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NTT DoCoMo to Market SH506iC i-mode Smart-Card Handset

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that they will market the mova SH506iC [.jpg image], the second smart-card handset that is compatible with i-mode FeliCa service for mobile wallet applications. Sales will begin on July 16, 2004. DoCoMo’s revolutionary new service and smart-card handsets may be used for a variety of unprecedented functions that were previously possible only with IC-equipped cards, including train travel, debit card (electronic money) and credit card-based withdrawals and transactions, and personal identification.

Vodafone K.K. Releases V401SA with Stereo FM Radio

Vodafone K.K. announced today that from July 15 it will offer the V401SA by Sanyo [.jpg image] which features a built-in FM radio tuner. The V401SA’s main feature is an FM radio tuner that lets customers enjoy FM broadcasts in stereo sound. Customers can also take photos and enjoy the Vodafone live! mobile internet service while listening to FM radio broadcasts simultaneously. In addition, the V401SA supports the “Now on Air” function so customers can retrieve song titles and artists names in real time while they listen to the radio. The new model features advanced slide-type design, 1.3 megapixel camera and lots of storage to saving photos for easy printing.

DoCoMo & TI to Develop Multi-Mode UMTS

Texas Instruments Inc. and NTT DoCoMo, Inc., have announced a joint agreement to develop a cost-competitive, multi-mode UMTS (W-CDMA/ GSM/GPRS) chipset to serve the Japanese, U.S. and worldwide 3G handset market. An integrated UMTS digital baseband and applications processor will be developed based on TI’s OMAP(TM) 2 architecture and NTT DoCoMo’s W-CDMA technology for NTT DoCoMo handsets and other 3G handsets worldwide. Additionally, the agreement will include development and testing of power management, RF and protocol software that will be made available as system solutions to TI’s worldwide customer base.

KDDI ''Flash:'' Slashes Prices, Debuts 3 Models

A year ago, WWJ predicted the end of packet-based pricing. A year later, KDDI/au, and Japan, would seem to be entering a new price war. Today, KDDI threw down the gauntlet to DoCoMo by slashing its fixed packet charge from 4,200 yen to 2,000 yen (Yes! You read that right…) on August 1, while flaunting three cool new mobile models armed with what will rapidly become de rigeur in Japan: flash! We’ll have an exclusive video program with Anup Murarka, Macromedia’s senior director of mobile marketing and devices coming in a few weeks, and — of course — breathtaking visuals of KDDI’s newest and sexiest phones and menus. But first, let’s take a look at the No. 2 carriers’s latest strategy to keep pummeling DoCoMo and Vodafone for new adds in a maturing market.

Nation-Wide VoIP Network by Stealth?

My discussion with Steven Graff, who recently joined WWJ as marketing guru and maker-of-all-things-happen, suddenly turned technical. “Imagine being able to throw the switch on a network of several million WiFi hotspots located all over Japan. What if Yahoo’s modems permitted Yahoo to pass traffic through the user’s DSL connection and WiFi air interface independent of the home network? Today’s Viewpoint is a fable which, were it true, would shake Japan’s mobile market to the core.

3G Finally Dawneth in Japan

The latest haul of subscriber figures from Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association told their usual tale of victory and triumph for most, and misery for some. Three guesses for who did what! Vodafone Japan added a paltry 64,100 subscribers to raise its subscriber base to 15.1 million. But in the hot-house-, typhoon-yielding-, and subscriber-base-wilting-month of June, DoCoMo and KDDI/au managed to pull in 166,000 and 157,000, respectively. Better still, FOMA’s 3G ascendancy seems secure and the pace of uptake is accelerating, while CDMA 1X continues to do rather well, thank you very much. Key message: if you ain’t got 3G in Japan, you’re nowhere (or Roppongi Hills).