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Vodafone's FM Handset Launched

Wireless watchers will be aware that the number of FM radio keitai seems to be proliferating. Just this week, KDDI announced that its latest batch of new offerings offer the FM option. Now Vodafone K.K. is tuning into the possibilities with the the V401SA, the carrier’s first handset with a dedicated FM tuner. But does this mean FM will be an optional extra — a bit like having fins on your PDC Cadillac — or will FM become an indispensible, must-have feature for keitai in Japan?

KDDI: Fuel Cells in 2007; Where's NEC?

The Nikkei reported on Saturday that KDDI aims to commercialize fuel cells for keitai using Hitachi and Toshiba technology by 2007; this is supposed to be at least two years behind claims often made by Japan’s mobile-phone leader NEC that it will have fuel cells ready for commercialization for mobile phones by next year at the latest.

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.

Nation-Wide VoIP Network by Stealth?

My discussion with Steven Graff, who recently joined WWJ as marketing guru and maker-of-all-things-happen, suddenly turned technical. “Imagine being able to throw the switch on a network of several million WiFi hotspots located all over Japan. What if Yahoo’s modems permitted Yahoo to pass traffic through the user’s DSL connection and WiFi air interface independent of the home network? Today’s Viewpoint is a fable which, were it true, would shake Japan’s mobile market to the core.

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).

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.