SoftBank
SoftBank

SoftBank

DoCoMo Ready to Roll HTC Smartphone

DoCoMo Ready to Roll HTC SmartphoneNTT DoCoMo and High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) recently announced that they will start sales in late July of their new “hTc Z” smartphone, equipped with the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Japanese-edition operating system. The hTc Z will enable a variety of useful mobile business solutions using Windows Server and Exchange Server, in addition to 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and many add-in applications. DoCoMo plans to sell the handsets to corporate customers as part of its “comprehensive business solutions” effort.

We have a quick hands-on demo video for you on this one shot at DoCoMo’s booth during last weeks Wireless Japan event out at Tokyo BigSite. The full specs [.pdf] are available Here.

US and Japan to Lead Mobile TV Market

SoftBank Establishes Mobile TV DivisionSoftBank announced that it has established a new company, Mobile Media Planning Corp., which aims to conduct technical research on MediaFLO and plan new services utilizing such technology. Developed by QUALCOMM, the system enables distribution of multichannel broadcast optimized for mobile communications, including Clipcast, and distribute digital terrestrial broadcasts to mobile terminals and other devices. This technology is considered as one of the three major technologies following satellite broadcast and 1Seg broadcast, and it enables real time broadcast of 20 channels on one TV channel portion of frequency band (6MHz). We interviewed MediaFlo’s Ali Zamari during the recent Wireless Japan trade-show in Tokyo.

Mobile Media Planning plans to provide digital-tv broadcast distribution services for mobile terminals and other devices utilizing such technology for the development of mobile communications business of the SOFTBANK Group. Also, Mobile Media Planning will work on the study of technical potential of MediaFLO, by participating in the activities organized by external parties such as the VHF/UHF-band efficient use working group in Information and Communications Council, which discusses the proposal of multimedia broadcast technology including MediaFLO, and FLO Forum where supporting enterprises from around the world, such as QUALCOMM, participate.

SoftBank to Trial WiMAX

Motorola announced that the company has reached agreement with SoftBank for the deployment of a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) trial network in Tokyo. Motorola will supply the end-to-end trial system including access points, an access network, and prototype WiMAX mobile handheld devices. Expected to begin in September 2006, the five-month trial will focus on performance of WiMAX in the 2.5GHz spectrum with regards to throughput and range, as well as the speed of network handovers between access points.

Number Portability Spooks Investors

The next several months could be very bumpy for Japan’s Big 3 cellular service providers. First, KDDI Corp. just reported record Q1 earnings but failed to see a further rise in its share price since it also warned of uncertainty in the 3rd and 4th quarters, which is when number portability becomes available. Strong earnings were priced in given recent strength in retaining subscribers. KDDI understandably left its full year forecast in place projecting a lower y-o-y net profit on higher revenue. However, that does allow it to raise its forecast this autumn if number portability is not as severe as anticipated. Its shares lost 2.15% on the day.

KDDI Posts Strong Quarterly Results

Japanese telco KDDI has reported net income of JPY75.7 billion (USD652.2 million) for the three months to the end of June, up 44% compared with the corresponding period last year. The mobile division continues to comfortably outperform the fixed line business, with net income from wireless services up 35% to JPY77.8 billion compared with a net loss from the wireline division of JPY4.1 billion. Overall sales were up 12% to JPY798.4 billion. For the full year to March 2007 KDDI expects sales to come in at JPY735 billion (up 19% year-on-year) and net income to drop 2.4% to JPY186 billion.

OhMyNews Gears Up in Japan

South Korean citizen-media website OhMyNews began recruiting on Friday for its new Japanese-language site, which is due to launch next month. The site started in South Korea in 2000 under the banner “every citizen is a reporter” and immediately began challenging the mainstream media with its news site written by readers. It currently utilizes around 40,000 citizen reporters, each of whom get paid about US$20 for a newsworthy submission. The JV with SoftBank for Japan was announced on 22 Feb.