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Yamaha Expands Ring Melody Distribution Service in Taiwan
Super 'Melo-Ring' Service offering richer melodies to debut in September |
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Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka, August 24, 2001-Yamaha Corporation today announced that cellular phone users in Taiwan serviced by Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC) will soon be able to download and enjoy richer, more complex melodies for their handset ringers.
Yamaha, the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments will begin offering its Super 'Melo-Ring' Service to TCC subscribers from mid-September. The launch represents the first time that polyphonic ring melodies have been distributed by a Japanese company anywhere outside of Japan.
For as little as NT$60 (aboutUS$1.8) per month users will be able to select four-note polyphony ring melodies for some 500 popular Chinese, Japanese and Western songs to lend panache to their handset ringers.
Taipei-based TCC, Taiwan's top cellular telephone carrier, announced the launch of the new service at the Taipei International Telecommunications & Networking Show that runs from August 24 to 27.
The introduction of Super 'Melo-Ring' in Taiwan follows the November 2000 agreement between Yamaha and TCC to provide single-tone ring melodies to Taiwanese subscribers who possess cellular handsets that support ring melody distribution.
"In Japan, our ring melody distribution service now serves 2.5 million subscribers and provides a selection of 5,600 ring melodies," notes Yamaha Corporation president, Shuji Itoh. "Through our deepening relationship with TCC, we are moving to expand our ring-melody distribution business in Asia while looking for opportunities in European and American markets as well," he added.
Commented Joseph Fan, president of TCC: "We're delighted that through this agreement with Yamaha we will be able to offer our subscribers more ways to personalize their handy phones. TCC will integrate IVR, SMS, WAP and GPRS to provide different kinds of value-added services. For our subscribers' favorite ring melody download services, we are happy that our cooperation with Yamaha will allow our users to enjoy exciting handset ring tones with much better quality polyphonic music."
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| Background |
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Cellular telephone use is widespread in Taiwan, with some 18.5 million of the island's 23 million population using cell phones. TCC's 6.4 million subscribers give the company 35% of the market and the largest market share.
In the Taiwanese market, which Yamaha pioneered when it began supplying ring melodies last November, the number of subscribers topped 100,000 in the service's first eight months to July. Yamaha's ring-melody distribution site has already grown to be Taiwan's largest and is the only site offering Chinese, Western, and Japanese melodies. The single-tone and polyphonic ring melodies of local Chinese songs are produced locally and supplied through Yamaha KHS Music Co., Ltd., a Taiwanese joint venture established with investment from Yamaha.
The polyphonic ring melodies to be distributed in the new service are based on Yamaha's originally developed SMAF* technology that is also used in Japan. Melodies are capable of being played using Yamaha's four-note polyphony sound chip YMU757B. |
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| About the service |
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Name: Yamaha Super 'Melo-Ring'
Description: Ring melody service for TCC cellular phone users (four-tone polyphony ring melody service)
Launch date: Mid-September 2001
End-user fee: NT$60 (aboutUS$1.8) per month for downloading up to five melodies
Initial melody selection: 500
Initial year subscriber target: I 200,000
Initial year sales target: ¥150 million (about US$1.25Million) |
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| Some Super 'Melo-Ring' harmonic melodies |
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| Language |
Title |
Artist |
| Chinese |
Cappuccino |
Elva Hsiao |
| Chinese |
One and Only |
Sammi Cheng |
| Western |
Can't Fight the Moonlight |
Leanne Rimes |
| Western |
Doesn't Really Matter |
Janet Jackson |
| Japanese |
Say Yes |
Chage & Aska |
| Japanese |
First Love |
Hikaru Utada |
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The Companies
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Profile of Yamaha Corporation
Name: Yamaha Corporation
Headquarters: 10-1 Nakazawa-cho, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
URL: http://www.yamaha.co.jp/english/
Established: October, 1897
President: Shuji Ito
Profile of Taiwan Cellular Corporation (TCC)
Name: Taiwan Cellular Corporation
Offices: 18F, No.169, Sec.4, Jen-Ai Rd., Taipei
URL: http://www.twngsm.com.tw/
Established: February 25, 1997
Chairman: Jack T. Sun
President: Joseph Fan
Turnover: NT$ 45.2 Billion
Subscribers: 6.4million
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| * |
SMAF (Synthetic music Mobile Application Format) is a data format proposed by Yamaha that allows production and distribution of contents combining sound and images. The format is currently being used on J-Phone's 'J-Sky' and KDDI Group's 'EZ-Web' Internet connection services, where it is highly evaluated for its functionality and expandability. |
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For editorial information, please contact:
Nao Mori
Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
E-mail: na-mori@dpr.co.jp
For information about Yamaha's ring melody service, please contact:
Keiichi (Ken) Kimura
Digital Contents Business Division Yamaha Corporation
Email: Kimurak1@emi.yamaha.co.jp
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