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Paying Heavy 2G Users to Stay Happy Just a Little Longer

But the most significant hidden news in this announcement may just be the fact that there are 300,000-plus extremely heavy data users already using i-mode. This means that DoCoMo has a captive, willing audience already on hook that is ripe for targeted migration to 3G. And it would appear that this audience has been woefully underexploited — FOMA had just 127,400 users on July 31. Looks like Big D will slash i-mode transmission fees on both the 2G and 3G networks starting September 1.. OK — maybe the reduction isn’t exactly a “slash,” since the 2G rate will only go from 0.3 yen per packet (128 bytes) to 0.2 yen per packet, and this reduction will only be applied after the first 100,000 packets (i.e. the first 30,000 yen of transmission fees).

Why is J-Phone hurting so bad?

The drop in ARPU could be related to the fact that both DoCoMo and KDDI now have camera-equipped keitais on the market (although DoCoMo’s isn’t Java-enabled). Are we seeing the end of the camera-phone bubble? If so, there’s little else on the horizon to serve as the next market booster — except, of course, 3G speed-optimized services (and KDDI’s got the better network right now).

Java vs. Picture Mail

We think that the market heavyweight, NTT DoCoMo, gets a better payback by spreading Java far and wide (at a low marginal cost), while eschewing pricey gadgets and add-ons (or making the consumer pay for same when desired; we note that DoCoMo’s SH251i is selling for 5,000 yen more than J-Phone’s high-end Sharp Sha-mail handset).

A Guy and his DoCoMo 3G Cellphone

A Guy and his DoCoMo 3G CellphoneTakaharu Mita is just a regular guy with a DoCoMo 3G videophone — but like many early-adopters, he’s got no one with whom to hold video calls. In March, he posted his number on his “FOMA Diary” Web site and invited the world to call — anytime. Well, the world responded, and Mita-san has got a lot to say about videophones, Big D, and how society’s gonna change…

Can NANCY Beat MPEG?

Can NANCY Beat MPEG?Does MPEG 4 have the wireless video industry all wrapped up.. Maybe not.

J-Phone is using the NANCY codec for Movie Sha Mail, and this week we visited Office Noa, the company that developed NANCY and hear their CEO plans to beat MPEG at its own game.

Eye-Candy… Mobile Video Phones

Eye-Candy... Mobile Video PhonesIt’s March, and on Japan’s wireless webs, it’s video season. We show you exclusive clips of KDDI/Au’s new EZmovie system and take a look at the latest videoconferencing and video-download services on J-Phone and NTT DoCoMo. Wireless entrepreneur and ex-Packet Video man-in-the-know David Collier joins us for Q&A on mobile video in Japan.