FOMA unit with 802.11b too Mobile Phones / NTT DoCoMo Posted by zmcnulty on Jul 13, 2004 - 09:29 PM |
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384kbps got you down? Well, DoCoMo has a new phone coming out soon that supports 802.11b, so you can connect hella faster. NTT DoCoMo has developed the "N900iL," a dual-mode phone supporting both FOMA and wireless LAN. The company will likely offer the "Passage Duple" system, supported by the new phone, to enterprise level customers. The "N900iL" is a FOMA phone of NEC make that features a wireless LAN module (IEEE 802.11b standard). It was developed with the enterprise customer in mind; it does not support i-Appli, Character Den, nor does it have an IR port. But, TV phone functions, packet transfer, and i-Mode service is equal to that offered on current FOMA units. The phone was developed on a N900i base, and while the specs (including external appearance) are basically the same as said unit, it contains a wireless LAN module rather than a photo light - but the camera itself is still there. Usage examples of the phone are rather obvious - you could use IP phone on the company's wireless LAN while at the office (extension phone), or use FOMA while out. IP phone functions are done with wireless LAN, and IP-PBX services such as incoming/outgoing calls, hold, and call forwarding are usable. Rather than offering just the phone itself, the entire system will be offered as a solution. Furthermore, areas in which the wireless LAN function can be used are currently "at the office only," meaning that publicly accessible wireless LAN services are a no-go. Idle states of the phone can be chosen from "Dual Mode (FOMA preferred)," "Dual Mode (wireless LAN preferred)," "FOMA single," or "wireless LAN single." A browser that can be used from both the FOMA network and wireless LAN is loaded on the phone, and intranet pages created for i-Mode can be accessed by use of wireless LAN. Also, the sending/receiving of instant messages is possible; a "precense" function similar to that of IM software for PCs is also available. The availability of a partner/colleague can be confirmed using this function. As a result of the messenger and IP phone services using SIP, the precense of a person is renewed on a set interval. "At the office," and "out" can be set manually. For example, if you're in the office, you would set your precense to be "in" so that others should make phone calls to your extension, or if you're out, you would set your precense to "out" so that others would know to call your FOMA phone. Although public wireless LAN services are not supported, DoCoMo is considering adding support for their "Mzone" public wireless LAN service to the unit. However, even if it is added, support will only go as far as data transfer - VoIP will not be supported. The main display of the phone is a 2.2", QVGA size, TFT LCD capable of displaying 65,536 colors. The subdisplay is a 0.96", STN LCD capable of display 30 x 120 dots in 4,096 colors. miniSD is supported as a removable medium. A 1MP CCD camera (2MP recorded) is featured on the back of the phone, and there is also a 0.11MP camera above the main display. With a weight of about 120g, the phone has a size of 102 x 48 x 27mm. Idle times vary by state - FOMA (still) is 280 hours, FOMA (moving) is 230 hours, wireless LAN is 230 hours, and Dual Mode is 150 hours. Similarly, the tak times vary by usage - FOMA is 140 minutes, IP Phone is 160 minutes, and TV Phone is 80 minutes. Silver will be the only body color available. NTT DoCoMo has offered a PHS cordless extension phone system since 10 years ago dubbed "Passage." This "Passage Duple" is the successor to it, and represents not only voice communication, but also information communication. It will continue on the "passage" supplied up until now. At the announcement event, as "the main point is the usage as a system, not just a single device," the technology was appeal by being able to access the intranet while both in and out of the office. The ability to check mail, manage expense accounts, read reports, and manage sales or other activities when there is no work is just one aspect of this unit's charm. The supported PBX unit is currently only NEC's SIP supporting "SV7000," but DoCoMo is presenting specifications to other makers. It is expected that other supporting models will be added in the future. Also, about other makers offering phones that support this technology, it went only as far as "we're considering it." While the "N900iL" does require a FOMA contract, since the offering style is setup so that the system is paid for as a whole, units without a FOMA line can also be used. The cost of one phone is approximately 40,000 - 50,000 yen. DoCoMo is aiming for 100,000 units sold in one year. The technology will be appealed with the cooperation of other companies who have currently sold "Passage" as well as DoCoMo's own business force. Shigeru Mitsugi, NTT DoCoMo's head of Project Business in the Corporate Trade department, gave the introduction at the announcement event. In response to DoCoMo's announcement of decreased profit in this year's numbers, he said "in the next 3 years, we have to get back to the V model. The demands of the corporate customer are extremely important. The N900iL is the first FOMA unit developed specifically for the corporate user. Rather than thinking that uses for mobile phones at the corporate level aren't expanding, we would like to start the 'Office Revolution' with products such as this." The company will offer not just a phone, but a solution with the cooperation of different enterprises.   [1] [2] [3] [4]Inspired by: http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/19695.html [5] News Release: http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/new/contents/04/whatnew0713.html [6] |
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This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=406 Links in this article [1] http://www.techjapan.com/images/0704/071304/n900il_sl_a.jpg [2] http://www.techjapan.com/images/0704/071304/n900il_sl_b.jpg [3] http://www.techjapan.com/images/0704/071304/n900il_sl_f.jpg [4] http://www.techjapan.com/images/0704/071304/n900il_sl_s.jpg [5] http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/19695.html [6] http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/new/contents/04/whatnew0713.html |
