CDMA
CDMA

CDMA

DoCoMo to Invest in FOMA Single-Chip LSI

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company will invest in Renesas Technology Corp. to jointly develop a single-chip LSI making FOMA 3G handsets compatible with both W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS networks. Currently, it is necessary to embed two chips in the handset in order to produce a dual-mode W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS handset. However, by combining DoCoMo’s W-CDMA technology with Renesas Technology’s LSI fabrication capabilities, multimedia application processors, and GSM/GPRS technologies, a single-chip will be developed that enables a lower-cost 3G handset to run on both network standards.

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).

ACCESS Partners with Datang to Power 3G Data Services in China

ACCESS, a global provider of Internet access technologies, today announced that ACCESS has partnered with Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd. (Datang), to provide the enabling technology for advanced mobile services over TD-SCDMA networks. Datang of China is a leading mobile technology provider and the creator of TD-SCDMA, China’s homegrown 3G standard. Under the agreement, ACCESS will work closely with Datang to jointly develop technology specifications and go-to-market business strategies for new client-end data solutions on 3G handsets. Further, ACCESS will provide its industry leading NetFront Mobile Client Suite, including key applications such as the micro-browser, messaging client and Java virtual machine to TD-SCDMA related handset vendors.

Mogi = Socially Connected GPS Gaming

Mogi: Socially Connected GPS GamingYou may have read about it in Wired or The Feature, but our program today is the first Web video coverage for Mogi, a GPS game that may be The Future of Mobile Content, Version 1.0. Mogi is a multi-player network game in which individuals or teams hunt down virtual treasures hidden in Tokyo’s concrete jungle. Mogi players interact in ways that the much-talked-about i-mode has yet to deliver. It’s new for Japan, even newer for the rest of the world, and there’s no lucrative revenue model. Yet.

Vodafone K.K. Unleashes Sharp V602SH

Here in Tokyo, the tension is killing us – waiting for Vodafone to break out of its bolt hole and unleash its global-spanning battlewagon of 3G W-CDMA phones. While new management here does whatever it’s supposed to be doing to sweeten up Vodafone’s sour performanceof late, Little-V still has the muscle, and Sharp always the technology, it seems, to pull something out of the hat; this time its the V602SH, packing a 2.02-megapixel camera (small yawn) plus a real eye opener – an optical zoom! See for yourself in our video program from the Tokyo Business Show in May.

Radioplan Lands 3G Optimisation Contracts

Radioplan, a leading supplier of 3G radio network simulation, optimisation, and measurement analysis solutions, has been selected to supply radio network optimisation tools and services to four new customers in EMEA and Japan. Following extensive technical trials and evaluations of a wide range of tools, Radioplan?s WiNeS optimisation platform and consulting services were chosen to support demanding pre-launch optimisation projects by both 3G vendors and 3G mobile operator clients.