Earlier this month,� I was off to Japan on invitation from NTT Docomo as a part of the Tata Docomo 3G Life activity. Sounds like fun right ?� Excitement is an understatement.� I have always been amazed by the Japanese mobile market. Almost all of the products are not available outside the land of the rising sun.I have been very interested in NTT Docomo ever since I saw them at MWC and CommunicAsia. Stuff like Separable Phone and Eye controlled earphones are not something you would expect to see everyday. As you all might know NTT DOCOMO is one of the leading mobile operators in Japan with over 55% market share. The company holds 26% stake in Indian telecom operator Tata Docomo which sparked of the per second billing revolution and became the first private operator to launch 3G services.

I would like to share some interesting moments about the journey to NTT Docomo's Headquarters in JapanI had to catch an afternoon flight to Delhi to board a night flight to Tokyo in Japan. Reached Delhi a bit late due to bad weather and barely caught the flight to Tokyo. The Air India flight was pretty smooth and we landed in Tokyo in around 7 hours.

We checked into the awesome Hilton Tokyo hotel at Shinjuku-Ku and soon after headed for lunch at an Indian restaurant Bombay Club !

NTT DOCOMO Headquarters -- Sanno Park Tower

We then headed to the NTT DOCOMO Headquarters which is in a building known as Sanno Park Tower and we headed to the 27th floor to find some pretty ladies at the reception of the office.

We were greeted by Murat Karadeniz who took us to one of the top most floors of the building for the first round of meetings.

We met Yuji Yamamoto,Keisuke Yoshizawa and Takafumi Ito and had a general introduction. We then headed to the Train station for a Osaifu-Keitai field trip

Osaifu-Keitai Mobile Wallet Service

Osaifu-Keitai can be called a Mobile Wallet service offered by NTT DOCOMO. It was launched as early as July 2004

We were provided with Mobile phones which had chips inside capable of handling mobile payments. We first went to a shop to load our phones with some yen to use the service. We tried the Edy(Mobile Money) and Suica (Railway fare payment) services and it was simply mind blowing.

Check out the video below in which I pay for my train ride using my phone.

We also used it at McDonalds to buy some burgers and paid for it using just the phone.

Also check our the Japanese stowing their baggage in a hi-tech locker

Towards the� end of Day 1 we were provided with a local phone and a pocket internet router. It is similar to a MiFi but it kept running for almost 1 day before it ran out of battery. I could achieve speeds of 4-5Mbps on the road easily. Infact my laptop and iPhone were using this router for internet connectivity.

Day 2 started pretty early and we had our breakfast and headed to the Docomo Headquarters in Sanno Park Tower.

We were given an overview of the service offered by NTT Docomo in Japan such as i-mode , i-concier. i-bodymo, Otayori (Photo sharing service). Will try to cover these in a separate post soon.

Augmented Reality Glasses !

We also managed to get a nice view of Mount Fuji from the 41st floor.

Future Station

We headed to the Future Station where we were first given a overview about the Heart Vision� 2020.

Story of Yuki a 16yr old japanese girl

An awesome video about a connected world. The story of how our lives might be in 2020.

We then got to see the company's portfolio of phones and products

Kids Phone

Sound Leaf so that you hear through your bones and it worked !

Raku Raku Phone 7

Touchwood phone

They care about used handsets too !

LTE service (Xi) upto 75Mbps download speeds

NTT DOCOMO is rolling out LTE this month in select areas in Japan with speeds upto 75Mbps (down). The service is called Xi (read "Crossy") and we were given a overview of how LTE can change lives.

We then got into a awesome 3D Virtual Reality experience were we made a Kimono

Augmented Reality Golf Course on Android

Some nice little Docomodake mushrooms at the office !

Darth Vader at the NTT Docomo office.

It was time to say good bye to our friends at the Docomo office as we headed for lunch.

Docomo smartphone lounge

We then headed to the Docomo Smartphone lounge which showcases all the handsets currently available in the market.

Sharp Lynx 3D Phone

The Samsung Galaxy Tab

The Toshiba REZGA Phone

After that we headed to the NTT Group showroom NOTE which is a Futuristic showroom showcasing some interesting services. We saw demos of services like Telemedicine, Home Networking, IPTV, Cisco Telepresence.

The best part of this showroom was the t-Room which is the future of Educational services. You might have heard of Virtual Classrooms, but the t-Room takes it to the ultimate level ! Students get to interact with a Teacher present in a remote location and get to see each other face to face. The t-Room is a circular room filled with cameras and large flatscreen TVs.

Watch the video below courtesy of our friends from Crunchgear to get an idea of how it works ! It was unbelievable .

Akihabara -- Gadget Heaven -- almost got lost

Akihabara is one of the largest electronics markets in the world. It's a big chain of multi-storeyed electronic malls and one can easily spend days here ! I spent just few hours just at one shop Yodabashi and picked up some gadgets and almost got lost on my way out.

Thanks to my iPhone and internet , i found my way outside !

Sayonara

Dinner was hosted by NTT DOCOMO Team at a nearby Indian restaurant and I certainly enjoyed the conversation more than the food.

And it was awesome meeting folks who traveled along with me. It was a great mix of people who were part of the trip -- Harshal from Tata Docomo , Puneet from MobiGyaan , Tarun from TelecomTalk , Vivek from Qualcomm , Ashwin who is still in school , Yoganandh who is an engineering student, Swaminathan who is pursing his PhD

A big thanks Tata Docomo and NTT Docomo for making this trip possible. They certainly took great care of us and also made this trip a very memorable one.

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Sony Ericsson is gearing up to announce several devices next year. We have already seen the�Sony Ericsson Playstation phone also known as Zeus, and the smart and slim�Sony Ericsson Anzu. Now another Sony Ericsson device is leaked and it's codenamed as SE Hallon. The design of the phone is kind a similar to Zeus, but the Hallon doesn't come with a slider keyboard. The phone features a big front facing camera, which means that the device will feature video calling.�Sony Ericsson is planning to launch new members of Xperia family in February during the MWC. So hopefully we will see all the�unannounced�devices there, and I hope all devices will run the latest version of Android OS. Check out more images after the break:

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A few days ago,�HTC launched a site where they teased us with their upcoming 4G phone, which is probably going to hit Verizon, and we will see this phone�officially�at CES next month. Rumor has it that the device is the HTC Incredible HD, which is going to be Verizon first 4G LTE phone. Now HTC has officially launched the sign-up page for the device and they are calling it Thunderbolt 4G. The page has the same slogan "HTC will be the first to 4G. Again." All I can say is that this CES is going to be very interesting, and we will see a lot of good devices next year. So folks, if you want to stay updated with the Thunderbolt 4G, then head over to the�site and sign-up

Read

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Petrolheads amongst you, if you have a Range Rover yourself, its most likely you'll have been happily cruising your four-wheel drive vehicle on even the most difficult of roads while most of us struggle desperately through the pathetically thin layer of snow and ice during the holidays.

But since when have we men ever said power was too much? Project Kahn and Cosworth � two British tuners that have been working together for the past couple of years have recently tweaked the already highly capable and luxurious Range Rover Sport (4.4-liter V8 diesel). With 313 horsepower, the diesel Rover is hardly a wimp, but Cosworth has taken it a step further by squeezing out a whopping 500 horsepower in grand total.

To go with the massive upgrade in output, Kahn has given the Range Rover an extensive cosmetic update both inside and out, with new bumpers from and rear, side skirts, 22-inch wheels and an interior decked out in billet aluminum and perforated and quilted leather trim, talk about luxury and power, check it out in the gallery below…

[via Kahn News]

CES 2011 is just few days away, and a lot of companies are going to announce some new devices at CES 2011. Motorola is going to announce the next generation Android tablet at CES, which will run Android 2.4 a.k.a Honeycomb, and the device will also feature NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. A few days ago, we heard that�Samsung has placed a big order to Nvidia for their Tegra 2, and it indicates that Samsung is planning to launch a bunch of devices with Tegra 2 processor next year.

Now rumors are popping out that Samsung is launching�Samsung Galaxy S2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 at CES 2011. A few weeks ago,�Eldar Murtazin told us that he is playing with the Galaxy S2, and the phone comes with a dual-core processor. Another source is claiming that Samsung is launching the Galaxy S2 at the Mobile World Congress, which is the world biggest mobile expo. So maybe we will see the Galaxy S successor at MWC.

Samsung Galaxy Tab is currently the best selling Android tablet in the market. Galaxy Tab 2 will run Honeycomb, and Google has chose Tegra 2 as the lead platform for the upcoming Android 2.4. CES is just one week away, so I hope we will see some good devices from Samsung at CES. So folks tell us what do you think, is Samsung really launching new devices at CES?

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We've been waiting for this for a while, and we're pleased to say that Sprint has finally launched 4G WiMAX network in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to Sprint, new 4G WiMAX network is four times faster than the standard 3G service.

As for availability, Sprint's 4G network will be initially available in San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto and Oakland. Interesting fact is that several major cities throughout the States such as Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago already have Sprint's 4G network support. In order to use the 4G network to the fullest, you'll need a 4G compatible phone such as HTC EVO 4G or Samsung Epic 4G.

[via Ubergizmo]

Gaming is quite popular nowadays, and as you probably know, there are all sorts of motion devices on the market. The major problem that can occur with these devices is that they run out of juice quickly, worst while you're playing your favourite game, and this is when this charger comes in.

During the years, we have seen all sorts of chargers for Wiimotes, but today we have a charger that comes with one of the most popular video games characters of all times. Since we're talking about Nintendo Wii, you're probably expecting to see a charger with Super Mario figure on top of it, but surprisingly this charger doesn't come with Super Mario or with any other Nintendo's character. Instead, this charger features Mario's long lost rival, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Why is Sonic the Hedgehog the most famous character from Sega charging Wiimotes? This is probably an explanation for the folks from Mad Catz. If you would like to get this charger, it'll set you back by $49.99 from Mad Catz.

[via Engadget]

Tata Docomo today introduced a new Blackberry Unlimited plan for its prepaid and postpaid BlackBerry customers. This new Unlimited Plan comes for Rs.399/month.

It features

• Unlimited Internet browsing including audio and video streaming
• Unlimited Push Email � upto 10 accounts
• Unlimited Social Networking
• Unlimited Blackberry App World usage

As a introductory offer the Tata Docomo also offers free 300MB of 3G data usage for its BlackBerry customers with this plan.

So what are you waiting for BlackBerry Boys and Gals ? Go get connected.

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With the launch of the HD7 , HTC today became the first handset maker to launch a Windows Phone 7 device in India. Airtel users will get 2GB of Data usage for 6 months for Rs.300.

The price of the HD7 has been indicated as Rs.29990 but you can find it in the market for as much as Rs.27000 approx.

"Windows Phone 7 is an entirely fresh mobile experience, on which HTC is excited to be going big.� We see tremendous customer opportunities with the integration of Microsoft's most popular services," said�Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC India. "The value Microsoft is bringing to mobile customers around the world sets a new benchmark for the industry and HTC is proud to be the first in bringing in the brand new Windows Phone 7 experience to India in partnership with Bharti airtel."

"We are delighted with the opportunity to bring the eagerly-awaited HTC HD7 Smartphone in India. Combining the strength of the airtel brand and network with the innovation and design of HTC and the great user-interface of Windows Phone 7, we are happy to bring another first for our customers that will take mobile communications to a whole new level." said Mr. Shireesh Joshi, CMO-Mobile Services, Bharti airtel

HTC HD7 Features

• 4.3 inch display with kick stand
• 1GHz CPU
• 5 MP Camera with 720p HD video recording
• HTC Hub

HTC HD7 Photo Gallery

HTC HD7 Specs

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We've seen all sorts of weird things related to technology and innovations, but today we have something special for the holiday season that will allow you to have a holiday dinner with your beloved ones, even if they live in another state.

As you know, holidays are time of togetherness when we all try to spend as much time as we can with our beloved ones, but what if our loved ones live in other states? In that case you could have a 'virtual holiday dinner' with them using Skype. Folks form Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam have created a special holiday table that allows you to spend the holidays with your beloved ones in the form of robotic mechanical dolls. In fact, the mechanical dolls are sat at the table with a computer as their head, and you can rotate them simply by moving your head. That way you can simply turn your mechanical avatar and "talk" to any other person that is sitting at the table with you.

[via Gizmodo]