Word on the street is that with its supersaturated cell phone market, Japan is looking for larger, overseas markets, possibly even targeting U.S. consumers for its shiny, super fast handsets.
The AP reported that the “aggressive push” to market handsets abroad is a collaboration between the government and an industry group of Japanese carriers and handset manufactures. The first technology the initiative hopes to take global is the Wallet Phone, a handset that mixes mobile payment capabilities with top of the line cell phone features. The handsets use embedded FeliCa chips (designed by Sony) that allow users to pay for purchases, train tickets and items in compatible vending machines by just waving their phone.
While folks in Japan have been using mobile phones to pay for things since 2004, the technology is not yet widely available in the U.S. and the missing infrastructure in stores, stations and vending machines may be a hurdle for the Japanese initiative.
Other difficulties include Japan’s plans to spread the good news about 4G technologies, while the U.S. is still trying to make 3G more widely available.
While the U.S. might be a difficult market for Japanese cell phones, an official with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reportedly said that Asian nations such as Taiwan and South Korea have been asking for Japanese cell phones for years.
Exact details of the technology pushing plans are not yet available, but the ministry did also say that it is planning missions and seminars to help educate international communities about Japan’s technology.
Apparently the fixed-mobile convergence market is on the brink of very interesting times, according to analysts at ABI Research anyway.
While so far most fixed-to-mobile solutions have been UMA-based, such as T-Mobile’s Hotspot@Home service in the U.S. and similar services offered by Orange in France, Spain and the United Kingdom, Sprint’s new femtocell-based Airave solution could create competition in the convergence market.
And even as ABI Research predicts a total of 103 million access points of both types will be in service by 2013, vice president and research director Stuart Carlaw said in a statement: “We expect cellular-based femtocells to have taken over the baton from UMA- and SiP-based Wi-Fi solutions by 2013, seizing 62% of the market…Although UMA-based Wi-Fi solutions have seen early gains in greenfield markets, these solutions have not proliferated much outside their current carrier footprints. This can be attributed partly to the carriers’ desire to assess femtocell developments, but also to lingering concerns regarding the concept of Wi-Fi based fixed-mobile convergence.”
After a year in self proclaimed “stealth mode” Blueapple.mobi has resurfaced, with a new name (Vuclip) and a redesigned consumer service and platform for mobile publishers.
The company says its redesigned Web and wap sites “make it easier than ever for users to search for and watch any Internet video on their mobile phones.” Hoping to address the fragmented mobile video market, Vuclip says it transcodes videos on the fly, optimizing them for a users handset, promising that users can now have any video delivered to their mobile phone. Users can also create video playlists, receive alerts about new videos and share favorite videos with friends. The company claims its mobile video technology works on more than 2,000 handsets in 130 countries around the world.
Nickhil Jakatdar, CEO of Vuclip, said:
“Users want to consume everything from first-run branded content to user-generated content but the mobile video viewing experience has been far too frustrating for it to become an everyday consumer activity. Vuclip solves this problem by delivering video to mobile phones the way people want it, when they want it, wherever they are.”
For content publishers, the Vuclip Video API Program promises to “leverage Vuclip’s technology platform to deliver their online video content to mobile users quickly and easily.”
Not sure how this will work with carriers’ proprietary natures but have a look at the site if you’re interested.
UK carrier 3 and Skype have announced a next generation Skypephone. The S2 update seems to be about mobile surfing and multimedia functions as the Skype connectivity seems unchanged. Updated features include a bigger 320 x 240 screen, (improved from 176 x 220), a 3.2-megapixel camera (better than the older models 2-megapixels) and 50MBs of internal memory, as well as compatibility with up to a 4GB micro SD card.
The latest model also comes HSDPA-capable, and Web applications like Facebook, Windows Live Messenger and Google are now highlighted with the S2’s “revolutionary carousel interface” or a key on the side of the phone that lets users easily switch between applications.
The Skypephone S2 is set to be available from 3’s Web site beginning August 27 for 70 pounds ($130) or free with a contract of at least 15 pounds a month.
The Boy Genius just pushed this live shot of what’s purported to be the next product coming from the LG/PRADA partnership, aptly named the PRADA II. Borrowing much from the aesthetics of the original PRADA phone, the only visible change is the slide-out keyboard.
Nothing is known about the handset besides what you can see in this shot, so it may be a while before we get wind of specs/availability.
Sure, chances are you’re part of the huge majority still waiting for their carrier to release the BlackBerry Bold. Just in case you wanted to see how to splay one out in under 3 minutes, some folks up in Canada have put the whole strip-down on film. Check it out up above.
Oh, the W350. You’re so beautiful when you’re closed. Pop open that flip-down cover over the number pad, however, and everyone starts to wonder how they made such a slim phone in 1989.
Two-faced aesthetics aside, AT&T launched the W350 this morning alongside the LG Invision. For 30 bucks after a $50 dollar rebate and a 2-year agreement, the W350 packs quad-band GSM, a 1.3 megapixel shooter, and M2 Memory Stick support. It comes in “Ice Blue”, “Electric Black”, or .. “White”. White doesn’t get an exciting name? Did SE fire the naming guy after the best thing he could come up with for black was “Electric”?
One shot of the phone in its retro form after the jump
With the Android-powered HTC Dream launching on their network sometime in the next few months, T-Mobile’s feelin’ the heat to get their 3G network as prepped as possible. Just a few weeks ago, a poster taped to someone’s wall told us that 3G would hit October 1st.
While we had looked forward to hosting a big nationwide T-Mobile 3G countdown on September 30th, CellPhone Signal is reporting that T-Mobile is going about it the practical boring way and rolling it out gradually. It’s too bad. We’d planned on passing out martinis and miniature beer-soaked sausages at our party, and now no one gets any. T-Mobile owes you hors d’oeuvres.
Roll-out dates and cities after the jump Read More
You love watching live TV on the go, but you face the same problem as all of us: They just don’t make pants with pockets big enough to carry your TV set. Even if it does fit, you’re sure as hell not going to squeeze your set-top box and a bunch of remotes in there too. AT&T’s come up with a crazy solution: instead of making the pant pockets bigger, make the TV-watching-gizmo smaller. Groundbreaking!
AT&T and LG today announced the LG Invision, which they’re quick to point out is the smallest phone compatible with AT&Ts mobile TV offerings. At around 4 inches tall by 1/2 an inch thick, it’s much more likely to fit in your pocket – plus, it happens to pack a 1.3 megapixel camera, XM Radio, Bluetooth with A2DP, quad-band GSM and dual-band HSDPA, and support for up to 8 GB microSD. You can nab one today at your local AT&T spot for 99 ducats on a 2-year contract.
Cool. Looks like the HTC Touch Diamond (and presumably the HTC Touch Diamond Pro) can actually do multi-touch. Apparently it’s just around the navigation buttons that the multi-touch works – not the entire screen, which seems odd. The feature is revealed when using HTC’s Nav Debug Tool but so far doesn’t have any practical use beyond simple testing. However, HTC updates its ROMs on a fairly regular basis so maybe we’ll someday see this feature come to light for normal people like you and me.
Here is how it works: * The area around the navi-wheel is actually a capacitive touch-area with multi-touch * it may allow using finger pinching gesture and finger spreading gesture (zooming for example) and also implement 2 finger moving for panning gesture for example too. * Not all capacitive touch-areas are multi-touch at the same time! * You can try it for yourself at XDA-Developers NavDbgTool.exe, you must have registered account there in order to download
Not too long ago, Proximi gave iPhone users a glimpse of how copy and paste could work on their handsets with the release of MagicPad. Unfortunately, the copy and paste functionality only went as far as the limitations of Apple’s SDK allowed; while you could copy from one MagicPad document to another, you couldn’t copy from a MagicPad document to Safari. It wasn’t exactly what iPhone users were looking for, but it was the start of something awesome.
Shortly after releasing MagicPad, Proximi released a proposal video for a cross-application copy and paste system. This inspired a developer named Zac White to start OpenClip, a non-profit and open-source project aimed at putting as big of a dent in the app-to-app copy/paste problem as possible without breaking the rules of Apple’s SDK.
“OpenClip utilizes a shared space on the iPhone. Applications that use the OpenClip framework can access this common area to write to and read from, allowing copy / paste between participating apps.”
By implementing the OpenClip framework, any developer can add Copy/Paste functionality to their own applications. Sure, it’s still not a perfect solution — It only works between the applications which have been OpenClip-enabled (read: not Safari), and no one’s really sure if Apple’s going to be too pleased with what could be considered a loophole — but a handful of developers are already standing behind the project, and more will undoubtedly sign up as word gets out.
If nothing else, this might just push Apple to consider copy/paste as high of a priority as much of their userbase does.
Out of the blue, AT&T stores have started receiving shipments of newly renovated Motorola Q9h. Sure, it’s just a new chrome & silver body wrapped around the same hardware, pre-flashed with WinMo 6.1. But man, does it look better in silver or what?
Word is that they’re just demo units for now, so don’t hike over to your local AT&T spot just yet. You’ll know about pricing and availability as soon as we do.
Jeez – after hearing about the Bold for over 3 months, it’s hard to believe this thing still hasn’t touched down in North America.
Only 2 more days to wait, according to Canada’s Rogers Wireless. Those of us south of Saskatchewan are still on hold until AT&T pushes it out the door, but everyone on the other side of the border will be able to pick one up on August 21st. No price has been officially outed yet, but all rumors are pointing at $399 on a 3 year contract.
You’ve set the bar high for yourselves, Samsung. If a parade of tiny exploding people doesn’t rain out while I unbox my Omnia, I will be sorely disappointed.
Sure enough, ol’ David G. updated the blog one final time to let everyone know that, after just three posts, they’d be flipping the switch. They’re not killing communications all together, however – they’re just making the jump from bloggers to hard hitting news, replacing the Status blog with a MobileMe News page. In other words, it’s the same thing with less word fluff and no name at the bottom of each post.
Apple is opening the News page on a good note, announcing an extra 60 days of credit for anybody who dealt with MobileMe in its broken fledgling state. That brings the total amount of free time up to 90 days. Seems like early adopters are getting the love they deserve for once.
Addicted to the Wall Street Journal, but the BlackBerry browser just isn’t doing it for you? They hear you. To help satiate your needs, WSJ has just released a native BlackBerry application purposed for perusing their offerings.
The Features:
Tabbed design, stories seperated by category
Customizable category listings
Stock quote tracking through “My Stocks”
RSS feeds through “My Feeds”
Delicious/Facebook/Email sharing support
Headlines and viewed articles cached for offline viewing
Palringo, a free multi-protocol (MSN, Yahoo IM, AIM, Google Talk, Gadu Gadu, and Jabber) IM application not unlike Pidgin on Windows or Adium on OS X, has added a Push-to-Talk solution to their iPhone client.
It’s pretty simple, as Push-to-Talk should be – select the contact, record the message, and it’s on its way. If the recipient is also on Palringo, the message can be played back (automatically or manually) right within the client. If they’re on a client that doesn’t support Palringo’s voice messaging system, they’ll be sent a link to an audio file which they can listen to within their browser.
While I can’t imagine this dethroning the bulky iDEN handset from your local contractor’s fannypack, it’s certainly an awesome bonus feature to this already useful (and free!) application.
MobileCrunch reported yesterday that complaints from around the world are reporting that the iPhone 3G is having connection troubles. Dropped calls and inconsistent Internet speeds are plaguing some iPhone users. Being quick to the draw, Apple has released a software update which may be meant to fix the problems.
T-Mobile, which has exclusive iPhone rights in some European countries, announced today that the software is available for users to download. It isn’t known if the upgrade will fix all the connection problems.
“We have had complaints about connectivity in the Netherlands but have not had more complaints than usual for a 3G phone in Germany. Our technicians said today Apple has issued a software update but it is too early to tell if the problems are solved,” a T-Mobile spokesman said.
The U.S. iPhone provider AT&T confirmed that Apple has provided a software update but hasn’t given any details about the nature of the update.
Richard Windsor, an analyst at Nomura, speculates that the dropped calls problem may be due to faulty software on an Infineon Technologies chip used in the iPhone. Infineon isn’t commenting on the iPhone’s troubles but was quick to say that its 3G chips work fine in other cell phones.
The NPD Group, a market research firm which specializes in the wireless industry, is reporting that handset sales in the United States has totaled 28 million units in this year’s second quarter, down 13% over last year’s numbers. This is the third quarter in a row in which sales have declined in the U.S. and marks the lowest number of phones sold since NPD began counting sales numbers in 2005.
There is some good news despite slumping sales. American consumers are buying more expensive handsets. This has helped to boost sales value, which is down only 2% from a year ago. Also, NPD numbers don’t take into account institutional buyers. Government and business entities are helping to makeup sales numbers lost from a slowdown of individuals purchasing cell phones.
The average cell phone in NPD’s survey cost $84, up 14% from a year ago. The sale of smart phones has nearly doubled. Cell phones with a full-alphabet keyboard saw the biggest increase. At the same time, sales of cell phones that can only make calls have dropped.
Here is a quick walk-through of the Android OS. Put on some headphones – the voiceover is a little low – but this gives you a fairly clear look at what’s going on inside the new OS.
