Just in time for 3GSM, mobile auto-racing fanatics in Spain can snag a Mclaren Mercedes branded cell phone [.jpg image] from Vodafone. Apparently the collectors edition, for 69 Euro with a two year contract, will be made available to mark Alonso’s switch from Renault to Mclaren Mercedes in the upcoming 2007 Formula One season. The Sharp 770SH ML handset features a QVGA screen, 1.3MP camera, MP3 player, miniSD card slot and USB.
Happy New Year greetings from Masayoshi Son and friends at the former Vodafone Japan – now SoftBank Mobile – came in the form of this press release [.pdf in Japanese] announcing they will offer a limited flat-rate voice package starting mid-January. The 980jpy per month deal allows unlimited voice calling and mobile mail, effective between SoftBank 3G customers, from 1 a.m and 9 p.m. Son also apparently promised if competitors decide to follow his lead, offering a lower rate, within 24 hours he will undercut their prices.
It was the best of times, it was… well, it really was the best of times! Also, as the famous line from Dickens goes, it was the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness and the season of.. Mobile!
Looking back on 2006, it’s hard to decide which news from Japan’s mobile scene was the most spectacular. Vodafone pulled out, Softbank stood up, mobile number portability struck, a record number of new handsets hit the street and – as December winds down – Motorola and Samsung are shipping first foreign-made 3G units into Japan.
A ‘quick’ look at what caught WWJ’s attention in ’06 after the jump.
According to an article on the Financial Times, SoftBank Mobile quietly changed the standard subscriber accounting procedure in October. Their ‘new method’ resulted in numbers which saved the company from having to announce a net loss of customers during their debut month. “The telecommunications group was able to report a net gain in subscribers only by extending the period for which it counts inactive users from six months to a year.. this allowed it to include prepaid subscribers who had not used their mobile phones for nearly 12 months. Japan’s other big mobile operators generally use three months as the cut-off period.”. We had speculated they would post a net loss in October — the TCA numbers for November will be released soon — Stay Tuned.
Goldman Sachs has pulled out of the Y1,450bn ($12.4bn) refinancing for Softbank’s acquisition of Vodafone Japan, raising fresh concerns about the Japanese communications group. Analysts say the US investment bank’s move to quit the lending syndicate suggests it has misgivings about the terms of the loan, which is supported by revenues from the mobile arm. Despite the setback, Softbank expects the refinancing to go ahead at the end of this month. Softbank said other lenders would fill the gap left by Goldman’s departure. The syndicate includes Deutsche, Citibank and Mizuho.
Technology companies and mobile operators joined forces on Monday to plan a global standard for electronic wallets in mobile phones. Sony Corp. from Japan and Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors said they will create a joint venture, to be established by the middle of next year, that will plan, develop, produce and market a secure chip that will include both companies’ contactless chip card formats: Mifare and FeliCa.
