NTT DoCoMo to replace 1.3M phone batteries
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(InfoWorld) - NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi Electric are planning to replace around 1.3 million batteries manufactured by Sanyo Electric because they may overheat and catch fire, the companies said Thursday. The batteries were manufactured before June of this year and are used in NTT DoCoMo's D902i handset. Some may have also been used in two other models of Mitsubishi Electric phone, the D902iS and D903iS, the companies said. The batteries carry the model number "D06." "In rare cases there is a slight deformation of the electrode plate which causes it to come into contact with the insulation sheet and hence the insulation sheet can become damaged," said Richard Sedgwick, a spokesman for Sanyo in Tokyo. "If the battery was also damaged through an outside side, for example if the user dropped the battery, then the problem could occur." NTT DoCoMo said it has confirmed one case of the battery rupturing because of the problem and knows of 17 other cases where the D06 battery has ruptured or overheated. The carrier said the battery had been subject to an "extremely strong impact" in a number of the cases. Sanyo said it began examining ways of strengthening the electrode in April this year as a precautionary measure against possible problems, but at the time had not heard any reports about actual problems. Batteries with stronger plating on the electrode began rolling off the company's production line in June, hence Thursday's advisory only concerns batteries manufactured until May. The problem brings back memories ofÂ Sony's battery problemsÂ of earlier this year. Around 9.6 million Sony-manufactured laptop computer batteries were recalled or voluntarily replaced by many laptop PC vendors after batteries in several PCs overheated and caught fire. The problem was traced back to metal particles that had gotten into the battery during manufacturing. Sony estimated the problems will cost it around Â¥51 billion ($444 million) this financial year. Sanyo said that it has yet to work out with NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi Electric the part it will play in the replacement. Sanyo and Sony are two of the world's largest manufacturers of Lithium Ion batteries. Â ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile carrier, is to spearhead the rollout of an advanced version of its 3G (third-generation) services called Super 3G, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
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InfoWorld - Matsushita Electric Industrial&#160;(MEI) will cover the direct costs of a battery recall affecting 46 million Nokia mobile phones, which could be as high as $172 million.
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Japan's NTT DoCoMo will join hands with Cingular Wireless of the United States, aiming to unify technical specifications for third-generation (3G) cellphones and services.
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Japan&#39;s biggest mobile telecom carrier gave its strongest support yet to&#160;Google&#39;s Android platform&#160;on Thursday when it said it is considering a cell phone based on the technology.&quot;We are starting discussions to offer handsets that will have the Android operating system,&quot; said Takeshi Natsuno, managing director of the multimedia services department at NTT DoCoMo.The talks include getting support for I-mode, DoCoMo&#39;s hit mobile Internet service, on the Android platform. Nearly 48 million of DoCoMo&#39;s 53 million customers subscribe to I-mode, so having it on Android will be key to the Google platform&#39;s success in Japan.Android is a Linux-based platform for cell phones that will combine open-source components and include an operating system, middleware stack, customizable user interface and applications.NTT DoCoMo is one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the group developing Android. Until Thursday hadn&#39;t disclosed what it hoped to gain from its participation in the group, which includes about 40 companies including some of the biggest names in the cell phone industry.&quot;When I look at the prototype, the Android-based handset works really well even on some of the cheaper handset designs,&quot; said Natsuno.Natsuno didn&#39;t provide any specifics about when such a handset might be available. When the Open Handset Alliance was launched last year Google said that it expected the first phones running the software to appear in late 2008.Despite its support for Android, NTT DoCoMo is also working with companies developing rival platforms. It has an alliance with Access, a Japanese software company with which is has deep ties, on the Access Linux Platform (ALP). DoCoMo is working on a &quot;carrier pack,&quot; a set of unique products and services, that can run on ALP, which is intended to be a common Linux platform for cell phones.Natsuno&#39;s comments came at a Tokyo news conference held to detail a partnership between the carrier and Google.The alliance will see Google products and applications added to DoCoMo handsets. These will include the addition of a Google search box on the main I-mode menu page from which users will access mobile and PC Web sites. Google Ads will appear alongside search results. The two companies said they are also planning to bring more Google services, such as Google Maps, to handsets and build in support for Flash video so that users can access and stream content from YouTube.Google will appear as the default start page on mobile phones that feature browsers for the full Internet.The deal is Google&#39;s second in the mobile space in Japan. It already has a deal with second-ranked carrier &quot;au&quot; to which it provides search and advertising services. Number three carrier Softbank Mobile has a link with Yahoo Japan, the portal in which its parent company, Softbank, is the biggest shareholder.&#160;
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Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)--The number of subscribers to NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s  mobile phone services decreased a net 17,500 in November, incurring its first monthly loss in history, an industry group said Thursday.
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NTT DoCoMo, Japan&#39;s biggest mobile communications carrier, achieved a 1Gbps packet transmission speed using 4G) mobile communication equipment in August, the company has said.
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NTT DoCoMo Inc. will add three new search  services for its mobile phone users, including Yahoo Japan  Corp., a unit of its rival Softbank Corp., a company source  said Wednesday.
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TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan&#39;s leading mobile phone service operator, said it will invest a total of 8.2 mln usd in two China-based companies in a move to strengthen its mobile phone businesses in the rapidly growing market there.
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Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co  said on Friday that replacement of its batteries in Nokia  mobile phones is likely to cost the company 10 billion to 20  billion yen ($86-$172 million).
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NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, has developed a common software platform that can run on both the Linux and Symbian operating systems used in its 3G (third generation) mobile phones, the company said Thursday.
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NTT (NYSE:DCM) DoCoMo,Japan&#39;s leading mobile phone company, is set to make a &quot;sizeable&quot; investment in the booming markets of Vietnam, China or India, reversing a long-held decision to stay away from overseas markets after losing $9bn in botched investments six years ago.
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NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile-phone carrier, and Motorola Inc., the world's No. 2 cell-phone maker, plan to develop a more sophisticated mobile phone that subscribers in Japan can also use while traveling to other parts of Asia as well as Europe, the companies said Wednesday.
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With their home market saturated, Japan&#39;s handset makers finally look abroad. Meanwhile, margins have plunged. When NTT Docomo (DCM ) unveiled its latest third-generation mobile phones on Nov. 17, gadget lovers were not disappointed.
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NTT DoCoMo (NYSE:DCM), Japan&#39;s leading mobile phone operator, is considering consolidating its regional sales subsidiaries in an effort to streamline its bulky operations so it can more effectively compete with rivals that are gnawing away at its market share.
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Japan's Sanyo Electric Co., the biggest maker of rechargeable batteries, is recalling 1.3 million of its cell phone batteries.
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NTT DoCoMo will release a handset compatible with non-Japanese cellular networks and with its own 3G (third generation) mobile network early next year. The handset will be made by Motorola Inc. for DoCoMo and will also support wireless LAN, the two companies said in a statement on Wednesday.