Willcom Inc. has decided to bid for use of the 2GHz band that the Communications Ministry plans to offer to one 3G cellular phone service company this year, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Monday. If approval is granted, Willcom plans to launch next-generation PHS service that will realize a data speed of 20-30 megabits per second — about 100 times as fast as current PHS services and equal to that of ASDL.
Mobile phones may be an all access pass to fun for most of us but for the physically or visually impaired it’s one more ‘no entry’ barrier. Vodafone Japan along with TU-KA Cellular in Tokyo, Kansai, and Tokai are making mobile services a little easier for people with disabilities through a new free directory service [.pdf]. Dubbed ‘Smile Call’ subscribers punch in 104 to connect to a directory service operator who can assist them in placing calls. Generally 104 calls through mobile lines are fee-based but this system developed with Japan Multimedia Services Corporation creates free access to registered users. After completing the registration process, subscribers punch in 104, identify themselves to the operator and once their name has been verified, proceed with questions and assistance.
Kyocera Corp. will from the end of the month start outsourcing production of mobile phones sold in the US market to Singaporean firm Flextronics International Ltd., the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without identifying its sources. Earlier this year, Kyocera moved production of its phone handsets to Mexico from the US in a bid to improve profitability. But with the group handset business still suffering a 14.9 bn yen loss for the year ended 31 March, Kyocera decided to go one step further and move production to an outside company, the financial daily said.
The Mobile Media Company, a leading independent provider of global wireless games, interactive entertainment services, and marketing applications, today announced an agreement with Kyocera Communication Asia Pacific Pte Ltd to offer its mobile entertainment services across the WebW@lkers platform. Kyocera Communication Asia Pacific Pte Ltd is a leading platform provider of information services, wireless hosting content, and consulting services for mobile operations and enterprises throughout the Asia Pacific. Through Kyocera’s directory portal, WebW@lkers, mobile users in the Asia Pacific region can receive information, mobile content, entertainment, and communication services, including news, wallpaper, ringtones, games, videos, and horoscopes.
KDDI has opened an Alpha Pup playland for its mobile universe right in the heart of Tokyo fashion central — Harajuku. Five floors of interactive phones and games, KDDI Designing Studio sits strategically at the mouth of Takeshita Dori at one of the area’s busiest intersections.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony on 3 March, we listened to KDDI’s President Tadashi Onodera describing the strategy behind the choice of locations, saying the company has to synch with the needs and wants of its customers and their changing lifestyles: “It is Harajuku that draws the opinion leaders of Japan’s youth culture.” Youth culture is a prime focus for Japan’s top 3G provider. Their Chaku Uta Full music download system and EZ Game Street mobile gaming portal are exactly what the pediatrician ordered for young mobile slackers looking for portable fun. The company hopes a flood of trendy pop princes and princesses will wash through Designing Studio’s sliding glass doors, reaching out for KDDI’s cutting-edge techno fun as they flow on through.
Kyocera has obtained a permit from the government to begin experiments of the “iBurst System,” ArrayComm’s wireless technology with maximum downstread of 1Mbps, and has begun testing the technology inside of their Yokohama office. The system is said to have a data receiving capability of a maximum of 1Mbps. Based on the TDD standard, a service using iBurst began in March of this year in Australia. The companies offer base station access via PC cards to clients on a monthly flat-rate data service package.
