DoCoMo announced today that a new 3G FOMA handset developed with award-winning designer Stefano Giovannoni will be globally premiered during Design Week from April 18 to 23 in Milan, Italy. Giovannoni, creator of highly acclaimed designs for world-famous companies such as Alessi, Fiat and Siemens, designed the new handset in collaboration with handset manufacturer NEC Corporation and DoCoMo.
DoCoMo just announced they will begin marketing the F903iBSC, by Fujitsu, business-use to enable companies to address security issues such as information leaks and non-work-related use of corporate phones. Security is enhanced by a tool that automatically locks all functions when the handset is shut. Unlocking can be handled with biometric fingerprint authorization or a password. DoCoMo will market this new 3G FOMA handset in Japan from March 19 exclusively through corporate business divisions, and will not be available at DoCoMo shops.
A recent article via the Yomiuri Shimbun re-states that services offering the GPS location of callers will be required on all new 3G cell phones in Japan starting April 1st in an effort to aid emergency callers. With the increased use of mobile phones has come an increased number of emergency calls placed on them. Among the 9.39 million emergency calls police received in 2005, 59 percent were made from cell phones. However, callers were often unable to explain their exact location when calling from mobile phones.
I was talking to my accountant last week; she’s a smart, self-employed mid-career professional with a husband and kids and she’s definitely one of the more practical-minded Europeans I know.
We were talking about ‘handys’ (keitai, in Germany), and I told her about the huge success the mobile Internet and 3G are having (still) in Japan, versus in Europe where no one’s making a single (Euro) cent on UMTS. Her reaction was typical, but interesting: “I’m not going to use the phone for sending mail or anything but talking. The keypad is far too tiny. It’s just not in the mindset of my generation.”
Several more of Docomo’s latest 3G models, as announced in January, are rolling-out here this weekend. While the N703i by NEC was available last week, the Panasonic, Mitsubishi and waterproof! Fujitsu 703i’s hit the store shelves on Feb. 2nd. We have noticed an unusually aggressive amount of advertising – both outdoor and on TV – for these new models, so the TCA results in early March should be rather interesting.
DoCoMo today announced the development of new 3G FOMA handsets – the 703i-series plus the D800iDS and SO903iTV. The 703i-series consists of eight models: N703i, P703i, D703i, F703i, N703iD, P703i, SH703i and SO703i. Most of the models are extra slim, with the N703i (image at right) and P703i being the thinnest 3G clamshell handsets in the world, at 11.4mm each, as of 15 January 2007 (and according to the company).
Our Wireless Watch Japan Web Video Triple Play article posted 10 November has a quick shot of Natsuno-san with these new extra-slim handsets.
The new 703i-series handsets made by NEC, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Fujitsu and Sony Ericsson have features ranging from full-track music, Mega Appli gaming and DCMX mobile commerce to document viewer and full mobile web browser. A couple of interesting design notes; Fujitsu’s F703i model is water-proof and claims to be completely safe in the shower while Mitsubishi’s D703i is Japan’s thinnest candybar-style cellphone available, at 9.9mm thick.
DoCoMo also unveiled the SO903iTV handset equipped with a high-resolution LCD using BRAVIA technology and high-quality audio for viewing “One-segment” (1 Seg) terrestrial digital TV broadcasts. In addition the company announced the D800iDS [.jpg image], which according to the press materials, is a world-first cellphone with two full screens – a conventional upper screen and a touch-screen instead of the traditional lower keypad. The N703iD will be marketed on 26 January. The other 703i-series models and D800iDS are planned to be sold in February, while the SO903iTV is scheduled to be launched in June.
We have images with full details after the jump.
Seiko Epson Corp. has developed an ultra-sensitive, ultra-compact GPS module to meet high demand from manufacturers of mobile phones and other handsets with GPS functionality. Volume shipment of the S4E19863 series has already begun, the product has been loaded in all GPS-capable models of the FOMA903i series phones recently released by DoCoMo. According to the companies press release this chip is the world’s smallest commercial GPS module at 7 mm x 6 mm x 1.28 mm.
Cell phones “cloned” by using IC cards from NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s FOMA handsets were found to have been used in China and other countries illegally, according to sources. In six cases, perpetrators are thought to have taken the IC cards from disused third-generation cell phones and inserted them into other handsets, creating cloned cell phones. DoCoMo, which had previously insisted cloning its cell phones was “technically impossible,” admitted it had confirmed such clones had been found through in-house investigations.
UPDATE: DoCoMo has issued a coment [in Japanese] about this article stating that it’s a legacy issue with older FOMA model handsets. They state the function to refuse a connection with the DoCoMo side switchboard was added as of February 2006.
Rakuten, Inc. and NTT DoCoMo announced today that their joint-venture company Rakuten Auction is launching an auction service which does not require sellers or winning bidders to divulge private information to one another. The service will be available to PC users from today and will be listed in the i-mode portal from November 20. Compatible handsets for the new service, dubbed ‘Rakuten Auction,’ will be FOMA models sold since the launch of the 900i series, with some exceptions.
NTT DoCoMo has just announced that the number of subscribers to their 3G FOMA service surpassed the 30 million mark on November 4, 2006. According to the statement, DoCoMo plans to increase the number of FOMA base stations by 1.5 times year on year by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2007 and aims to expand the coverage area for HSDPA 3.5G, which provides significantly faster speed than the current W-CDMA based data transmission, while developing more new compatible handset models.
