According to a recent Nikkei report, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has partnered with a group of mobile communications operators, appliance manufacturers, and IT companies to develop a universal format allowing mobile phones to remotely control diverse home appliances. This new technology is expected to bridge mobile communications networks with various counterparts, including the Internet, home LANs, and infrared communications networks. Consummation of the protocol device is expected in the fall of 2006. Participants of this project include NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, Vodafone, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, HP, and Seiko-Epson.