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Music Broadcasting and Global Roaming... A New Array of Next Generation
Services
2000 is starting out as the year that each company is launching
new services at a dizzying rate, one after the other. Within the year,
the newest model phones will be internet-enabled, and phased into the
market from February and March, making the purchase a difficult decision.
Before then, though, the question falls on the kinds of services available.
There are 3 major areas of interest. The first will be the capability
to do more with your mobile phone. Two such examples would be linking
up your car navigation system, or downloading music to a player. As
well, there will also be special use functions that will allow the
phone to become a highly functional terminal. For example, NTT DoCoMo
came out in January with a GPS navigation system for setting out by
foot, and the same service (DoCoMo) will also be selling a popular
model with a built-in camera for sending images in mail. Also, IDO
has started, along with each other service provider, to look into
other special-use terminal phones.
The second area is in regard to changes in the scenes and situations
in which mobile phones are being used. Representative of this is the
Global Roaming that cdmaOne will be introducing. In the US and Europe,
global roaming services are already in use, but, now Japanese users
as well can use their phones when overseas.
The third is that the use of internet-enabled mobile phones means
they are becoming more capable of content of a higher quality and
faster connection. Color displays also means color content, and cdmaOne
has already started their 64K packet transmission for content, with
each service provider getting ready to come out with their own secret
weapons and characteristics. Also, after spring, each service provider
is planning to get into mobile EC (Electronic Commerce), with each
company supplying different contents to be mixed and matched, effectively
becoming involved as contents providers.
There is a reason that all 3 of these are going to be hitting the
market this year at about the same time. Next spring, NTT DoCoMo will
be starting W-CDMA, a new communications method. Going beyond the
standard 64K transmission, 384K service is also an addition. KDDI
(the new company to be formed by the merger of DDI, IDO, and KDD)
will be speeding up their systems to 144K with cdmaOne, and will be
following with cdma2000 to be introduced, giving them up to 384K capacity.
Basically, this year is going to be seeing a new generation of mobile
communications entering the marketplace. On the other hand, next year,
aside from each company coming out with their core services at breakneck
speed, the concept of the mobile phone as a tool will never be the
same in the eyes of the user.
New Services that are Coming into the Market Place:
CdmaOne and Global Roaming Services.
The cost of the international portion will be split by the caller and
recipient. Fees are still unset. The phone numbers starting with 090
will not change when calling overseas. From spring, Hong Kong, Korea,
and with progress, North America. Summer will see Australia, and within
the year, Hawaii, Canada, Thailand, and Brazil areas will expand. To
use the service, Global Roaming compliant models are required.
Car navigation systems and iMode.
Several iMode models are already being sold that can be connected to
car navigation systems. The first, the P502 allowed this when it hit
the market. When connected, using the information from the car's GPS
positioning information, the surrounding stores and parking lot vacancy
information can be obtained in real time. Also, when travelling with
other cars, their car's position is also shown on the display. IDO's
64K packet cdmaOne units are potential candidates for similar services.
Toyota's MONET built-in system and special-terminal car navigation systems
may be out by summer.
DoCoMo's camera equipped models for mail.
The release of a number of trial units this year seems to be an indicator
of things to come. In January, NTT DoCoMo came out with their GPS system
allowing pedestrians a navigation system. From February, Toshiba-made
mail-terminals with built-in cameras came out with a price tag of 19,800
yen, but on the streets for around 15,000, with a 312 x 230 dot touch-panel
color display and 1.1 million pixel CMOS camera taking up 1/7 inches,
images can be sent as mail attachments. But, the gateway servers to
allow this terminal to send mail are only available by special contract
through a designated provider. On one hand, IDO will be coming out with
many 64K packet transmission units from spring. They will allow character
input and images as well.
DDI Pocket Is Moving to 128K
The high-speed PHS infrastructure only needs the software update, and
the manufacturers of the devices are in control of this. The reception
circuits will have to be doubled, and this means higher prices. To make
up for this, there's really no choice but to make sure that the expansion
of content and services will pave the way. From January, services to
add the capability to view web pages started, and this is considered
preparations for the sale of color contents and MP3 music data files.
One plus is that the ability to use one terminal to handle data packet
transmission depending on the data size allows the use of the more inexpensive
circuits to be selected.
DoCoMo's 503 Model Adopts Java
By the end of this year, NTT DoCoMo will be taking strategic actions
to have Java adopted by the 503i series. Java is an OS-independent programming
language developed for web and network use. If fully adopted, it will
allow iMode devices to play games and run software for moving images
to be displayed, etc. One result will be that available content with
downloadable entertainment-oriented software will increase. And the
next step is likely to be XML, which is based on the Java language.
Or, take a look at the next part, using Cell
phones for e-mail.
Disclaimer, fine print, and all that:
The site owner, or any other person mentioned in this website are not
responsible for any inaccuracies, loss due to any inaccuracies, or any
other bad ju-ju that may happen from the use of this information, including
but not limited to the meltdown of your CPU, usage of a lot of ink cartridges,
or <gasp!> financial loss. If, however, you find it very useful,
or make a lot of money from it, you are encouraged to share.
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