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GPS phones getting strong
acceptance in Japan
July 14, 2007
In 2006, and 43.5 million 3G phones were sold in Japan with
98 models. Among these models 45 were GPS-enabled.
“In the advanced Japanese mobile phone market, the shipment
of 3G phones exceeded 92% of 47.8 million phones sold in 2006,” says Allyn Hall, a Director with In-Stat. “The
market is full of excitement as phones with brilliant displays, rich multimedia capabilities and various novel functions were
introduced last year to gain customer acceptance and market share.”
Major wireless carriers NTT DoCoMo ,
KDDI and Softbank offers various location-based services. Navigation and local mobile search are the most common services.
DoCoMo launched the first pedestrian navigation service with a-GPS in 2000 and KDDI launched the first real 3D navigation
service, displaying three dimensional intersections and landmarks, in March 2006.
Services such as child tracking
and location of lost mobile phones are also offered by wireless operators. In May KDDI also introduces 'Saigaiji-Navi'
Mobile GPS Services, an on-board navigation solution where users are provided directions and distance to nearest evacuation
sites in case of earthquakes and other emergencies.
Source: gpsbusinessnews.com
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