Mitsui

The nascent near field communication space received a much needed jolt today as Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. (DCM) announced an agreement with Korean operator KT Corp. (KT) to use the wireless technology to develop “cross-border services for mobile …

Buongiorno S.p.A., one of the leading multinational conglomerates in the mobile content market, announced it entered the Chinese market by way of its acquisition of eDongAsia. The acquisition occurred through Buongiorno Hong Kong Ltd., the company’s joint venture with Mitsui …

SANTA MONICA, Calif.-Boingo Wireless Inc., a wholesale network aggregator and operator of Wi-Fi networks, raised $65 million in Series C funding from new and existing investors. Boingo said the funds will provide long-term capital and underwrite its acquisition of Concourse …

MIAMI—Mobile-phone distributor Brightstar Corp. received a $50 million investment from partner Mitsui & Co. Ltd. Brightstar said it plans to use the cash to expand its new operations in Southeast Asia including the markets of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand …

PLEASANTON, Calif.—Wireless entertainment company FunMail Inc. announced the acquisition of Zapptrio Inc., a developer of location-based applications for mobile phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Zapptrio, which had been owned by a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsui & …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc. is hoping to kick-start the lagging mobile-commerce market with a system that allows users to purchase products, transfer funds or pay bills with their cell phones. The company unveiled M-Wallet, a downloadable application for both smart …

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.-Motorola Inc. is hoping to kick-start the lagging mobile-commerce market with a system that allows users to purchase products, transfer funds or pay bills with their cell phones. The company unveiled M-Wallet, a downloadable application for both smart …

TOKYO-Japanese credit card companies and carriers are working together to allow consumers to use their phones as payment devices. Operators KDDI and Vodafone Group’s Japan unit have teamed with JCB and other financial companies to promote a standard and build …

American Tower Corp. announced a call for redemption of $75 million principal amount of its 9.375-percent senior notes due 2009. The redemption date is set for July 21. The notes will be redeemed at a price equal to 104.688 percent …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Signal processing technology and software-defined radio solutions supplier HelloSoft said it closed on an oversubscribed $16 million series B financing round led by TD Capital Ventures and new investors Mitsui & Company Venture Partners and Entrepia Ventures. The …

The day was marked by several mergers around the world in the mobile content space, an area that seems to be consolidating at an even faster clip than other areas of the shrinking wireless industry. Vidiator, a provider of rich …

With alliances and product rollouts, mesh technology is picking up enough momentum to graduate it from infancy status. Variously described as dynamic and ad hoc, the technology comes across as a technology to solve other technologies’ problems, whether in the …

MILPITAS, Calif.-Kineto Wireless, supplier of mobile over wireless local area network solutions, closed its $35 million Series C round of financing, bringing total investments in the company to more than $59 million. “The combination of Voice over IP, the rapid …

TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. has sold all its shares in Japanese Internet service provider DoCoMo AOL Inc. to America Online Inc., scaling back its ambitions to combine its mobile services with a pure-play Internet company. DoCoMo held 43.23 percent of the …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-Broadband wireless access solutions company BeamReach Networks announced it has completed a $15 million third round of equity financing. “We are using our new capital to move to volume production in anticipation of large scale deployments later this year,” …

TOKYO-Japanese content developer Bandai said it launched Charappal, its first content service for the European mobile market. The service will be available as an official i-mode content service offered by German operator E-Plus. Charappal is a download service for character-themed …

TOKYO-Mitsui & Company plans to expand its mobile content distribution business in Europe and Asia through a partnership with a Tokyo-based venture business. Mitsui, a leading trading firm in Japan, would provide a total service, including handset development to content …

SEATTLE-Although the economy continues to struggle along, funding seems to be persisting as two wireless data companies announced new financing. First, NetMotion Wireless Inc. said it closed its Series B funding with a total round of $10.8 million. The round …

TOKYO—Japanese mobile carriers are emphasizing location services to combat increasing competition within the market. The mobile-phone market in Japan has been expanding rapidly during the past several years. However, the market, which now has 72.8 million subscribers including PHS users, …

MADRID, Spain—Spanish mobile operator Telef