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News
Issue #2001 - 15
(Apr. 2001)
(Updated
April 11, 2001)
PRODUCTS,
SERVICES & APPLICATIONS
i-Mode Users Now Dial
for a Coke
The Japanese unit of Coca-Cola has
partnered with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo and conglomerate Itochu
to begin networking Coke’s one million vending machines in Japan
with i-mode phones. The Industry Standard reported that this summer,
Japanese telecom plans to offer its 21 million subscribers the
choice of purchasing a soft drink using their wireless phone.
Last year, Coca-Cola announced plans to invest $100-million in
intelligent on-line vending machines developed by Marconi. Over
60,000 of these first generation vending machines were installed in
selected markets around the world. The first field tests were
conducted in Finland, where it took over 15 seconds to complete a
transaction. The soft drink giant and vending partners will have to
do much better than that to get the approval of the highly
discerning Japanese customer.
Mobileinfo Comments and Advisory: This
is an interesting and useful application that will catch on.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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