KDDI to launch first Bluetooth phone in Japan.
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KDDI to launch next-generation mobil phone
timesofindia.com
TOKYO: Japanese telecommunications giant KDDI Corp on
Thursday said that it would become the first company in
Japan to market mobile phones that allow cordless
connections between hand-held computers, printers and
other portable devices.
The phones incorporating 'Bluetooth' technology will allow
users to exchange e-mail, pictures and other data with other
wireless devices at a distance of up to 10 meters (yards),
KDDI said in a statement.
The phones will go on sale in mid-June with a price tag of
56,200 yen ($456), the company said. KDDI, Japan's
second-largest telecommunications company behind NTT
Corp, expects to sell about 300,000 phones in the half year
through September 2001, the company said.
Bluetooth, named for a Danish king who unified his kingdoms
in Denmark and Norway, is designed to allow computers,
mobile phones, digital cameras and other devices to connect
and exchange information via short-range radio waves
rather than messy wires.
However, the technology suffered an embarrassing setback
at the CeBIT trade show in March, when 100 Bluetooth
transmitters failed to create a wireless data network for
visitors with palmtop computers.
Despite the glitch - and high prices for Bluetooth-enabled
devices - almost all makers of computer hardware and
consumer electronics are beefing up their offerings of
products incorporating the technology.
Nokia and Ericsson already have mobile phones on the
market incorporating the Bluetooth technology.
Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard and other electronics makers
are working on Bluetooth-compatible devices.
KDDI's Bluetooth-equipped phone can process data at a
speed of 64,000 bits per second, more than six times faster
than the 9,600 bits per second for typical mobile phones, said
company spokeswoman Mitsuyo Someno.
Japan already has the world's biggest Net-linking mobile
phone market, with some 30 million users. That's one in
about every four Japanese.
People here already use cellphones to view colourful
animation, exchange e-mail and instant messages, play
simple video games and view train schedules, stock prices
and restaurant guides. (AP) |
