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SoftBank Mobile Summer Handsets

SoftBank Mobile announced their handset lineup for the ‘Summer of 2007 Sales Battle’ which will be available from the beginning of June. According to the company press release the 12 new 3G models are focused on style, quality and individuality, see the dedicated Flash site [in Japanese] Here. We note six handsets are coming from Sharp, including the 913SH slider while the upstart telco claims a scoop for the first deployment in Japan of Windows Mobile 6 on two of the units from HTC. Toshiba added three models with Samsung and Panasonic each contributing one. More details after the jump.

KDDI to Launch U.S. Operations

This article by the Asahi Shimbun, stating that KDDI will launch services on Sprint Nextels network, has created alot of buzz across the web in the last 24hrs. According to that story the company “… has obtained a business license to serve as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in 49 of the 50 U.S. states”. While of course it makes perfect sense to us for KDDI to consider how they might port the lessons learned here into other developing markets, the details provided from this original source raised more questions than they answered. The Asahi quotes un-named officials, no announcement appears on either of the carriers websites, saying that “KDDI Mobile” will begin offering full-scale services in the U.S. by mid-April.

A Tale of Two Mobile Technologies

The recent round of international press devoted to ‘the next big thing for mobile’ has an interesting, and recurring, theme. It started with a fair amount of mainstream media attention devoted to the statements made at CTIA during Visa’s keynote address regarding the evolution of mobile payments. Around the same time we notice that Capt. Kirk went boldly where no ex-pat Canadian would dare go (Toronto in March) to attend this presser with Ted Rogers promoting a new fangled mobile web-cam handset, which the company breathlessly hailed as “a landmark in wireless communications”.

We also noticed this special op-ed from Card Technology about how Sony is potentially challenged to get their m-commerce product outside of Japan. The article did some great work, however there’s plenty of room for a counter-point discussion. One thing rings true, both of these technologies were deployed here in Japan years ago and like the camera-phone will begin making their way into markets overseas in due course.

DoCoMo Reports Roaming Glitch

According to this report on Reuters, DoCoMo has said that as many as 240,000 users may not be able to use their phones overseas because of a software glitch. Faulty SIM cards on certain models are apparently preventing connections for messages and voice calls on networks outside Japan. DoCoMo said the glitch and it will replace faulty SIM cards for free.

Ketai Spring Fashion Parade

Celebrating the fast approaching arrival of spring in Japan we have noticed a significant increase in cellphone fashion action lately.. even Wired magazine is getting into the game! Samantha Thavasa has barbie-doll pink N903i designer handset due out in March and Omote Sando Hills held a glitzy fashion show over the weekend to feature Sony Ericcson’s new 703i-series model (yes that would be the smell-phone) complete with a custom TinkerBell design by Disney. JiJi Press video after the jump.

Tegic Communications Launches T9 Discovery Tool

Tegic Communications Launches T9 Discovery ToolTegic Communications has announced the availability of their new T9 Discovery Tool, a software application that will allow consumers to locate or discover content and information, whether on their cellphone or on the mobile web, in just a few keystrokes. Wireless Watch Japan caught up with Tony De Ruvo, director of product marketing, at the recent Marcus Evans 3G Forum here in Tokyo for an advanced preview and chat on-camera about the new product.

Of course, many people in the industry believe that complex menu navigation and portal designs are a major obstacle to accessing content and services, and consider this to be a limiting factor to greater data service uptake and growth. According to the company press release, the T9 Discovery Tool uses unique insights that Tegic has gained from shipping their T9 predictive text entry software in 62 languages on over two billion phones to make mobile search and discovery fast and easy.

The Discovery Tool search interface can be instantly activated from the idle screen, delivering immediate access to menu areas, applications and stored content on the device and to operator content and services held on the network. Improving the speed, discovery, and re-use of operator services, this new tool may help open up new revenue opportunities for carriers by making it dramatically easier for consumers to discover or search for content and services, whether held on or off the operator portal.

Japan's Mobile Year in Review

It was the best of times, it was… well, it really was the best of times! Also, as the famous line from Dickens goes, it was the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness and the season of.. Mobile!

Looking back on 2006, it’s hard to decide which news from Japan’s mobile scene was the most spectacular. Vodafone pulled out, Softbank stood up, mobile number portability struck, a record number of new handsets hit the street and – as December winds down – Motorola and Samsung are shipping first foreign-made 3G units into Japan.

A ‘quick’ look at what caught WWJ’s attention in ’06 after the jump.

DoCoMo Announces i-mode for India

NTT DoCoMo and Hutchison Essar announced today an agreement under which Hutch will launch the i-mode mobile service in India within 2007. DoCoMo will license the patented technologies and know-how needed for Hutch to offer i-mode on GSM, GPRS and W-CDMA networks. Preparations are also underway to launch i-mode in Hong Kong, Macao and the Philippines. DoCoMo plans to expand the service to a total of 26 countries/regions in the future.

TCA – November Results Announced

The Telecom Carriers Association has released the official Japan mobile subscriber stats for November (current figures updated on our left navigation bar), with several stunning results. While not surprising – after the first full month of number portability – KDDI posted an impressive gain with a net +325,000 customers. In contrast, this might well be the first time that market leader NTT DoCoMo has ever announced a net client loss: -17,500. Perhaps even more shocking was the fact that their prized i-mode service also shed 56,200 subscribers! The SoftBank Mobile customer count – which is ‘confusing’ – indicated a net gain of +68,700 contracts, however they somehow managed to lose 3,600 subscribers to the company’s Yahoo! mobile web portal.. hmm? Finally, we saw the total number of 3G subscribers in Japan cross the 60M mark as the migration continued, showing gains of well over 1 mn upgrades per month.

Japan's 1st Mobile Phone Novel Awards

An Osaka woman who wrote of a pure love story between a schoolgirl prostitute and a host club gigolo was Tuesday awarded the grand prize in the first Japan Mobile Phone Novel Awards at a ceremony in the Mainichi’s Tokyo headquarters. Towa, the pen name of the author, received 1 million yen and the right to publish “Kurianesu,” her story about unlikely love.