w-cdma
w-cdma

w-cdma

DoCoMo Booth at 3GSM World Congress

According to the company, NTT DoCoMo will participate in 3GSM World Congress 2005, an exhibition of the latest telecommunications technologies, services and R&D. The event will be held 14-17 February 2005 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes, France. The company says it will exhibit its world-leading 3G services, which are based on W-CDMA technology. Visitors can enjoy demonstrations of videophones and movies on the latest FOMA 901i-series terminals, learn about the technology supporting 3G networks, and see i-mode FeliCa mobile phones equipped with contactless FeliCa IC technology. NTT DoCoMo will also provide touch & try demonstrations of 3G services.

DoCoMo and StarHub Form Strategic Partnership for i-mode in Singapore

NTT DoCoMo and StarHub Ltd., today jointly announced a strategic partnership under which StarHub will launch i-mode™ services exclusively in Singapore by the fourth quarter of this year. With this agreement, i-mode will be available in 22 countries and regions through 14 operators. Under the DoCoMo-StarHub agreement, StarHub will offer i-mode services over both its 2.5G and 3G networks with DoCoMo providing its expertise in patents, branding, marketing, knowledge and technology.

3G Competition Heating Up

Foreseeing that demand for 3G phones will get on track in Europe and North America this year, sparking competition with rivals in Japan, Samsung and LG are turning up the heat to market their new 3G models to customers in these regions. Mobile phone makers in Japan such as NEC, Panasonic, Sharp and Sanyo, which have concentrated on supplying W-CDMA phones to carriers in Japan, are also reportedly poised to focus more on global markets this year.

eAccess Announces 3G Trials

Broadband Internet provider eAccess announced at a press conference here Thursday that it will start W-CDMA experiments in late January in the 1.7-GHz spectrum by partnering with Fujitsu. eAccess President Sachio Senmoto appeared confident that Japan’s telecoms ministry will approve the company’s application to offer mobile services starting in 2006. The trials include performance testing of W-CDMA base stations and a speed evaluation of next-gen HSDPA (so-called Super 3G).

New Year Gadget Shopping: Cell Phones that Look Like iPods

One of the best things about having a few days off over the holiday season in Tokyo is having time to wander casually through Akihabara and check out the latest gadgets. 2005 is shaping up as a showdown year for music-enabled portable devices and I couldn’t help but notice how DoCoMo’s new 3G handset, the SH901ic by Sharp, really does seem to have at least a slight style similarity to the iPod. As the network speed increases — and with flat-rate packet costs and improved handset technology — critical mass adoption by mainstream users buying even more data seems to be at hand. As competition increases, how will carriers, handset makers and content providers adapt their offerings over the coming year?

While it remains to be seen exactly what kind of applications and services will hit the streets, it has become increasingly clear that a race is on. Having both KDDI and Vodafone launch fixed-line access to content for mobile devices in Q42004 shows, at least in the mid-term, they are ramping up the business model to deliver larger-size files to end users. A little crystal-ball gazing for the coming year — and some very cool Akiba gadget photos — after the jump.

Vodafone Releases 902SH 3G Phone

Vodafone K.K. just announced that the company will commence sales of their high-end V902SH 3G handset (by Sharp) on 29 December in the Kanto-Koshin region, with Japan nationwide rollout following thereafter. The V902SH [.jpg image] features a Mobile ASV display, which is based on ASV (Advanced Super View) liquid crystal display technology found in Sharp’s AQUOS line of LCD TVs. The company says customers can “enjoy remarkably clear viewing in bright locations outside and in dark spots indoors.” In addition, the handset display offers a 160-degree viewing angle from all angles without colour distortion in conformance with JEITA standards; it also has a 5:1 contrast ratio.