Bad hair days on video chats are a thing of the past with NTT Docomo’s hands-free video phone. Of course, a hat is a lighter solution because this heavy headgear has multiple cameras to render you as a finely detailed, and possibly better looking, avatar. Read more »
Asian chip manufacturers and NTT DoCoMo will create a joint venture to build mobile phone chips. The joint venture poses a threat to Qualcomm, but the subtext here is that as mobile phones rise in prominence, chip making is turning on its head. Read more »
Apple is nowhere near relaxing its strict rules for carrier partners, according to Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo. Negotiations to bring the the iPhone to Japan’s largest cellular network operator have hit an impasse since Apple won’t back down on a rule against pre-installing software on devices. Read more »
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
By 2015, the worldwide sales of NFC-equipped handsets will reach 263.6 million units, with the cumulative total at more than half a billion compatible devices. This report covers the current landscape for NFC, examines the technology’s different forms of deployment and forecasts its future. It also examines the various deployments of NFC technology — mobile payments, point of purchase, augmented reality — and the challenges businesses, carriers and handset makers face moving forward. Companies mentioned in this report include Google, TapIt, Amazon and NTT DoCoMo. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
It took me 25 minutes to download OS X Lion at home, but using LTE mobile broadband service, you could do the same in a few hours. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s amazing when you realize 3G networks, like OS X, launched 10 years ago. Read more »
Japan joins the LTE party courtesy of NTT DoCoMo, who just launched a fast 4G network in major urban areas of the country. The carrier says outdoor downloads are up to 37.5 Mbps, while indoor areas, such as Tokyo International Airport, will enjoy double those speeds. Read more »
Could proprietary Z-Wave be gaining ground on standards-based ZigBee in the home energy networking space? Here are a couple of recent developments that indicate Z-Wave could have a role to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Could proprietary Z-Wave be gaining ground on standards-based ZigBee in the home energy networking space? Here are a couple of recent developments that indicate Z-Wave could have a role to play. Read more »
NTT DoCoMo is buying the remaining interest of mobile video innovator PacketVideo from NextWave Wireless in a deal worth $111.6 million. The acquisition comes as a followup to a deal last July, in which DoCoMo bought a 35 percent stake in the company for $45.5 million. Read more »
Japanese wireless provider, NTT DoCoMo, will reportedly unlock handsets tied to its network and will include SIM-unlock software in all handsets next April. SoftBank’s iPhone is highly unlikely to follow suit, but here in the U.S. we have hope thanks to LTE on 700 MHz spectrum. Read more »
The mobile computing space has become the new center of innovation and new products after years of shifting away from desktop computing. Mobile technology has been domain of 2-D content and viewing, but we see prospects for a sharp increase in 3-D in coming months and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Asia-Pacific region is getting ever-closer to faster mobile broadband, with network operators in Japan, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia readying their Long Term Evolution networks. Today NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile operator, affirmed its plans to deploy LTE in 2010; it also said it would shut […] Read more »
As many in the U.S. rush to snap up the Palm Pre that runs on Sprint’s 3G network or the new iPhone 3G S coming on June 19, it may be hard to realize that we’re still living in a world where most people aren’t on […] Read more »
The U.S. wireless data market grew 5 percent quarter over quarter and 32 percent from first quarter 2008 to reach $10 billion in mobile data service revenues. It marked the first time the U.S .market has achieved the $10 billion milestone. Given the strong growth in data revenues shown by the top carriers and the increase in service revenues overall, it appears that (at least for the time being) the worst is over for the mobile industry. In summary, the recession has been all but a tiny blip (from the service revenue perspective) in its growth trend, and the U.S. mobile market has weathered the downward spiral in the economy better than its counterparts in other developing nations. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
