Japanese WM6 runner looking Sharp-ish

Advanced ES

As we reported yesterday, Sharp has produced a smartphone (for Japanese operator Willcom) which runs Windows Mobile 6 Classic and looks altogether very natty. The Advanced ES, as it’s being called (presumably because that’s easier to enunciate than its full name: WSO11SH), will hit the Japanese market before you can say, “I’m getting an iPhone.” To be precise, it’s released in Japan on 29th June. The 3-inch WVGA (854 x 480 pixel) touch-screen is based on Sharp’s AQUOS display tech, which can only be a good thing, and there’s also a jog wheel called ‘Xcrawl’ for extra navigation options, plus mini USB, 11b/ g wi-fi, and 256MB on-board storage plus microSD support.

Although the Advanced ES is loaded to the gills with useful applications — Opera Mobile, Word Mobile, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, NAVITIME, and Google Maps are all pre-installed on the device — and in spite of its alluring silvery looks, those who have held and caressed it reckon, ‘the quality of the plastics feels a bit cheap’. Going on past experience of Japanese smartphones, we’d say that’s par for the course. Nifty, then, but not truly luxurious.

(Advanced ES homepage)

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