The "TiMO" is a new handset being released by Toyota, branded by au. It's a joint effort between Toyota Motor Corporation and KDDI, based on Toshiba's "W44T" handset. The specs are the same as the W44T, but there's on key difference: hands-free connection with Toyota's official Bluetooth Navigation System. We unfortunately don't have any details on exactly what this connection entails (if anything beyond using Bluetooth for hands-free talking), so hopefully we'll hear something about it from Toyota.



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/30786.html

Press Release:
http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2006/0830/

KDDI isn't NTT DoCoMo; they're not just going to throw out a bunch of handsets without services that support their new features. That's why KDDI has announced a whole bunch of new services to go hand-in-hand with their announcement of a those new handsets.

The new services are:

• TV Phone Service
  
• EZ Channel Plus
  
• au My Page
  
• EZ News Flash
  
• EZ Keitai Arrange
  
• Address Book Entrust Safety Service
  
• Decoration Mail
  
• Picture Talking Mail
  

Oh giggity! More details on each new service inside.

KDDI made an enormous announcement for au on Monday: 12 new handsets are to be released from as early as September. In the lineup we have the:

• W43H from Hitachi
  
• W47T from Toshiba
  
• DRAPE from Toshiba
  
• W43CA from Casio
  
• W43SA from Sanyo
  
• W43S from Sony Ericsson
  
• W43K from Kyocera
  
• W41SH from Sharp
  
• W45T from Toshiba
  
• W42SA from Sanyo
  
• W44K from Kyocera
  
• A5522SA from Sanyo
  

The W47T and DRAPE both support the upcoming EV-DO Rev.A, which we reported on last week in this article. The W43H, W43CA, DRAPE, and W47T also support BCMCS, also described in the above-mentioned article.

More details on each handset inside. Rather than making a different article for each handset, we'll instead puch each handset on a different page of a single article.

KDDI Labs has a new software solution for recognizing the rotation, pan, tilt, and zoom of a handset. This allows users to "directly control" the operations of their handset, for example enabling them to scroll a map by moving their handset in the direction in which they want the map to scroll.

Similar technology has already been employed on Vodafone's "V603SH" and "904SH," as well as DoCoMo's "N702iS." However, these implementations involved the use of additional hardware inside the handset, such as acceleration sensors, gyroscopes, and so on. KDDI Labs' solution however takes advantage of hardware already present in the handset -- its camera -- and analyzes video data is it is received by the handset. This video data is analyzed so that the phone is able to "sense" its positioning. Because it requires no additional hardware, it has a lower implementation cost for KDDI, and it can operate using software alone.



Inspired by:
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0608/25/news099.html

Press Release:
http://www.kddilabs.jp/pr_pdf/060825.pdf

KDDI is all set to launch "EV-DO Rev.A" in December of this year, an extension to their existing CDMA 1X WIN (EV-DO Rev.0) network. Rev.A is the basis of KDDI's upcoming all-IP-based next generation network. The primary advantage of Rev.A is enhanced upload speeds -- as fast as 1.8Mbps -- which are around 12 times as fast as those of the existing Rev.0 network (144kbps). Compared with HSDPA being pushed by NTT DoCoMo, Rev.A offers a more efficient use of frequencies and faster upload speeds.

A number of services are planned to take advantage of the new communication system: KDDI will expand existing realtime communication services, and introduce TV phone services using packet transmission (VoIP). After that, they will expand communication services such as email and blogs, and introduce voice calls using VoIP. This will all be made possible with the introduction of Quality of Service (QoS) controls.

All major cities in Japan are scheduled for coverage by the end of this year, with the entire country covered within the next three years. KDDI is investing 200 billion yen (~$1.72B USD) in their plans.

Furthermore, in September of this year, KDDI will be introducing BCMCS, or "Broadcast/Multicast Services." These services allow content such as video to be simultaneously distributed to a large number of users. Since introducing BCMCS requires o­nly a software upgrade to existing EV-DO Rev.0 facilities, coverage will be nationwide when the service launches in September.

Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/30660.html

Press Release:
http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2006/0822/

KDDI is all set to release a new mobile phone you're supposed to give to your children. This o­ne adds a new feature that will automatically transmit the GPS coordinates of the handset in the event that its power is turned off.

If you've been dying to try EZ Navi Walker but don't live in Japan or don't have AU, there's good news: KDDI has just opened a PC version.

At their PC portal site, Duogate, simply select 地図・乗換, then you'll be able to give the service a shot.

Of course for those of you with AU, there's still good news -- the PC version cooperates with the mobile version, so you can search for a route with your PC and send it to your handset when you're ready to go.

You have no shortage of handsets at your disposal for au. No less than 7 have been announced today. 6 of the phones are in the "W41" series, and o­ne of the phone's is au's 5th in the "au design project." The new phones are:

• neon
• W41SA
• W41K
• W41T
• W41S
• W41CA
• W41H

Coverage of each inside.

Please use the page navigation buttons appearing above the comments space to navigate your way through this article.

This is the first of several au-related articles we have for you tonight. There are new services, new handsets, and new products to go along with these handsets. Time permitting, we'll be covering all of the above.

The first item to cover au's new audio service called "au LISTEN MOBILE SERVICE," or simply "LISMO." The new service expands upon their existing and extremely successful "Chaku Uta Full" download service.

Sanyo threw down three new phones for au's CDMA 1X service. The Sweets pure, A5520SA, and A5518SA. Each offers plenty of au style and functionality.

Hot o­n the heels of DoCoMo's announcement of 50 million subscribers, au has announced their number of contracts has crossed the 20 million mark.

Here is their official press release.

Say Hello to the latest mobile phones!

Anyone who has been reading TechJapan for a while now knows I'm a big fan of the au design project. We've previously covered the INFOBAR, the Talby, and the PENCK.

Good news for me, then, to report that there will be three new handsets introduced o­n November 2nd:

-"MEDIA SKIN" by Toku Yoshioka
-"MACHINA" by Naoki Sakai and Nao Tamura
-"HEXAGON" by Naoki Sakai and Nao Tamura

There aren't any details about the phones yet, but judging by the names alone and the history of the au design project, I'd say we're in for a treat. Expect to see coverage of the new phones here at TechJapan.

http://www.kddi.com/topics/design/

To finish things off, here's a handset for you au people called the "W33SA." It's by Sanyo, and features compatibility with single-segment digital broadcasts we just got through talking about.

KDDI has announced they will be absorbing Tu-ka. Tu-ka was already completely owned by KDDI (in the business sense, not in the "pwned" sense), and KDDI said they'll be continuing the brand... so this announcement really means nothing from a consumer standpoint (for the time being). For this reason, I won't bother translating the article. Here's the press release in PDF.

KDDI is introducing a new service for AU handsets called "EZ Memory Pocket," which essentially takes the entire contents of your phone's phone book and automatically backs it up o­n their server. If you've ever lost your mobile, the importance of this service should be obvious. Moreover, you can use your PC to access this information and even edit its contents.

No one to talk to?
Lost in the woods?
Lost in the city?
Just plain lost?

Despite the funny title, the G'zOne TYPE-R, Casio's next generation of G-Shock phones is awesome.

"EZ Book Land!" is yet another interesting looking service from Japanese mobile provider AU. The service revolves around the purchase of real books based o­n "sample contents" from electronic books, where all purchases and viewing of electronic books is conducted by mobile phone. Inside we have the low-down o­n this new service, set to launch o­n April 21st in Japan.

The new W31S is a sort of cross between audio player and mobile phone, yet it still manages to pack a lot of punch in the design department.

I think this is the new flagship phone for au's "Chaku Uta Full" service.

au introduced their "PENCK" designer phone yesterday, but I'm reporting o­n it today. Too bad.

The PENCK was designed by "Makoto Saito," though the name "PENCK" is actually from some German guy.

Interestingly enough, the design is strikingly similar to that of the A1403K, introduced by au in September. But frankly, I think the PENCK looks cooler. Plenty more details and enough pictures to shake a stick at inside.

Ever wondered what happens when you combine sweet foods such as mousse and pudding with mobile phones?

Sweets, au's newest CDMA 1X handset by Sanyo.

Along with the four handsets announced yesterday, au also announced a new contents service called "Chaku Flash." As its name implies, the service integrates Flash animation with sound effects, to bring yet another multimedia aspect to today's handsets.

In this article, Keitai Watch explains a bit more about what the service is, does, and looks towards the future.

There's four new au handsets o­n the horizon. The:

• W31SA, with music playback functionality
• W31K, going after ease of use
• A5509T, with emphasis o­n security
• A1404S, with an FM radio
  

Both "W" models are CDMA 1X WIN, and both "A" models are CDMA 2000 1X. Perhaps someone with more expertise can tell me the differences...
Either way, these appear to be standard fare. The design of the W31K caught my eye, but that's about it. Perhaps more interesting than any of the phones themselves is Chaku Flash, allowing for Flash animations to be played when a call comes in.

au reports their new "Chaku Uta Full" service is doing well. In some 48 days since the launch of the service, 1,000,000 songs have been downloaded.

We covered Chaku Uta Full when we first heard about it, so take a look at the older article too. In a nutshell, it's an electronic music distribution service (EMD) aimed at mobile phones; uses AAC compression, and so forth.

Do you often find yourself running across bipedal robots supporting Bluetooth, and think to youself, "damn, I wish I could control that with my Bluetooth mobile phone?" I know I do.

Well, KDDI finally has an answer for us. It's called the "au Mobile Phone Robot Controller." More details inside.

I *know* there's an American provider that already introduced this service. Which o­ne was it? Someone let us know.

Anyway, Japanese provider au will be introducing a service called "EZ Mochi Uta," which allows users to change the ringers that will play when their call is received o­n another phone. For example, when calling Johnny, Billy can specify that he wants Johnny to hear the theme from CHiPS.

Somehow I missed this from last week, but it looks like KDDI is set to offer a new application called "Applicon EZ" that allows phones to not o­nly display programming information, but act as remote controls for a variety of devices.

You've heard me mention EZ Navi Walker o­n here before (this week, in fact), but this new technology jointly developed by KDDI and NEC adds a new dimension to an already cool technology. Not o­nly can you navigate inside of buildings, but you can navigate from a floor-by-floor basis. For example, the navigation software can even tell you to "go up the escalator to the 5th floor," and follow you throughout the building. How is this done? Bluetooth.

All security issues aside, I think this technology would be really cool to have in a parking garage. If you can't find your car, you could whip out your phone, and it would tell you exactly what floor it's o­n, where, and so forth.

Here's a new au phone, which apart from the 20mm closed thickness, appears to be pretty standard. Isn't the Motorola RaZr like 11.3mm closed?

Well, I guess au would win, because the A5507SA will be released long before the RaZr.
Also, what's this with screens' brightnesses being given now? 220 candelas? How the hell am I supposed to know how bright that is?

AU may not have the hottest handsets o­n the face of the planet, but some of their services are cool. I like EZ Navi Walker, and this new EZ Chaku Uta Full is also pretty cool. Think of it like "iTunes Mobile" - you can download (near) CD quality audio right from your phone, and play it back o­n your phone.

This service is being launched with those four new phones we reported o­n earlier this week.

I think I like the "INFOBAR" more, but here's the third phone bourne of the "au design project." Looks alright....I think I'd appreciate it more if it wasn't designed by this "Marc Newson" guy. I would feel a lot better if he had some experience, but no, this is "the first phone [he] has ever designed."

Also, world's first phone with its own soundtrack!

KDDI has announced four new CDMA 1X WIN handsets for winter - the Casio W21CA, the Toshiba W21T, the Sanyo W22SA and the Hitachi W22H. The new handsets all have stereo twin speakers, megapixel-class cameras and enhanced support for music downloads and movie playblack. The marketing boffins have also obviously been hard at work dreaming up names for the new handset colours which include "Breeze Green", "Sunrise Yellow", "Buffy White" and, best of all, "Evil Brown"!!

Confirming previous rumours, KDDI and Okinawa Cellular will add full browser functionality to a number of their CDMA 1X WIN handsets. The browser software will be provided by Opera Software, whose browser implementation for mobile phones is well regarded among users.

Author's note: A service like this is well suited to the WIN handsets, which have data transmission speeds high enough to provide a decent service. For the rest of us, I guess we'll just have to stick to using Google's WML proxy service!

Instead of having to buy a new phone to read IC tags, wouldn't it be better to be able to just plug a card into your memory card slot?
Yes, it would. AU is here to help.

Here's me playing catch-up for what I missed last night.

This "A1403K" from Kyocera for au has a baby-toy like design, with a bunch of round edges all over the place. Pictures explain better than I can, so I've got o­ne for you.
I particularly like the appearance of "Black x Orange"; images of this particular color scheme are in the Inspired by article.

Java and BREW are somehow related; the people that made this software understand that relationship much better than I do.
Simple concept - games written for NTT DoCoMo's i-Mode can be used o­n AU phones through BREW.
DoCoMO games are Java, and BREW games are C, and since Java is based o­n C, poof - instant conversion.

I don't know how Fujitsu got mixed up in this, but there's a new EZ Appli that came out that will sing your emails to.

Anyone in Japan, I'd LOVE to get an audio sample up o­n here. I'll even refund you the 315 yen!

I can't say there's many suprises though. We have the:

-W21SA with a 2MP camera and FM radio, and interesting design
-W21S with a 1.3MP camera and IR port
-W21K, the "standard model." You know what that means.

Finally.

Our "day of color" continues with au's announcement of two new colors of the A5503SA, a phone with an internal FM tuner, among other things.

au by KDDI/Okinawa Cellular have announced the world's first cell phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera, to be available in June. As usual, it's a Japan-only model.

In the event that I ever become exceedingly rich, I will get a phone from a Japanese provider and just pay international roaming charges all the time JUST so I can use o­ne here in the USA.
The "A1305SA" features a Japanese-English dictionary, though is actually pretty slim o­n other features. I suppose they need a lot of circuitry to make the thing work internationally, so they had to cut a bunch of "excess" features so typical of Japanese cell phones.

This is good...KDDI has extended their international roaming service to include 260 American cities and 14 Canadian cities. Apparently, they're using the Verizon Wireless network in America, and the Telus network in Canada.
Is this the first step to being able to use Japanese cellular phones outside of Japan? Time will tell...

K-Tai Watch had a handy chart comparing the costs of new FOMA "All You Can PACKET!" unlimited data plan with au's "EZ Flat" unlimited data plan.
And I ripped it off.

Au announced their new phone today, clearly intended as competition for NTT's 900i series.

The INFOBAR is cellular phone that looks like a bar. If you imagine o­ne of those "Concept Car" type experiments turned into an actual product, this is what you'd get. But the phone version.
I suppose it's easiest to just look at the picture and reach your own conclusion.

Clearly, these are meant to be competition to the recently announced/released FOMA 900i series from NTT DoCoMo.
The new models include the W21H from Hitachi, the A5405A from Sanyo, and the A1402S from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
More details and pictures inside.

AU has released a personal navigation system for their cell phones called EZ Navi-Walk. EZ Navi-Walk functions just like a car navigation system, with voiced directions and everything. This article describes its functions and goes through some pro's and cons.Original Article is here.