Our coverage of WIRELESS JAPAN 2004 continues today.
Plenty of interesting stuff to read and see. Just like yesterday, if you see something you're interested in and I didn't translate, let me know.

---

-Wireless USB announcments

-Replacment of cables in home electronics, PCs, mobile realms
-Products shipping by 2005

Inspired by:
http://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/event/2004/07/22/3979.html

---

-Administrative problems with implementation of 4G cellular and next-generation wireless standards

-Redivision of frequencies to guarantee 4G cellular and wireless LAN are seperate
-Up to 100Mbps speeds, even while moving
-Besides 4G, satellite and stratosphere transmissions o­n the menu

Inspired by:
http://internet.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/event/2004/07/22/3986.html

---

-Hamamatsu Photonics presents compact-sized wireless optical transmission system, 1Gbps speeds

At the Hamamatsu Photonics booth at WIRELESS JAPAN 2004, there was a display model of the "PHOTOLINER-S Gbps Type (C9760)" short range wireless optical transmission system. It is set to be available by either the Fall or Winter of 2004, and it is Open Price.

The PHOTOLINER-S Gbps type is a digitial optical wireless system, has a maximum throughput of 1.25Gbps, and a range of 200m. Since the body of the unit is a small size (110 x 300mm, diameter x height), and a weight of around 3kg, according to Hamamatsu, it can be easily placed by the ceiling or at the window.

It will be sold as a package of two units. There is no estimated retail price quite yet, but according to a representative at the booth, it should not exceed the 1.6 million yen price tag of the 170Mbps "PHOTOLINER-S (C9095)" series of similar products by too much.



Inspired by:
http://bb.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/event/6058.html

---

-NEC, internet access from high speed vehicles

At NEC's booth at the WIRELESS JAPAN 2004 convention, a technology called "High Speed Network Solution for Moving Objects" was o­n display, which allows for vehicles travelling at up to 300km/h to connect to the internet.

"High Speed Network Solution for Moving Objects" is offered as a result of NEC's independently developed "high speed IP handover technology." They announced the success of an experiment with this technology in October of 2003, in which wireless LAN stations were placed around the high speed ring of Japan Automotive Labs, and an 802.11b LAN signal was broadcast between the center and car. Even at speeds of 300km/h, it was confirmed that Microsoft NetMeeting images could be transmitted; the transmission speed was around 100kbps.

This transmission system supports IEEE 802.11b, a, g, and DSRC. NEC will be offering in-train information and internet connection services, and suggests the technology as a means of monitoring the motion around a track. Tests of the in-train information service are already being conducted by JR East Japan and Japan Telecom, and it was commented that "there is the possibility of cooperation with other companies." Also, besides railroad, there were references to automobile and cellular phone manufacturers.



Inspired by:
http://bb.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/event/6052.html

---

-Mobile Contents Forum, Mobile Project Awards 2004 presentation

-The awards are broken down into four categories: mobile contents, mobile platform, mobile solutions, and mobile hardware
Links to TechJapan articles with more information appear where they can

Mobile Contents
Winner - EZ Navi Walker (encyclopedia), by KDDI and Navitime Japan
Runner-up - Iro Metromix, by Dowango, Composite, and CELL
Runner-up - "Machi Sulo," Chocobo and Slim Campaign, by Square Enix
Runner-up -Movaoku, by DNA and Index

Mobile Platform
Winner - EZ Flat, by KDDI
Runner-up - EZ.FM, by KDDI, National FM Alliance, Label Mobile, Nano Media, and Improve Networks

Mobile Solutions
Winner - QR code (encyclopedia), by Denso Wave
Runner-up - TV x Cell phone access solution "OnePush," by Cybird and IMAGIC DC 21
Runner-up - Mystar Pad, by Flex Firm and Uniadex
Runner-up - Toku Number, by DC Communications, mediba, and Japan Mobile Communications

Mobile hardware
Winner - INFOBAR (encyclopedia), by KDDI
Runner-up - AirH" PHONE AH-K3001V, by Kyocera



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19812.html

---

-Panasonic's Hanamura speaks o­n past and future of cell phones

-The history of cellular phones that began in 1962
-Cellular phones will become "personal gateways"

Continuing, Mr. Hanamura spoke about the progress of cellular phones as three elements - "progress of the system," "progress of the service," and "progress of the quality."

"Progress of the system" is the progress of communication technology. From analog to digital, and now to 3G, and developments for Beyond 3G are already in underway.

"Progress of the service" is the change of cellular phone service. Though voice used to be main, mail is now the subject, and Mr. Hanamura predicted contactless IC, etc. services will become o­ne facet of life.

"Progress of quality" describes the development of cellular phone functions. "Cellular phones have gone beyond simple phones; they are now communication tools including e-mail. Functions such as personal servers, and gateways will be requested in the future," he said.

Explaining that "for wireless communication, it used to be 'it would be convenient if I had it,'" Mr. Hanamura continues by saying "but now is the era of 'it would be inconvenient if I didn't have it,' since phones are currently connected to the net." "Just yesterday, the battery o­n my phone ran out, and...what a pain in the ass, I thought. I felt alienated as though I was left behind by society." Furthermore, he said that he "would like to make a ubiquitous society where it becomes 'I can't live without it.'"

For the ubiquitous era, he explained that three points were necessary for these devices - "first, to support a wide variety of networks by synthesizing with IP," then "a variety of devices connecting to the network," and finally, "the reciprocal relationships between human and object, as well as object and object." Keeping with this, Panasonic is developing communication technologies and services.

Also brought up were those devices besides the ubiquitous o­nes. Panasonic mobile phones have three fundamental concepts: they must be "small and lightweight, and usable for a long time," have "AV functions that Panasonic is known for," and "easy to use as a personal device."

The phones of the future should be thought of as "personal servers and gateways," he said. He stated, "Just cramming a bunch of features into an all-in-one device won't do it. Cellular phones must serve as a gateway to closeby devices, and functions can be divided between these devices."



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19814.html

---

-DoCoMo's Mr. Utano speaks about the mobile communication of the ubiquitous era

-Construction of all-IP networks by 2007
-Ubiquitous will become a realm of the mobile communication market




Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19813.html

---

-Renesas displays newest "SH-Mobile3" processor

At the Renesas booth, two demonstration models of their newest "SH-Mobile" processor, intended for use in cellular phones for 3D graphic rendering, were o­n display.

On display from Renesas were two types of their "SH-Mobile3" processor, placed in the "high end" position of the company's roadmap. Sample shipments of the "SH-MobileV2" began in November of last year; it contains an MPEG-4 accelerator function. Demonstrations of the new processor connected with an analog TV tuner, playing back terrestrial digital broadcasts, rendering 3D graphics, and other usage scenes were carried out at the convention.

Though the board setup at the convention was much larger than those inside of ceullar phones, it was explained by a representative that "the SH-Mobile reinforces multimedia-related functions. This optimizations and tuning of this demonstration are meant to display the full capability of the SH-Mobile."



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19822.html

---

-Toshiba MOPASS card

During the "WIRELESS JAPAN 2004" conference o­n the 22nd, a lecture was held regarding the "MOPASS Card," which contains both memory card and IC card functions. Speaking o­n behalf of the "MOPASS Consortium" established for the spread of this card was Kou Nakahara, of Toshiba's Platform Solutions group.

The "MOPASS card" is a card that contains both an SD card as recordable media, and an IC chip. By putting it into a cellular phone, it can not o­nly act as a recordable media, it can also be used as an IC chip to verify identity, as well as be used for various applications and services. The card has features such as conforming to Mc-EX security standards while stopping, and can be read and written from if it is in a memory card slot.

Mr. Nakahara, while introducing the specifications of the MOPASS card, also explained that its specifications are open, though it operates in a secure environment. Even if the MOPASS card is inserted into a normal cellular phone, and then inserted into a PDA, TV, PC, etc. the contents purchased o­n the phone can be used. He pointed out that identity verification is simple, and that the "MOPASS card is a bridge media, where it currently takes a media and another."

He also said that "for the contents of the future, copy protection is necessary - the MOPASS card has a personal PKI certificate. The user who bought the content can enjoy it o­n any device." This is a big point of the product - content protection and verification of the user, making it good for both the content provider and user.

Since the MOPASS card is intended to be used in a wide variety of circumstances, the IC chip supports both contact and contactless interfaces. Rather than being able to use o­nly o­ne function (ala SIM cards), the IC chip can use multiple applications.

He continued by saying that "electronic money and electronic tickets, as well as employment verification applications can be loaded o­nto the card. This point is already taken care of by FeliCa, but the contents contained in a MOPASS card can go anywhere with anyone."

For normal users, the "MOPASS card" currently is friendless - bu KDDI has said that they will be using a removable contactless IC card for au. If it can also act as a memory card, this would be close to a "MOPASS card." While the insertion and removal of IC cards could help users move their information and applications to other cellular phones, o­nly this in conjunction with a memory card will enable them to move ringer and game contents as well.

After the lecture, Mr. Nakashima was asked, "Is it possible to combine the functions of SIM card, FeliCa, and memory card into o­ne?" To this, he responded, "it is possible with the MOPASS card technology. However, actual implementation of this is up to the carriers." The MOPASS Consortium has NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Vodafone as members, so a day where these are inside of phones should be coming shortly.



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19831.html