Channel - Japan | mocoNews.net

Lost In Translation: Japanese Market Not Sold On iPhone Cool Factor - 0 Comments
Posted By Tricia Duryee - Thu 17 Jul 2008 04:10 PM PST

In Japan, like elsewhere, gadget fans lined up to be some of the first to buy the new iPhone last week. However, after the initial rush, it appears that consumers…

Japanese Mobile Content Providers Agree To Abide By Safety Regulations; Rating Scheme - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Thu 03 Jul 2008 02:46 AM PST

Japanese mobile content providers have banded together to create a set of safety guidelines to protect minors, following the June killing spree that left seven dead by a young man…

Softbank Shifts Strategy With iPhone; Prices Device Starting At $215 - 1 Comment
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 23 Jun 2008 04:32 AM PST

Japan’s number three carrier released prices and tariffs today, saying it would sell the iPhone starting at 23,040 yen ($215), according to Reuters. Customers will also have to take out…

Mobile Comics Expect To Follow Email And Music As Next Big Thing In Japan - 3 Comments
Posted By Tricia Duryee - Fri 20 Jun 2008 01:24 PM PST

Who knew? First came emailing, then came music downloads and internet surfing on the mobile device. Now comes comics. Reuters reports today that in Japan, analysts expect the next big…

Sharp To Enter China’s Mobile Handset Market; Aims For The High End - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Thu 12 Jun 2008 03:42 AM PST

Japanese electronics maker Sharp is launching an adapted model of its 920SH mobile phone in China later this month, aimed at high end users, as it makes its first foray…

Apple’s iPhone in Japan: Where’s DoCoMo? - 2 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 06 Jun 2008 04:47 AM PST

So what happened to Apple’s iPhone talks in Japan? It was thought that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) would go with NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), the country’s largest carrier with its 53.5…

Softbank Gets iPhone Deal in Japan; Telefonica In Spain - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Wed 04 Jun 2008 06:49 AM PST

The march continues: Softbank, Japan’s third-biggest mobile phone operator, will start selling Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhones in the country by the end of this year, the company said...no more details…

NTT DoCoMo Plans 30 Percent Stake In Japanese Internet Company - 0 Comments
Posted By Tricia Duryee - Mon 02 Jun 2008 11:50 AM PST

NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) is planning to invest about 10 billion yen ($94.8 million) in NTT Resonant, an Internet company that supports a Web portal called goo, and hosts digital…

Napster Launches Music Video Service In Japan - 0 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Tue 27 May 2008 01:31 PM PST

Napster (NSDQ: NAPS) Japan has added music videos to its unlimited over-the-air subscription service, Napster To Go. The new service is dubbed Napster Clips, and is only available on the…

Industry Moves: DoCoMo; Handango; Uclick - 0 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 15 May 2008 03:07 PM PST

-- NTT DoCoMo: NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) is making a bunch of changes to its executive team. Most importantly, Ryuji Yamada will be promoted to President and CEO from Senior…

Mobile Content Bits: Navteq Verizon Navigator; Chaka-Uta Full R Hits 200 Million - 1 Comment
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 09 May 2008 06:02 AM PST

-- NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT) Powers Revamped VZ Navigator: Digital map provider NAVTEQ has signed a deal with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), to use its NAVTEQ Traffic Mobile to power the…

DoCoMo “Gets It”, Stops Pushing Technology In Favor Of Good Service - 2 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Tue 29 Apr 2008 08:24 PM PST

A couple of weeks ago we covered DoCoMo’s (NYSE: DCM) rebranding and new strategy...Wireless Watch Japan has a video of Masao Nakamura, President and CEO of NTT DoCoMo describing what…

Vodafone, Softbank, China Mobile Team For Mobile Widget Platform - 0 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 24 Apr 2008 08:57 AM PST

China Mobile, Softbank and Vodafone have agreed to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. It will focus on mobile…

Twitter Says Konichi-wa To Japan; With Ads - 1 Comment
Posted By Robert Andrews - Wed 23 Apr 2008 12:34 AM PST

Mobile/web/IM status messaging service Twitter has launched its first localization in Japan. Tokyo has more Twitterers than even its native San Francisco. Unlike Twitter.com, Twitter.jp includes display ads. First sponsor…

NTT DoCoMo Rebrands; Shifts Focus From Getting New Customers To Keeping Existing Ones - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 18 Apr 2008 05:13 AM PST

If only it were that easy…Japanese network NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) has unveiled a new corporate logo (pictured, right), which it says will help stop its subscribers from switching to…

KDDI Adds Visual Search From Bandai - 0 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 17 Apr 2008 09:46 AM PST

Japan’s KDDI will launch visual search on its Spring 2008 au line of camera phones, and will make the application available for download to current customers with an au camera…

Full Track Downloads In Japan Rise 91 Percent In 2007 - 0 Comments
Posted By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 17 Apr 2008 07:17 AM PST

Mobile music is again the shining light in Japan, making up for the decline in CD sales. “Total music sales for 2007 in Japan came to JPY 466 billion (US…

Mobile Barcode-Image Marketing: Make It Free And They Will Come? - 2 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 11 Apr 2008 05:40 AM PST

Days after we reported on American students at Case Western University being unimpressed by mobile barcodes, news surfaces from the two-year old Hong Kong company MyClick, an image recognition mobile…

NTT To Trial Mobile Fragrance Communication Service - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 07 Apr 2008 04:18 AM PST

Would a ringtone, horoscope, or a music track be enhanced if a “pleasing fragrance” accompanied it? NTT Communications announced today that it’s running a ten-day trial starting April 10 of…

Gemstar-TV Guide Signs 1-Seg Distribution Deal With Japan Mobile Network KDDI - 1 Comment
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 31 Mar 2008 05:02 AM PST

Gemstar-TV Guide International has signed a deal with Japanese mobile network KDDI to provide the mobile version of the company’s digital TV guide G-Guide Mobile for OneSeg, a terrestrial digital…

Industry Moves: I-Mode Guru Takeshi Natsuno Quitting NTT DoCoMo: Report - 1 Comment
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Fri 28 Mar 2008 04:26 PM PST

NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) is losing Takeshi Natsuno, the mastermind behind its hit mobile web service i-Mode, according to AFP, citing a source within the company. Natsuno, 43, is supposed…

DoCoMo Phones To Be Stripped Down For Lower-Price Options; I-Mode-Free - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Sun 23 Mar 2008 07:13 PM PST

This is an about-face for NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), which has always sold on its extra data and content features: the Japanese operator will sell some stripped-down phones without data…

EC Support For Mobile TV Standard DVB-H May Not Be Enough - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Sun 23 Mar 2008 03:00 PM PST

The European Commission has thrown its complete weight behind mobile TV standard DVB-H, but that still might not make mobile TV a success in Europe, reports IDG. First off, there’s…

Japan Is Saying No To New 2G Phones, Meanwhile The U.S. Is Just Getting Over Analog - 1 Comment
Posted By Tricia Duryee - Tue 18 Mar 2008 01:10 PM PST

While most Japanese users have advanced handsets capable of surfing the Internet, watching TV and other high-end applications, tons of U.S. users are still trying to wean themselves off of…

Disney Tries Again: Launches MVNO With Softbank In Japan - 0 Comments
Posted By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 03 Mar 2008 06:00 AM PST

Following two failed MVNOs in the US, Disney (NYSE: DIS) has gone to Japan, where on Saturday, it launched an MVNO--Disney Mobile--with Softbank, the country’s third largest operator. AFP reports…