NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan’s largest cellphone operator, plans to sell a handset that uses Google Inc’s Android software in the first half of next year.
DoCoMo president Ryuji Yamada made the comment at a press briefing in Tokyo yesterday. He also said the company aims to offer “close to 10” so-called smart phones next year.
Google formed the Open Handset Alliance in November to develop Android with more than 30 phone makers, carriers and chipmakers including DoCoMo, chipmaker Intel Corp, and cellphone manufacturer Motorola Inc Smart phones may help DoCoMo recover shrinking market share and challenge Apple Inc’s iPhone, offered by Softbank Corp.
Android is based on the free Linux operating system and is open to any programmer who wants to develop features for wireless devices. Software developers can build custom applications to run with the program.
In the past year, Softbank added three times as many new subscribers as DoCoMo, with KDDI attracting 50 percent more users. DoCoMo added a net 903,100 subscribers in the 12 months ended Aug. 30, compared with 2.6 million for Softbank and 1.3 million for KDDI, according to numbers released by the carriers.
By offering code anyone can use, Google is seeking to break the hold phone companies have on the kinds of applications that run on its devices.
T-Mobile USA Inc became the first company to unveil a cellphone to run on Google’s Android software earlier this month. The G1 uses an open-source platform that allows anyone to develop programs for the device.
The G1, made by HTC Corp (宏達電), lets customers use Google applications to search the Web, get directions and read the news. The device also has a media player that connects to Amazon.com Inc’s music Web site.
Meanwhile, DoCoMo said it will introduce a new model of Research In Motion Ltd’s BlackBerry handset to woo business users. The BlackBerry “Bold” offers a brighter display, global positioning and will be available in the first quarter, DoCoMo said.
DoCoMo, faced with a shrinking market share, in December cut monthly subscription fees for BlackBerry services, which are not marketed directly to individual users, by 40 percent to Y3,570 (US$33.60) to fend off Softbank Corp and KDDI Corp.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$416.975 billion (US$13.17 billion) for last month, putting the world’s largest contract chipmaker on track to set a record for quarterly revenue. Last month’s figure surpassed March’s record NT$415.19 billion and represented increases of 1.5 percent from April and 30.1 percent from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, TSMC generated NT$1.96 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. TSMC has forecast second-quarter revenue of between US$39 billion and US$40.2 billion, representing sequential growth of about 10 percent and year-on-year growth of about
Infineon Technologies AG is preparing to open its largest single investment, a 5 billion euro (US$5.8 billion) semiconductor factory built with the help of EU subsidies, as the bloc seeks to boost chip production. The power chip fab, which is an extension of the German company’s Dresden campus, is scheduled to open on July 2, Infineon chief operating officer Alexander Gorski said this week at the site. The project is a major recipient of EU Chips Act funds, receiving about 1 billion euros in subsidies. The new plant represents a rare success for the bloc’s flagship semiconductor law, which was drawn up during
PATENT PROBE: US lawmakers called for a ban on imports of chips made by TSMC if they are found to infringe on US patents, with a preliminary ruling expected soon Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday expressed confidence in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) compliance with patent regulations after reports linked the company to a patent infringement lawsuit in the US. US Representative Ryan Zinke, and US senators Tim Sheehy, Roger Marshall and Bernie Moreno urged the US International Trade Commission in a May 22 letter to ban imports of chips made by TSMC if they are found to infringe on US patents, Axios reported on Wednesday. An administrative law judge is expected to issue a preliminary ruling this month, with the commission potentially making a final decision in
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
RSS