NTT DoCoMo, SCE to create i-Mode, PS2 network
Posted by @ 5:07 PM, EST
Cell phones and PS2... the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday morning edition had this article:

TOKYO --NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will combine the i-mode mobile Internet connection service and PlayStation2 console to develop audio and image distribution, payment services and other offerings, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has learned.

In a deal announced Wednesday, NTT DoCoMo this month via a private placement of shares will take a 2.02% stake in SCE's wholly owned e-commerce subsidiary PlayStation.com (Japan) Inc. PlayStation.com will begin marketing the PlayStation2 and different types of software to the cellular phone company's i-mode users.

Additionally, by linking the game console to i-mode, they plan to have the PlayStation2 function as a terminal in a mobile network that does not need fixed telephone lines to function, sources reveal. Linking i-mode units to the PlayStation2 will address a weak point of the cellular phones -- the display. The PlayStation2 will allow i-mode content to be viewed on the screen of a television connected to it.