NTT DoCoMo in talks on Android-based cell phone

by Martyn Williams

January 24, 2008 —

Japan's biggest mobile telecom carrier gave its strongest support yet to Google's
Android platform on Thursday when it said it is considering a cell phone
based on the technology.

"We are starting discussions to offer handsets that will have the Android
operating system," said Takeshi Natsuno, managing director of the multimedia
services department at NTT DoCoMo.

The talks include getting support for I-mode, DoCoMo's hit mobile Internet
service, on the Android platform. Nearly 48 million of DoCoMo's 53 million customers
subscribe to I-mode, so having it on Android will be key to the Google platform's
success in Japan.

Android is a Linux-based platform for cell phones that will combine open-source
components and include an operating system, middleware stack, customizable user
interface and applications.

NTT DoCoMo is one of the founding members of the Open
Handset Alliance, the group developing Android. Until Thursday hadn't disclosed
what it hoped to gain from its participation in the group, which includes about
40 companies including some of the biggest names in the cell phone industry.

"When I look at the prototype, the Android-based handset works really
well even on some of the cheaper handset designs," said Natsuno.

Natsuno didn't provide any specifics about when such a handset might be available.
When the Open Handset Alliance was launched last year Google said that it expected
the first phones running the software to appear in late 2008.

Despite its support for Android, NTT DoCoMo is also working with companies
developing rival platforms. It has an alliance with Access, a Japanese software
company with which is has deep ties, on the Access Linux Platform (ALP). DoCoMo
is working on a "carrier pack," a set of unique products and services,
that can run on ALP, which is intended to be a common Linux platform for cell
phones.

Natsuno's comments came at a Tokyo news conference held to detail a partnership
between the carrier and Google.

The alliance will see Google products and applications added to DoCoMo handsets.
These will include the addition of a Google search box on the main I-mode menu
page from which users will access mobile and PC Web sites. Google Ads will appear
alongside search results. The two companies said they are also planning to bring
more Google services, such as Google Maps, to handsets and build in support
for Flash video so that users can access and stream content from YouTube.

Google will appear as the default start page on mobile phones that feature
browsers for the full Internet.

The deal is Google's second in the mobile space in Japan. It already has a
deal with second-ranked carrier "au" to which it provides search and
advertising services. Number three carrier Softbank Mobile has a link with Yahoo
Japan, the portal in which its parent company, Softbank, is the biggest shareholder.

IDG News Service