Game
Game

Game

Snapshot of Mobile Internet Usage

An interesting mobile user survey has been posted on the Research+ site, which is run by iBridge KK (Japanese only). The survey includes responses from 1,000 respondents of all ages, from teens to 60-years-and-older, and focused on mobile data usage. It appears that lots of Japanese use the mobile Internet at least somewhat while a few use it quite a lot… And upon such tenuous results DoCoMo et al have built empires. Meanwhile, the police find that bad kids use too much data.

Mogi = Socially Connected GPS Gaming

Mogi: Socially Connected GPS GamingYou may have read about it in Wired or The Feature, but our program today is the first Web video coverage for Mogi, a GPS game that may be The Future of Mobile Content, Version 1.0. Mogi is a multi-player network game in which individuals or teams hunt down virtual treasures hidden in Tokyo’s concrete jungle. Mogi players interact in ways that the much-talked-about i-mode has yet to deliver. It’s new for Japan, even newer for the rest of the world, and there’s no lucrative revenue model. Yet.

Fujitsu Develops Invisible Embedded Data Image Technology for Mobile Devices

JCN Newswire, 30 June 2004
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. today announced the development of the world’s first technology that embeds 12-digit numerical data (*1) in printed color images in a way invisible to the human eye. This new technology makes it possible to embed data, such as ID codes to convert URLs or telephone numbers, into color images for magazines or advertisements without interfering with the printed design. Utilizing this technology with mobile phones or PDAs enables easy Internet access and phone calling. This technology was developed to provide more natural interfaces using mobile phones or PDAs to customers offering new services such as linking printed images to the Internet.

Vodafone K.K. Unleashes Sharp V602SH

Here in Tokyo, the tension is killing us – waiting for Vodafone to break out of its bolt hole and unleash its global-spanning battlewagon of 3G W-CDMA phones. While new management here does whatever it’s supposed to be doing to sweeten up Vodafone’s sour performanceof late, Little-V still has the muscle, and Sharp always the technology, it seems, to pull something out of the hat; this time its the V602SH, packing a 2.02-megapixel camera (small yawn) plus a real eye opener – an optical zoom! See for yourself in our video program from the Tokyo Business Show in May.

NetFront Microbrowser Selected for New NEC Handsets on Hutchinson 3G

ACCESS, a global provider of Internet access technologies, today announced that its NetFront v3.0 microbrowser has been deployed in NEC’s new e616, c616, e313 and c313 handsets for use on Hutchison 3G’s W-CDMA network in Europe and Asia. NEC also selected ACCESS’ AVE(TM) -SSL encryption modules for the handset deployment.

Telstra Brings i-mode to Australia

Telstra expects more than one million Australians will pay $500 for new handsets, plus an extra $10-$17 per month for content, when the telco launches its own version of the i-mode mobile phone content service before Christmas. The Australian carrier became the first telco in the English-speaking world to sign up with the Japanese telco, NTT DoCoMo, which claims 41 million subscribers for the service in its own country.

Japan Developers Win BREW Awards

At the BREW 2004 Developer Conference in San Diego, awards to honor stand-out BREW products and services were announced in six categories. EZFM and EZ Naviwalk won 1st prize in the Best Entertainment and Best Location-Based categories, respectively. Other Japanese entries from Edia Co., MediaSeek Inc., and Namco were selected as finalists in the information, entertainment and productivity categories.

ACCESS Announces First Full-Featured Browser for QUALCOMM'S BREW

ACCESS, a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, today announced that its NetFront v3.0 microbrowser is now available for QUALCOMM’s BREW(R) solution. With NetFront for BREW, mobile operators and handset manufacturers will have access to the some of the most advanced mobile browsing technology in the world. The company announced the product at the BREW 2004 Developers Conference being held June 7-9 in San Diego, California.

Yet Another Baby i-mode

NEC’s Mobile Internet Platform and i-mode Mobile Handset to Operate at COSMOTE i-mode Service in Greece. NEC Corporation and its subsidiary NEC Italia s.r.l today announced the delivery of its Mobile Internet Platform and mobile handsets to COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications S.A.’s “i-mode(r)” service, which will be provided commercially, with an initial free period, from 7 June 2004. NEC has achieved rapid implementation in cooperation with COSMOTE, so that the i-mode service can be launched well in advance of the “Athens 2004” Olympic Games, of which COSMOTE is a Grand National Sponsor.