NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s largest mobile carrier, has delayed an upgrade to its 3G (third-generation) network, the company said on Tuesday. The company will test its HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) network this year but will not roll out a commercial service based on the technology before April, DoCoMo president Masao Nakamura said at the company’s financial news conference in Tokyo.
KDDI will export BREW-based mobile game know-how to American telecoms hungry for advanced mobile content. Game producers Interactive Brains and Mobcast Inc. are KDDI’s first partners in this venture. Mobcast will initially supply two games: a quick-draw shooting game, ‘Hayauchi Gunman’ and ‘Photo Aquarium,’ which lets you decorate pictures on a mobile phone with a mobile aquarium. Interactive Brains will provide a high-speed 3-D racing game, Lightstream, available here on Vodafone and au. The content will be offered by the Japanese game makers with KDDI providing collection services and taking a cut of the action. The company also intends to localize game software itself for marketing and distribution on overseas networks. According to Interactive Brains, their game is scheduled for release in the US between late summer and autumn.
Vodafone K.K. announced that today it has applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for licenses to operate W-CDMA experimental radio stations on the 1.7GHz frequency band, marking the first time in Japan for an existing 3G mobile operator to apply for a field test license on this frequency band. After receiving a field test license, Vodafone K.K. plans to conduct field tests for approximately 6 months in Chiba prefecture to investigate radio wave propagation characteristics and building shadowing effects, as well as measure in-building penetration loss while operating on the 1.7GHz frequency band.
DoCoMo ruled 2004 with their 900i-series 3G phones and exclusive Final Fantasy VII spin off game ‘Before Crisis’ but spring 2005 belongs to KDDI. Japan’s leading 3G carrier has just whipped out a whole new posse of BREW-based mobile multiplayer games for their WIN CDMA 1X 3G handsets: Bandai’s Gundam (Kidousenshi Gundam 3D Meguri Ai Sora Hen); Bomberman 2 from Hudson; Armored Core; Ace Combat by Namco; Sega Rally; Street Fighter II and more. In February, KDDI launched EZ Game Street a new gaming platform powered by Square Enix; the user-friendly image-based interface and landscape of 350 games is set to become even more engaging with this boulevard of multiplayer options powered by new, fixed data rates.
Vodafone K.K. announced that on 27 April it will launch a service that lets customers confirm personal safety information concerning their family and friends via the Vodafone live! mobile internet service in the event of a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. For the two week period of 27 April to 11 May, Vodafone K.K. will offer a trial version of its Disaster Message Board Service so customers can get familiar with the service details and methods of use. After this initial period, the same trial service is scheduled to be available on the first day of every month (excluding the month of January).
3G handsets are driving new phone sales as consumers toss older 2G models for the promise of more music, fun and games. The Nihon Keizai Business Daily reported statistics from the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association (JEITA) showing February shipments of cell phones jumped 23 percent over the same month last year to total 4.7 million units – the second consecutive month of increases.
Consumers were initially slow to replace 2G handsets but resistance was futile. A barrage of slick ads and enticing features combined with the general mobile mass hysteria for entertainment-on-the-go have Japanese running to electronics retailers and cell-phone boutiques. Subscribers to DoCoMo’s 3G FOMA service have currently reached about 11.5 million and KDDI boasts nearly 18 million. Both cellcos have a seemingly endless lineup of new phones for every sort of consumer.
