NTT DoCoMo, in partnership with mmO2 plc, that they will be extending their i-Mode mobile data services into the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany. According to the DoCoMo press release, English and Irish services are slated to begin in the second half of 2005, with German rollout planned for Spring 2006.

I have been spouting off about this for over a year to anyone who will listen, and now my wishes are beginning to come true. This move will definitely give Vodafone and their recent Vodafone live! 3G program a run for its money, and it will further strengthen DoCoMo’s position as a dominant force in the global mobile industry.

It seems that O2 needed this deal, considering they are the runner-up in the UK market, and Vodafone’s 3G launch spans across the majority of Europe. DoCoMo also needs to continue to make bold moves into foreign markets in order to grow beyond their current role as an extremely strong yet land-locked company.

Personally I would like to see DoCoMo increase their visibility in the US market. Their investment in ATT Wireless hasn’t borne much fruit aside from a minimal 3G launch in small pockets of ATT’s coverage. Vodafone could stand to increase their brand visibility in the US market, mostly because I dread hearing about Verizon Wireless and the next feature-stripped handset.

If mobile customers in the US will wake up and begin to demand handset portability from their providers, then hopefully we can push GSM into a more dominant position, which would soften the ground for a proper global market.

The Electronic Arts slogan Challenge Everything, apparently extends to include the limits of their employees as well as their software development. Read the NY Times piece on the subject, which references an amazing blog post from the spouse of an EA employee.

In case anyone needed reassurance of this, I submit to you the following:

Flipper was a badass crime-solving porpoise, Bones in Johnny Mnemonic was a cypher mammal with Ice-T as his best friend, and of who can forget Debbie’s hand raised pseudo-baby from Sealab 2021.

This CNN piece further confirms what amazing animals dolphins are. Apparently they protected a family of Kiwi swimmers from impending shark attack.

All of this, plus they have sex for fun.

…Is really cool.

She’s a pro surfer! Check out her bio from Essential Surf Company.

These films have consumed my attention recently, and I will own them before the month is out.

First, for obscene violence, Mach!!!!!!!! Trailer / Amazon.jp

Second, for the best cell-shading ever, Appleseed. Trailer / Amazon.jp

Amazon has compiled a list of DVDs priced at 7.99! Buy me!

Amazing shit I’ve found this evening while on lunch from slingin’ Pods:

Big Baby Jesus, aka Old Dirty Bastard, dead at 35. His location of death signals his true love.

The Museum of Media History cira 2014. Very creepy ending, though I do like the Googlezon logo a lot, and I’d like to see them merge.

Build your own HiDef Personal Video Recorder. I think I’m going to have to construct this franken-console just to have an alternative to the broadcast flag mandate.

Kottke tutorials photo time panoramas. This technique makes me want to pick up a proper d’slr in time for snowboarding season.

Senate stock picks outperformed the market by 12 percent over five years. I’m not really concerned about the pointers this study will make towards criminalizing a number of the US Congress, I just want to start following their picks.

The Ring Two looks awesome. Somehow, in spite of all the rave around the genre with films like The Grudge and White Noise that have been released, this one still maintains more class for me.

McFaul and I did some digging in AppleDirectory after lunch today, as we were curious about which Apple employees are responsible for iPod Belt Clip and iPod Socks, the two most-recent additions to the iPod accessories family.

Yea I know, curiosity killed the cat, but fcuk that we ain’t no cats. Well, perhaps in the Sammy Davis Jr. slash Dennis Miller ‘cool cat’ sense, but not felines.

Anyhoo, just in case any of you were wondering, the two beautiful people responsible for clippy cases and fabric cases/socks are Earl Case and Julie Socks, respectively.

Just left Cupertino after having lunch with McFaul. Walked to my car and who parked next to me? Take a good guess before you peek at the answer.