(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| New cdmaOne Digital Mobile Phones to be Lighter in Weight
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February 23, 1999 (TOKYO) -- DDI Corp.'s Cellular Group announced that
six new types of cdmaOne digital mobile phones will go on sale in the
weeks up until the end of March.
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All the new models will be much lighter in weight and have longer battery
lives than the models they replace.
The weight cuts and the longer battery lives of the new phones are largely
because they are single-mode units designed solely for cdmaOne. Until
recently, cdmaOne phones have been dual-mode types supporting both cdmaOne
and the analog Total Access Communications System (TACS).
Introduction of the new cdmaOne phones will mean that, in terms of weight
and battery life, they will be similar to personal digital cellular
(PDC) mobile phones. PDC phones are used with the services provided
by other mobile phone operators, including NTT Mobile Communications
Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo) group companies.
The first of the new phones to be available is Sony Corp.'s cdmaOne C101S
model, which is scheduled for launch at the end of February. It weighs
88g and can operate for 100 hours if left in standby mode, or for 140
minutes if used continuously.
In March, five more new phones will appear in stores. They are the C102K
model (73g/150 hours/150 minutes) from Kyocera Corp.; the C103T model
(84g/150 hours/120 minutes) from Toshiba Corp.; the 104SA model (95g/200
hours/150 minutes) from Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.; the 105P model (88g/150
hours/120 minutes) from Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.;
and the C201H model (82g/150 hours/120 minutes) from Hitachi Ltd.
The lightest of the five cdmaOne phone models available up to now weighs
95g. They typically last for 55 to 70 hours between charges if not used,
and for 100 to 160 minutes if used for continuous talking.
In comparison, the lightest of the current PDC-type phones weighs only
67g (and most weigh between 70g and 80g). They have battery lives of
between 200 and 300 hours if left on standby mode, and between 100 and
120 minutes when used to talk continuously.
In April, the Cellular Group will start offering the new C-mail text
message service, along with another new service to be called EZweb,
which will provide customers with text data via the Internet.
All six of the new phones will be compatible with the C-mail service.
And Hitachi's C201H model will permit access to the EZweb service.
The C-mail service will enable users to send and receive text and Internet
email messages (of up to 100 characters) using their portable phones.
EZweb services will make it possible for mobile phones to be utilized
to gain access to various types of text data on the Internet and to
send and receive Internet email, all via wireless application protocol
(WAP) gateway servers.
The six new single-mode cdmaOne phones will appear at almost the same
time. This is due to the scheduled expansion of the system's service
area. Prior to April it will become possible to use the new phones within
the service areas of the eight Cellular Group companies. And, in April,
IDO Corp. will start offering a new cdmaOne service in the Kanto and
Tokai regions.
At that time, the networks of IDO and the Cellular Group companies will
be linked, making it possible for cdmaOne mobile phones to be utilized
across Japan.
IDO has not yet made an announcement on telephones for its cdmaOne service.
However, according to a company source they will be basically the same
as those used for the Cellular Group service, with the same product
names, designs and specifications.
(Nikkei
Communications)
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