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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: foundation who wrote (14559)	9/3/2001 2:28:54 PM
From: foundation	Respond to of 196633

"NTT DoCoMo will launch its next-generation mobile phone service Oct. 1 in Tokyo, but not with all the bells and whistles it previously advertised." Oct. 1 set for 3G launch Reception problems cleaned up: DoCoMo NTT DoCoMo Inc. announced Monday that it will launch its next-generation mobile phone service on Oct. 1 in parts of Tokyo, claiming it has improved on reception problems that plagued a trial service that began in May. But DoCoMo also revealed that none of the planned moving images and music distribution services for the higher-speed data capability -- namely i-motion, M-stage visual and M-stage music -- will start on the day the world's first full-fledged 3G service is launched. The moving clipping service, i-motion, will start by the end of this year, while the moving-image distribution service, M-stage Visual, and the music distribution service, M-stage Music will be launched in spring. DoCoMo President Keiji Tachikawa said that those services will be delayed due to technical problems, denying the lack of attractive contents is one reason for the postponement. Rates for one packet will be 0.1 yen in a 2,000 yen monthly package option, 0.05 yen in a 4,000 yen package, and 0.02 yen in a 8,000 yen package. DoCoMo's 3G service, brand-named FOMA, enables users to download data with speed of 384 kilobits per second, and uploading with 64kbps. Many participants in the trial service have complained of poor connection quality, short battery life and lack of contents specifically designed for FOMA's higher data transmission and its commercial launch had already been delayed from May due to technical problems. But during Monday's press conference, DoCoMo officials claimed that they have improved the connectivity to "the quality level that can be offered for the full-fledged service" with measures such as increases in antenna bases. The FOMA service will be first available within a 30 km radius from the heart of Tokyo. Then, the FOMA coverage will be expanded to major cities in Kansai, Nagoya and southern Kanto areas in December, and major areas in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu in spring, DoCoMo officials said. English i-mode book An English translation of the story behind NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s Internet-capable mobile phone system, written by one of its developers, will go on sale in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia this fall. Titled "The Birth of i-mode," the book was adapted from the Japanese volume written by Mari Matsunaga, who helped develop the i-mode system at the Tokyo-based company. Singapore-based Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. will put out the translated version. The i-mode system has drawn great interest in Asian countries. The U.S. economic magazine Fortune ranked Matsunaga the most powerful businesswoman in Asia in its October issue last year. She is now a freelance editor. Local-language editions of the book are already on sale in South Korea and Taiwan. The Japan Times: Sept. 4, 2001 (C) All rights reserved japantimes.co.jp