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Mobile Monday Tokyo: Hot Flash and Cool Java

Mobile Monday Tokyo: Hot Flash and Cool JavaThe first full day of our Mobile Intelligence Japan tour has wrapped up with yet another stellar turn-out at Mobile Monday Tokyo’s OktoberZestEvent in Ebisu tonight. After a jam-packed schedule that included our visit to DoCoMo for a hands-on product demonstration and a meeting with Japan’s first (and still only) MVNO, the MIJ team settled down for a few margarita’s with bratwurst and sauerkraut to take in the evening’s feature presentations from G-Mode and Macromedia. Akio Tanaka and Dwight Rodgers (photo, right) from Macromedia Japan provided a fantastic overview of FlashLite and their new FlashCast mobile service (branded i-Channel on DoCoMo) to the almost 250 MoMo attendees.

Mobile Internet: See it. Hear it. Breath it. Understand it.

We really hit the ground running today with a detailed market introduction from WWJ’s editor-in-chief (and MIJ host) Daniel Scuka, followed by a mobile music report and then a working lunch before heading out into the jungle. Tomorrow, we focus on mobile payments and we will visit another carrier before winding down for a relaxed ‘local experts’ dinner.

Mobile Intelligence Japan – Akihabara Walking Tour

Mobile Intelligence Japan - Akihabara Walking TourAfter months of preparation, our MIJ mission to Tokyo kicked-off Sunday afternoon with a casual walk-about through the famous Akihabara electric town district. Over the coming week of scheduled meetings and events, we plan to post a daily update — right here on WWJ — of the highlights to provide subscribers a current snapshot of Japan’s mobile space. MIJ has an extensive agenda lined up, including company visits and presentations from many of what we believe to be the most interesting local players, a major networking event at Mobile Monday tomorrow night and a whole day out at Tech Disneyland — the CEATEC trade show.

You’ve got to experience it to believe it!

While most of these discussions will be held ‘off-the-record’ to gather info just for MIJ participants, we are looking forward to gaining an even deeper insight of where the industry is today and how things are shaping up for 2006 and to sharing what we can.

KDDI Develops Prototype Fuel-Cell Mobile Phones with Toshiba, Hitachi, Ltd

JCN; KDDI, with partners Toshiba Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd., is pleased to announce that prototype mobile phones powered with fuel cells will be exhibited in the KDDI booth at CEATEC JAPAN (Makuhari Messe), to take place from October 4. KDDI had been in co-development with Toshiba and Hitachi since July, 2004 on next-generation fuel cells for use in mobile devices such as cell-phones. The fuel-cell mobile phone co-developed by Toshiba and KDDI is based on the au handset A5509T. The system used is a hybrid type, with power supplied by a compact fuel cell and fuel tank at the back of the handset, plus an internal lithium ion battery. It uses high-concentration methanol to achieve a battery capacity 2.5 times the conventional value with a single refill. This feature enables the handset to be used for a long time.

Cramming for Exams on Mobile

Cramming for exams is never fun, but it’s a fact of life for students everywhere, especially in Japan. But forget using flash cards or using a textbook to learn all the needed information. Mobile-phone companies are now getting into the game and allowing people to go online and test their knowledge on the go. KDDI, one of the country’s biggest wireless carriers, launched a service under its AU label to offer the “Manabi” program. Literally meaning “to study,” Manabi allows subscribers to get access to study kits and test themselves on multiple-choice questions that flash on-screen.

ACG Gets Kyocera KX5 Slider

The Associated Carrier Group (ACG) and Kyocera Wireless announced the debut of the Kyocera Slider Remix KX5 wireless phone. The feature-rich, music-enabled handset is exclusively offered for a limited time by the recently united ACG, and is also the first phone offered by the alliance. “By forming the ACG alliance, our members collaborate with manufacturers – like Kyocera – to provide cutting-edge products, quicken market entry and to leverage costs,” said Greg Latour, president of ACG. “It’s proving to be a smart and successful alliance for our member companies, which ultimately benefits our customers. We are pleased to be the first in the U.S. to offer the Slider Remix.”

Renesas Starts Sample Shipments of Dual-Mode Chips Developed With NTT DoCoMo

Renesas Technology Corp. today announced it has started shipping evaluation samples of a single-chip LSI, jointly developed with NTT DoCoMo, Inc. for dual-mode mobile handsets supporting W-CDMA (3G) and GSM/GPRS (2G) systems. Evaluation samples have been available for customers since the end of July 2005. With technological development investment from NTT DoCoMo since July 2004, the jointly developed LSI is expected to promote the global use of FOMA(R) and similar 3G mobile handsets. It also reduces costs by incorporating a dual baseband processor handling W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS systems together with a Renesas Technology SH-Mobile application processor.