Softbank strengthens mobile content search with Yahoo! oneSearch

Softbank, the third largest mobile operator in Japan, enhanced its mobile portal Yahoo! Keitai with mobile content search functionality. The new innovation is the addition of content recommendation category to the search results page. Prior to this, the search results page was broken down by Mobile sites, PC sites, Q&A and other categories. The newly implemented search feature is designed to increase the mobile content discovery by cell phone users. The search engine will index Yahoo! Music, Yahoo! Comics, and Yahoo! Games services to deliver suitable content, including direct download links to songs, ringtones, comics, and mobile games. Softbank, which is a shareholder in both Yahoo! and Yahoo! Japan, says the recent enhancement to its mobile search is based on Yahoo! oneSearch concept recently introduced at World Mobile Congress 2008 in Barcelona.

Source: Softbank press release (Japanese)

Related mobile search articles:

• DoCoMo-Google partnership: i-mode on Google steroids
• Google befriends with KDDI, plans global expansion from within Japan?
• Image recognition search engine fetches music results onto mobile screens

Social network GREE grows to 4 million users

GREE claims to be the first social network to be launched in Japan. The company has grown to 4 million user base since its launch four years ago. GREE sees its success in delivering appealing content such as user interests-based interactivity (Music Corner service), games (online-based 3D golf), news made accessible from both the PC and mobile phone. The company has a partnership with KDDI au, which recently announced that two million of its mobile phone users are GREE members. GREE has a goal to increase its user base to 10 million in near future. While GREE maybe the oldest social network on the block it is not for sure the most popular in Japan. The most successful rivals include Mobage Town and mixi social networks.

Source: GREE press release (Japanese)

Related articles:

• Mobile social network Gree adds another million users
• Mobile social network EZ Gree grows to one million users
• Study: mobile social networking usage in Japan

Disney Mobile reinvents itself in Japan

It seems that everything is ready for the launch of Disney Mobile service on March 1st in Japan. Softbank is going to provide its cellular network, while Sharp will ship the handset specifically tailored for Disney service. Additionally Yahoo! Japan, in part owned by Softbank, has built a portal site - Disney Web, full of Disney content and services.

Disney refuses to be called an MVNO operator, a taboo word after Disney MVNO failure in the United State last year, instead saying this is a service in collaboration with SoftBank Mobile operator. While Disney will have its branded handset and original domain for mobile email, it will leverage Softbank’s handset distribution channels and ensure compatibility with Softbank’s service plans and services. This close relationship with Softbank should reduce the risk of doing business as a stand-alone MVNO for Disney Mobile. They definitely learned their lessons from the U.S. experience. Apparently, not all. The introduction of only one handset model at the service launch, even in three color variations, raises some skepticism. The history tells that users like to have a choice and you can’t satisfy them with one-size-fits-all offering. Specs-wise, the handset is even based on Softbank’s 821SH model. In Disney’s defence, they are going after twenty something women as their main target, promising to release three handsets in a year.

Disney made several safeguards to prevent its failure in Japan and relies on its brand power among single young women who are the biggest spenders on brand products in Japan. Still, it may not be enough to pursue users to leave their existing providers and jump on Disney wagon. Japan is a mature market and the segment Disney targets at is 100% saturated. Other carriers in Japan are dead serious about customer loyalty and start implementing customer retention strategies such as free calls between family members making the job of luring customers from rivals even harder for Disney Mobile.

Phone Specs
Model:	DM001SH
Carrier:	Disney Mobile/ Softbank
Maker:	Sharp
Packet data:	W-CDMA
Form factor:	clamshel
Color variations:	silver, gold, pink
Weight:	101g
Dimensions:	49X101.5X12.9mm
Main display:	2.6" Wide QVGA mobile ASV
Talk time:	220min
Standby time:	300 hours
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	N/A
Memory card slot:	microSD
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	Yes
Infrared:	N/A
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2.0MP
Video calling:	No
One-seg TV:	Yes
Music player:	Yes (WMA/SD-Audio)
Browser:	Yes
Push-To-Talk:	No
Mobile Wallet:	Yes
QR-code:	QR code
Biometrics:	N/A

Cellphone transformers with artificial intelligence in movies and real life

I had this idea of cellphone transformer for a long time. Finally it became a reality as Softbank teamed together with Tokyo TV to release two cellphone transformers in an attempt to draw attention to an upcoming sci-fi TV drama starring… yes, two cellphone transformers called Phone Braver 07 and Phone Braver 01 with artificial intelligence inside them. The real life copies – the silver and black color variations - known as the SoftBank 815T PB are actual cellphones made by Toshiba and they even have some pieces of intelligence by themselves. Besides the ability to change its form into a robot-like, the 815 PB features a home screen application Buddy Talk, which reminds me of tamagotchi toy. The phone via Buddy Talk will attempt to nag his owner with text messages throughout the day asking questions and trying to become a real buddy by learning more about his owner’s daily routine. Besides the communication part Buddy Talk can express its emotions with different “face” impressions. Additionally, Softbank and Tokyo TV pre-installed an RPG game closely related to TV drama’s plot to increase drama’s stickiness. Nonetheless, this is an innovative example of mobile marketing bringing together television and mobile worlds. However, I would expect mobisodes of the drama made available for download onto these phones but no information was provided. And the phone doesn’t even spot a one-seg TV tuner.

Phone Specs
Model:	815T PB
Carrier:	Softbank
Maker:	Toshiba
Cellular radio:	W-CDMA
Form factor:	flip/ transformer
Color variations:	silver, black
Weight:	107g
Dimensions:	50 X 102 X 16mm
Main display:	2.4" QVGA (240x320) TFT LCD
Talk time:	160min
Standby time:	420 hours
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	14MB
Memory card slot:	microSD (up to 2GB)
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	No
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2.0MP (autofocus)
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes (Chaku-uta Full)
WAP / Web browser:	PC site browser
Other apps:	e-comics, S! Town
Mobile Wallet:	S! FeliCa
QR-code:	N/A
Biometrics:	No

Source: Softbank press release (Japanese)

KDDI au’s Full Game: 10MB games targeted at mobile users

KDDI au, one of the biggest supporters of Qualcomm’s BREW platform outside of United States, took the advantage of BREW 4.0 capabilities and deployed a mobile game service called Full Game that provides high-quality 3D mobile games for download. The Full Game service is based on the precise rendering capabilities of KCP+ platform (KDDI Common Platform) based on Qualcomm's MSM7500 graphic chipset. To deliver a smooth 3D gaming experience the game’s file size reaches 1.5MB plus up to 8.5MB of supporting data. There are six Full Game-compatible handsets, including the W56T、W54S、W54SA、W61SA、W61T、and W61S models with more to follow. Initially, there four titles, which will become available for download from February 28.

Source: KDDI press release (Japanese)

eMobile starts voice service, releases eMonster terminal

eMobile finally enters the mobile voice market in Japan with two handsets from HTC and Toshiba scheduled for official launch in March 28. HTC’s device called EMONSTER S11HT is a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and unlocked SIM card, which makes it possible to be used abroad with a local SIM card. Toshiba’s handset is a voice-centric clamshell with one-seg TV tuner inside.

EMONSTER Specs
Model:	S11HT EMONSTER
Carrier:	eMobile
Maker:	HTC
Price:	TBD
Form factor:	PDA-centric clamshell
Color variations:	grey metallic
Weight:	190g
Dimensions:	59 X 112 X 19mm
Main display:	2.8" QVGA TFT LCD (touchscreen)
Talk time:	up to 264 minutes
Standby time:	up to 350 hours
Platform / OS:	Windows Mobile 6 Pro Edition
Memory:	N/A
Memory card slot:	microSD (SD2.0) X 1
GPS / Location:	Yes (Mobile Google Maps, Navitime)
Bluetooth:	2.0 + EDR
Infrared:	N/A
USB:	miniUSB (2.0 Full Speed)
Wi-Fi:	802.11 b/g
Camera:	3MP (main with autofocus) + VGA (sub)
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes
Browser:	IE Mobile
Cellular radio:	HSDPA/WCDMA (1700MHz)
Mobile Wallet:	No
QR-code:	N/A
Other:	MS Office Document viewer, QWERTY keyboard

Toshiba H11T Specs
Model:	H11T
Carrier:	eMobile
Maker:	Toshiba
Price:	TBD
Form factor:	Clamshell
Color variations:	white, blue, black, pink
Weight:	160g
Dimensions:	50 X 104 X 17.9mm
Main display:	2.8" Wide QVGA LCD (240 X 400)
Talk time:	approx. 160 minutes
Standby time:	approx. 350 hours
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	approx. 50MB
Memory card slot:	microSD (sold separately)
GPS / Location:	N/A
Bluetooth:	A2DP compatible
Infrared:	IrMC 1.1
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	3.2MP (autofocus/ anti-shake)
Video calling:	No
One-seg TV:	Yes (Toshiba REGZA TV technology)
Music player:	Yes (AAC/MP3/WMA)
Browser:	Full HTML NetFront browser
Email:	NetFront Messaging client
Mobile Wallet:	No
QR-code:	Yes
Other:	Access NetFront Mobile Client Suite (JV-Lite 2, etc.)

Source: eMobile press release (Japanese)

Japan’s mobile music downloads hit $633.7m in 2007, leave online sales far behind

Digital music sales grew 41% up in Japan during 2007, according to recent numbers released by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Overall, about 465 million music units were sold, accounting for 75.487bn Japanese yen (approximately $703 million).

The quite interesting part is that mobile music downloads grabbed more than 93% of total music downloads or 90% of digital music sales (and sideloading is not counted as a mobile category). The most growing sub-category inside the mobile music downloads was the single track downloads, which grew by 99% since last year and accounted for $320 million or 50.5% of total mobile music sales. The ringback tune downloads also enjoyed a boost in popularity in 2007, increasing by 90%. The RIAJ numbers underline one more time the significance of mobile phone culture in Japan and its difference from other markets.

Source: RIAJ (Japanese)

Related articles on mobile music:

• Japanese users think iPhone is fat
• KDDI posts 300m downloads of polyphonic ringtones
• Mobile music downloads brought $278.5m in sales in 2005

Dim forecast for Japanese handset market: reduced handset subsidies and longer replacement cycle

Japan’s mobile phone market has heavily relied on handset subsidies for a long time. Indeed, the handset subsidies were a great tool to boost new service subscriptions for wireless carriers and get a guaranteed financial inflow for handset manufacturers. However, the Japan’s handset market is nearly saturated now and relies on replacement sales to generate revenues for mobile phone makers. Pushed by the Japanese regulator, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, domestic carriers are going to gradually lessen their dependency on handset subsidies. The fight for customers will shift from using cheap handsets as a competitive differentiator to low-priced calling plans. This is going to hurt local handset vendors. The recent forecast from MM Research Institute draws a worrying picture for handset makers in this country. First of all, they estimate the total handset sales in Japan to reach 49.8 million in 2007. In 2010, they expect that number to decrease to 42.05 million. One of the reasons of such decrease is the replacement cycle that is going to get longer from current 26.8 months to 34.7 month in 2010. This means fewer handset shipments for mobile phone makers and as a result, the handset manufacturer market consolidation. Japanese vendors also need to consider overseas expansion in order to sustain in business.

Source: MMRI (Japanese)

Softbank Spring Collection: Sharp Internet Machine 922SH

With the launch of Internet-optimized mobile terminals like Sharp’s 922SH Softbank is betting on Japanese users’ desire to pick Softbank’s mobile devices over personal computers to stay connected and productive. Softbank’s reasoning is based on modern handsets’ improved characteristics: 1) HSDPA speeds; 2) Terminal’s processing power; and 3) Screen size. The combination of all three features will make mobile handsets more attractive than personal computers for users in Japan. The 922SH is the first such device in Softbank’s lineup with others to follow.

922SH Specs
Model:	922SH
Carrier:	Softbank
Maker:	Sharp
Price:	TBD
Form factor:	clamshell
Color variations:	black, white, pink, golden
Weight:	132g
Dimensions:	56 X 116 X 17mm
Main display:	3.5" Full WVGA (854x480), New Mobile ASV (260K colors)
Sub display:	1.18" (128x64) OLED
Battery:	N/A
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	N/A
Memory card:	microSDHC (up to 4GB)
GPS:	Not supported
Bluetooth:	Yes
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	N/A
Camera:	2.0MP (main), VGA (sub)
Video calling:	N/A
One-seg TV:	Yes
Music player:	Yes (WMA compatible; Music Connect service)
Browser:	Full Web browser
FM radio:	N/A
Mobile Wallet:	Not supported
Biometrics:	Face recognition
Other features:	Copy & Paste keys, QWERTY keyboard, touch sensor to answer calls when closed, HSDPA radio,

Japan mobile ad spending up 59.2% in 2007

Dentsu has revealed its annual report on Japan’s advertising spending in 2007. Overall, the industry grew up 1.1% from last year to record 7,019 billion yen (roughly $65 billion).

Internet segment showed healthy growth dynamics at 24.4% up when compared with the previous year. In 2007, Japanese advertisers allocated approximately $5.5 billion on online advertising campaigns, which accounted for around 8.5% of country’s total advertising expenditure. Internet now is more popular with marketers than magazines in Japan. The expansion of Internet segment was spurred with mobile screens attracting increasing amounts of advertising dollars. The mobile ad spending claimed more than 10% or $574 million of online advertising budgets, growing at 59.2% year over year. The mobile advertising spending more than doubled from 2005 when we first reported about it.

Dentsu also provides a breakdown of mobile advertising total number by reporting that more than $78 million or 13.7% of it was allocated on search-based advertising.

While the mobile ad spending is increasing with every year, it just accounts for nearly 1% of total marketing budget, promising a huge growth potential.

Source: Dentsu

Related mobile marketing articles:

• Mobile marketing: showcasing clothing collections on 3D avatars
• AdMob eyes Japan’s mobile advertising market
• Mobile advertising in Japan: $236m spent in 2005

Sharp handsets do magic and spur mobile web usage in Japan

CNet Japan reported Be Trend’s research results about the mobile internet usage in Japan in January 2007. First, they show the breakdown of mobile internet access shares by carrier. The trend here reflects the recent turn around at Softbank, with carrier’s share surpassing 9% in January and gradually heading to a 10% milestone. Nevertheless, NTT DoCoMo still holds the lion’s share of mobile phone users accessing mobile web.

What is more interesting is that Be Trend was able to track down the mobile web access statistics to a single handset model, publishing top five models for each carrier. First come DoCoMo handsets with the top five ranking being occupied with spring and summer models of 2007. However, the latest models of 905i series also start penetrate the ranks, with Be Trend reporting that the P905i has made the Top 10 list with a 2.7% share.

Sharp entered KDDI au’s Top 5 list the W52SH model for the first time. Considering Sharp’s leading positions with other carriers, this success with KDDI au tells that Sharp has found a winning formula to manufacture both the CDMA and WCDMA handsets with appealing design and user friendly interface.

Softbank’s Top 5 list of devices used to access mobile web is dominated by Sharp model – only Toshiba handset prevents Sharp from taking all five positions.

Source: CNet Japan (Japanese)

DoCoMo-Google partnership: i-mode on Google steroids

In January, Google Japan and NTT DoCoMo announced their intention to work together to bring Google search, AdWords advertising platform and other Google apps to DoCoMo’s i-mode phone users. While Google already has relationships with KDDI au, the deal with DoCoMo goes beyond a simplistic inclusion of Google search box on the top page of i-mode portal. DoCoMo is about to stop playing a gatekeeper role as its users will search and browse beyond the operator’s own portal. So what are the changes that Google brings to DoCoMo i-mode?

Search results are fetched from three sources
Google search engine indexes three web domains for results: 1) i-mode sites approved by DoCoMo; 2) non-official i-mode sites; and 3) generic Internet websites. Before, users couldn’t perform searches that included non-official and Internet websites from i-mode portal.

Search results are grouped by three types
The way search results are displayed on i-mode portal is also will be changed to reflect the addition of non-official i-mode sites and Internet websites. Based on the source, Google and DoCoMo will group the search results accordingly.

Google keyword-based ads are integrated into search results
A big win for Google is the decision to integrate its AdWords advertising platform into i-mode portal. Now, keyword-relevant text ads marked with a [PR] sign will be placed in up to three locations across the page with search results with a total number of ads not exceeding four. No word about the revenue-sharing model between Google and DoCoMo though.

Display ads to compliment text ads
While details are not clear, there are some reports that Google AdWords platform will also be used to serve display ads such as banners across a bunch of DoCoMo’s services including i-mode portal, Message F (free), G-guide and others. DoCoMo’s D2Communications ad agency will work with Google on implementation of this new mobile marketing structure.

More Google apps to be preinstalled on DoCoMo handsets
Two companies agreed to preinstall a set of Google apps on DoCoMo handsets in near future. The first app to be preinstalled is Google Maps. The Fujitsu F905i and NEC N905i handset already spot Google Maps. All future handset models will be equipped with Google Maps, according to DoCoMo. Having started with the integration of Google Maps, the companies also plan to make Gmail, Picasa, YouTube and Google Calendar optimized for i-mode usage. The idea is to enable all kinds of mashups between these apps and search results like having a link from search results page to Google Maps for example.

Google to become a default page for DoCoMo Full Browser
It was decided that DoCoMo’s all future handsets with a full browser installed will have Google’s top page as a start page by default.

DoCoMo’s Android plans
It seems that DoCoMo wanted to ensure both the i-mode services and Android working seamlessly on its handsets when it joined Google’s led OHA initiative. We can expect i-mode handsets optimized for Google services rather than a complete shift to one platform – Android. Thus, DoCoMo’s handsets based on Symbian MOAP and Linux MOAP platforms will be optimized for Android experience, while some new Linux-based Android handsets will be optimized for i-mode service.

Related articles on Google's mobile strategy in Japan:

• Mobile Google localization primer: emoji and mobile Gmail
• Google Japan intros new single portal for domestic mobile operators
• Google befriends with KDDI, plans global expansion from within Japan?

Panasonic 822P at 8.9mm thick hits Softbank’s shelves

Panasonic made a name for excelling in production of ultra-thin mobile phones. It doesn’t matter if it is a clamshell or candy bar form factor, Panasonic will make them really thin. This time Softbank is shipping Panasonic’s 822P candy bar phone at only 8.9mm thick. Besides the ultra-thin appeal, Softbank praises the 822P for simple, elegant design and ability to put into this slim body the high-end specs, including 3G, 2MP camera with auto focus, microSD memory card slot, video recording feature, music player, Internet browser, Bluetooth radio and other.

Phone Specs
Model:	822P
Carrier:	Softbank
Maker:	Panasonic
Cellular radios:	GSM (900/1800/1900)/WCDMA
Form factor:	candy bar
Color variations:	Red, White, Black, Golden Pink
Weight:	96g
Dimensions:	51 X 127 X 8.9mm
Main display:	2.2inch (240 X 320) QVGA TFT, 260K colors
Talk time:	200min
Standby time:	400hrs
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	37MB
Memory card slot:	microSD (up to 2GB)
GPS / Location:	Some Maps service
Bluetooth:	Yes (ver. 1.2)
Infrared:	Yes (IrMC 1.1)
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2MP with auto focus
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes
Browser:	PC website viewing
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	No
Barcode:	Yes (QR-code)
Biometrics:	Face recognition

One-seg handsets account for 55% of shipments

Recently, JEITA has published Japan’s cellular handset shipment numbers for December 2007. The total shipments in that month reached 4.76 million. One-seg handset shipments accounted for 55.5% of December’s total shipments. The installed base of one-seg handsets has passed 20 million by the end of 2007. Overall, the shipments of cellular handsets hit 49.6 million in 2007, up by 3.9% from previous year.

Source: JEITA

Signs of LTE becoming a 4G technology of choice emerge in Japan

It is no wonder that WCDMA carriers like NTT DoCoMo and Softbank in Japan might pick LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular technology for the upgrade of their current 3G networks. After all, LTE is considered to be a more optimal path for them than alternative 4G technologies, such as WiMAX. As a matter of fact, DoCoMo is already moving into that direction as it just announced the selection of Ericsson for its LTE base station development project. The two companies have a long history. Since 1992, Ericsson has delivered PDC base stations to NTT DoCoMo and, more recently, W-CDMA base stations for the operator's FOMA network. However, there are signs that even carriers from opposite to UMTS camp – CDMA, are hesitant about upgrading from their CDMA EV-DO networks to the Qualcomm’s proposed UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband). CDMA carriers worldwide, Verizon Wireless, Vivo, KFT and SKT in Korea, made a pledge for the WCDMA upgrade path. What’s more interesting is that Japan’s CDMA carrier KDDI also seems to be evaluating its options about 4G. upgrade. According to Jean-Pierre Bienamé, chairman of the UMTS Forum, he senses a change of direction in the KDDI boardroom. “They have frozen development on EV-DO Rev A and are now assessing Rev B and Rev C alongside all the other options, including WiMAX and LTE. The decision criteria will be on cost reduction per bit and it is here where LTE has an advantage,” he said in an interview to Telecommunications Magazine.

Access’ NetFront browser shipped in half a billion handsets

Meanwhile, Access reached quite a remarkable milestone, announcing that the installed base of mobile devices featuring the NetFront browser has reached 544 million. In total, 1,439 models use Access’s browser. Nowadays, NetFront browser ships at a rate of 20 million every month.

Source: Access press release (Japanese)

Sony Ericsson intros Windows Mobile-based XPERIA brand

Interesting news is coming from Barcelona, where Sony Ericsson has introduced a new brand of Windows Mobile smartphones XPERIA at Mobile World Congress 2008. The first device the XPERIA X1 is packed with high-end features, including 3 inch Wide VGA touchscreen, 3.2MP camera, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth radios. XPERIA is the first original brand coming from handset maker. Before, Sony Ericsson utilized Sony’s legacy brands such as Walkman, Cyber Shot and Bravia. The new brand reflects the growing importance of mobile web and multimedia entertainment experiences on mobile devices as the iPhone showed the way they should be delivered to end-users. Sony Ericsson joins other handset OEMs in accelerating race to come up with iPhone killer. It seems that in this race, handset OEMs try to put any possible radio and feature into the phone while missing the importance of seamless experience, intuitive UI and physical design – the points where iPhone continues to have no match. Plus the multi-touch. I hope the XPERIA X1 will get closer as it can get to iPhone as we consumers will benefit from more product innovations from different vendors.

Phone Specs
Model:	XPERIA X1
Carrier:	N/A
Maker:	Sony Ericsson
Cellular radios:	GSM/ EDGE/ UMTS/ HSDPA/ HSUPA
Form factor:	Slider
Color variations:	Black
Weight:	145g
Dimensions:	110 X 53 X 16.7mm
Main display:	3" WVGA TFT touchscreen (65K colors)
Talk time:	N/A
Standby time:	N/A
Platform / OS:	Windows Mobile
Memory:	N/A
Memory card:	microSD slot
GPS / Location:	aGPS (maps & navigation)
Bluetooth:	Yes (A2DP)
Infrared:	N/A
USB:	miniUSB
Wi-Fi:	Yes
Camera:	3.2MP (auto focus, flash light)
Video calling:	N/A
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Media player (MP3/AAC)
Browser:	Full HTML
FM radio:	Yes
Mobile Wallet:	No
Barcode:	N/A
Other:	QWERTY keyboard, hardware 3D graphics

Push-type Gmail comes to DoCoMo’s i-mode handsets

J-Com together with NTT DoCoMo launched a new service that allows DoCoMo’s i-mode users to receive push emails from their Gmail accounts. Every time a new email arrives to Gmail server, J-Com’s service pushes it to recipient’s mobile phone Blackberry-style with a notification sound. Besides viewing the emails, mobile user can actually write responses as well. J-Com also will leave a copy of received and sent email on Gmail server ensuring a synchronized experience between PC and mobile phone. A similar push email service from J-Com is also available for users who have Mac email accounts. While the J-Com’s service is very useful, their billing model seems to be draconian for users. Based on an agreement between J-Com and DoCoMo, the mobile operator will collect a yearly fee of JPY4,800 ($45) and will bill for the incurred data traffic as you go, meaning users can’t apply their flat data plans to enjoy the service.

Source: J-Com press release (Japanese)

Nokia in Japan: Keep a low profile for now?

Keitai Watch did a good coverage of Nokia’s event in Japan dedicated to the upcoming launch of FOMA NM705i handset model by NTT DoCoMo. The event also included a press conference with Nokia Japan CEO Tyler McGee. First, let’s start with the phone and then a couple of thoughts about Mr. McGee’s answers to the press.

FOMA NM705i – let others tailor their handsets for Japanese market?
The NM705i is a typical mass-market Nokia candy bar and that is what makes it interesting in terms of how Nokia intends to position it in the market dominated by smartphones featuring built-in TV tuners and credit cards. According to Nokia, the key concepts they are promoting are style and design, which turn the handset into an accessory by complementing person’s looks and feelings. They believe that young women in their 20-30s will find the NM705i appealing. Nokia mentions a sophisticated European design, global GSM/3G roaming, compact size, original interface of home screen, and pre-installed Japanese-English dictionary as other points that should differentiate this device in Japan. At the same time the model misses (intentionally, I assume) some Japan-market only features such as a one-seg TV tuner, contactless payments chipset, full music download service, GPS, DoCoMo’s i-channel and others.

Nokia's press conference
Video conferencing is one high-end feature that can be found on the NM705i and this is very illustrative of Nokia’s strategy. I’ll explain why later. According to Keitai Watch, Nokia CEO was also asked a question about one-seg and mobile wallet, the features missing from Nokia’s Japan bound phones. In Nokia’s opinion these features are getting popular but their take up is not big enough for Nokia to add them to Nokia’s products, but Nokia doesn’t rule out the possibility of using them in future as value-added features. I assume this means that Nokia doesn’t want to waste its resources to tailor its handsets to Japanese market’s specific needs. First of all, Japanese market is not significant for Nokia in terms of its yearly handset sales volume. Second, Nokia’s huge competitive advantage is economies of scale through the unification of feature sets for each handset product segment. None of other global markets require one-seg tuners or contactless chipsets at this time except Japan. Nokia is not going to change its production lines to manufacture one-seg phones for Japan only. However, once a particular feature like video conferencing gets a widespread uptake, Nokia will use its economies of scale to incorporate this feature into its phones and ship them globally. As the contactless payments-based mobile wallet feature gets its portion of attention worldwide, Japanese users can hope to purchase Nokia’s own mobile wallet phones.

In conclusion, there are still some opportunities for Nokia to expand its market share in Japan without adding technological advancements to its phones. The Japan market is going through some changes such as reducing its dependency on carriers’ handset subsidies and warming up to the idea of sales of unlock phones. These changes should play out nice for Nokia as its economies of handset production will allow introducing a variety of mobile phones at lower prices. However, before that happens I expect Nokia to continue keeping a comparatively small presence in the Japanese market.

Source: Keitai Watch

Nokia NM705i Specs
Model:	NM7059
Carrier:	NTT DoCoMo
Maker:	Nokia
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Candy bar
Color variations:	Orange, Black, White
Weight:	89g
Dimensions:	105 X 46 X 15mm
Main display:	QVGA, 2" (320X240) TFT
Talk time:	144min (3G), 186min (GSM)
Standby time:	216 hours (3G/GSM)
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	47MB
Memory card slot:	MicroSD card up to 4GB
GPS / Location:	No
Bluetooth:	Yes (ver. 2.0)
Infrared:	No
USB:	Yes (mini USB)
Wi-Fi:	No
Main camera:	2.0MP
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	No
Music player:	Yes (MP3, M4A, eAAC+, WMA)
Browser:	Not a full browser
FM radio:	Yes
Mobile Wallet:	No
QR-code:	No
Biometrics:	No

DoCoMo's HSPDA nationwide coverage reaches 96%

DoCoMo sees a direct correlation between network speed and increasing data ARPU. That’s why it aggressively rolling out HSDPA-compatible devices and blanketing the every corner of Japan with HSDPA coverage. At a press conference in January, the operator’s president Mr. Nakamura claimed the 96% of Japan territory to be in a service area of DoCoMo’s HSDPA network. DoCoMo plans to improve the coverage a notch up to 97% by March this year. A combination of flat data plan, mobile content services and high network speed start bearing fruit as the overall data ARPU has reached JPY2,200 (around $20), a healthy increase by 9.5% from last year. For comparison, the data ARPU of users on a flat data plan with HSDPA phones alone was impressive JPY3,950 ($36). Now, you can imagine why it’s important to have all three elements (network, handsets and content) in place for data revenues finally making a home run.

Mobile social network Gree adds another million users

Last August we reported that mobile social network Gree on KDDI au had reached a milestone of one million users. And now it is time to update that data with another million to a total number of two million users, which roughly constitutes 2 percent of Japan’s total wireless population.

Source: KDDI au press release (Japanese)

Solar panel for your cell phone

The problem of depleted battery for your cell phone can be easily solved if you live in a sunny place like California or Japan for instance. A startup with a funny name StrapyaNext shipped its first ‘Solar Charger eco Strap’ product in Japan today. It is a miniature solar panel attached to a cell phone strap as you can see on a picture. When your cell phone’s main battery is about to die, just connecting the solar charger to your phone for 15-25 minutes will get you extra 35 minutes to talk.

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Specs
Model:	Solar Charger eco Strap
Maker:	StrapyaNext
Size:	56(H) X 37(W) X 14mm
Weight:	40g
Charge cycles:	500 times