KDDI is unique among mobile operators in creating value from design for phones with the “au design project”. Creating value for which consumers are willing to pay premium prices is a key to success in the rapidly growing global US$ 150 Billion mobile phone business.
au design project 2006:
The KDDI Designing Center showed the exhibition “TRILOGY”, displaying some results of the “au design project 2006”. The three concept phones are (from left to right):
“kaos” by Naoki Sakai
“cypres” by Nao Tamura
“vols” by Ross McBride
KDDI / au design project 2006KDDI / au design project “kaos”KDDI / au design project “cypress”KDDI / au design project “vols”
KDDI is unique among mobile operators in creating value from design for phones with the “au design project”. Read more about KDDI in our KDDI report.
Creating value for which consumers are willing to pay premium prices is a key to success in the rapidly growing global US$ 150 Billion mobile phone business.
INFOBAR was a big success for KDDI. Industrial designer Fukawasa Naoto recently created INFOBAR-2, and introduced it at a show at the KDDI Designing Center in Tokyo:
“au design project”: INFOBAR-2 by Fukawasa Naoto“au design project”: INFOBAR-2 by Fukawasa Naoto
Six years into the wireless internet revolution which started February 1999 in Japan
Docomo’s and KDDI’s latest wireless innovation, concept mobile phones, mobile payments
Wireless Japan 2005 marks six years of mobile internet in Japan, which started February 1999 in Tokyo. Now in the sixth year, wireless internet, i-Mode and EZweb and J-Sky are maturing, mobile payment solutions are being introduced.
Some highlights:
VOIP – 3G
fixed line – wLAN integration
first push-to-talk (PTT) appearance in Japan – will PTT arrive in Japan?
KDDI has timed it’s entry to DoCoMo’s mobile FeliCa camp to coincide with the time, when the railway nearfield payment card SUICA with 10 million users will join the mobile FeliCa system. KDDI demonstrated the first EZ-FeliCa phones:
EZ-Felica: RFID payments for KDDI’s AU mobile phones
DoCoMo is expanding the penetration for mobile FeliCa, demonstrating “TownPocket”: TownPocket is a FeliCa terminal, where users can link their phones via the FeliCa reader/writer interface to pick up local information. Possibilities are to bookmark automatically the URL of a shop or a sightseeing spot, or to send or receive an email with local information.
“TownPocket”: information terminals linking RFID equipped phones to local area informationEZ-FeliCa: RFID mobile payment gates for KDD-AU mobile phonesTownpocket RFID check-in point
Popularity of DoCoMo’s 901iS series accelerates DoCoMo’s transition to 3G.
With mobile phones quickly becoming pocket sized music centers in competition to iPod’s but in much larger numbers, battery life is a problem. Fuel cells give hope for longer life till the next recharge. As you can see in the picture, the prototype fuel cells are still too large for daily use:
Fuel cells for KDDI phones: fuel cell demonstrations for mobile phones have been demonstrated for many years at trade shows in Japan, but they have not made it to the market yet
Hitachi shows a prototype future generation phone with:
Futuristic concept phones are a tradition at the Wireless Japan show. The following images show multi-media concept phones:
Concept phone models
This flask-stile multimedia presenter shows images on flake-like suspended displays. Presentation of particular images helps to create the mood of the moment:
Concepts
Media phone:
Concept phone
Digital rights management (DRM) concept study. Digital rights are sold in the style of wrapped sweets, and can be played or eaten. Dropping a digital-right-sweet into the receptacle plays the music or the video corresponding to this right. The sweets/DRMs can be eaten up after their value has been used up:
e-Mobile is preparing for it’s debut in Japan’s mobile phone market, most likely from 2006 or 2007. While new mobile entrant Softbank was not at the Wireless Japan show, e-Mobile had a massive prototype and concept presentation.
First presentations by new market entrant “em” eMobileFirst presentation by new entrant eMobile “em”New entrant eMobile
e-Mobile showed a range of concepts for the services being developed with partners Fujitsu and Lucent. Good phones and solid concepts, but nothing surprising yet at this stage.
KDDI had a very large impressive show of AU’s range of mobile phones, business software applications, it’s range of mobile portals including comics, books, auctions, music and shopping, and EZ-FelIca’s debut as shown higher up. An attraction was a robot display, the robot is controled via blue-tooth by mobile phone:
KDDI demonstration: mobile phone as a remote control for robotsKDDI presents mobile phones as controllers for robotsMobile phones control robotsMobile phones control robots
We have substantial documentation about the Wireless Japan 2005 exhibition, and most other year’s Wireless Japan exhibitions. If you need information or documentation for prior art or other investigations, please contact us.
Learn more: report on Japan’s telecom sector (269 pages, pdf file):
Marc Newson designed Talby concept phone for Japan’s mobile operator KDDI – au
On 13 October 2004, KDDI/AU announced “talby”, the third phone in their “AU design series”. Volume sales start in December 2004. We expect that “talby” will be similarly successful as “infobar” one year ago.
“talby” is a fully featured 3G phone with camera (640×480 pixel), QVGA display, EZappli/BREW, Chaku-uta, email, EZweb, PIM, GPS/EZnaviwalk,…
FeliCa mobile payment wallet phones at the centre of attention
by Gerhard Fasol
Wireless, mobile phone industry trends years before they reach outside Japan
Every year the Wireless Japan sets global trends in wireless communications and mobile phones. Mobile phone industry professionals cannot afford to miss this trend setting show. It is here that Japanese carriers and handset makers introduce their latest products and show design studies and concept phones which set industry trends for the next months and years.
There were some surprises: In recent Wireless-Japan shows usually the KDDI/AU-design project prototypes were at the center of attention – this year I could not find any. For example, at Wireless-Japan-2002, KDDI/AU showed “Infobar” prototypes a full 16 months before market introduction. Did KDDI/AU decide to keep future design-project releases secret until they hit the market? Could well be so, given Japan’s increasingly ferocious mobile phone competition. Another surprise was Vodafone’s absence – Vodafone in recent years used to have the biggest show.
On the other hand this time most handset makers showed impressive concept phones, Matsushita/Panasonic under the heading “Beyond 3G”. The image shows NEC’s concept design study of a flexible multimedia phone: this phone has two screens which can be bent together, and used jointly as a larger screen.
Wireless Japan 2004 Highlights: “Beyond 3G”
Beyond 3G: SANYO 3.5G phone for 2.4Mbps data download (for KDDI/AU):
KDDI/AU 3G phone W21SASANYO show at Wireless Japan 2004
Wireless Japan 2004: NEC “tag” wrapping multimedia design concept phone:
Concept model phone by NEC at WirelessJapan-2004 exhibition
“Wireless Japan 2004” – much was expected: for example, it wasn’t surprising for anyone that DoCoMo’s i-Mode-FeliCa wallet-phones were center stage of the DoCoMo exhibit with lots of partners demoing wallet-phone applications.
NEC concept phoneNEC concept phone
Matsushita/Panasonic “Beyond 3G” design concepts:
Panasonic concept phone
DoCoMo UbiButton and UbiChip:
DoCoMo’s UbiButton and UbiChip
DoCoMo i-Mode-FeliCa wallet phones – for electronic cash:
the world’s first commercial wallet phone: P506iC – by DoCoMo and Panasonic
DoCoMo i-Mode-FeliCa wallet phones – as an electronic door key:
Mobile phone as a RFID key to lock and unlock doors
We have substantial documentation about the Wireless Japan 2004 exhibition, and most other year’s Wireless Japan exhibitions. If you need information or documentation for prior art or other investigations, please contact us.
Learn more: report on Japan’s telecom sector (269 pages, pdf file):
Docomo’s first 3G phones, KDDI brings design to mobile phones
The annual Wireless-Japan exhibition highlights the trends of mobile communications in Japan. At Wireless-Japan 2002 KDDI started setting the trend of concept phones.
KDDI/AU “Design Project:” Design study for the bestselling “INFOBAR”.
KDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototypeKDDI/AU design series prototype
The KDDI/AU design study above became the origin of the bestselling “INFOBAR”-3G phone.
And here are two images of the bestselling “INFOBAR”-phone in the version sold by KDDI.
KDDI/AU design series – Infobar
Design study by AU/KDDI for future mobile handsets. This design study was the basis for the PENCK model sold by KDDI/AU at a later date.
KDDI/AU design series prototype: PENCK
Big Blue Vending machine for mobile internet usage by IBM
IBM vending machines for mobile payment
Combined mobile phone and television receiver by DoCoMo:
Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) linked to mobile phones by DoCoMo gradually DoCoMo is introducing payment applications to mobile phones. In 2004, two years later, DoCoMo introduces the walletphone.
IY Bank (later renamed 7-Bank) ATM protoype
Karaoke Machine linked to mobile phones by DoCoMo
Linking Karaoke to mobile phones
FOMA video telephone and MOPPET fixed line video telephony terminal, allows video conversation between FOMA mobile phone and fixed line telephone.
More information about 3G in Japan and FOMA: www.eurotechnology.com/3G/.
NTT Moppet
SH2101V handheld PC and video camera for FOMA (3G) use, including video camera
DoCoMo 3G prototype multi-media phone SH2101V
We have substantial documentation about the Wireless Japan 2002 exhibition, and most other year’s Wireless Japan exhibitions. If you need information or documentation for prior art or other investigations, please contact us.
Learn more: report on Japan’s telecom sector (269 pages, pdf file):
