DoCoMo
DoCoMo

DoCoMo

Mobile Phone Makers Rush To 3G

Foreseeing global demand for new WCDMA phones will be worth more than 30 million units next year, world leading mobile phone makers, including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Siemens as well as domestic manufacturers began making a big push into the 3G handset market to take lion?s share. Mindbranch Asia Pacific, a market research firm, forecasts that the number of new subscribers to 3G wireless communication service will reach 38 million worldwide next year generating a new demand for more than 30 million units of handsets.

Habbo Hotel Coming to Japan Mobile

Habbo Hotel Coming to Japan MobileFrom the Tokyo Game Show, in which long-time Tokyo mobile entrepreneur Neeraj Jhanji, builder of the first (and probably only) IM i-mode client for AOL, provides WWJ subscribers with an exclusisve look at his Until Now Very Quiet Plans (indeed, a working demo) to create a mobile version of the globally überpopular Habbo Hotel community service… er… site… or whatever it is. OK — it’s a networking community for digierati burnt out on traditional RPG shooters. In any event, Habbo’s mobile potential is huge (we think) and Neeraj is likely one of the few who can make it happen.

DoCoMo to Acquire Singapore ISP

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company has agreed to make a 100% acquisition of inter-touch (BVI) Limited, a Singapore-based holding company of Internet providers who supply high-speed broadband connections and applications for business travelers at hotels across Asia-Pacific, Europe etc. The total purchase price will be US$70 million. inter-touch has capital in the amount of US$15.6 million. The company was established in 1998 and employs about 120 people.

Talking Art with Talby

TalbyKDDI brings a cool synchronicity of art and technology to a new mobile handset, the Talby. Conceptualized by acclaimed Australian designer Marc Newson, it weighs in at just 79 grams and a mere 13 mm thick. Though you might readily file it with other vanity handsets, it’s not just a pretty face. Arguably the lightest handset yet (except perhaps for DoCoMo’s tiny Premini at 69 grams but we’re talking about cell phones you can actually use), its ultra-slim, ultra-flat design is achieved in part by placing the antenna internally.

Talby also has a high-resolution QVGA LCD screen, Flash, 2-D barcode reader, camera, is compatible with KDDI’s EZAppli BREW applications and their advanced EZNavi Walk navigation system, plus other bells and whistles — but the “phone as fashion accessory” is definitely part of the message here.

DoCoMo Adds SingTel Videophone

NTT DoCoMo announced that Japanese customers of its 3G FOMA-based WORLD CALL service will be able to exchange videophone calls with users of compatible 3G/W-CDMA services offered by Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) beginning 2 November 2004. SingTel is currently offering 3G services on a trial basis, so DoCoMo customers initially will be able to place videophone calls to SingTel users participating in the trial.

China Mobile Selects Dilithium Networks' Leading 3G Test Tool

Dilithium Networks, a leading provider of wireless multimedia solutions, today announced that the largest mobile telecommunications operator in the world, China Mobile, has purchased the Dilithium Networks Analyzer (DNA) the industry-leading 3G protocol analysis and test tool. The DNA will be used for interoperability testing and standards compliance with equipment manufacturers.