ezweb
ezweb

ezweb

Japan Carriers' December Stats

The December 2004 subscriber stats for Japan’s cellcos came out yesterday and the year-end numbers made two points quite clear: KDDI/au beat DoCoMo for the most net adds in 2004 and and Vodafone KK is still struggling. Looking a little deeper, we note that Big D’s mass-subscriber migration to 3G is starting to kick in with almost 1 million customers coming ‘up to speed’ in December alone; meanwhile Vodafone’s live! wireless Internet service actually saw a net decrease in users last month (by 700) while the two competitors added some 200,000 users to their i-mode and EZweb services.

Video Auction Mobile TV Station

C.A. Mobile, a Tokyo-based online content provider affiliated with Cyber Agent, has begun auctioning on iBid, a mobile auction site, in collaboration with 0ch, a cell-phone TV station. The site is the first that uses video to profile auctioned items. The service is supported by KDDI’s EZweb and NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode services. There is no charge for viewing iBid. 0ch is free for i-mode users, but costs 105 yen per month for EZweb users.

KDDI Announces Mobile FeliCa

According yesterday’s press release, KDDI will roll out FeliCa IC chip-enabled handsets by Q42005. DoCoMo launched four models that utilize Sony’s non-contact solution earlier this summer and has stated that all future phones must have this feature. The Mobile FeliCa system allows users to make small cybercash transactions; it can also be used as an ID pass to access secure areas and for marketing programs such as retail customer loyalty point programs.

Mobile TV Rocks!

In his 14 September WWJ Viewpoint, Philip Sugai raised some valid criticisms of the new TV cell phones and points to both technological and end-user behavior limitations that he believes doom TV phones to “DOA” status. Of these, the behavioral problems appear to be the most difficult to overcome. These criticisms, however, seriously underestimate both the technological developments that the devices will undergo in the next 18-24 months as well as the imagination and creativity that Japan’s end-users and broadcasters will apply to receiving and delivering, respectively, useful content via mobile TV (and FM radio).

Part 2 of a two-part series. Previously: MobileTV: Hype or Reality?, by Professor Philip Sugai.)

New 3G Phone from Kyocera

KDDI has just announced a new 3G handset, the A1403K by Kyocera [.jpg image], which will be available in Japan at the end of October. Touted as a “Friendly oval form which is comfortable to hold,” it was designed by Ichiro Iwasaki. We have a quick peek on video of what looks like an early prototype of this model at CEATEC 2002. See the press release [in Japanese] Here.