Last Saturday, Japan launched digital broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers. Unlike Sprint Vision and Verizon VCast streaming services in the United States, thie programming is not broadcast via an Internet connection, but TV towers. Mass adoption is predicted, because the service is free, and the image quality is very good. Masao Nakamura, CEO of Japan’s top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, says he expects the service to spawn an entirely new genre of programming.

Most mobile phone screens are rather small, so I could see mass adoption of digital video eyewear, which replicate a “big screen” home theater experience in a device that connects the A/V port of a mobile phone and can fit in your pocket. The Icuiti DV920 digital eyewear device retails for $549.

[Update 5-3-06: The Sharper Image today announced that it will the first U.S. retailer of the Icuiti DV920.]

[thanks, Gary]