Use your mobile to unlock your car

Mobil manufacturer Sharp and Japan's DoCoMo network have created a mobile phone that incorporates Nissan's Intelligent Key system, which will enable it to unlock compatible Nissan cars made since 2002. (No, not all of them). It's only a prototype at the moment, with commercial production expected in 2009. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

Japanese government promotes mobile payments

It's quite a day for mobile payment stories. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications says it's planning to work with the country's mobile phone operators to promote the use of mobile wallet services worldwide. It's backing contactless technology based on Sony's FeliCa chips, which has been used by NTT DoCoMo for three years. [Source: BWCS.com]

Mobile data revenue to hit £100 billion this year

The latest report from Informa Telecoms & Media says annual revenue from mobile data services is set to exceed $200 billion (£100 billion) for the first time this year. Total revenue from mobile data was approximately $157 billion in 2007 and was up by over 42% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008. Non-SMS data is estimated to account for around 35% of total data revenue. Japan's NTT DoCoMo currently generates the highest non-voice revenue, while Smart Communications in the Philippines has the largest proportion of data revenue: more than 50% of its income is from non-voice services. [Source: Telecoms.com]

Smelly-phones from NTT

Not a belated April Fool's joke, apparently. Japanese NTT Communications is testing a Mobile Fragrance Communication service (Kaori Tsushin Mobile) service that lets mobile phone customers create and share fragrances. The service, which was launched for home use in 2005, uses a device that's been pre-loaded with a number of basic fragrances. Mobile phone users can then download "Fragrance Playlists" or fragrance recipes that are sent to the device by infrared to create individual fragrances when multimedia files are being played on the mobile phone. [Source: BWCS.com]

Mitsubishi to leave mobile phone industry

Mitsubishi Electric has said it'll stop developing and producing mobile phones due to declining market profitability in Japan - after 25 years of handset manufacturing. The company currently provides handsets to Japan's NTT DoCoMo. [PDF press release]

Dolby goes mobile

Dolby Laboratories, the company that's been improving audio equipment for the last 40 years, has just announced Dolby Mobile. It's a new audio-processing technology that brings rich, vibrant surround sound to films, music and TV shows on mobile phones and portable media players. The first products with Dolby Mobile technology are the Sharp SH905i and SH905iTV, which are now available to customers on the NTT DoCoMo network in Japan. [Press release]