NEC and Panasonic have developed three Linux-powered 3G mobile phones to be introduced in Japan in the coming months — NEC’s N900iL, NEC’s N901iC, and Panasonic’s P901i. Of the three, only NEC’s N900iL [see WWJ’s video] is currently shipping. The N900iL is a dual-network 3G/VoIP handset that works as a 3G mobile phone (using DoCoMo’s W-CDMA/FOMA technologies), VoIP terminal, or both simultaneously.
NEPRO Japan published a report [in Japanese] giving results of a study into mobile phone GPS usage. At the moment, KDDI/au has more than 15 GPS-enabled models (DoCoMo has 2; Vodafone has none). In December 2003, au introduced their NAVI-Walk personal navigation service with an aggressive TV campaign presenting the advantages of mobile-phone GPS.
A Reuters report cites yesterday’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun (newspaper) as saying that Apple Computer plans to start a music download service in Japan by March 2005. The Nikkei said Apple aimed to offer more than 100,000 songs with an emphasis on Japanese music at its “iTunes Music Store,” which is expected to be the largest music download service in the country. But it’s unlikely to happen exactly as Apple might wish, and here’s why.
DoCoMo have just launched their next generation FOMA handsets at a splashy event at Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel — complete with bikini-clad beauties, big-name stars, and a sound and light show that blasted their five new 901i handsets into the spotlight. The D901i, F901iC, N901iC, P901i, and SH901iC models all come equipped with a 2-megapixel camera, stereo speakers, and enhanced audio and video for even more multi-slacking fun. In a ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!’ press event move, DoCoMo announced that only the SH901iC will be ready for nationwide release on 26 November. Other handsets will ‘follow’ with no specific release dates given. DoCoMo says sales of FOMA cellys stand at 7.3 million. Sales of i-mode-compatible FeliCa e-wallet handsets stand at 600,000 units; infrared signal-compatible handsets, 27.2 million, and bar-code reader terminals, 14 million. Watch our video report here.
The latest word from Tokyo street-level retailers for the Top 20 DoCoMo mobile phones sold between 4-10 November. Sorted by maker, model, and color (and link to product site), this interesting tidbit should give marketers a clear snapshot of what customers are actually buying. It’s no surprise that NEC scored 8 of the 20 positions with 6 in the top 10.
DoCoMo announced today the N900iL [WWJ video here], a dual-network WLAN/3G FOMA handset. The phone will be released on 16 November 2004. The N900iL is specifically designed to support DoCoMo’s exclusive PASSAGE DUPLE system for dual-network operation as both a standard FOMA phone and a VoIP mobile phone over a corporate user’s internal wireless LAN.
