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Vodafone Japan Launches TV Phone Surprise

Vodafone Japan Launches TV Phone SurpriseFlashback a few years when J-Phone stunned the competition, and started a global wireless trend, by rolling out their new camera phones; well they may have just done it again. J-Phone was officially renamed as Vodafone KK on Oct. 1st. We were on hand to see President and CEO Darryl E. Green announce the company’s strategy going forward. After his brief pep talk, and during the rather harsh question period from reporters on J-Phone’s recent performance, Green pulled out a shiny red metallic NEC handset. The cameras strobed and the room began to buzz as it became clear that Vodafone had scooped everyone yet again with Japan’s first TV-Phone, set to hit Tokyo streets just in time for New Years. Full Program Run-time 14:24

Mobile Kaizen and Why Japan Still Matters

Conventional wisdom teaches that Japan’s mobile industry is at least 18 months in front of Europe (and years ahead of the US). That truism is no more, however, as Europe’s cellular carriers, handset makers, and wireless Internet content providers have sweated blood to catch up – and catch up they have indeed. Daniel Scuka is in Germany this fall where he’s helping WWJpartner Mobile Economy conduct a series of seminarsentitled “Mobile Kaizen in Japan” examining how Japan’s mobileindustry maintains its lead through the continuous roll-out of improvementsin all aspects of the wireless Internet.

Samsung and Sony Strengthening Cooperation through Memory Stick Business

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd and Sony Corporation today announced that an agreement has been reached whereby Samsung is licensed by Sony to manufacture and sell Memory Stick media. Under this agreement, Samsung will begin in-house manufacturing and sales of Memory Stick media from the third quarter of 2003.

Panasonic and Picsel Tie Up For SD Memory Cards

Matsushita Electric, best known for its Panasonic-brand electronics and communications products, and Picsel Technologies, a pioneering provider of embedded software, today announced that the two companies entered into a licensing agreement to embed Picsel Browser and Picsel File Viewer on Panasonic SD Memory Card products. Under the agreement, Panasonic will globally market the Picsel PoweredTM SD Memory Cards, which will greatly enhance the Internet Browsing and File Viewing capabilities of mobile information devices.

What's Being Switched On in Japan's Wireless Biz

If any of you begin to note a slightly limey tone to future Viewpoints, it’s because the WWJ team has a new member, moi – Paul Kallender, as Tokyo correspondent. Take a look at my my bio. below and you will see that I am fully capable of deploying my creative weapons of article construction well within 45 minutes! I’ll be filing weekly with my take on the trends animating Japan’s mobile biz, as well as offering insight you can’t get from our competitors -most of whom either don’t live in Japan or are not actually independent journalists. I can’t follow in ex-editor-in-chief Daniel Scuka’s footsteps (partly because he’s in Germany and I’m in Japan), but I do hope you’ll bear with meas I attempt in my own way to “rip the faceplate” off Japan’s wireless industry. Given my Aikido background, I will be doing my best to at least throw some of the PR pap journalists have to rewrite into the digital dustbin of history. In short, come to WWJ for the stuff you can’t get elsewhere.