Japan firms to standardize mobile software: report

Four major Japanese electronics companies will standardize their core software platform for next-generation cellphones aimed at reducing costs and raising competitiveness, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday. The firms -- Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC -- will apply the software system, used to drive animations and music, in the next-generation cellphones developed by NTT DoCoMo. The unified software will be loaded in NTT DoCoMo's next-generation model set to be launched during the financial year ending in March 2012.