Symbian
Symbian

Symbian

France Telecom & ACCESS Develop Rich Media Solutions

ACCESS announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France Telecom for the joint development of a complete wireless Internet solution based on ACCESS’ products and services. This R&D partnership will enable both companies to collaboratively design and deploy innovative, rich media mobile Internet technologies for France Telecom mobile customers. The R&D department of France Télécom and ACCESS are committed to leveraging resources and sharing expertise to develop products based on the NetFront browser framework. The technologies that will be supported within the browser framework include SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), streaming video, SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language), and other rich media and animation technologies.

April Subscribers: Vodafone Gap Widens

The April subscriber numbers are public and the news is mixed, at best, for Big V. Vodafone KK suffered a loss of 180,800 2G subscribers but only gained 141,300 3G users, for a net loss of 39,500 subs. This has got to be disappointing given that the March’s loss had fallen to a mere 7,400 and company management were likely hoping April would see a turnaround with the net change moving into the black.

Vodafone KK Trials 3G Symbian Apps

Vodafone has greenlighted two new Symbian OS applications for their 3G 702NK (Nokia 6630) handset –- at least on a trial basis. Connecting through the Vodafone live! Web service, users can create custom design packages (by Taito and Creek & River Co.) for the 702NK user interface at a cost of 420 yen per download (or get the NetFront mobile browser software from ACCESS to reach PC websites at 2625 yen). Matthew Nicholson, Vodafone Japan International Media Relations Manager, told WWJ “Though a number of handsets here are running the Symbian OS, we believe this is the first time Symbian content has been offered on a portal in Japan.”

Omron's Face Recognition for Mobile

OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor technology for camera-enabled cell phones and other devices is an alternative to passwords or fingerprint scanners for security and access control. “The technology detects 80 points on the face” explained Mr. Masato Kawade, Senior Manager of Sensing & Control Technology Lab. The sensor tests successfully more than 99 times in 100, and is fully Symbian, BREW, embedded Linux, and ITRON OS compatible. “We feel there is a large potential in overseas markets.” said Kawade.

Mitsubishi Electric Selects ACCESS NetFront i-mode Global Profile

ACCESS announced that its NetFront(r) i-mode(tm) Global Profile integrated software solution was selected by Mitsubishi Electric for deployment in its M430i i-mode handset. The M430i is currently offered by leading i-mode operators such as Bouygues Telecom, COSMOTE, E-Plus, Far EastTone, KPN Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, BASE, Telestra, and WIND, with additional i-mode operators to follow. NetFront i-mode Global Profile is a comprehensive, integrated solution specifically optimized for the i-mode Global service. It offers operators and their handset partners seamless i-mode Global deployments while reducing overall cost and time-to-market.