The recently released Yankee Group report, “Under the Yankee Group Microscope: NTT DoCoMo’s Experience with Flash Lite,” emphasizes how Flash has become a de facto standard in Japan. According to the report, “Sophisticated information services using Flash Lite have characterized the first wave of innovation. More than 60% of the 4,400 official i-mode sites are based on Flash Lite.” WWJ subscribers log in for access to the full report in PDF.
NEC Corporation today announced that it has developed its first i-mode 3G terminal “N600i” for an operator outside Japan and has commenced delivery of the terminal for COSMOTE, the largest mobile operator in Greece. COSMOTE, celebrating i-mode’s first year in the Greek market, is the first i-mode operator in the world, after NTT DoCoMo in Japan, to introduce the 3rd Generation i-mode, next generation innovative mobile Internet services. The new terminal is the first 3G (W-CDMA) and GSM/GPRS-capable i-mode terminal outside Japan.
With i-mode, COSMOTE made a significant breakthrough in the area of advanced data services. The company’s priorities for the coming years include the development and expansion of data services in Greece and the markets in which the company operates in South-Eastern Europe, the increase of their participation in the company’s total revenues, the reinforcement of its customers’ loyalty and the maintenance of its leading position in the market.
ACCESS announced the availability of the English language version of NetFront® v3.2 for Pocket PC 2003/2003 Second Edition (SE) which supports Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 SE. NetFront v3.2 for Pocket PC 2003/2003 SE builds on the success of ACCESS’ award-winning NetFront v3.1 for Pocket PC browser by providing support for key new technologies and features including JV-Lite(tm) 2 CE edition, ACCESS’ Sun authorized Java virtual machine which supports the Connected Device Configuration (CDC) standard, and native support for Macromedia Flash(tm).
Japanese IC cards have pop posters grooving to a techno beat this summer. Fans of hunky J-Pop star Shogo Hamada just flash their Suica rechargeable RFID train commuter card at specially designed high-tech poster displays around town to reserve a copy of his newest album, My First Love. Japanese are calling this new interactive ad medium, “Denki Posta” (electronic posters). Popping up in all sorts of variations, most have plasma-display panels and flat-panel speakers.
Suica’s IC card technology has been a runaway hit in Japan. More than ten million are in circulation around the country and the service has brought in numerous retail partners for cashless payments at shops and restaurants within the stations. It was developed by Sony together with Japan Railways East Corporation and will soon migrate from hands to handsets. In January 2006, DoCoMo plans to combine their Felica smart card e-money platform with the Suica commuter card into a series of mobile handsets.
Anyuser Global’s tiny VoIP IMphone flash drive brings voice communications to any PC. Scheduled to go on sale in Japan this August, the unit streamlines installation into a USB plug and play solution. All the VoIP software and circuitry is packed right inside along with 64MB of flash memory. That means PC vagabonds can use it on any machine with an Internet connection – at Internet cafes, friends houses, conducting “Alias” style international intrigue. Not bad for a unit the size of a packet of gum.
DoCoMo’s hybrid 3G-PDA M1000 handset is off the showroom floor and finally on the street. WWJ was at the launch event and we’ve put together a quick video program showing just what sort of hoops this smartphone jumps through. Previewed at an April 15 press conference, the tri-band business-use handset from Motorola juggles W-CDMA, GSM and GPRS for global roaming, opens Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs as well as PDF files, and allows multiple email functions including POP and IMAP email. Internet access channels through the Opera 7.5 browser. DoCoMo took the (daring) step of dropping i-mode capability for the M1000 in favor of global compatibility. More PDA than phone, all navigation is through the bright, 2.9-inch touch screen.
