Advanced Mobile Phone Tech in Japan 138
jonknee writes "MobileTracker notes that Japanese researchers at NTT DoCoMo are busy working on a technology to make mobile phones tie in with your senses. This should be a part of 4G technology, which with the way things are going here, may never come to the US. A sidenote about 4G technology, download speeds are 100 megabits per second!"
Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wow (Score:2)
old news (Score:2, Interesting)
makes me want to move over there....100Mbps (synchronous)...drooool
Already? (Score:2, Funny)
Thinking about it, I don't even need 3G. I can place calls, send SMS, browse the net trough GPRS.
Ohh but I can't control my own mars probe!!! That's it, I need 5G.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Already? (Score:4, Interesting)
Wha...? It's lovely. GPRS is only up to about 40kbps, whereas 3G is 128, and up to 384 if the network supports it. I was driving around Bristol with my laptop plugged into my car stereo, bluetooth connection to a 3G phone listening to Bassdrive [bassdrive.com], and that was summer last year. Being a passenger in a car, and SSHing from a laptop at 80mph into your Linux box at 128kbps to check your mail with mutt is pretty trippy too.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Already? (Score:2)
Re:Already? (Score:2)
I think you'll find BT is about 700-800 kbps. And I have been able to get internet over 3G, thank you. Try doing a whois on my domain, and look for the registrant. Don't jump to conclusions.
Re:Already? (Score:4, Interesting)
So 3G is not failing in the UK - IT IS NOT IN THE UK! They like to keep this under wraps - I only noticed as I am a shareholder of PCCW. Go into your nearest '3' store and demand an answer.
Looking further afield, 2.5G services has become hugely popular in S. Korea, to the cost of those companies which bought the 3G licences. I don't think it is a technology sweeping the public over thing, rather public picking and choosing the technology as they like - th the moment they don't like.
BTW - 3G contracts are not a cost of the networks, they are passed wholly onto mobile users (present users are paying interest on debt the phone companies built up right now) - they are a tax on the mobile phone.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Already? (Score:3, Informative)
Hmm, that would explain why they are ignoring the people petitioning them for internet
service.
So 3G is not failing in the UK - IT IS NOT IN THE UK!
Actually vodafone launched their 3G service a few days ago. Up to 384kbps down 64kbps up
depending on how far you are from the cell and how many other people are using it. The coverage [vodafone.co.uk] is just London and a couple of other citys.
Re:Already? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Does that mean it can be used for VoIP?
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Wow (Score:1)
I can't quote a source, but I have read that GPRS can't be used for VOIP since its latency is far too high for VOIP.
Re:Wow (Score:2)
Tie in with senses? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Tie in with senses? (Score:2)
Senses indeed! (Score:5, Funny)
But feeling? Uh oh.
What happens if someone gets on the phone with you, and punches the little graphic if your tele-head in the face? I can just imagine the new wave of tele-assassinations.
But hey, just imagine the possibilities with pornography!
Re:Senses indeed! (Score:1)
Download at 100Mb (Score:5, Insightful)
Typically poor reporting (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all about speed. Fourth-generation services would allow for data transfer speeds of up to 20 megabytes per second for uplinks and 100 megabytes per second for downlinks -- up to 260 times faster than DoCoMo's popular 3G services, which allow for downlinks of 384 kilobytes per second.
If you're going to put someone on the technology beat, please put someone in who understands the difference between bits and bytes
Re:Typically poor reporting (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Typically poor reporting (Score:2)
Perhaps IPv6 includes a section on how you should module it over the airwaves and multiplex different signals. But i doubt it.
100mbits - death by billing (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:100mbits - death by billing (Score:1)
Lars
Directional Stereo (Score:4, Interesting)
Essentially you can hear where the other person is, and walk towards them. (in the bg it does all kinds of GPS magic, sound transformations, etc).
That's pretty cool, and goes where technology should go - its user interface is natural again, and we can use the built in "direction finder" that works in our head on a subconcious level.
Keep it up!
No...more like... (Score:1)
Time for a mithril helmet.
speed (Score:3, Insightful)
Mobile phones can barely hold 100mbits at all, let alone be able to write 100mbits/sec to its hard drive (or SIM card, whatever it uses).
Lets just say you were to use your phone for internet access (via GPRS or something), the majority of mobile providers' internet costs are huge (as you would expect since most of them charge by the kilobyte) so it can't really be used for that.
I suppose it might make video messaging more clear, however, not having a video phone and not knowing the current quality, I can't see much of an improvement.
At current, I really can't see much use for it, but I'm sure technology will catch up and before long we'll be needing much higher speeds for something.
video conference (Score:3, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:speed (Score:2)
the thing is, it's a largely just a 'for the future' thing now.
were you asking 10 years ago why you would possibly want 1gbit/s lan at home?
Re:speed (Score:4, Funny)
As with all new technologies, ask yourself one question;
How can technology X improve the creation, distribution, storage or viewing of pr0n?
Once you have answered this, the other applications (DNA research, selling books, sub-atomic simulations to prove multi-parallel universe theories) are trivial.
Re:speed (Score:2)
Not in Japan.
Re:speed (Score:2, Interesting)
how about when you hook it up to a laptop for internet access?
Re:speed (Score:2)
Reporters and sports photographers are gonna love it.
Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:3, Insightful)
- It is a device to let you communicate with people all around the world, no matter where you are.
- It is a fashion or status symbol to some people.
They have every reason to be "psycho" about their phones.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
It's literal. But I don't see why you have a problem with being able to buy a 1 year old phone for less than a penny.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Technically, this does not have to be true, although it is likely that this will remain true on mainstream computers for a long time to come, if not ever, due to installed base.
A bit is defined as a binary digit.
A byte is defined as the smallest addressable chunk of data on the processor. You could have a system with 16 bit bytes, or 1 bit bytes if you wanted. Really, the only reason to make a byte eight bits is for interoperability purposes and because the common set of characters us
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:1)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
The advantage is that you get to eliminate logic that isn't generally used on your CPU, which lets the designers have space to work on optimizing common cases.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
I know nokia's not a japanese firm.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Is it anything like a "yen", which is the Japanese monetary unit? Either speak English, or speak Japanese.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:1)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Engrish school? I don't think we need to bring this discussion down to the level where we're flinging around racist insults of the Japanese people.
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
(I'm also just covering for a typo of mine, though...)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Re:Japanese are psycho about thier phones. (Score:2)
Japanese speakers don't make mistakes like that...they make mistakes, but not that one. Don't be a jackass, man.
Will it work.. (Score:1)
Re:Will it work.. (Score:1)
Cool, but unnecessary (Score:4, Insightful)
100mbits per second? (Score:5, Insightful)
I vaguely remember there's something like Shannon's law, and a crude calculation should be able to show that wireless (4G) 100mbits per user is quite a feat in high populated places. Wouldn't they at least need a ridicoulous small meshed antenna infrastructure? How about energy consumption of mobiles with these high frequencies?
What I'm looking for is some principal, simple calculations casting some doubt on the thought that wireless throughput is as scalable as processor power.
Re:100mbits per second? (Score:1)
Re:100mbits per second? (Score:1)
Re:100mbits per second? (Score:1)
Re:100mbits per second? (Score:1)
Lick Larry on Line Eleven (Score:5, Funny)
I have to use my cellphone for business. The idea of having to taste or smell MY clients....YUCK.. Perish the thought.....
Predictions (Score:4, Interesting)
I personally would use SMS and voice mail most often, even when phones develop to be very advanced. I think video phones are already too annoying to myself and others, I wouldn't want anything worse.
Finding you in a crowd (Score:5, Insightful)
It does kind of give you pause though when you juxtapose it with this article about a stolen Siemens SX1 cellphone prototype:
http://www.mobile9.com/news/2004/04/a_failed_at
When the prototype was stolen at a trade show Siemens engineers apparently sent some secret SMS messages to the phone which apparently overrode the GPS tracking switch enabling them to track the phone and catch the thief. They claim these messages were only pssible due to the "special nature" of the prototypes but thats pretty hard to swallow so you have to wonder how many GPS enabled cell phones have back doors to enable GPS tracking without the user's permission.
In an age where your every move can be tracked by the OnStar system in your car, or secretly enabling GPS tracking in your phone and pretty soon with RFID tags you may as well say hello to Big Brother and look happy when he's watching.
Re:Finding you in a crowd (Score:2)
GPS, on the other hand, is a broadcast system from satellites which don't get any feedback from the receiver.
Re:Finding you in a crowd (Score:2)
I imagine they sent the phone one of these secret messages and it probably started sending its GPS coordinates to an SMS mailbox.
I guess it is a little pointless to worry about GPS tracking in cell phones when just having one of the things turned on is good enough.
get out your tinfoil hat, here comes BIG BROTHER (Score:2)
Let's think this through here. Siemens here used special messages to track Siemens' phone.
Sounds like the phone was stolen ``without the user's permission" and ``the user" was using their own backdoor to retrieve their rightful property.
Now even though in
Sweet. (Score:3, Funny)
Okay, great, but is it also a walkie-talkie? I'm told life is better when your phone is a walkie-talkie.
What is the killer app for this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Talking about pr0n is all ok, but people can still get it on their home PCs and be satisfied about it. For this to be accepted throughout the world, you need a killer app that everyone will drool over. Something that is not very obvious right now. Any suggestions?
Re:What is the killer app for this? (Score:1)
note to trolls...it's too easy, go for a real target...
Re:What is the killer app for this? (Score:2)
Only then will such a system be adopted in markets where the carriers have already invested substantially in 2G and 3G systems (and hence feel reluctant to shell out more money for a 4G system which may or may not give a sufficient ROI).
Of course, if one of us knew the killer app, he/she would have the patent application out already
possibilities (Score:1)
remote emergency medical applications
geology/exploration
engineering purposes, perhaps diagnostics and repairs or fabrications/modifications that might eliminate a shop visit
subset engineering: collaborative efforts where the collaborators needs be in different physical locations
meterology in real time accumulating many diverse microclimates into a forecast, a "weatherbug" type app where you with your 5 senses phone add to the database, wea
Re:What is the killer app for this? (Score:2)
Item 2: iPod
Item 3: Firewire connection between (1) and (2)
Item 4: complete and utter contempt for copyright law
Item 5: Profit!
Newsflash: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Newsflash: (Score:2)
Re:Newsflash: (Score:1)
100Mbps mobile but how much per MB? (Score:3, Informative)
Orange's idea of "as much data as you like" turns out to be 100 megabytes a month.
Vodafone charges the equivalent of 182 dollars (150 euro) for 500MB per month.
"Three" is unwilling or unable to even provide a data service over it's 3G network.
Re:100Mbps mobile but how much per MB? (Score:1)
should I move to Japan? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:should I move to Japan? (Score:5, Funny)
Ramen
Gyoza
Fughu
Toilets that Wash our Ass
Re:should I move to Japan? (Score:1)
I recently watched a rented Japanese drama from ~10 years ago. There were scenes of people walking across the street and there were no cell phones! It was shocking! Also the show contained scenes of people waiting in lines to use the green public phones.
Those days are long gone!
natsuka
Re:should I move to Japan? (Score:1)
Even most
MAN i have seen some U-G-L-Y foreign guys with hot women in this country.
Scary Progress (Score:1, Interesting)
Brings new meaning to prank calls... (Score:1, Funny)
This would realy bring new meaning to prank calls...
Whats that aweful smell??? Awwww...Damn Kids sending me dog crap again!
brain connection (Score:4, Insightful)
They are also running some wacky tv-ads for it, showing x-ray skeletons being subjected to radiation waves from phones -even more spooky
them japs sure love all da tech fings ^_^
100mb a second!?! (Score:1)
Anyone can track you? (Score:2)
wait for it... (Score:3, Funny)
Instead of appologising for a poor signal, people will have to appologise for driving past chemical plants, dairy farms, etc.
I want lip reading on my phone ... (Score:1)
My Japanese Phone (Score:2, Interesting)
What I find interesting... (Score:1)
Re:Figures... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Figures... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Figures... (Score:1)
I say more power to them! Certain intitutionalized societal ills aside, I could only wish we'd catch up to them...
Not Accurate. (Score:2, Informative)
Using local standard is not what Japanese goverment has wanted.
In terms of Business, it's okay that other world uses GMS because anyway NOKIA and other GMS phone manufatcurer are importing a lot of semiconductor and other parts from Japan. What does matter is how much money we make.
Finally GMS phone will be never u
Re:Not Accurate. (Score:1)
WRONG again!! (Score:2, Insightful)
PHS is also phasing out too currently. You can get info from newspaper if you can read.
As for BBC link, I can give you 2 evidence to show it's wrong. Firstly now I have WCDMA phone by NTT Docomo. Secondly read this if you can "http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/corporate/company/glo b al/index.html" . It says NTT Docomo will use WCDMA. You may not know that CDMA2000 is operated by AU which is other telco company.
Could you tell me how did you make up your fantasy that PDC is r
Re:Yet Again, the Japanese don't get it (Score:2, Informative)
There are also several WCDMA phones that are also triband GSM in which case you wouldn't even have to switch handsets.