A handful of Japanese companies said they plan to jointly develop a next-generation mobile phone platform for dual-mode handsets supporting 2G and 3G technology.
NTT DoCoMo, Renesas Technology, Fujitsu Limited, Mitsubishi Electric, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications agreed to the joint development project in an effort to provide a platform with advanced functionality for 3G mobile phones.
NTT DoCoMo and Renesas have already jointly developed the SH-Mobile G1, a first-generation single-chip LSI for dual-mode handsets supporting W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS. The SH-Mobile G1 is now in mass production and handsets built around it first appeared on the market in the fall of 2006.
The second-generation successor, the SH-Mobile G2, and a mobile phone platform integrating core software are currently under development by NTT DoCoMo, Renesas, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, and Sharp.By implementing the platform as a base system, manufacturers Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson can eliminate the need to develop common handset functions. This will significantly reduce development time and costs, allowing the manufacturers to invest more time and resources in developing distinctive handset features and expanding their product portfolio, the companies said.
