with additional i-mode operators to follow. NetFront i-mode Global Profile is a comprehensive, integrated solution specifically optimized for the i-mode Global service. It offers operators and their handset partners seamless i-mode Global deployments while reducing overall cost and time-to-market.

Japan's Most Popular Cell Phones

According to research done by Idomco that surveyed handset sales in the greater Tokyo area for the week ending 3 April, the NTT DoCoMo NEC 901ic in white pearl is No. 1 in the ranking of top 20 models. The survey also notes a new entry on the charts, in 4th position, for DoCoMo’s SH700i by Sharp in black; 17 of the 20 are 3G handsets. Log-in to access the full list.

Sports Geek Heaven — Live Baseball for the Mobile Screen

Sports Geek Heaven -- Live Baseball for the Mobile ScreenThe weather is warming up and that means a lot more than Cherry Blossoms in this country — bring out the beer and bentos! Baseball season is back! The new season also brings some cool new technology that will knock pro baseball off the TV screen, out of the ballpark, through the sports bar doors’ and right onto your keitai screen. Like many traditional staples of entertainment here, pro baseball is going mobile — but with a decidedly animated twist.

Tokyo-based Craftmax’s Digital Stadium broadcasts select American and Japanese pro-ball games over DoCoMo 3G cell phones transforming live action into an animated play-by-play, pitch-by-pitch rendition of the game right down to ball speed and trajectory, complete with an electronic scoreboard, the roar of the crowd and sound effects for hits, runs and score changes. This is not fantasy baseball, and not an online game, but rather The Real Thing — rendered into animated avatars standing in for flesh-and-blood players. Check-out this quick video preview below of our upcoming program including a product demo and chat (which was for the most part in Japanese) with the company founder Mitsumasa Etoh.

QR Barcodes Getting Colorful

Despite the date, this is no joke. Based on patented technology from ColorZip Media, those old 2D black & white barcodes are about to make a colorful splash into the Japan market. Evan Owens, director of ColorZip Japan, will present a brief outline of the company’s technology at MobileMonday in Tokyo, 18 April. WWJ is rather keen on this concept and we’ll file a report on Evan’s MoMo product demo as soon as MoMo is over.

Vodafone K.K. to donate handset recycling proceeds to WWF Japan

Vodafone K.K. announces today that it has decided to donate proceeds from recycled mobile handsets that are collected at Vodafone shops to the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan), starting 1 April 2005 for one year. In addition to reducing waste to minimise impact on the environment, Vodafone K.K. has been able to contribute to the effective use of resources through its mobile handset recycling activities. Vodafone K.K. began donating proceeds from handset recycling in fiscal 2002, and donated 20 million yen and 18.4 million yen in fiscal 2002 and 2003 respectively.

DoCoMo Sets Ambitious 3G Goal

DoCoMo has set a target of selling more than 20 million high-speed data handsets this year, twice the number of its customers using such services, to help win a dominant market share. “More than 80 percent of the handsets we sell this year will be 3G, and the total number of 3G subscribers will be more than our competitor for sure,” Takeshi Natsuno, DoCoMo’s managing director of multimedia services, said Monday in an interview. [We noted this strategic move when they announced the low-cost 700i-series in February. — Ed.]