Microsoft has found itself a buddy in the rapidly evolving Japanese mobile media world. The Redmond company struck a deal yesterday with NTT DoCoMo to create a media service for the coming wave of 3.5G devices DoCoMo is pushing out this summer. The service will support downloads of music and movies.

"With the release of our new handsets this summer, we will upgrade a variety of our services including the music-downloading and e-wallet services, some of which will only be available with our 3.5G next-generation handsets," a DoCoMo spokesman told Reuters.

While downloadable music services have been available from all three major Japanese mobile operators for some time, adding movies throws DoCoMo and Microsoft into not only the thick of the mobile video fray in Japan, but provides Microsoft with new expertise in developing media download services to compete with Apple iTunes and all other comers.

At the same time, DoCoMo showed off eight new FOMA Series 9 handsets, with features including, push-to-talk features, ability to program remote media devices (such as setting a home DVR), enhanced security and messaging.