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Casio G'zOne Launched in Korea

LG Telecom, Korea’s smallest mobile operator, took the wraps off that nation’s first waterproof mobile phone, the canU 502S [.jpg], developed under alliance with Japanese firm Casio Computer. Launched in Japan in May 2005, the G’zOne is a rugged, water-and-shock resistant handset based on the company’s popular G-Shock wristwatch series. The unit has four styles of digital time keeping and a sub-display screen that functions as an electronic compass. The Korean version also comes with an MP3 player and a mega-pixel camera and has a price tag of 550,000 won.

3G Network Limitations Define Mobile TV

3G Network Limitations Define Mobile TVIt’s rare for WWJ editors, a jaded bunch, to get too excited about new service announcements, but on 6 December, we jumped on this fresh Vodafone press release that seemed to herald the emergence of the rather cool, made-in-Japan ‘Vodafone Live! BB’ (BB= broadband) music- and video-download service into the Group’s European markets. Vodafone live! BB uses the ‘i-Pod model’ to get large media files onto mobile phones, avoiding network traffic fees and should be, we have always thought, a no-brainer for export to Vodafone Opcos outside Japan. Don’t mobilers everywhere want to save on packet/data fees and get audio and DVD-quality video onto their handsets?

Korean 3G Phone Finally Hits Japan Market

Korean 3G Phone Finally Hits Japan MarketKDDI/au has announced the roll-out of their A1405PT, made by Pantech & Curitel, will begin today in the Hokkaido region and throughout all areas of Japan over the weekend. The phone was jointly developed with KDDI and marks the first entry of a Korean maker’s handset into the Japanese market. Touted, at 98 grams, as the ‘lightest 3G handset’ available in the market, it comes with a limited set of features (only a VGA camera, for example), but it does have an organic EL “Stream Screen” sub-display and has a built-in crime prevention buzzer function, a feature which was also just introduced by DoCoMo (for good reason).

WWJ has been tracking rumours and hints on the entry of Korean terminals for some time now but this is hard fact on the ground. We have seen Sanyo and Casio pushing into the U.S. market along with Sharp and NEC making moves in Europe. It’s clearly becoming a two-way street with the recent launch of Motorola’s M-1000 with DoCoMo, who have also indicated that LG and Nokia models are in the pipeline.

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales“Despite the high prices, there were huge line-ups waiting to buy the new Willcom PHSes,” said my Kiwi pal in an email last night. It looks like some of Willcom’s PHS phones appear to be selling well on the strength of flat-rate voice and data and handsets that are at least comparable to the high-end 3G cellular models from the Big Three carriers. Is this a hint of price destruction to come when the new licensees jump into the market in 2006?

“It normally takes about 20 minutes to get a new phone, but the wait for the new Willcom models on the first day of sales was over an hour and a half. A day or two later and the long lines have vanished,” added Keith Wilkinson, a long-time Japan hand and a keen watcher of all things electronic.

He was referring to the WX300K, WX310K and WX310SA, from Kyocera and Sanyo, as initially reported by WWJ in October, the first in a new series of PHS models. PHS is the shorter-range, non-cellular standard that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to lower costs of usage and flat-rate pricing. According to Willcom, phones could be reserved starting on 11 November, and became or will become available in shops on the 18th (WX300K, silver and ochre), the 25th (WX310K, silver & pink; WX310SA, silver & red) and the 30th (WX310K, other color).

KDDI Designing Studio Unveils Prototype Handsets

KDDI Designing Studio Unveils Prototype HandsetsThe latest models from KDDI’s au Design Project went on display this month following in the footsteps of past designer models like the InfoBar, the Talby and the Penck. Visiting Harajuku’s ultratrendy Designing Studio showroom last weekend we got a peek into the future with several new mock-ups attracting attention. Celebrating what was billed as “Tokyo Designer’s New Concept Model Week 2005,” the phone company unveiled several previously unseen prototypes, including the Machina [.jpg] and the Hexagon [.jpg], which were displayed under glass at a safe distance from fashionistas and tech journalists alike.

KDDI has hired several designers from outside the traditional OEM supply chain to help them develop innovative new models or what the company calls “communication tools that merge fashion with portability.” Takashi Nikaido, a former Casio team leader who worked on the original G-SHOCK watch design is one of them. His ‘Rotary Design’ (photo right), circa 2001, was on view along with the even more futuristic ‘Wearable’ 3-piece concept [.jpg] which he developed the same year. In 2003, Marc Newson created KDDI/au’s Talby based at least in part on an earlier design model, the InfoBar, designed by Naoto Fukasawa, who also produced the Penck. Ichiro Iwasaki, who spent several years at the Sony Design Center, created the Grappa Slider and Wallet styles and Ichiro Higashiizumi also had his two Apollo concept handsets on show.

Accessibility for JIS Standard

The CIAJ has announced that the "JIS X 8341-4: Guidelines for Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities – Information and Communications Equipment, Software and Services – Part 4: Telecommunications Equipment" has been deliberated by the Japan Industrial Standards Committee, established as a JIS standard, and notified in an official government gazette. These guidelines define items which are essential and items which are desirable from an accessibility standpoint in the planning, development and design stages so that telecommunications equipment can be operated without difficulty by all people, including older persons and persons with disabilities.