Samsung Electronics continued its relentless stream of innovations on Monday by announcing it will put out a music phone [.jpg image] with built-in wireless LAN and a powerful sound system at the end of the month. Microsoft’s mobile operating system, Pocket PC 2003 Phone Edition, allows use of applications like Outlook, Word and Excel, while a 520-MHz CPU and 1.3-megapixel camera are also part of the gadget.
In today’s program, we speak with Yutaka Nakamae from Panasonic’s Corporate External Relations Group who met with us during last fall’s CEATEC consumer electronics show in Tokyo. While there’s plenty of eye candy, including Panny’s 900iV (released in mid-2004), some skin-able models to please those who can’t decide on their favorite color and the very cool GSM X700 (now on sale in Europe), the real intelligence relates to finding our who’s boss in the carrier/manufacturer relationship (Hint: Who owns the customer?). Today’s proggy is not only a fun one — showing some great cellys from the October CEATEC show — but it also reconfirms the reality of the relationship between cell-phone makers and cellular operators in Japan — in this case, Panasonic and DoCoMo.
ACCESS announced that its NetFront i-mode Global Profile integrated software solution has been selected by Motorola for deployment in its E378i handset. This innovative handset will initially be offered by leading Spanish mobile operator Telefónica Móviles, with additional carrier deployments to follow.
Two new top-level domain names moved closer to approval this week, as the body charged with overseeing the Internet’s technical matters moved into negotiations with the companies applying to set up and run the “.mobi” and “.jobs” domains. .Mobi is sponsored by Microsoft, Nokia, and Vodafone Group, who hope to target the domain specifically at mobile content and service providers as well as mobile device manufacturers, vendors and individual companies.
In yesterday’s WWJ Newsletter I mentioned the news last month that DoCoMo had developed a software platform for FOMA 3G phones — comprising two options: both Linux and Symbian (sorry Bill!), adding “This is big news.” WWJ’s ever-keen Digital Media Director Lawrence Cosh-Ishii pointed out last night that, in December 2003, we carried a video report from Big D’s year-end presser wherein then-CEO Tachikawa said: “Simply speaking, Microsoft is not offering an open standard and an open minded approach” and that DoCoMo “prefers Symbian and possibly Linux for 3G OS.” Never let it be said that WWJ editors miss a chance to say We Told You So!
Today SEVEN announced it is powering NTT DoCoMo’s Business mopera Access Simple — a mobile groupware service that enables secure remote access to email, calendar, contacts, and documents via i-mode phones. Available today from NTT DoCoMo’s direct business sales force and NTT DoCoMo’s retail stores throughout Japan, Business mopera Access Simple is a tier-one i-mode service and is a core “i-mode for Business Solutions” offering. NEC and SEVEN partnered to develop Business mopera Access Simple; it is based on SEVEN’s “behind-the-firewall” Server Edition software.
NEC Engineering, Ltd., in cooperation with NEC Electronics Corp. and Chipcon AS, today introduced a module developed for compatibility with IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBeeT wireless network standards, for use in a wide range of industrial, commercial and residential applications.
Visto Corporation, the leading global provider of personal and corporate wireless e-mail and PIM solutions to mobile operators for the broadest set of mobile device platforms, today announced the expansion of its global presence through the opening of a new office in Tokyo, Japan.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Motorola Inc. and Motorola Japan Ltd. announced today that they have signed an agreement to jointly develop a FOMA handset targeting business users by taking advantage of high-speed 3G FOMA technologies. Commercialization is scheduled for spring 2005. The new handset, which is compatible with GSM/GPRS technologies, will be the first FOMA model that may be used outside of Japan. Unlike i-mode®-capable phones, the handset will enable access to the internet through mopera® or any other available internet connection service. What’s more, its browser will be able to display standard web pages. Full Press Release Here.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that they will market the mova SH506iC [.jpg image], the second smart-card handset that is compatible with i-mode FeliCa service for mobile wallet applications. Sales will begin on July 16, 2004. DoCoMo’s revolutionary new service and smart-card handsets may be used for a variety of unprecedented functions that were previously possible only with IC-equipped cards, including train travel, debit card (electronic money) and credit card-based withdrawals and transactions, and personal identification.
