Japanese cell network Softbank is testing blimps to determine if the dirigibles could be used for network coverage during natural disasters. If proved successful, the technique could be used to keep communication lines open during events such as last year's earthquake and tsunami.
ahoo and its potential Asian buyers may have finished their negotiations to buy out the online entity, AllThingsD reported. China-based Alibaba was interested in buying the company, along with Japan's telecommunications giant, SoftBank. Sources claimed the end to the discussion was due to the complex nature of the cash split, among smaller issues.
SoftBank on Thursday said its fall quarter profit was cut in half from a year ago owed to demand for, and competition over, the iPhone 4S. It made the equivalent of $430.8 million in profit versus $858.8 million in late 2010. The company had spent nearly $393.4 million in promos to prevent customers from jumping to KDDI now that it was an iPhone provider, a feat which president Masayoshi Son said turned out wasn't necessary.
Second-largest Japanese carrier KDDI showed an immediate effect from its getting the iPhone 4S Thursday after it upped its outlook for 2012. It now expects to get 2.6 percent more revenue in 2012 than it did before owing to becoming one of Apple's latest official carriers. Although its profit dipped 17 percent in the fall to the equivalent of $697.1 million, it saw its data revenue go up 8.2 points, mostly as customers switched from their conventionally Japanese basic feature phones to smartphones.
Alibaba continues to show strong interest in acquiring Yahoo by hiring a lobbying firm according to Reuters. Alibaba, one of China’s largest e-commerce companies already has a complex financial interconnection with Yahoo. Yahoo owns a 40 percent stake in Alibaba that is worth around $17 billion, which will need to be resolved before any proposed buyout can go ahead.
Japan's three largest wireless carriers are uniting to ensure NFC standards compatibility. NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and SoftBank are establishing the Japan Mobile NFC Consortium to coordinate the adoption of multiple international standards for NFC technologies used in their mobile devices and services. By doing so, the three hope to be able to offer lower-cost NFC services to both Japanese residents ans international visitors.
Alibaba is said to be involved in ongoing negotiations with Japanese cellular carrier Softbank in an attempt to establish a group that is financially capable of buying Yahoo outright. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg that Blackstone Group and Bain Capital are also participating in the talks.
NTT DoCoMo may have given clues to Apple making LTE a staple of its next iPad an iPhone. A claim in Japan's Nikkei asserts that the carrier is hoping to carry a 4G iPad by the summer and a matching iPhone by the fall. Apple chief Tim Cook had supposedly had NTT DoCoMo VPs Kiyoyuki Tsujimura and Takashi Yamada visit Apple's campus to successfully make a "basic agreement" and had been hashing out details such as minimum shipment volumes.
The latest bidder in the potential Yahoo takeover is Thomas H. Lee Partners, Reuters learned. THL is said to be looking at a leveraged buyout of Yahoo's US business, which could be worth between $5 and $6 billion. THL has run other media companies such as Nielsen Co, Clear Channel, and Univision.
Former Apple CEO and chairman Steve Jobs was doing work for the company on the day before his death, an interview with Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son reveals. "I visited Apple [headquarters] for the announcement of the iPhone 4S," says Son. "When I was having a meeting with [Apple CEO] Tim Cook, he said, 'Oh Masa, sorry I have to quit our meeting.' I said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'My boss is calling me.' That was the day of the announcement of the iPhone 4S. He said that Steve is calling me because he wants to talk about their next product. And the next day, he died."
(Updated with new AT&T complaints) Both US carrier AT&T and Japan's Softbank have been coping with some serious activation and sales system problems related to the iPhone 4S, reports say. AT&T's activations servers are said to be overloaded, sometimes taking 5 to 15 minutes or longer to complete the process for each phone. Activation is required to begin using an iPhone on a cellular network.
On cue, the online Apple Store and numerous carriers including AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have begun taking online preorders for the iPhone 4S. The picks include carrier-locked models as well as the full-price but unlocked GSM versions for those who want to switch carriers or avoid early cancellation fees.
Japanese carrier KDDI on Friday local time became one of the first out of the gate to detail its full iPhone 4S launch plans. Its discounts on the Apple smartphone are steep and give the 16GB model away for free on a two-year contract for 4,980 yen ($65) a month with unlimited data. The 32GB version is also steeply discounted and costs 10,320 yen ($135) on similar terms, while the 64GB version will cost 20,640 yen ($269).
SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son in the aftermath of Steve Jobs' death has strongly hinted that a full-fledged iPhone 5 should have Jobs' direct influence. Commenting on the loss, he told Reuters that Jobs not only had direct input into the iPhone 4S but to the "following additional work." All the work that Jobs had spearheaded in his last days will carry over, Son said.
Apple quietly slipped through two key moves in sync with the iPhone 4S on Tuesday. Moving far faster than rumors, it planned to bring the new iPhone to KDDI on the same October 14 release day as SoftBank. The move both ends SoftBank's three-year exclusive on the iPhone in Japan and is the first known CDMA iPhone outside of the US.
Sharp has announced its latest flagship Android smartphone, the Aquos 104SH. The 104SH is an extremely thin (8.7mm/0.34in.) handset and features a 4.5in., 720 x 1020 HD touchscreen. It will use the same Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 processor as the Google Nexus Prime, a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU that has been optimized for the next release of Android, version 3.2 "Ice Cream Sandwich." The main camera is a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor that can shoot full HD video at 30 FPS. The auxiliary camera has a 3 megapixel CMOS sensor. It will ship with a 2GB MicroSDHC memory card.
Hoping to shed its reputation for mid-range and budget smartphones, Dell has taken the unusual approach of going for the very highest end of the field with the Streak Pro 101DL. Borrowing the name of Dell's tablets, it's rare in carrying a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen at 540x960; most AMOLED screens stop at 480x800. A dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, an eight-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front camera also put it more clearly at the top of the ranks.
KDDI will soon end SoftBank's lock as the only Japanese iPhone carrier, sources claimed late Wednesday. The new provider would open up to sales of the iPhone 5 under its Au service sometime early 2012, the Nikkei said. It could theoretically start earlier, but it would need more time to prepare.
Sharp on Thursday checked its ambitions in the tablet arena with word that it was dropping its original two Galapagos tablets. Both the 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch models will exit the market at the end of September, about 10 months after they went on sale. Only the seven-inch A01SH launched last month will stay on sale.
Sharp has unveiled a new Aquos smartphone, the SH8298U, which will be initially offered to customers at Japanese carrier SoftBank. The device is focused on 3D capabilities, built around a 4.2-inch glasses-free display with qHD resolution. Users can also capture 3D video and stills from a dual-camera configuration with two eight-megapixel sensors.
Japanese carrier Softbank posted strong results (PDF) that it could credit largely to Apple. Its profit jumped from the equivalent of $250 million a year ago to $1.22 billion this year. Much of this came through a shift to smartphones, which on Softbank are led by the iPhone.
Android is holding on to its place as the most popular platform in Japan, comScore determined on Thursday. Google's platform more than doubled its user base in the country between December and March to hit 4.6 million devices, overtaking the iPhone in the process. Apple also saw its base go up but budged by just over 100,000 phones to reach 3.9 million.
Sharp claimed a world's first for Android on Friday with a clamshell phone. Superficially, the Aquos Hybrid 007SH resembles a classic Japanese keitai (cellphone) design with its long, rectangular flip design and dialpad but runs a full version of Android 2.3 and takes touch input through its 3.4-inch, 480x800 swiveling screen. The device has dedicated Android navigation buttons but follows many of the rules of feature phones with D-pad input and shortcuts, down to dial pad text entry if they like.
Android successfully pushed past the iPhone for the top smartphone platform in Japan last fiscal year, according to MM Research Institute. Google shot up from just 250,000 phones and 11 percent of the market at the end of March 2010 to 4.91 million phones at the end of March this year, or 57.4 percent. Apple moved 3.23 million iPhones over the same period and was 37.8 percent; BlackBerry and Windows Mobile were virtually non-existent.
SoftBank on Monday posted banner results that it directly credited to the iPhone and iPad. A rise in smartphones, led mostly by Apple on the Japanese carrier, was a "huge factor" in pumping profit for the early winter to $588.4 million. The figure was over 25 times larger than a year ago, although SoftBank was quick to note that dropping its 2G network cut into its profits a year ago.
Apple was rumored on Friday to be making a rare exception and customizing the iPhone for a particular country. Chinese video site YouKu's head Victor Koo was purportedly talking with Apple chief Steve Jobs about having a YouKu app preloaded in the default configuration for phones sold in China. Since the YouTube app is banned by the Chinese government, YouKu would effectively be filling in, TechNode was told by a "trusted resource."
Official Android developer Eric Chu just announced that Sprint subscribers will soon get the ability to be bill their Android Market app purchases directly to their provider. This feature is already in use by T-Mobile and AT&T in the US, as well as SoftBank, KDDI and NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Sprint users will see the option roll out in all regions over the next few days.
Softbank president Masayoshi Son, Japan’s wealthiest man, has pledged to donate $120 million and his remaining income until he retires to support the victims of the Japan earthquake. Softbank will also contribute an additional $1.2 million in addition to the latest contribution made by its chief. In particular, Son aims to direct his financial support to the many children who were orphaned as a result of the devastating March 11 quake and ensuing tsunami.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has said on Twitter, on his company's crowdsourcing page, and in the news from Taiwan's EDN that he would implement a major relief campaign to help those affected by the Tohoku-area earthquake in Japan. Among the gestures will include free iPhones for those whose were broken or lost in the 9.0-scale disaster as well as free phones and service for any child orphaned by the earthquake until they reach age 18. More details would come soon for the iPhone plan, Son said.
NTT DoCoMo said on Friday that it would at last begin allowing device unlocks and support outside hardware. Any phone, tablet, or other device bought on the Japanese network from April 1 onwards will be unlockable for use on another carrier. Owners have to visit a DoCoMo store and pay both a 3,150 yen ($38) fee and sign a waiver understanding that the carrier's specific features won't work on another network.
The next-generation iPhone will indeed have NFC (near-field communications) support, but with a "twist," according to Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. Citing sources, White claims that the phone will use a "unique" approach differentiating itself from competitors. NFC is typically associated with e-wallet payments at retail shops and vending machines, already commonplace in Japan.
The Japanese government is moving forward on an anticipated demand for iPhone censorship software, says the Wall Street Journal. On Monday, a panel announced that the government is asking both Apple Japan and the country's exclusive iPhone carrier, Softbank, to install filtering controls to block less than "wholesome" websites for people under 18. Included in this category are social networking sites which lack their own internal monitoring systems.
The Japanese government is criticizing Apple Japan and cellular carrier Softbank for a lack of content filtering on the iPhone, reports say. Specifically, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is expected to ask for region-tailored filtering software to be installed as soon as possible. Local stores are obligated to install censorship tools on phones sold to minors.
Japanese carrier Softbank is planning to introduce a NFC (near-field communication) payment option for local iPhone 4 owners, reports say. Because the iPhone 4 lacks its own NFC receiver, the company will be offering special FeliCa-compatible seals that stick to the back, leaving enough space for the camera and flash. Softbank also suggests that the seals should be thin enough to allow use of Apple's Bumper cases.
The iPhone is now the fifth best-selling phone brand in the entire Japanese market, IDC Japan found on Wednesday. Owed mostly to the iPhone 4 launch and shipping 1.06 million phones, Apple climbed from seventh place in the first half of the year to 12.2 percent between July and September. It had never been above 10 percent in the past, the study said.
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has been scaling up its attempts to lure smartphone buyers in recent days with a new TV ad (below) to lure users to the Samsung Galaxy S. The reported ad, the expansion of a campaign that started in the summer, has Darth Vader standing as a personification of the Android phone. His presence gives Galaxy S owners the power to do anything, the WSJ-spotted ad suggests.
Sharp has introduced two Android phones, the Galapagos 003SH and 005SH, featuring glasses-free 3D displays. Both devices, which will be headed to Softbank in Japan, offer Android 2.2 and 3.8-inch displays with 800x480 resolution. Other common hardware specs include a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Wi-Fi and GPS receiver.
Samsung's launch of the Galaxy S in Japan wasn't enough to upset Apple's total iPhone sales, Japan's BCN said today. A launch at NTT DoCoMo on October 28 was enough to make the Android phone the top-selling individual cellphone in the country, above the 32GB iPhone 4, but wasn't enough to oust the iPhone 4 when the 16GB model was factored in. Both Apple devices were second and third place.
Sharp has launched a pair of glasses-free Galapagos handsets on Japan’s Softbank network. The 003SH and 005SH Galapagos handsets both feature autostereoscopic displays and run Android 2.2 (Froyo). While the 003SH adopts a candbar/slate form factor and the 005SH packs a sliding QWERTY keyboard, both include the same 3.8-inch 800x480 3D display.
Sony Ericsson Android-based phones like the Xperia X10 have had a rare impact on Apple's share of smartphones in Japan, the country's MM Research Institute said today. The iPhone still had a comfortable lead at 60 percent of all smartphones in the first half of 2010, but it fell a point from a year ago where Sony Ericsson rose to 21 percent. Sharp was a distant third with 6.3 percent while Toshiba and Taiwan's HTC were tied at 4.5 percent.
Nokia Siemens Networks today detailed a technology that could potentially help mitigate the data crunch at some cellphone carriers. Dynamic Frequency and Channel Allocation (DFCA) reduces the amount of bandwidth that a GSM call needs to work. The approach can either double the room for conventional voice calls or leave more room for cellular data, including 3G over HSPA or 4G on LTE. Either can reduce the need for extra cell sites or improve the quality on existing parts of the network.
NTT DoCoMo president Ryuji Yamada in an interview today tried to downplay the effect of the iPhone in Japan [reg. required]. He believes that Android is starting to "catch up" with Apple and that it was likely Google would eventually get the upper hand. As Android isn't tied to one company, it's likely to get larger before long, the executive thought.
Fujitsu is reportedly working on its first Android-powered smartphone, say sources from Japan. The device is rumored to become available at NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest provider. The phone may be based on the company's F1100 handset with a slide-out keypad and should hit the market in 2011.
Softbank today beat out fellow Japanese carriers again today by adding the most new subscribers in the country. It credited the launch of the iPhone 4 for helping it add 229,500 new subscribers in June. While larger, NTT DoCoMo only added 164,600 subscribers, and the second-place KDDI Au network added just 61,300 new customers.
NTT DoCoMo had the potential to shake up the Japanese cellphone industry today with a claim by the Nikkei Business Daily that the carrier will finally start allowing unlocked devices on its network. Company head Ryuji Yamada is claimed to have opened the possibility of both allowing unlocked phones on the network and offering software to unlock phones so customers can switch. Terms, such as whether it would be available immediately or only after time has elapsed in a contract, weren't mentioned.
Apple's strong Japanese iPad launch may have given it a large piece of the entire local computer market, analysts at BCN discovered today. If the tablet is counted as a computer, it would almost triple Apple's market share in Japan from 3.5 percent in April to 11.5 percent in May. The spike would help Apple overtake Sony's 9.3 percent and make it the fourth largest computer company on the island nation.
The mobile merger that is NEC, Hitachi and Casio unveiled aggressive expansion plans this week. The resulting company, now called NEC Casio Mobile Communications, plans to ship 12 million handsets in 2012, which represents an increase of 60 percent compared to all phones shipped by the three individual companies in 2009. This expansion may reach the US, with reports suggesting NEC Casio Mobile looking to tie in with Verizon and AT&T.
Japanese wireless provider SoftBank has revealed its lineup of new handsets for the spring. There are 15 new devices from various companies, many of which now have Wi-Fi; the feature is a rarity in regular Japanese phones, many of which depend on 3G. The carrier has also brought a Java Twitter app to many of its handsets as well as other account-free apps that follow tweets of specific people or preprogrammed Twitter channels devoted to sports, fashion or news.
The Japanese iPad 3G is not being locked exclusively to Softbank, an Apple spokeswoman clarifies. Softbank is the country's only official carrier of the device, as was revealed when rival NTT DoCoMo declared that it would abandon iPad plans. The situation is unexpected in that unlike the US, there is no basic technical barrier for other providers, and Apple has shown a growing preference for multiple device carriers per country.
In parallel with Apple launching international pre-orders for the iPad, two more UK carriers beyond Orange have announced 3G service plans. O2 is selling two monthly options: 1GB for £10, or 3GB for £15. People who only need a brief amount of data can pay £2 for 500MB a day. Subscribers to any of the options get free access to BT Openzone Wi-Fi.
