Vodafone K.K. announced it has jointly developed a contactless interface prototype mobile handset with Sharp Corporation that is compatible with smart card-embedded flash memory cards. This prototype’s contactless communication is made possible by inserting a smart card-embedded flash memory card into the handset’s memory card slot.
On March 24, NTT DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa held his routine monthly press briefing and, with what is becoming a regular feature of his recent speeches, pounded the drum once more about the “Paradigm Shift” DoCoMo plans for its services from fiscal 2004 onwards. In a nutshell, this means introducing flat rates for packet data on June 1st, but, “We did not want to open up the window to all customers from day one,” he told reporters. Aided by a flashy Powerpoint presentation, Dr. Tachikawa also announced new anti-spam and anti-virus measures that will be implemented over the next few months. Full Program Run-time 20:25
Research house and consumer survey firm INFO PLANT recently held a seminar on the main themes and directions of Japan’s wireless market in 2004. INFO PLANT’s C-News editor-in-chief Tomoki Sakaino began with some interesting comparisons between the Korea and Japan markets before offering unique insights into the prospects for FOMA and FeliCa this year; he also reviewed studies into attitudes about DoCoMo’s new 900i-series 3G handsets and TV broadcast content for mobile devices. Full Program Run-time 19:28
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the SH900i, the fourth handset in the new 3G FOMA 900i series, will be released on March 20, 2004.The SH900i, like other 900i models, is equipped with a Macromedia Flash browser to enjoy rich content enhanced with highly fluid animation. It handles Flash applications of up to 100K and is equipped for richer, more sophisticated online games than ever before.
Seiko Epson Corporation and Renesas Technology Corporation have jointly developed standard specifications for the Mobile Video Interface, a high-speed serial interface designed specifically for text and graphics displayed on mobile communications devices. Now that they have completed the new standard, the two companies have decided to make it an open standard. Epson and Renesas Technology believe that the dissemination of the new standard will ensure even simpler architecture for the high-speed data transmissions required of next-generation mobile equipment such as mobile phones.
Vodafone KK will introduce after late April the VC701SI Vodafone Connect Card, a datacard compatible with its 3G W-CDMA network in Japan. Capable of modem and communication functions, the VC701SI, manufactured by Seiko Instruments, is Vodafone’s first 3G CompactFlash (CF) card data terminal.
