Qualcomm announced that it is sampling the industry’s first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G/LTE. According to the PR, these chipsets demonstrate significant progress toward enabling the mass-market commercial deployment of two next-generation network technologies that bring more advanced data capabilities to mobile devices for new global markets.
KDDI held their Fall and Winter 2009 handset launch in Tokyo yesterday with a splash of new hardware on display for the upcoming season. The lineup has 13 new models in total; four coming Sharp, three by Kyocera, two each via Casio and Sony Ericsson and one from each Sanyo and Toshiba rounding out the pack. Most noticeable by all accounts is the jump to 12 mega-pixel camera spec. on both Sharp Aquos Shot models and the CA003 Exilim by Casio which also touts shooting 20 frames per second – thank you very much! The usual fancy touch&try Flash-style site is Here [Jpn] and our best effort machine translation is below.
Clearly the #2 operator has moved aggressively to address their device portfolio offering as they have struggled over the last 18-months with new customer additions. It should be interesting to see the December subscriber numbers and no doubt all eyes now on what DoCoMo and SoftBank have on tap, those announcements also expected very soon, to roll in the coming months as well.
KDDI releases 2 more iida handsets – PLY and Prismoid – in Sept along w/ access. unveils new “Polaris” concept model [J] http://bit.ly/ATXBf
The au Design Project has added to their unique collection of custom models with three new units; Happiness with Dots, Doggie Ring-Ring and the groovy Hand Bag for Space Travel, created by Yayoi Kusuma going on sale here July 30th. These handmade limited edition offerings, priced accordingly from $1,000 to $10,000 each, will be available on first come basis both online and at one of several specially designated shop locations. Considering past success of the INFOBAR, talby, neon, and MEDIA SKIN designs, which were were added to the permanent collection at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, no doubt the latest iida branded concept will gain approval with certain discerning clients overseas as well.
Wireless Watch Japan spent an interesting week in Singapore at the annual CommunicAsia conference and trade show recently where we managed to shoot this demo of the latest Samsung Jet offering which made it’s debut there on June 15th. Billed as ‘Smarter than a Smartphone’ the AMOLED display is super crisp at 480dpi and it’s 800MHz processor lends power to the speedy brand name. The companies Touch Whiz UI, with drag and drop widgets, and the newly minted Dolphin browser featuring one finger zoom while enabling tabbed browsing of up to five web pages at one time were all impressive additions. Watch the video and see for yourself — Special thanks to Mr. Shin from Samsung for taking the time!
The Teardown Squad over at Tech-On took the latest solar-powered handset offered by Sharp for a test drive and have filed their observations Here and Here. KDDI released the device, also available via SoftBank Mobile, in Tokyo on June 9th. The jist of their testing seems to indicate that, while it does indeed work, the time to get free juice takes somewhat longer, like 85-mins charging for 5-mins of talk, than suggested. To be fair, as with most first wave products over years, surely the performance will improve with future revisions.
Rounding out the big three summer 2009 handset series launches, KDDI took the wraps off their new line-up here yesterday, announcing eight new models, with two devices coming from each Kyocera, Sharp and Toshiba while Hitachi and Casio each adding one more. There are a couple main attention grabbers at first blush; the Solar Phone from Sharp, which packs a 5 mega-pixel camera and boasts waterproofing for the beach too boot, and the Hitachi HD Wooo claims to be the world first mobile phone with high-definition video, shooting 1280×720 pixels at 30fps and built-in HDMI Mini Connector for easy viewing on the big screen!
The Run & Walk built-in fitness functions seem popular and the latest Casio G’zOne adds Beat Run along with improved compass and temperature sensors along with calorie counter and trip memory. Not be be outdone, the new Sharp Sportio can apparently play music even while submerged! The dedicated Flash Gallery is Here.
The folks at GfK have produced a Top-10 list for handsets sold in Japan for the calendar year of 2008. Apparently this list is referenced by using POS data compiled through their network of electronic re-sellers, so we have to take the ratings with a grain of salt in the absence of any other official stats provided elsewhere. Since the results are separated by both operator and device maker and then compiled into the overall list, there are a few interesting points to note. First off, apparently Sharp secured four of the top ten spots while Panasonic managed to snag two of the top three best sellers. Also, while DoCoMo showed the way with six of the best movers SoftBank Mobile only got one unit in the top 10, and it was not the iPhone. See the full breakdown after the jump.
The web is blazing with speculation that DoCoMo will introduce their first Android device, HT-03A or better know as the HTC Magic, along with an expected soon upcoming summer 2009 handset series announcement. While we would not be at all surprised, naturally nobody who really knows is prepared to confirm the scoop for us.. wink-wink. Meanwhile, there are even more tongues wagging about big D rolling an iPhone! Now that would be interesting, and even odds-on possible, but again we’re sadly only in a position to speculate along with the masses – including the Nikkei – on that one as well.
NEC Electronics and Renesas have entered talks to strike a merger deal to create a new entity which would become the largest semiconductor company in Japan, and number three globally behind Intel and Samsung with leading market share in micro-controllers and system-on-chip products for cars and mobile devices, capable of generating roughly $13 billion in combined yearly sales.
