FOMA
FOMA

FOMA

DoCoMo Drops Consumers from WLAN/3G

NTT DoCoMo took the wraps off its NEC FOMA N900i combi WLAN phone, the N900iL, today and quickly did its best to shut down the possibilities of the terminal actually being any use outside of narrowly defined office environments. According to their press release “The handset, which is scheduled to be marketed in Fall 2004, has been specifically designed to support the new PASSAGE DUPLE™ system that was developed by DoCoMo to integrate the two-network operation. Under the PASSAGE DUPLE system, the N900iL may be used as a standard FOMA handset, as well as an in-house VoIP phone utilizing a company’s internal wireless LAN network. The dual-network solution targets corporate users, and will be marketed through DoCoMo’s corporate business division and partner companies. The system will not be available through DoCoMo shop locations.”

DoCoMo to Invest in FOMA Single-Chip LSI

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company will invest in Renesas Technology Corp. to jointly develop a single-chip LSI making FOMA 3G handsets compatible with both W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS networks. Currently, it is necessary to embed two chips in the handset in order to produce a dual-mode W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS handset. However, by combining DoCoMo’s W-CDMA technology with Renesas Technology’s LSI fabrication capabilities, multimedia application processors, and GSM/GPRS technologies, a single-chip will be developed that enables a lower-cost 3G handset to run on both network standards.

KDDI ''Flash:'' Slashes Prices, Debuts 3 Models

A year ago, WWJ predicted the end of packet-based pricing. A year later, KDDI/au, and Japan, would seem to be entering a new price war. Today, KDDI threw down the gauntlet to DoCoMo by slashing its fixed packet charge from 4,200 yen to 2,000 yen (Yes! You read that right…) on August 1, while flaunting three cool new mobile models armed with what will rapidly become de rigeur in Japan: flash! We’ll have an exclusive video program with Anup Murarka, Macromedia’s senior director of mobile marketing and devices coming in a few weeks, and — of course — breathtaking visuals of KDDI’s newest and sexiest phones and menus. But first, let’s take a look at the No. 2 carriers’s latest strategy to keep pummeling DoCoMo and Vodafone for new adds in a maturing market.

Hello Hot Spots: Wi-Fi Sniffing

Hello Hot Spots: Wi-Fi SniffingDo you need hassle-free WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity? Of course you do (so do we, come to think of it!) and Hiromasa Takato, product manager at Toshiba’s Global Strategic Planning Group, claims that their ConfigFree software will soothe you into a seamless WiFi connection wherever and with whatever Bluetooth-enabled device(s) you have at hand. WWJ took Hiro, his Pocket PC e805 PDA, his laptop, and a Toshiba A5504T (au) cellie for a test run — and a beer — in downtown Shinjuku. With hotspots multiplying like tribbles and all the buzz about VoIP and Bluetooth-enabled keitai about to boom, this is definitely a WWJ peek at the future — right here and now. Subscribers read on to get the full skinny! Full Program Run-time 12:51, also available in Real Player and Quick-Time formats.

3G Finally Dawneth in Japan

The latest haul of subscriber figures from Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association told their usual tale of victory and triumph for most, and misery for some. Three guesses for who did what! Vodafone Japan added a paltry 64,100 subscribers to raise its subscriber base to 15.1 million. But in the hot-house-, typhoon-yielding-, and subscriber-base-wilting-month of June, DoCoMo and KDDI/au managed to pull in 166,000 and 157,000, respectively. Better still, FOMA’s 3G ascendancy seems secure and the pace of uptake is accelerating, while CDMA 1X continues to do rather well, thank you very much. Key message: if you ain’t got 3G in Japan, you’re nowhere (or Roppongi Hills).

Before Pocket Rockets Were Tiny

One of the world’s telecom R&D powerhouses, NTT DoCoMo, has released a fascinating report reviewing the advances in cell phone technologies that enable today’s tiny, portable pocket rockets to surf the Web, transmit multimedia mail, and play sophisticated games. In 1985, the first Japanese mobile phone that could be used away from a car battery supply was called the “Shoulder Phone” and weighed in at about 3 kilograms.