October 8, 2007 (Tokyo, Japan)-Acrodea, Inc. (CEO and President: Junya Tsutsumi), headquartered in Meguro-ku, Tokyo; IMJ Mobile, Inc. (CEO and President: Takehito Hirota), headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (CEO and President: Shoei Utsuda), headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, announced an agreement to promote a partnership business operation for mobile 3D virtual world services utilizing X-FORGE® owned by Acrodea.
Virtual worlds residing on the Internet are rapidly expanding to immense scales. For example, Second Life, operated by Linden Lab (U.S.,) is an online 3D virtual world service with over 9 million members worldwide. In these 3D virtual worlds, members create 3D content, and highly realistic communities and services are active in a computer-generated environment. In order to build successfully online 3D virtual worlds, whose concepts have generated worldwide interest, and to enable their access from mobile devices that inherently command superior immediacy, Mitsui & Co., IMJ Mobile, and Acrodea have been studying a proprietary, mobile 3D platform for Japan. The three companies intend to collaborate and engage their development and business execution expertise in the architecture of this mobile 3D platform.
Acrodea will license the mobile game development environment X-FORGE, and work on technical planning and proposals for 3D platform architecture utilizing X-FORGE.
With its extensive record of building high-quality mobile sites, IMJ Mobile will activate its consulting know-how in the mobile services domain, and spec, design, and release services for the mobile 3D platform by utilizing X-FORGE.
Mitsui & Co. will develop various plans for the mobile 3D platform architecture, contribute to the development and architecture of highly profitable business models, and provide comprehensive business support.
As subsequent steps, the companies will disclose the specifications for the mobile 3D platform, promote partnerships with companies that show keen interest in this project, and build a broad, large-scale service platform for highly convenient member services.
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Acrodea, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a software technology R&D firm involved in middleware technology for mobile terminals. The company is particularly focused on interface technologies connecting between the user and terminal, and currently provides UI (user interface) technologies and email enhancement technologies to the market. We are also applying R&D energy towards the enhancement of graphics performance, which is indispensable in facilitating usage of mobile platform interfaces. Our stance and efforts are a continual commitment to superior products and improving technology, for which we have received recognition worldwide. In addition to Japan and Korea, Acrodea is engaged in business on the global market, including China, Europe, and North America. The company listed publicly on Mothers Exchange of TSE on Oct. 19, 2006, just two years and three months after establishment in July 2004. Acrodea is headquartered in Tokyo, and maintains an overseas presence in Seoul, Korea; Espoo, Finland; and Newport Beach, California, U.S.A. For more information, please visit http://www.acrodea.co.jp.
| (1) Company name: | IMJ Mobile, Inc. |
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| (2) Location: | 2-28-5 Nishi-Gotanda, No. 2 Okura Bldg., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo |
| (3) Establishment: | July 18, 2000 |
| (4) Paid-in capital: | 296,037,500 yen (As of June 2007) |
| (5) Employees: | 193 (As of June 2007) |
| (6) Representative director: | Takehito Hirota |
| (7) Lines of business: | Mobile solutions, mobile content, mobile advertising media |
| (8) URL: | http://ww.imjmobile.co.jp/ |
| (1) Company name: | Mitsui & Co., Ltd. |
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| (2) Location: | 1-2-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo |
| (3) Establishment: | July 25, 1947 |
| (4) Paid-in capital: | 25,766 million yen (As of Mar. 31, 2006) |
| (5) Employees: | 6,089 non-consolidated, 40,993 consolidated (As of Mar. 31, 2006) |
| (6) Representative director: | Shoei Utsuda |
| (7) Lines of business: | The company activates the comprehensive capabilities and information networks at its business locations throughout the globe in the respective fields of metals, machinery, computers, energy, household industries, logistics, and finance, and engages in a diverse line of businesses that encompasses domestic distribution within Japan, export and import, trade between foreign countries, resource development, and technology development in new fields. |
Mr. Kuroiwa, Office of the President, Acrodea, Inc.
TEL: +81 3-5768-8603
Mr. Suzumura, Cross Media Dept., Business Development Division, IMJ Mobile, Inc.
TEL: +81 3-5759-0194
Mr. Hara, Press Office, Public Relations Dept., Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
TEL: +81 3-3285-7566
