Japanese wireless data giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. introduced its new 900i series of third-generation FOMA mobile phones, devices that feature perhaps the most advanced services the wireless industry has ever seen.
Most importantly, DoCoMo said the devices in general offer three times the battery life and weigh 20-percent less than the carrier’s first round of 3G phones. The carrier launched its 3G W-CDMA service in 2001. DoCoMo has seen relatively sluggish interest in its 3G services, although now it counts more than 1.7 million FOMA subscribers and promised it will cover 99 percent of Japan’s population by March.
DoCoMo’s newest line-up of 3G phones features a range of advanced services and technology. The devices all include Macromedia’s Flash animation technology, as well as Sun Microsystems Inc.’s Java application download service. All the devices also feature integrated digital cameras and slots for memory sticks. Specifically, one device offers an integrated digital camera with 2-megapixel resolution and records video at 24 frames per second. The phone can also play TV shows recorded onto a memory stick. Another phone features a fingerprint scanner and yet another can view Microsoft Corp.’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs.
As usual, DoCoMo did not mention the phone manufacturers, although news reports mentioned Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. as the 900i series providers.
DoCoMo’s new line of phones are especially notable as rival 3G carrier Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. has complained of handset shortages from NEC and Motorola Inc.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest handset maker, is notably absent from both 3G carriers’ handset portfolios, even though the company has been a vocal proponent of W-CDMA services.
