exploding batteries hit mobile phones

KDDI and Kyocera held a joint public apology for the latest battery trouble to hit a Japanese electronics firm. the battery packs of W42K have found to be liable to catch fire and possibly explode.

so far there have been 13 incidents with the battery in question, with at least 3 of those involving burns to the user. KDDI say that there are 214,000 of the particular serial numbers of batteries suspected to have problems. they will be writing to all users and sending out replacements, along with an envelope to send back the old battery.

the official press release is only in Japanese:

http://www.au.kddi.com/news/information/au_info_20080328.html

DoCoMo to strip down OS

there is an interesting commentary over at Digital World Tokyo about DoCoMo's plans to strip down its mobile phone OS. the idea is that the handset makers would be better positioned to sell handsets overseas.

you can find the DWT article here, and the original article from Daily Yomiuri Online here.

DWT is always a little harsh on Japanese handsets, but at the end he does highlight the superb functions like e-cash. I am certainly with him on that one!!

'SoftBank beep' to be changed

SoftBank have announced that they will alter the beeps that you hear before the normal ringing sound when making a call to a SoftBank phone. the service, which was introduced in January, was aimed at increasing convience for White and Gold Plan customers, who benefit from free SoftBank to SoftBank calls between 1am and 9pm. that is if they here the beep, they are reminded they can talk all they wish!

those of you in Japan should know what I am talking about, because you hear it no matter which network you are calling from. you could say it is also a bit of a marketing ploy, letting someone like me know just how many of my friends are on SoftBank and making me think how I could be calling them all for free.

anyway, the 4 reps of successive beeps which total to 2 seconds is to be shortened to to 2 reps over the same timespan. SoftBank is saying that it is a response to customers' comments. for those that really want to check out the old beeps while you still can, there is a wma file here.

rakuraku v's kantan in the shops and the courts

NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu today announced that they have filed for the suspension of manufacturing and sale of SoftBank's 'kantan keitai' 821T by Toshiba. the reason is not based on any patents or specific design rights, but rather the remarkable resemblance between the two phones.

the 'rakuraku phone' series has been around since 2001, and a lot of effort and market research has gone into the design, trying to make it as easy as possible to use. it has performed well, selling over 12 million handsets to date. the 'kantan keitai' by Toshiba has a very similar layout on the keypad, with the 1,2,3 keys up on the display part, and also the cross shaped control at the top.
DoCoMo did say that they approached SoftBank and Toshiba before filing the order, but since no satisfactory response was forthcoming, and the 'kantan keitai' went on sale just over a week ago, they had no choice but to go ahead with the official order. check out the two handsets to make up your own mind! above is the 'kantan keitai' 821T by Toshiba on SoftBank, below is the 'rakuraku phone' manufactured by Fujitsu and available on DoCoMo.

fanfun 815T Bae Yong Joon model

SoftBank have collaborated with Korean star Bae Yong Joon (Pe Yon Jun or just 'Yon-sama' in Japanese) for a new version of the fanfun 815T. the model which has seen many different collaborations up until now, has an original front panel and insert sheet, designed by the drama and movie star himself.

Bae Yong Joon became a big star in Japan a few years back starring in the immensely popular 'Fuyu no Sonata'. it is by no means the first time that I have introduced the fanfun 815T, which features a 2.4inch QVGA TFT display and a 1.96 megapixel camera.

Sony Ericsson to review DoCoMo development

sony ericson have announced that they are to review their development plans for NTT DoCoMo handsets. the global producer, formed through a merger between Japan's Sony and Ericsson of Sweden, currently releases handsets in Japan with au and DoCoMo. they denied earlier reports that they were to completely stop development for DoCoMo by the summer, saying that this was something that was not yet decided.

handsets touting the popular Sony brand names such as 'Walkman' and 'Cyber-shot' have been selling well overseas, leading to a position of 4th in world market share. meanwhile DoCoMo seem to have been caught off gaurd, saying that they had heard nothing about this matter.

the pictures are of Sony Ericsson's latest DoCoMo mobile phone - the SO905iCS.

February Subscriber Figures

SoftBank and KDDI both added more than 200,000 subscribers during the month of February. SoftBank ended up top of the pile again, but au seem to have, well at least for February anyway, been able to close the large gap that SoftBank has been enjoying recently. DoCoMo managed to avoid a repeat of the embarassing 4th place by a few hundred subcriptions.

Carrier	Feb 2008 Net Gains	Total as of Feb 2008 (% market share)
NTT DoCoMo	43,700	53,214,000 (52.5%)
KDDI (au)	201,200	29,838,700 (29.5%)
SoftBank Mobile	228,100	18,042,300 (17.8%)
E-mobile	42,800	281,300 (0.3%)
Total	515,800	100,001,376,300 (100%?)

interestingly, MNP figures are also published and it doesn't look good for DoCoMo. 60,000 customers left the former national company with au and SoftBank each picking up half that figure.

see the full breakdown at TCA.

EM Charge

EMOBILE announced today that they are to introduce Japan's first HSDPA mobile data service. it starts on the 25th of March and includes a 'pay by the day' plan costing 630 yen per day.

the standard plan comes with no monthly fee and 63 yen per MB, the day plan as mentioned above is 630 yen, or with 7 (consecutive) days costing 2205 yen for unlimited data during that period. all the fees are payable through the EMOBILE website and the plans start from the moment you pay till midnight of that night (or the 7th night) after paying.

the plans are unique and aimed at users who only want to connect every so often. there is an one-off administration fee of 2,835 yen, which is being waived until the end of April, and on top of that, during this campaign time the data cards which cost in the range of 30,000 ~ 40,000 yen (3.6Mbps ~ 7.2Mbps) will come pre-loaded with 14,000 yen worth of credit.

the photo below is not EMOBILE, but rather SoftBank's 'THE PREMIUM TEXTURE 823SH' which will be in stores this weekend.

IC CARD WORLD 2008

billed as 'the only smart card event in Japan', IC CARD WORLD 2008 is under way in Tokyo and continues through Friday 7th. there is all sorts of booths from companies involved in IC cards and RFID tags. this year there is also special events within the event called 'IC Tag 2008' and 'FeliCa World 2008'.

i don't think its a first, but if you pre-registered you can use your mobile phone to enter free of charge. just turning up at the door will cost you a 1,500yen entrance fee. the fun doesn't stop there though, with all manner of hands-on experience corners where you can use your mobile phone to enter prize draws, participate in a stamp rally and also register for the seminars.

the FeliCa Networks booth had a total of 27 different services on display including mobile suica, Edy and nanaco.

Mitsubishi to quit mobile handset market

Mitsubishi announced yesterday that they are leaving the mobile phone handset business. the current phones out there, the D905i, D705i and D705iu (above) are to be the last phones, with no other models currently in development. they will however offer after sales service, and replacement batteries for some time to come.

it may not mean that much to people not using DoCoMo, but Mitsubishi have been making mobiles since 1983, working with DoCoMo for over 25 years. they adopted the slide style from an early stage, and although they have being selling less these days, they do have their fans.

the reason given was that it is difficult to see an improvement in performance. it is estimated that they sold 2.1 million units in the 2007 fiscal year. the roughly 600 staff from the mobile phone unit will be shifted to other better performing business units, one of which includes telecoms infrastructure.

Disney Mobile Launches in Japan

the US MVNO 'Disney Mobile' ceased operations on Dec 31st 2007, but on Saturday Walt Disney Company in Japan launched their own attempt to break into the already competitive mobile phone market here, becoming Japan's first ever MVNO.

using SoftBank's network, they have one handset at present, the DM001SH. made by Sharp it is based on SoftBanks 820SH/821SH, and even from a quick look at the website, you quickly get the feeling that they are sharing rather a lot with SoftBank. in fact, all the charge plans, are just the SoftBank plans with a (D) as the end. one original thing you do get asides from the Mickey Mouse designed handsets is an @disney.ne.jp email address. of course another selling point is the rich Disney contents on the inside too.

the 'network' is aiming for young females in their 20's to 30's, and have Hilary Duff singing about Mickey in the TV commercials. you can also see a longer 4 minute promotional video explaining (in Japanese) the new MVNO. with SoftBank they have certainly teamed up with the right network of the moment, but personally I am a sceptic of whether there is enough female Disney lovers out there to sustain them any longer than the year and a half that the American MVNO lasted.