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DoCoMo Pulls the Plug on AOL

Chalk, cheese and lost opportunities: DoCoMo has ended its mystery-laden, Internet Bubble-popped tie up with AOL after deciding that it couldn’t make any money with them, and it’s flogging its entire barrow load of stock (its 42.3%) holding back to AOL at, SURPRIZE, a good deal less than the $100 million it was reported to have paid. So are minority shareholders Mitsui & Co. and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. In fact the Nikkei put it this way, we…”were exploring new services that would link personal computers and cellular phones over the Internet, but NTT DoCoMo has concluded that the venture is unlikely to become profitable.”

KDDI Joins FeliCa Bandwagon

The news is out that KDDI has decided to adopt Sony’s FeliCa, thus removing a major barrier to the contact less IC card’s promulgation outside of DoCoMo in Japan– and also bringing the technology into a major cdma carrier. For us at WWJ, this is the biggest news of the month! Last week we talked to Shusaku Maruko, Senior Manager of Sony’s FeliCa Business Center and got the lowdown on what FeliCa will be. Please wait for that program, and before that, we will post the only FeliCA i-mode service video available for you, our loyal subscribers, around in the world on or around December 17. Sorry to hype this, but you just can’t get our action anywhere else in the world and, Goddam, we are so happy!

KDDI to Adopt Mobile FeliCa for 3G

In a decision that could be a huge boost for mobile phones to become e-wallets, KDDI has decided to adopt Sony Corp’s technology in smart cards for use in third-generation mobile phones that it will develop with Hitachi Ltd. This is wonderful news for chances of the evolution of the mobile phone’s morph into one of the so-called ubiquitous devices that Sony’s Idei has been promising for longer than hack journalists can remember. The news is out that KDDI has decided to adopt Sony’s FeliCa, thus removing a major barrier to the contact less IC card’s promulgation outside of DoCoMo in Japan, and also bringing the technology into a major cdma carrier.

Wind Launches i-mode in Italy

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. reported that Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. announced the release of DoCoMo’s i-mode service to the Italian market today. Italy marks the eighth market for i-mode service, which is already available in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, France, and Spain. Wind is Italy’s third largest mobile telecom company, with approximately 10 million subscribers.

DoCoMo and COSMOTE Commence Partnership for i-mode in Greece

NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Japan’s leading mobile communications provider, and COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications S.A., the leading mobile operator in Greece, announce today that they have formed an exclusive strategic partnership agreement under which DoCoMo is licensing COSMOTE to launch i-modeｮ, the world’s most popular mobile service, in Greece. The two leading mobile operators have signed today an agreement, under which COSMOTE will offer its i-mode service over its 2.5G GPRS network and 3G UMTS network, with DoCoMo providing its know-how, technology and patents.

SONY Announces Commercialization of Ultra-small Digital Tuner

Sony Corporation introduces a small-size digital tuner module, capable of receiving 1-segment digital terrestrial TV broadcasting signal and digital terrestrial radio broadcasting signal, its sample shipment starting in the beginning of December this year. In order to achieve applications into various mobile products, the industry’s smallest size of approx. 20mm x 16mm x 2mm in external dimension and the industry’s lowest power consumption of less than 150mW have been achieved.

LG Unveils New Cell Phones

LG Electronics will market new folder-type camera phones featuring a 180-degree horizontally rotating folder with LCD display, 64-chord multi-tone ring, an imbedded antenna and a digital camera with a resolution of 300,000 pixels. The new CYON digital camera phones, LG-SD210, LG-KP2100 and LG-LP2100, also come with a cutting-edge continuous 31-step zoom function, LG officials said.

Japanese Mobile Phones Flooding In

Boasting camera phones, Japanese mobile phones are rapidly making inroads into the domestic market and secured a two digit market share alerting domestic companies. There are concerns that Korean companies set up strong bulwark as Nokia and Motorola, the no. 1 and no. 2 mobile phone makers in the world, pulled out of the domestic market or secured a paltry 3 ~ 4% outmaneuvered by home-grown major companies such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech & Curitel.

Handsets Selling like Hot Cakes

According to analysts at IDC, our need for handsets seems almost insatiable as far more phones were sold in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2002. The worldwide market for handsets took off in the second quarter of 2003, reflecting continued consumer demand for mobile telephony. According to IDC’s Worldwide Handset QView, worldwide handset shipments grew by 19.2% year-over-year in 2Q03 and increased sequentially by 6.7% to 118.3 million units.

Profits dip at KTF, LG Telecom

KTF Co, the No.2 mobile operator, said earnings fell about 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2003 because of higher interest payments and one-off charges. Smaller rival LG Telecom saw its net profit plunge 57 percent because of higher operating costs.