vnunet.com Asia news wrap: 15 February 2006

China will soon begin testing its home-grown 3G technology, TD-SCDMA, with a demonstration network in five major cities, local media reports said today.

The government is strongly promoting TD-SCDMA, which was developed in China with assistance from foreign companies.

The new standard is seen as a key first step in weaning China from its reliance on foreign-developed technology, and its associated licensing and royalty fees.

Chinese telecoms authorities are preparing to distribute licences to operate 3G networks among local operators. At least one of the new networks is expected to use TD-SCDMA, even though operators have expressed reluctance to adopt the untried technology.

China's two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, will be among those playing host to the test network, which may involve participation from all six of China's mobile network operators, media reports said.

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More than three quarters of Japanese mobile phone users browse the internet on their handsets, compared to just 12 per cent in the US, a recent survey has found.

Compared to residents of most other nations, the Japanese are generally more likely to use mobile data services of all kinds, the NPD Group discovered.

Japan had a head start in mobile data through the NTT DoCoMo service, which became immensely popular at around the same time that Wap was failing to take off elsewhere in the world.

Japan has more users of 3G or 3G-equivalent data networks than any other nation at approximately 30 per cent of its population.

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South Korea will control almost 15 per cent of the world's market for electronics products within nine years, up from around five per cent currently, a government minister predicted earlier this week.

Plans call for exports to triple to over $300bn, Yonhap news agency reported.

Korean conglomerates like Samsung and LG have expanded rapidly in recent years, selling a diverse range of products worldwide, including consumer electronics and semiconductors.

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The world's smallest fully-featured digital camera was launched yesterday, according to its manufacturer, Panasonic of Japan.

The company's new Lumix range includes a 94.1mm x 51.1mm x- 24.2mm model with a 6-megapixel image sensor and 3.6x optical zoom. The camera weighs 160g.

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