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Page 3 of 4 This Month’s Top Stories: This Month’s Top Stories: 11/1/2005
Aplix announces advanced Java specifications available for QUALCOMM's BREW Solution
www.aplix.co.jp (English Release)
Aplix Corporation, a developer of Java technology on mobile phones, announced the availability of its JBlend for QUALCOMM's BREW solution. JBlend solution is a Java environment that is platform independent, meaning that it can be integrated into a variety of operating systems and mobile phone environments. The company claims that by providing JBlend on the BREW client, the amount of time required for a handset manufacturer to support the Java requirements of a wireless operator is dramatically reduced. Aplix has a comprehensive Java roadmap, especially with regards to advanced Java requirements for 3G phones. Major operators' Java specifications for 3G such as Vodafone's VFX and DoCoMo's DoJa are supported by JBlend, as well as a variety of industry standard specifications. QUALCOMM's BREW solution is successfully deployed with 56 commercial operators and has earned BREW publishers and developers over $350 million as reported in June 2005. 11/1/2005
Sophia Cradle opens source codes of RSS reader, mailer and scheduler for BREW
www.s-cradle.com (English Release)
Sophia Cradle released BREW middleware SophiaFramework Ver. 3.0 on November 2. Source codes of practical BREW applications that were developed using SophiaFramework, such as an RSS reader which aggregates and updates blogs and also pulls the latest news from web sites, a POP/SMTP-supported mailer and a scheduler which enables data transmission in vCalendar format. Using these source codes and the SophiaFramework user interface engine, developers can add original programs to create sophisticated applications easily and in a short period of time. The source codes were made available on November 2 and can be obtained by purchasing SophiaFramework Ver. 3.0 or by applying for the free trial. Please note that SophiaFramework and SophiaFramework Free Trial are currently available only in Japanese. 11/7/2005
Tower Records Japan and DoCoMo to form business alliance through capital tie-up
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
Tower Records Japan (TRJ) and DoCoMo announced that they will form a business alliance through a capital tie-up to jointly offer various DoCoMo phone services. The capital tie-up will enable TRJ and DoCoMo to leverage mutually beneficial strengths. TRJ, is aiming "To Be the Best Place to Find Music," operates an extensive network of more than 100 outlets in Japan and has developed a very strong brand, particularity among young people and music lovers. DoCoMo boasts about 50 million customers and extensive know-how in operating i-mode mobile Internet and "Osaifu-Keitai" wallet services. TRJ will become a model retailer for the implementation of DoCoMo's coming new credit payments service using "Osaifu-Keitai" wallet phones. In addition, users of DoCoMo's new "ToruCa" information-capture service will provide to obtain information such as artists, CDs, special offers from recording labels and more at TRJ stores. DoCoMo will acquire an approximate 42% stake in TRJ for about 12.8 billion yen in the form of shares through third-party allocations and others around late November. 11/7/2005
Ericsson to test HSDPA with Vodafone K.K.'s network in Tokyo
www.ericsson.com (English Release)
Ericsson announced that it successfully upgraded Vodafone K.K.'s commercial network in central parts of Tokyo to support High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), as specified in Release 5 of the 3GPP standard, in order to test HSDPA with Vodafone K.K.'s live network. The software and hardware in the HSDPA-enabled base stations supports downlink bit-rates up to 3.6 Mbps and uplink rates up to 384 Kbps; however, this capability has not been enabled for Vodafone K.K. customers at this time. The hardware and software upgrades of the first commercial network sites represent a major milestone in the program to offer HSDPA and are the latest in a series of achievements in the HSDPA area between Vodafone K.K. and Ericsson. The two companies have been jointly performing lab trials of pre-commercial HSDPA equipment since September 2004 and field trials have been continuing since early 2005. These tests have been used to build competence and experience about HSDPA radio network performance, as well as end-user application behaviors in different radio environments. 11/7/2005
Sophia introduces WiFi/PHS dual platform to manufacturers
www.sophia-systems.co.jp (Japanese Release)
Sophia Systems announced that it would market a new Windows CE 5.0 based mobile communication platform called “SandgateVP (SGVP)” to mobile-handset manufacturers. SGVP comes with a compact flash (CF) card for PHS phones, which enables access to both wireless LAN (802.11b/g) inside buildings and PHS networks outside. The company licenses as a reference model on which each manufacturer creates its original products. Presently, the basic system is running on Intel PXA270 (530MHz) CPU, 64MB RAM, 128MB CF, 300K bit pixel camera (x2) and 2.2” QVGA screen. In addition to CF, interfaces are available with MinisD, USB1.1 (miniB), and IrDA. The company plans to develop the same service on a Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC and will be implementing WinMAX feature as well in the future. 11/8/2005
DoCoMo to launch "iD" credit card brand for mobile payments
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
DoCoMo announced its new “iD” credit card brand for card issuers, which will enable DoCoMo customers to make credit card payments with the "Osaifu-Keitai" mobile phone equipped with wallet functions. The new service will be available on December 1. iD will enhance existing credit card services by giving credit card owners the option of making payments via a DoCoMo wallet phone linked to the card, in addition to conventional payments with their plastic credit card. The payment procedure will be as simple as waving the phones in front of dedicated reader/writers at stores. No signature will be required for purchases under a certain amount, while purchases exceeding this specified amount will require the user to simply enter a password via a device linked to the reader/writer. Applications for iD will be accepted through credit card issuers. Once the application is accepted, the user will download an i-appli application into their handset and choose various settings for using the service. The DoCoMo handsets initially compatible with iD will be all 902i series (coming soon) and 901iS series models, and the F901iC, N901iC, SH901iC, F900iC, SH506iC, SO506iC and P506iC models. Compatibility will differ, however, depending on the card issuer, so users are asked to contact their card issuer for details. 11/9/2005
''Establishment Guidelines for the Specified Base Stations'' using 1.7 GHz or 2 GHz bands
www.soumu.go.jp (English Release)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) decided to attest three applications (each from a different company) for ''Establishment Plans'' of specified base stations using 1.7 GHz or 2 GHz bands. This means that the three companies, BB Mobile Corp., eMobile Ltd. and IPMobile Inc., are now allowed to enter the Japanese cellular telephone market. Prior to the decision, MIC inquired about the Radio Regulatory Council on the three applications as to attestation for ''Establishment Plans,'' pursuant to the ''Establishment Guidelines for the Specified Base Stations.'' The Council in response to the inquiry submitted a report to MIC, stating that it is appropriate to attest to the three applications as inquired. Upon attestation, new players are allowed to enter the cellular telephone market, resulting in further competition in the market that will encourage service providers to enhance and provide their services at lower prices. 11/9/2005
Promoting NTT Group's medium-term management strategy
www.ntt.co.jp (English Release)
In November 2004, NTT Group announced the "NTT Group's Medium-Term Management Strategy". With this roadmap, it will create a network environment that provides a ubiquitous broadband service that is fast and convenient, safe and secure, and offers connectivity anytime and anywhere. The company believes this will help create a rich communications environment for individuals as well as for communities, make corporate activities more efficient, and generate new business opportunities. Its intention is to build an open next-generation network that a variety of players outside the NTT Group can use to pioneer and develop a variety of services and business models. At the same time, it plans to actively move ahead with alliances with these players in a wide range of forms. Through such initiatives, it is making a contribution toward achieving the goals of the e-Japan Strategy and the u-Japan Policy. Social issues they are trying to include improving the life of the elderly in Japan, nursing and medical care, employment mismatch, crime and disaster prevention, and energy and environmental problems. 11/10/2005
Poweredcom and KCCS to release new mobile service for corporate users
www.poweredcom.net (Japanese Release)
Powerdcom (a Tokyo Electric Power Company) and Kyocera Communication System (KCCS) launched a new service called “Gateway Mobile KWINS Plan” for corporate users which enables them to access internal network via mobile devices. This new service works on corporate intranets and allows users to access their network directly from KCCS (via au’s CDMA 1x WIN or Willcom) and Poweredcom infrastructure. The companies claim that since it is bypassing unsecured Internet network, the security level is much higher. The costs are 5,145 yen (3,675 yen) for the gateway, 10,800 yen (25,200 yen) for initial setup, and 525 yen (105 yen) for the monthly charge per ID. Note that amounts in the parentheses are for customers using Willcom networks. 11/11/2005
BCN conducts study on usage of digital cameras and mobile phones with cameras
ranking.computernews.com (Japanese Release)
BCN conducted a web-based survey with 1,553 participants in October to find out how people use mobile phones with cameras and standalone digital cameras. According to the survey, 88.3% of mobile phone users have camera-ready phones and 80.2% of those use camera features. 61.9% of respondents store photos in their mobile phones, 35.1% store the photos on their PC, and 28.6% store their pictures on an external storage medium other than their computer. 33.9% are dissatisfied with the quality of resolution (number of pixels) and 28.7% were satisfied the resolution quality. 80.1% of those who own digital cameras said there have been no usage differences before or after obtaining camera-equipped phones. The company predicts that mobile phones with cameras will lift certain shares of the digital camera market when the quality becomes better in the future. 11/14/2005
Voice based search engine for mobile phones developed
www.advanced-media.co.jp (Japanese Release)
Voice Domain Service, an Advanced Media company, announced that it would release the voice recognition based search engine service from November 28 on a trial basis. They plan to release the commercial version in March 2006. When users access the site, they can speak about a desired company or product name; the system then returns applicable URLs back to their mobile phones. The service is offered free of charge, and the company will collect advertising fees from business providers. The company expects to have 4,000 voice-based domain sites within 2005 and 13,000 sites by the end of 2006. The targeted sales are 50 million yen for 2005 and 234 million yen for 2006 11/14/2005
Gemplus and Orange Launch Multimedia SIMs for the Multimedia Age
www.gemplus.com (English Release)
Gemplus International S.A., a provider of smart card solutions, and Orange SA, a mobile communications company of the France Telecom group, announced the world’s first commercial launch of multimedia SIMs for Orange customers. This new multimedia SIM enables Orange subscribers to offer large memory capacity of 128MB for the storage and management of large multimedia content and operator support for the deployment of such content and services. The service also offers a high speed download protocol (similar to current broadband Internet speeds) which allow fast access to data stored in the card enabling the Orange mobile user to connect their mobile equipment (SIM + Handset) and manage their personal data from their PC, and exclusive access to dedicated Orange content stored within the multimedia SIM in addition to existing SIM functions. 11/17/2005
A new Flash based web mail service with rhythm authentication
flash.imd.jp (Japanese Release)
IMD released its new web mail service called “IMD FlashMail” which uses a Flash-based user interface. Mobile users can access the URL to operate email free of charge. The mail system is based on POP/IMAP4/APOP so that users can use their own email accounts. While DoCoMo’s FOMA users can retrieve up to 50 mails, au’s CDMA 1X WIN users can do the same with no limit. Each mail access allows viewing up to 128 characters at once and by clicking “More” to continue to read the rest of email. This email system utilizes so-called rhythm authentication so that users tapping the enter key with certain intervals like Morse code. 11/22/2005
MIC hearing the telecom act amendment for MNP
www.soumu.go.jp (Japanese Release)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) submitted a ministerial ordinance bill to the information and communication committee for amendments of telephone numbering rules and the telecommunication act in order to prepare Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The ministry opens the hearing through December 21. This action was derived from reports from mobile carriers notifying it would be possible to transfer those numbers from October 2006. 11/24/2005
3Q reached 9 billion yen for ring tones and ring songs
www.riaj.or.jp (English Release)
The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) announced sales figures of digital music delivery in the third quarter. According to the report, mobile digital contents reached 9,082 million yen which represents a 125% increase (7.2 million downloads) from the same period of last year. On the other hand, Internet downloads reached 437 million yen which represents a 187% increase (2.3 million downloads) from the same period of last year. 11/24/2005
DoCoMo to launch location service for corporate FOMA users
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
DoCoMo and its eight regional subsidiaries announced that the companies would launch a service that enables corporate customers to confirm the whereabouts of registered 3G FOMA GPS handsets (SA700iS or SA800i) by connecting to DoCoMo's FOMA network. Corporate customers can use the service to offer unique services and improve logistical efficiency. For example, security companies could offer the services to customers who are concerned about their personal safety. Taxi companies would be able to use the handsets to monitor the positions of drivers for the efficient real-time allocation of vehicles in the field. Three service plans will be offered. Plan A will cost 6,300 yen per month and offer 500 location checks per month, with each additional search costing 10.5 yen; Plan B's monthly fee will be 63,000 yen (10,000 location checks, 5.25 yen per additional search); and Plan C's monthly fee will be 157,500 yen (30,000 checks, 3.15 yen per additional search). Companies will also have to pay a fee for connecting their corporate systems to the FOMA network - 1,050 yen per month for Internet connections and 8,400 yen per month for leased-circuit connections (64K or 128K). 11/24/2005
DoCoMo to start "imadoco search" location service
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
DoCoMo and its eight regional subsidiaries announced that they would launch the "imadoco search (Where are you now?)" location service, allowing parents to monitor their children's whereabouts, for example. Parents need an i-mode handset to use the service, while their children must have 3G FOMA handsets. Even if the children do not have GPS-compatible handsets, their location can still be identified through FOMA base stations. Parents can also use their PCs to check their children's location. In addition, parents can receive periodic e-mail updates to their handsets so they know where their children are at all times, and can receive alerts if their children go outside of designated areas. Subscribers whose kids carry the newly developed, child-friendly SA800i handset automatically receive e-mail on their children's whereabouts if the handset alarm is activated. They can continue to receive up to 10 more e-mails, one every 15 minutes. In addition, if the handset itself is turned off, then the handset automatically sends service subscribers’ e-mail giving their children's location. In such cases, parents can adjust the setting to receive either a one-time e-mail notice or continuous e-mail alerts. The monthly fee for the location service will be 210 yen (covering up to five people), with each search costing 5.2 yen. 11/28/2005
Keitai Whitepaper 2006 released
www.impressholdings.com (Japanese Release)
Mobile Contents Form (MCF) and Impress began selling the Keitai Whitepaper 2006 (A4, 320 pages) at 7,140 yen on December 7. The whitepaper is based on various surveys and the companies have also added their analysis and commentary. MCF said the 3G market share reached 43% (38.07 million users) in September and the market is predicted to grow to 56% (50.77 million users) by May 2006 and 74% (68.42 million users) by March 2007. Currently, 3.5G users, who total 15.89 million, represent 17% of the market. From the mobile telephone usage survey conducted with 2,000 users, 82.4% recognize “Ring Song Full” and 64.9% have compatible phones. On the other hand, 73.4% recognize “Full Browser” but only 40.3% of users have compatible phones. 50% of flat-rate users used the Full Browser functionality but only 28% of non-flat-rate users used it. Bookmark ranking showed Yahoo! as the number one (consecutive 2 years) portal and Google, 2 Channel and Amazon gained more popularity from PC users. In addition, although Mobile Number Portability (MNP) will be available from 2006, only 15.1% (17.2% prior year) say they may change their carrier. When asked why they would not change their carrier, 42.2% (36.0% prior year) said they were satisfied with their current service as the number one answer and 54.4% said that they like to take advantage of annual discount rates as the number two answer. 11/28/2005
KDDI succeeds in communicating with web service via SOAP
www.kddi.com (Japanese Release)
In cooperation with Fuji Xerox System Service, KDDI developed a BREW based middleware to communicate directly with the map information service (GeOAP - microsoft.net based), operated by Tokyo Gas Engineering. The middleware uses SOAP protocol that is based on an XML messaging system. KDDI claims that communicating to a website without routing any mobile phone gateways will reduce communication costs for users. Fuji Xerox System Service will adopt the SOAP based middleware for the next version of their data gathering system for stores. 11/29/2005
Seven & I Holdings to issue its own electronic money card
www.7andi.com (English Release)
Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd. announced that it has decided to issue its own prepaid electronic money card to increase convenience for customers making payments at Seven & I Holdings stores. The card will incorporate a contact-less IC chip, and the service has a target launch date of spring 2007. In addition, the company is considering the implementation of a point service that can be used at about 12,500 stores starting spring 2007. Seven & I Holdings will develop systems, such as store POS registers, to ensure that customers will be able to use the electronic money cards, as soon as they are issued, at all of the more than 11,000 stores operated by Seven-Eleven Japan. In the future, rather than limiting the use of the cards to Seven-Eleven stores, the company will gradually expand their use to include Ito-Yokado stores and other Seven & I Holdings stores in Japan. The company will also begin preparations for the integration of the electronic money and point services. Current plans call for the new point service to be available at Seven-Eleven stores in Japan as soon as electronic money cards are issued, and Seven & I Holdings will continue to develop and introduce the services so that customers can use them at the Group’s approximately 12,500 stores. The number of electronic money cards issued in the first year is expected to be about 10 million, one of the highest levels in Japan. Seven & I Holdings also will conclude a new operational tie-up agreement with JCB Co., Ltd. for the development. 11/29/2005
Willcom obtains a preliminary license to develop next generation of PHS
www.willcom-inc.com (Japanese Release)
Willcom announced that it would develop a high-speed PHS system along with obtaining a preliminary license. The development will be based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex Access (OFDMA) and the experiments will be conducted by setting up base stations on the top of buildings in downtown Tokyo. 11/30/2005
NEC Electronics develops 5M pixel camera module for mobile phones
www.necel.com (Japanese Release)
NEC Electronics started shipping sample units of a 5M pixel camera module to mobile phone manufacturers, and plans for mass-production (200,000 units per month) from the first quarter of FY2006. The sample price is 18,000 yen. The module consists of graphic processing LSI, 5M pixel COMS sensor, lens, auto-focus feature, shatter and flash memory. Basic software features include flash control, noise adjustment, graphics expanding/rotation and JPEG compression. The company claims that by using this module, the development period will be reduced by 4 months and even those who do not have expertise in camera development will be able to implement the module very easily.
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