Japan is hooked on Tetris

sSecond year in the row Tetris named the most popular game on mobile phone in Japan, according to G-mode's study. Well, at least 1,200 survey respondents chose Tetris as the most addictive game they have ever played. The top 10 list includes some other famous titles as well:

1. Tetris (puzzle)
2. Puyo Puyo (puzzle)
3. Solitaire (board game)
4. Sudoku (puzzle)
5. Osero (board game)
6. Tsuri game (fishing)
7. Zoo keeper (puzzle)
8. Dragon quest (role playing)
9. Millionaire (board game)
10. Hakoniwa (other)

Source: g-mode

Softbank to users: switch to 3G or else

Nearly one million of Softbank users risk to wake up on April 1st next year and discover their phones gone unresponsive. That will happen if you are still using 2G phone and unwilling to switch to 3G. To give credit to Softbank, the plans of 2G cut off were made in advance last year. Now, 2G users' contracts will be automatically terminated after March 31, which means customers will lose their phone numbers and keitai email addresses.

Source: Keitai Watch

Japan loses its appeal to Nokia as the company cuts R&D budget

Nokia's exodus from Japan continues with the recently announced plans to downsize its R&D operations affecting 220 people. Nokia had about 300 employees on payroll in Japan before the announcement. Apparently, Japan is not the only country with the R&D cuts. Denmark and Finland offices will also go through the painful process of reduction in the sign of developed markets being unable to compete with the combination of bright minds and cheap labor that the growing economies offer. Still, Nokia has interests in Japan through its Nokia Siemens and Vertu operations.

Source: Nokia

NTT DoCoMo considering Sony Ericsson Android Xperia X10

Things look bright for Android in Japan. Following the release of Japan's first Android smartphone - the HTC Magic earlier this year, NTT DoCoMo is considering to ship its second Android device. Most likely it will be the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor-equipped Android smartphone with a 4-inch touchscreen recently announced by vendor. During the new handset lineup introduction, the DoCoMo's CEO said the operator is evaluating the possibility of selling the X10 during next year's spring-summer season. Other Japan's major operators including KDDI au and Softbank are also said preparing Android devices for launch next year. At the last press conference Softbank shared some details about its future Android smartphone saying it would feature the Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 3.7-inch OLED touchscreen and support Android's application store Marketplace. While the maker remains unknown, something tells me it might be Samsung.

Fujitsu announces world's first "separate" handset

Fujitsu is in a spotlight today (disclosure: I'm an employee of Fujitsu) as the company announced the first-of-its-kind mobile handset. It might look as an ordinary slider but in reality the sliding panels can be detached from each other. While someone might argue about the merit of handset's detachable atribute, nevertheless the engineering implementation of the idea is worth praising on its own. Besides the "wow" factor, Fujitsu thought about practical use cases for its detachable phone. When separated, the display (3.8" touchscreen) and the dialing pad communicate with each other via Bluetooth. In this state user can make and receive phone calls by using the dialing pad while having a browser, email or other application open on the display panel. The dialing pad also can be used as a remote control or game controller. Also, the dialing pad turns into QWERTY keyboard and when not needed it can be left behind allowing the user to travel light. Fujitsu plans to have several detachable options. For instance, instead of QWERTY keyboard someone would prefer carrying a projector. The device under the F-04B name should hit the DoCoMo's shelves in 1Q2010. Stay tuned more details to follow.


- Posted on the go