Birds of a Feather

Some of the coolest stuff you can do on Japanese cell phonescheck Glay's concert dates, display Winnie the Pooh as a screen saver, change the ring tone to Beethoven's Fifthcomes to the user courtesy of a company called Cybird.

When and whether those functions will become available overseas, however, rests largely on the prospects of NTT DoCoMo. Like an ecosystem supporting many life forms, DoCoMo sustains a string of suppliers including handset manufacturers, merchants and content providers. It's a two-way food chain. Cybird's innovative digital offerings and unique business model helped spur the mobile Internet, and with it...