Serkan at MobileCrunch has the full story: Son said that as SoftBank’s leader, it makes him feel uncomfortable to hear that disaster victims and their friends and relatives have trouble in connecting and obtaining information. And while he was at it, he also promised that the orphans won’t be charged any communication fees until they […]
Tag: japan
Happy Friday! James from mjelly.com here at Mobile Industry Review for another “Mobile 2.0 service of the week”. So far we’ve covered mobile 2.0 apps from all over the world from Mig33 in Australia, Itsmy in Germany, Mocospace in the US to ebuddy and Nimbuzz in Holland and this week we’re going East with Mobamingle – the international […]
Well, maybe not your Nokia phone, but definitely ‘a’ mobile handset. Have a read of this piece from BBC News: Two Japanese companies have unveiled a security robot that can be commanded from a mobile phone to hurl a net that traps suspected intruders. The prototype T-34 was developed jointly by robot firm Tmsuk Co […]
Nokia not big in Japan anymore
Japan is the world’s fourth largest mobile phone market after the United States, China and India. So reports Reuters. And Nokia is now, officially, outta Japan. It’s hardly been in the States either, to be fair. China’s a nation of Nokia-knock-offs although they’ve got a reasonable presence in India. Quitting Japan does, alas, makes sense […]
Vodafone Passport works in Japan
How stupid is that? Vodafone Passport works in Japan but NOT the United States? Ridiculous. Vodafone you really need to sort this out. Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)
Japan’s FeliCa wallet phone push
According to this article from The Press Association, Japan is planning to agressively push its mobile technology abroad, particularly focusing on the wallet phone – that’s devices which incorporate a type of NFC or ‘wave and pay’. The particular type of wallet phone tech they’re talking about here is FeliCa, developed by Sony and very […]
Toshiba shutters mobile TV service
Is this the deathknell for broadcast mobile TV? Toshiba’s four year old mobile telly subsidiary, Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, is soon to be shut down. Says Toshiba: “Since its establishment, Mobile Broadcasting Corporation has provided diverse services in an attempt to build a subscriber base and enlarge its business. However, the number of subscribers has not […]
DoCoMo kills off 2G
Get out the black arm bands – it looks like rumours of the death of 2G really haven’t been exaggerated. Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo has announced its preparing to kill off its second generation network and will now officially stop taking subscriptions for its 2G mova service from this November. And, as a sweetener for […]
LTE networks hit 250Mbps
NTT DoCoMo has been pushing ahead with boosting network speeds: the Japanese operator says it has notched up a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over an outdoor LTE test network. DoCoMo is now working on testing handover from one base station to another, and how LTE performs in both indoor and outdoor environments, carrying out […]
Animated avatar company Gizmoz has landed $6.5 million in funding, with an investment round led by DoCoMo Capital, joined by ngi capital. Previous investors Benchmark Capital and Columbia Capital also contributed funding. Gizmoz said it will use the cash to will invest into Asian expansion, starting with work in Japan, and also announced today that […]
Japanese mobile giant DoCoMo has filed a complaint against competitor Softbank, with DoCoMo alleging that one of its rival’s handsets bears a little too much of a resemblance to one of its own devices, the Financial Times says. According to the paper, DoCoMo is trying to get the disputed device withdrawn from sale, after the […]
Japan officially kills off the 2G phone
The end is nigh for 2G – in Japan at least. According to AFP, figures from the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association have revealed that during January, over four million mobiles were shipped in Japanese stores, but for the first time not a single one of those devices was a 2G model. AFP […]