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Casio Pushing for U.S. Market

Japan’s Casio Computer Co. is making an overseas push with plans to supply 3G phones to U.S. mobile carriers and a deal to win shelf space for its digital cameras at U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy, Casio President Kazuo Kashio said on Wednesday. The company’s new waterproof and shock-resistant 3G phones (launched in Japan earlier this year), which make up more than a fifth of total sales, have received high marks, Kashio said in an interview, declining to identify the U.S. carriers involved.

Wireless Watch in Toyota's Drivers Seat

Wireless Watch in Toyota's Drivers SeatA new smart watch from Toyota Motors and Citizen Watch lets drivers open and lock car doors remotely, pop the trunk and start the engine with a flick of the wrist. Together the two firms have crafted a non-contact key wristwatch for use with luxury Toyota Crown automobiles. The watch transmits a radio signal for various functions to the car’s built in antenna.

To open the doors drivers just grasp the door handle for the watch to transmit the unlock signal; press a button on the side of the watch for remote locking and unlocking. Although the timepiece is tuned for just one make of car, if this perk proves popular Toyota is considering expanding it to other models. Priced at 42,000 yen, the watch went on sale October 4th.

InfoPLANT's Handset Market Survey

Online marketer infoPLANT announced a survey result on mobile handset manufacturers. The survey was conducted on September 17 through the company’s data service providing site, C-NEWS, among 200 male and 200 female mobile phone/Internet users aged 15 or older. When asked about which maker offers the most attractive looking handset, about 15% of respondents selected Sharp and Panasonic, followed by Toshiba (about 10%). When asked which maker’s handset they would buy next, 30% replied Sharp, followed by Panasonic and NEC (about 25% each), and Sony/Sony Ericsson (over 20%).

Casio to Buy LCDs from Taiwan

Casio Computer Co. Ltd. has indicated it would buy liquid crystal displays from Taiwan’s HannStar Display Corp., aiming to boost its presence in the cell-phone-use panel market without investing in its own production facilities. Casio has agreed to extend to HannStar its technologies to make high-resolution panels. Casio is the world’s largest maker of LCD panels used in digital cameras with a 40 percent market share while HannStar is Taiwan’s fifth-largest LCD maker.

Japan Mobile Market Myths from Past and Present

Japan Mobile Market Myths from Past and PresentThe recent guest article, Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea, has resulted in some interesting comments on the web. It seems that the long- wrong-held belief about Japan’s mobile success story is still being attributed to the “There are relatively few people in Japan with a home-based Internet connection, making the mobile Internet more attractive” syndrome. However, it’s clear according to the ITU that Japan’s Internet and PC adoption rates have been much the same as, or even better than, the adoption rates in European countries such as France, Germany and the UK since at least 2001. Another comment we saw regarding the Chaku-uta Full song downloads explained in the article said “it seems to me it may be being marketed (and more importantly used) more as a next-generation ring-tone service than as a true music service”.

This is incorrect. Today in Japan, marketing to encourage customers to upgrade and listen to full-track music on their new mobile devices is everywhere; in print, outdoor and on television commercials, we are seeing massive “i-pod-meets-mobile-phone” promotions. Hence the stereo headphones and J-pop artists making regular appearances to help push the product. Sure, people can use full songs as ring-tones as well (that’s a bonus), but that is not how Chaku-uta Full is be marketed or — more importantly — being used. (And you don’t have to take our word for it. Visit KDDI’s Ad Index site and surf around to watch their current selection of TV commercials.)

Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea

While Japan’s music market is second only to the US, with $3.5 bn in CD sales, it ranks first in mobile music in terms of market size, service penetration and sophistication. Japanese record labels have managed a powerful comeback from their failure in the wild, MIDI ring tone-based 2G music market to massive success in the master-rights-based "Chaku-uta" 3G universe. They already own a 20-percent share of Japan’s $1-billion-plus mobile music market. How did they pull off this stunning achievement? The labels identified their core assets in the mobile universe: trust and convenience.

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest Viewpoint is based on "Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea," a 103-page report recently released by Vectis International. WWJ subscribers login to read the article and receive a special 10% discount coupon!!

Researched and written over a period of several months by Simon Bureau, Managing Director and Editor, and Benjamin Joffe, Japan Market Analyst — two of the saviest mobile industry watchers in Asia — Vectis’ "Mobile Music Best Practices" provides 103 pages of sharp and critical analysis covering mobile music downloading as it has developed in the world’s top two wireless markets. With reference to carriers, content providers, networks, terminals, pricing, marketing and end-user behavior, "Mobile Music" is a must-read for anyone involved in planning and commercializing on-the-go music services anywhere.

Opera Browser for KDDI's Casio W31CA

Opera Software has announced that the Opera browser will be shipped on the new Casio W31CA from KDDI, Japan’s largest 3G operator. The Casio W31CA [ .jpg image ] is a multi-functional 3G phone with a large 2.6 inch QVGA display, a 3.2 megapixel camera and full Internet and E-mail capabilities. Opera is currently offered on four KDDI handsets, with more to come. The Casio W31CA is available in Japan as of July 29, 2005

ACCESS' NetFront Powers Full Internet Browsing on N901iS 3G Handset

ACCESS announced that its NetFront full Internet mobile browser has been selected by NTT DoCoMo for deployment in its 3G FOMA N901iS handset. The N901iS is part of DoCoMo’s 901iS Mobile Wallet series—the most advanced handset series ever developed by DoCoMo. In combination with ACCESS’ NetFront browser, the N901iS handset’s advanced functionality expands to deliver support for both i-mode as well as full Internet browsing. ACCESS’ NetFront browser provides N901iS end-users with a rich, full Internet mobile browsing experience that includes the ability to scale down standard Web pages to fit the width of the phone screen, thus eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling while significantly facilitating the mobile browsing experience.

ACCESS Announces NetFront v3.2 Browser for Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition

ACCESS announced the availability of the English language version of NetFront® v3.2 for Pocket PC 2003/2003 Second Edition (SE) which supports Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 SE. NetFront v3.2 for Pocket PC 2003/2003 SE builds on the success of ACCESS’ award-winning NetFront v3.1 for Pocket PC browser by providing support for key new technologies and features including JV-Lite(tm) 2 CE edition, ACCESS’ Sun authorized Java virtual machine which supports the Connected Device Configuration (CDC) standard, and native support for Macromedia Flash(tm).

KDDI's Shock and Awe with Tough New Casio 3G Handsets

KDDI's Shock and Awe with Tough New Casio 3G HandsetsCasio’s rugged water-and-shock resistant mobile handsets from KDDI launched at a press event held in the celco’s shiny Harajuku Designing Studio first-floor theater; both features are firsts for a 3G handset and the G’zOne [flash site here] certainly looks like it should be hanging from a REI backpack while its user hammers pylons into a sheer rock face. An optional handle-cum-customized protector curves around the handset’s top edge, just begging for a carabiner clip. The phone has two screens, a 2.2-inch QVGA on the inside and 1-inch circular screen centered in the front cover.

All three models, the C303C, C311CA and C409CA, are covered in a tough polyurethane material with a magnesium alloy body to absorb hard knocks. G’zOne’s front screen functions as an electronic compass orienting with the built-in GPS tracking system and linked to KDDI’s signature EZ Navi walk navigation system, all ready for urban trailblazing. Even if your most arduous climb is the subway steps at Harajuku’s Omote Sando station, that water-resistant function could come in very handy when typhoon season hits. KDDI says the handset can withstand 30 minutes in water at a depth of one meter (although they admit tap water was used in the testing rather than chilly spring snow run-off). Thankfully the launch day event was held inside… 🙂