KDDI Tests FMC
KDDI to Adopt Push To Talk
NTT DoCoMo Ties up with KTF
Samsung Electronics May Foray into Japanese Cellular Phone Market
LG Electronics Introduces Wide LCD W-CDMA Phone in Europe
VK to Introduce Four Slim Phone Models
NEC Develops Thin Secondary Battery
Quanta to Manufacture MIT's $100 Notebooks

KDDI, Japan's second largest wireless service operator, began verification tests of applications which run on IPv6 using an Internet connection service, Optical Plusnet DION, and au's CDMA 1X WIN handsets to make FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence) a reality. The test period is between November 28, 2005 and March 31, 2006. The company is soliciting 1,000 participants.

In the experiments, personal computers, network cameras, and network compliant HDDs are connected to the Optical Plusnet DION. KDDI will verify the operation of applications which can synchronize home personal computers with CDMA 1X WIN handsets under IPv6 environments and collect test data. KDDI provides the IPv6 network and applications such as Lifelog (a blog style personal information management application of KDDI Laboratory), and a Web contents Viewer.

The participants will be able to access their home personal computer and network compliant HDD through the Iemon, an IPv6 network access portal site. The Lifelog allows participants to manage images taken by CDMA 1X WIN handsets and GPS location data in their home personal computer in blog style.

Participants must be subscribers of Optical Plusnet DION and use Windows XP SP2 personal computers and a home gateway for Optical Plus (model number: Aterm 170HV). For participating in experiments using cellular phones, participants must own a W31T/W32S/W32H/W32SA handset and be a subscriber of all-you-can-use packet service. Users with a W32SA handset can only use the Web contents Viewer.

The participants will apply firmware for the verification experiments to a home gateway for Optical Plusnet DION and install applications on their personal computer. Those participating with CDMA 1X WIN handsets will download BREW applications for the verification experiments.

Participating in the experiments is free. However, participants will be responsible for the communication fees for Optical Plusnet DION and their cellular phones. KDDI is going to give away network cameras and network compliant HDDs to selected participants in the verification experiments. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

KDDI (au) is going to adopt a PTT (Push to Talk) function in all of its future handsets as a standard function. The operator may synchronize the function with an Instant Messenger function. KDDI's PTT models are not compatible with NTT DoCoMo's PTT models at this point. KDDI may introduce the service which allows communication between PTT handsets of the two different carriers.

KDDI (au) introduced two models of PTT handsets for the first time in November 2005. KDDI's another handset model, to be introduced before the end of 2005, also supports a PTT function. The carrier is preparing to adopt a PTT function in all of its future models. With increased circulation of PTT handsets, the PTT service will catch on, KDDI thinks. KDDI plans to increase the number of handsets which support PTT and back up penetration of its PTT service.

The advantage of KDDI's PTT function is that it can send and receive not only audio but also characters and images. DoCoMo's PTT only supports audio. PTT of both carriers allow only one person to talk at one time, but allow five people to participate. This is why the service is called "transceiver style" .

However, it is different from an ordinary transceiver. KDDI's network is used for transmission of PTT, enabling communication with people in distant areas. All the five PTT participants can be scattered across Japan. KDDI is applying VoIP technology to its PTT.

One of the major segments that KDDI targets the PTT handsets towards is high-school girls. KDDI included character and image support in its PTT because high school girls prefer communication using those modes. KDDI positions its PTT as a 3D communication tool to allow users to expand their topics through a combination of voice, characters and images. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest wireless operator, announced that the company would tie up with KTF of South Korea. DoCoMo is going to acquire 10 percent equity of the Korean wireless operator by investing 564.9 billion won ($553.28 million @ won 1021/$US 1) before the end of 2005.

DoCoMo is going to foster KTF to deploy W-CDMA across South Korea. The pair will promote services which will enable the use of the same handsets in Japan and South Korea. The pair will collaborate to reduce the cost of related equipment.

DoCoMo launched the world's first commercial W-CDMA service in October 2001 and now has 17 million W-CDMA subscribers. KTF's strategic alliance is aimed to synergize DoCoMo's technology and operational expertise with KTF's development knowledge of the wireless data division. By establishing the W-CDMA Asia Belt with KTF and DoCoMo's alliance as an axis, the pair would like to rise as the leading W-CDMA service operators in Asia. As for collaborative activities, the two will aim to 1) achieve an international roaming service, 2) search for new global business opportunities, 3) jointly develop W-CDMA handsets, 4) install KTF's W-CDMA network efficiently and quickly, and 5) standardize network activities.

In the long run, they may try to achieve compatibility between DoCoMo's wireless Internet platform i-mode and the South Korean wireless Internet platform, WIPI. DoCoMo offers the i-mode platform to wireless service operators worldwide in order to propagate i-mode globally. KTF's executive commented, "It is not likely that i-mode handsets and services will be offered in South Korea. However both i-mode and WIPI are based on Java and compatibility in the future is a possibility." [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Samsung Electronics of South Korea, which recently broke the record for producing 100 million handsets cumulatively, is planning to supply handsets to Japan.

Samsung Electronics revealed that the company is having talks with Vodafone, a global leader of the communication services, to supply handsets to Vodafone's Japanese operation.

Vodafone is the third largest wireless communication service provider in Japan after NTT DoCoMo and KDDI. It has about a five percent market share in Japan. Vodafone Japan wants to procure handsets from Samsung Electronics whose handsets are recognized highly outside of Japan.

A representative of Samsung Electronics commented that negotiations had started when Vodafone's global business operation approached the South Korean handset manufacturer wishing to procure a variety of models that Japanese consumers want. Japanese cellular phone demand is estimated at $3.9 billion. Japanese vendors such as NEC, Panasonic and Sharp dominate the market. In the case of Samsung Electronics breaking into Japanese cellular phone market, competition against Japanese vendors is inevitable. On a related note, Pantech of South Korea began supplying the A1405PT to KDDI (au) on December 13, 2005. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

LG Electronics of South Korea is going to supply a W-CDMA handset equipped with a wide LCD in Europe, Chosun Illbo reported on December 14, 2005.

LG Electronics is going to supply a clamshell style handset housing a 39.6 mm (length) x 29.5 mm (width) LCD, the LG-U8550, to Hutchison, a European W-CDMA service operator.

The LG-U8550 was released in Italy and the U.K this year. The handset is going to debut in Hong Kong and Australia in early 2006. An image of the LG-U8550 is available at: http://japanese.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2005/12/14/20051214000057.html [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

VK, South Korea's mid-tier handset supplier, is going to commercialize four models of a slim phone series to capture global demand in 2006.

The new models include a successor models to the VK2000, which has been popular in China and Europe.

The VK2010 and the VK2100 are candy bar type handsets with a thin form factor. With MP3 and Bluetooth functions, they are upgrade versions of the VK2000. The VK2100, featuring 2GByte embedded memory, can store about 500 MP3 tunes. The VK2100 features 9.3 mm in thickness. The VK2010 has a stylish design resembling an iPod and either 512MByte or 1GByte built-in memory. The VK2010 is 8.8 mm thick. The two models are meant to compete against Nokia's bar style phones which have high market shares. Both models have a 1.5-inch 260,000-color OLED screen but no camera.

The VK3100, a multitasking clamshell style slim phone, features a 14.9mm thickness. It supports a 1.3 million-pixel camera, MP3 player and Bluetooth.

The slim slide style VK4500 features a unique design where only the LCD portion slides up. The thickness of the VK4500 is 16.9 mm. Similar with the VK3100, the VK4500 supports a 1.3 million-pixel camera, MP3 player and Bluetooth. It has a 2-inch TFT LCD with 1GByte of internal memory.

The VK2010, the VK3100 and VK4500 will hit the global markets before the end of 2005. The VK2100 will debut in February 2006. Images of VK's new handset models are available at: http://www.zdnet.co.kr/itbiz/press/digital/0,39034655,39142185,00.htm [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

NEC of Japan announced that the company has developed a 0.3 mm thick secondary battery which is flexible and can be charged in 30 seconds, Techon reported on December 7, 2005. It is an organic radical battery which adopted an organic radical material, a type of plastic. The organic radical battery can be incorporated into thin devices such as electronic paper and active RFID. NEC also expects that by incorporating a CPU and memory with the battery into clothing, it can achieve wearable computers. NEC achieved a thickness of 0.3mm by thinning the electrode.

NEC was able to make high speed recharge by 1) adopting an organic radical material which has a fast electric chemical reaction and 2) minimizing resistance during charging by utilizing the property of an electrode ion, which can travel in gel form organic radical material smoothly. The battery is flexible because the organic radical material is in gel form. The energy density of the battery is about 1mWh/cm2. When it is used in active type RFID, it can generate signals several tens of thousand times with one charge.

Another advantage is that the battery is free of cadmium and lead. NEC plans to improve the energy density further, extend battery life and shorten recharging time. The details of this new technology were exhibited at iEXPO2005 at Tokyo Big Site during December 7-9, 2005. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]

Media Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced on December 13, 2005 that the laboratory selected Quanta Computer of Taiwan as the manufacturer of its $100 notebook computer. Quanta is going to invest the engineering resources of Quanta Research Institute in the development of the notebooks in the first and second quarters of 2006, so that the notebooks will be ready for commercialization in the fourth quarter 2006.

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project is intended to supply one million notebooks to each of the seven countries: China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria and Thailand.

The OLPC's $100 notebook is based on Linux. It is a power saving, fully functional personal computer supporting an Internet access feature. The notebooks will be sold to the government of each country and will be supplied to students through schools. The price will start at $100, but the project aims to reduce the price gradually.

Quanta, which was established in Taiwan in 1988, has been providing technology products and solutions to Dell, HP and IBM. The company is the largest notebook computer manufacturer in the world. It also manufactures cellular phones, LCD TVs and servers. [M. Robertson, Portelligent]