Published by Jonti Davies on October 4, 2007
in Uncategorized.
NTT DoCoMo yesterday revealed its ‘Wellness Keitai’, which is Japanglish for ‘Health Mobile’. The handset has a number of potentially life-preserving features, including a pulse reader, a body fat percentage counter thingy, a pedometer (to tell you how far you’ve walked), a ‘workout music player’ that matches tunes to desired calorie loss rates, and — believe it or not — a bad breath sensor. And it’s all wrapped up inside a rather snazzy case, which is loosely based on DoCoMo’s popular D903i handset.
There’s no confirmation of when/if the ‘Wellness Keitai’ will be released in Japan, but it at least exists in prototype form. You can see more photos of this ingenious creation over at Impress Watch.
Published by Jonti Davies on August 30, 2007
in Uncategorized.
This new handset from Kyocera is due in Japan on 5th September, and it’ll run on Willcom networks. The official line is that Kyocera has moved away from a sharp/ flat design to produce this ‘well-rounded and comfortable to hold’ creation, but in reality we think it looks a little too similar to a toilet seat. A bit 1997.
At least the phone’s specs can cut it (albeit not very finely) in 2007: the WX320KR has a 2.2-inch (240 x 320 pixel) TFT display, version 7.2 of Opera built-in, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and a handy mini-USB port for data transfer. But it still has those bathroom looks; maybe we’re just shallow.
(Willcom press release)
Published by Jonti Davies on August 30, 2007
in Uncategorized.
The latest addition to Japanese phone provider NTT DoCoMo’s 704i series is this, Panasonic’s rather swish-looking P704i slider. The new handset goes on sale in Japan tomorrow.
The P704i’s main selling point, other than its Kubrick-future looks, is its camera. It ‘only’ goes up to two megapixels, but it has what is reputed to be an advanced form of camera shake correction (which should help to reduce the chance of snapping horrible blurry pics). The P704i also has something called Smart Flash, which we can only assume to be superior to a not-so-Smart Flash.
(NTT DoCoMo press release)
Published by Jonti Davies on August 16, 2007
in Uncategorized.
That’s what Gearfuse reckons. A Japanese blogger called Kujimoto went to great lengths to take an array of photos with the W53CA using various settings (one of which we’ve pinched to dress up this post, and all of which can be seen here), but he complains that a one-second gap between pressing the shutter and actual shutter movement results in a high ratio of blurred photos.
We reported on the imminent arrival of Casio’s W53CA a couple of weeks back, and assumed that the W53CA, which features a keitai-modified 5.1-megapixel EXILIM camera, would be a strong companion to Casio’s celebrated range of digital cameras. The impressive pixel count is marred by the W53CA’s mediocre lens, though — as we’ve been saying: it’s not how big your pixel count is, it’s what you do with it. In other words: better lenses, please, phone makers of the world!
Published by Jonti Davies on August 14, 2007
in Uncategorized.
Decorate its phones, you understand. And in particular, the 815T model from Toshiba, which Softbank put out earlier this year. The Japanese are renowned for attaching trinkets to their keitais, but Softbank’s Fanfun campaign is designed to encourage self-expression through interchangeable panels and multicoloured handset cases.
Have a look at the snazzy Fanfun website and you’ll see what Softbank’s aiming for: with 12 handset colours to choose from and hundreds of replaceable panels, the number of design combinations is… lots.
There are also Fanfun t-shirts up for grabs, as part of this campaign to make owning an 815T keitai an altogether more psychedelic experience. We’re sold, man, and so are many of the Tokyo girls with orange tans. Kawaii!
Published by Jonti Davies on August 14, 2007
in Uncategorized.
If you can excuse the garish mint green hue of the model pictured above (fret not: there are six other colour variations to choose from), it’s worth paying some attention to this brand new Toshiba-built handset.
It’s stainless steel, like cheap cutlery, which is being advertised as a Good Thing; it’s hinged in two places, so you can flip its display to produce a tablet of a media player; and it’s fully compatible with 1 Seg, high-speed 3G and Bluetooth. The 912T also has an auto-focus 3.2-megapixel camera. Can’t say fairer than that.
The 912T went on sale here in Japan a couple of days ago, thanks to the Softbank operator. There are no plans for it to be exported, which is a shame.
(Softbank website)
Published by Jonti Davies on August 2, 2007
in Uncategorized.
Casio’s brand new, on-the-shelves-of-shops-in-Japan-as-of-today W53CA handset is quite well endowed. It has a 5.1-megapixel camera (yeah, we’re not sure why the .1 was included, either) and it’s powered by a software solution called EXILIM for Mobile, which equips the phone with rather tidy photo editing ability.
EXILIM also ensures — by way of compensating for any movement of the handset as a photo is taken — that these bigger-than-necessary 5.1-megapixel shots don’t end up blurred or botched. Which should remove one of the main frustrations of mobile snapping. Appropriately, the W53CA has a decent screen (running at the superb resolution of 480 x 800 pixels) on which you can view your photos before pinging them to your Mac/ PC. Say “cheese!”
(KDDI website)
Published by Jonti Davies on July 24, 2007
in Uncategorized.
The final addition to NTT DoCoMo’s 704-series handset range (we’ve already wrapped up other new entries from Sharp, Fujitsu and LG), due for release in Japan on Friday, is the Panasonic-built P704iMu. It’s described as a ‘global keitai‘ because it runs on NTT’s World Wings roaming service, but it’s designed specifically for use here in Japan.
The handset’s main display is a 2.2-inch QVGA TFT, which is capable of displaying 262,144 colours (we didn’t know there were that many). The P704iMu’s main selling point, though, is its slimness: the thing is 11.4mm-thin, to be precise. At only 98g, it’s also on the light side, and yet it feels resilient and tough and unlikely to snap. The P704iMu is a tough biscuit.
(NTT DoCoMo website)
Published by Jonti Davies on July 23, 2007
in Uncategorized.
NTT DoCoMo is beefing up its 704i range of FOMA handsets, with two new additions launching in Japan this coming Friday. (Last week, we looked at new 704i series releases from Fujitsu and from LG.)
Sharp’s SH704i is a One Seg-compatible, double-hinged effort. Open the handset, rotate the 2.6-inch (wide QVGA) display panel, then close it again: you’ll have a solid block of a digital satellite TV. Nifty, eh? The SH704i has enough juice on a single charge so that you can watch One Seg broadcasts for two hours.
The only foreseeable problem is, if Japan get to the Asian Cup final and it goes to penalties, that battery life is just long/ short enough to cut out as Kawaguchi is about to make another heroic save…
(NTT DoCoMo website)
Published by Jonti Davies on July 18, 2007
in Uncategorized.
We looked at Fujitsu’s flashy 703i back in January, and lo — already Fujitsu has readied a sequel for the Japanese market. A sequel called (guess it) the 704i.
This only differs from the 703i in a couple of places, but those factors are key for globe-trotting Japanese users: the 704i supports NTT DoCoMo’s new comprehensive World Wing roaming service, and it’s available in four extra colours. (Okay, the new shades are only key for vain globe-trotters, but hey.)
Other than that, it’s business as usual: a 2.2-inch TFT display, microSD support, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. All housed in a waterproof casing. Perfect for the British summer, then!
(F704i homepage)
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