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KDDI to Launch EZ Navi Walk, a Full-scale Navigation Service

KDDI, Okinawa Cellular and Navitime Corporation are pleased to announce that they will launch ‘EZ Navi Walk’ at the end of October 2003. EZ Navi Walk is a full-scale navigation service for pedestrians that makes use of location information from GPS satellites. EZ Navi Walk has been developed from EZ Navi, and allows users to quickly measure the location of a mobile phone through GPS positioning enabling real time continuous display of their location. The service is equipped with voice guidance and other functions that can navigate users to their destinations.

Hutchinson Awards GPS Contract to KDDI

KDDI has announced a contract with Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia Ltd., a leading cellular phone carrier in Thailand, for the construction of a high-precision global positioning system (GPS). The contract is based on the gpsOne system which KDDI presently offers in Japan in cooperation with NEC as EZ NAVI, and is worth a total of approximately 1 billion yen. In constructing the new system, KDDI will cooperate with Snap Track, Inc., regarding the gpsOne system license and technological support.

NEC Electronics Develops GPS Chipset for Mobile Applications

NEC Electronics Corporation today announced that it has developed a new signal processing device (uPD77534) and an RF/IF down converter IC (uPB1009) to enhance Global Positioning System (GPS) functions for cellular phones and other mobile applications. The uPD77534 is an ARM7 TDMI-based System LSI for signal processing, fabricated on 0.15-micron process. As a chipset solution with uPD77534, NEC Electronics has also developed a new RF/IF down converter chip which is connected to the signal processor device and converts the high frequency GPS satellite signal to a low frequency signal used to establish location.

KDDI and Okinawa Cellular Launch 5 New 3G Handsets

KDDI Corp. and Okinawa Cellular recently announced plans to launch five new handsets from the end of May increasing their new lineup of 3G mobile phones (CDMA 2000 1x), a format that enables high-speed data transmission of up to 144 kbps. All the new phones are Movie Mail-compatible, a function that allows users to shoot and send seamless movies. The new handsets scheduled for launch are the A5401CA manufactured by Casio, the A5402S produced by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, the A5306ST and A1303SA both made by Sanyo, and the A5303H II manufactured by Hitachi.

Korea, Japan, Pastel-Hued PDAs, and Tokyo's Good 'ol Days are Back

The past couple of weeks saw two lavish events at trendy Tokyo venues hosted by carriers NTT DoCoMo and J-Phone to fete their content provider communities (so, yes, there was a lot of overlap in the guest lists). One attendee at the J-Phone event, held at Zepp in Odaiba, reported that it was a sweaty, raucous evening with content community punters packed in six deep. “There was a lengthy line-up of folks waiting to exchange meishi business cards,” she said, adding that a good time was had, evidently, by all.

Electronics Makers Lead the Charge in Quest for Longer Battery Life

But trouble is looming for the battery world. While lithium-ion batteries represent today’s cutting edge, the gadgetry that depends on them is advancing more quickly than the power technology. As mobile devices take on richer features, battery life has become a key issue for gadget developers, and now manufacturers need to go one better than lithium-ion, in both size and energy output.