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Japan’s second biggest cell phone carrier KDDI (over 30 million subscribers) rolls out quite unique handsets from time to time, mostly under their iida sub-brand. The company today in Japan introduced [JP] another “lifestyle” cell phone, the so-called Light Pool. Technically, the device isn’t anything special – but it’s rather pretty.
The Light Pool is called this way as it’s equipped with a total of 22 LEDs that start lighting up in up to 100 patterns, for example when you get a call or an email arrives. Spec-wise, buyers can expect a 3.2-inch VGA TFT display, an 8MP CMOS camera with auto-focus, Bluetooth, a microSD/SDHC slot, and GPS.
The Light Pool actually isn’t a concept (as so many of the iida products) but will be offered to KDDI customers starting at the end of this month. It will be available in pink, black, and white with an open price model.
Via Keitai Watch [JP]
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
In an interview with CNN, Martin Cooper, the man who invented the cell phone for Motorola in 1973, says he knew one day the devices would be ubiquitous. But today’s smartphones are more complicated than he ever imagined possible. More »
Motorola – Science and Technology – Cell Phones – Cell Phones and Driving – Communications
Check out the rest: Gizmodo
And we have yet another cell phone maker joining the Android bandwagon. Various Japanese media, for example Sankei Digital [JP], are reporting that Fujitsu is currently working on an Android-based smartphone.
Details are scarce at this point, but Fujitsu is planning to market the device to the 55 million mobile subscribers NTT Doccomo has first (Docomo is Japan’s biggest cell phone carrier). It will be Fujitsu’s first Android phone and is expected to hit stores next year.
Currently, the company doesn’t have any smartphones in its line-up (even though it’s often hard to spot significant differences between so-called smartphones and the normal feature phones that are available here in Japan). Fujitsu is planning to bring the Android phone to markets outside Japan as well.
The company was in the news just last month, when it announced plans to merge cell phone operations with Toshiba as early as October this year.
The picture above shows one of the last “smartphones” Fujitsu manufactured, the FOMA F1100 that the company introduced back in 2007.
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
Big shake up in Japan’s cell phone industry (100 million mobile subscribers) today: NTT Docomo, the country’s leading carrier (55 million customers), is planning to make all of its cell phones SIM free as early as April 2011 (the start of the new fiscal year in most Japanese companies).
Docomo’s president Ryuji Yamada told Japanese daily The Nikkei in an interview that all that customers will need to do is to simply replace SIM cards when switching to another carrier. The move is a reaction to guidelines released by Japan’s Communications Ministry in June, according to which the country’s leading cell phone carriers (Docomo, KDDI au, and SoftBank Mobile) should “consider” selling just unlocked handsets in the future.
Docomo offers the best cell phone network in Japan, which is why the company has good chances of getting the most out of such a scenario (even though Docomo’s fee plan is also considered to be relatively costly). The company’s stock at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 2,600 yen from Monday to 139,600 yen.
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
Cell phones come with all kinds of applications these days, but researchers at MIT have developed one with the power to change more than just a Facebook status. More »
Mobile phone – cellphone – Science and Technology – Cell Phones and Driving – Health Concerns
Check out the rest: Gizmodo
Just when you thought it was safe to love AT&T again, we have another interesting tidbit about their famous 3G Micro-Cell, AKA the “rip-off box.”
As you recall, AT&T’s MicroCell is being marketed as a way to repair bad connectivity in areas with little or no AT&T reception including, but not limited to, basements, attics, Manhattan, and San Francisco. It essentially piggy backs on your own home network to provide data service and voice to your phone.
However, AT&T will still charge data used while in range of the Micro-Cell against your no longer unlimited data cap. This means that you’re essentially allowing AT&T to drop a cell antenna into your house, paying $150 for the privilege, and they get to use your data infrastructure to get voice and data back to their own fiber networks.
Dan Frommer writes:
AT&T explains the practice by saying there is a cost to handle the data transmission once it hits AT&T’s network, after it goes through your broadband pipe. (Likewise, it charges you for the voice minutes that you use over the Micro-Cell. But that’s a different service.)
So basically you’re paying AT&T for the privilege of using your phone. Straight up. While we all know your phone, like hair, is a privilege and not a right, this move again smacks of giving up. Microcells have been around for years, AT&T finally got around to selling them, and they’re basically riding the goodwill of an army of iPhone users who would actually like to use their phones in enclosed areas like their garage workshops, places of business, and some parts of North and South Dakota as well as most of Morgantown, West Virginia.
Again, call it splitting hairs, but this move is cold comfort to those who have been suffering with bad reception since 2007.
UPDATE – AT&T, ever vigilant, is aware of the issue but notes you will mostly be using Wi-Fi for data.
They note that: “Microcells require you have a wired broadband connection and our surveys show that around 96% of our Microcell users have a Wi-Fi router, as well. Wi-Fi is the optimal solution for home mobile data use.”
· 3G MicroCell is primarily intended to enhance the voice call quality experience in your home. While it can carry mobile data traffic, that’s not the primary solution it provides.
· Microcells require you have a wired broadband connection and our surveys show that around 96% of our Microcell users have a Wi-Fi router, as well. Wi-Fi is the optimal solution for home mobile data use. We encourage people to take advantage of Wi-Fi capabilities. That’s why all of our smartphones include Wi-Fi radios, and usage on Wi-Fi doesn’t count against your mobile data usage bucket if you have one of our new data plans.
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
Just when you thought it was safe to love AT&T again, we have another interesting tidbit about their famous 3G Micro-Cell, AKA the “rip-off box.”
As you recall, AT&T’s MicroCell is being marketed as a way to repair bad connectivity in areas with little or no AT&T reception including, but not limited to, basements, attics, Manhattan, and San Francisco. It essentially piggy backs on your own home network to provide data service and voice to your phone.
However, AT&T will still charge data used while in range of the Micro-Cell against your no longer unlimited data cap. This means that you’re essentially allowing AT&T to drop a cell antenna into your house, paying $150 for the privilege, and they get to use your data infrastructure to get voice and data back to their own fiber networks.
Dan Frommer writes:
AT&T explains the practice by saying there is a cost to handle the data transmission once it hits AT&T’s network, after it goes through your broadband pipe. (Likewise, it charges you for the voice minutes that you use over the Micro-Cell. But that’s a different service.)
So basically you’re paying AT&T for the privilege of using your phone. Straight up. While we all know your phone, like hair, is a privilege and not a right, this move again smacks of giving up. Microcells have been around for years, AT&T finally got around to selling them, and they’re basically riding the goodwill of an army of iPhone users who would actually like to use their phones in enclosed areas like their garage workshops, places of business, and some parts of North and South Dakota as well as most of Morgantown, West Virginia.
Again, call it splitting hairs, but this move is cold comfort to those who have been suffering with bad reception since 2007.
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
We reported last week that two of Japan’s top cell phone makers, Fujitsu and Toshiba, were in talks to merge their cell phone businesses. And today, we have the rumor confirmed. Under the agreement, Toshiba will spin off its handset unit and Fujitsu is expected to take the majority stake in the joint venture (between a whopping 70 and 80%, according to Japanese media reports).
The integration is aimed at combining development, production, marketing and sales of cell phones. It will create Japan’s second largest cell phone maker (with a combined 18.7% domestic market share), following Sharp (26.1%).
Fujitsu and Toshiba say that the joint venture will be launched as early as October 1 this year and that the goal is not only to catch up to Sharp domestically but also to enter Asia and markets elsewhere as soon as possible.
These are understandable reasons. In Japan itself, both companies are facing increasing competition from the joint venture NEC, Casio, and Hitachi formed earlier this month and from the iPhone. Hit by the recession and a rapidly graying user base, shipments of handsets within Japan fell 12.3% year on year to a 12-year low of 31 million units in fiscal 2009.
Historically, exports have been weak as well. Toshiba, for example, sells just 100,000 handsets yearly in Europe. The Fujitsu-Toshiba entity would not even command 1% of the global cell phone market if it launched today.
Check out the rest: MobileCrunch
First seen at CES years ago, Horizon’s MiniPak has (finally) gone on sale for $100. It’s the first personal, portable fuel cell—if you don’t count the Japan-only Toshiba one—and is like a mini power plant for charging gadgets. More »
Fuel cell – Energy – Technology – Devices – Business
Check out the rest: Gizmodo
