Terminal Technology
Terminal Technology

Terminal Technology

KDDI Rolls Summer 2008 Handset Series

KDDI announced 12 new handset models, for the Summer 2008 season, with a keen focus on sports, style and video. The latest series lineup features three designs from Kyocera plus two Sanyo branded devices, two from Toshiba and one from each Hitachi, Sharp, Casio, Sony Ericsson and Pantech. The company has also launched a Mobile Fashion portal and introduced their new Lismo Video service, with 2,000 titles including full length hollywood films, which is available this month on 14 models.

SoftBank Mobile Unveils Summer Models

Masayoshi Son took center stage here yesterday to unveil the company’s 2008 summer line up for SoftBank Mobile. Following the handset blitz by DoCoMo last week the company has also put forth a significant collection of new models and services for the upcoming season. Although there are several notable designs on offer, the major news today is confirmation — as we had predicted on May 27th — that SBM will bring the iPhone to Japan later this year!

Sharp 906i Handset has Touch Technology

DoCoMo announced it’s new summer handset line-up last week and, as mentioned, there really is ‘plenty of material to wade through’. While seperate posts reviewing the increased Napster video offering and the expected impact of Flash 8 enabled handsets are certainly worthy, we had to post this link for promo video of the SH906i in action.

That 15-second tv spot was on during almost every tv commercial break here last night, no doubt the company is trying to raise awareness about it’s slick functionality before this ‘other phone’ hits the street!

As this model is also Bluetooth enabled, hardcore mobile users are encouraged to take advantage of the k-tai shop campaign and grab a wireless keyboard.. while supplies last.

DoCoMo Introduces 19 New Handsets

DoCoMo just announced the new 906i and 706i series offering with 19 handsets and 64 body colors, which will be launched starting June 1. The flagship 906i series – with all the usual high-end functions – will roll 8 new models, three from NEC, two from Sharp and one each via Panasonic, Fujitsu and Sony Ericsson. The 706i line-up introduced 11 ‘extra-slim’ models with One-Seg digital TV and a water-proof model for the bath. There’s plenty of material to wade through but some of the stand-out features include the addition of Flash 8 capabilities and a huge new video streaming portal.

Korea Handsets to Compete in Japan

The Korean mobile phone makers are increasing their market shares in the global market. Now, they are trying to show the same growth in the Japanese market. LG Electronics, supplying mobile phones to Docomo, set the target of 700,000 units for this year or double the 2007 sales volume. Pantech Group, supplying its devices to KDDI, is also preparing its new 3G product line to increase their share in the Japanese market. The company hopes to surpass 1 million units, up 20% from last year.

Behind the Faceplate of Sharp's 921SH

The Nikkei Electronics ‘Teardown Squad’ has cracked open the 921SH handset by Sharp which recently became available via SoftBank Mobile. One of the main features of this model, touted successor to the 913SH and 920SH released last year, is of course the fingertip tracing sensitive screen and motion control sensor functionality. In a valiant effort “to determine the differences and similarities” between the past and present models they have posted detailed findings, with photos, Here. We also noted their Dissecting the Japanese Mobile Phone article posted back in March.

Sharp Maintains Top Spot in 2007

Sharp sold the most mobile handsets in Japan during fiscal 2007, with 25% market share, to hold top spot for the 3rd consecutive year according to data released by MM Research Institute. The company boosted handset shipments by an impressive 23% YoY, for a total of 12.76 million units, setting a new record as their Aquos branded LCD models proved to be a popular choice with growing consumer demand to watch 1Seg digital tv broadcasts. Overall, the domestic handset sales increased 2.9% to a new record of 50.76 million units.

YAPPA 3D User Interface – Video Interview

YAPPA 3D User Interface - Video InterviewWe sat down with Masahiro Ito, founder and CEO of YAPPA Corp., last week and were entirely impressed with both the product presentation and his charming ease when discussing the mobile industry. We managed to get a sneak preview of their so-called Spin UI Effect Engine and with the press release now public we’re thrilled to go live with this report. The company has an admirable list of top-tier clients, including the 3D Box UI on Sharps device for eMobile, and is growing beyond Japan with several offices overseas.

Kyocera Makes a Splash in Vegas

Kyocera announced three new CDMA handsets at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas yesterday. The new models introduced included the Neo E1100, Mako S4000 and Adreno S2400. All three of the phones are tri-band models, targeted at primarily at carrier customers operating in South America, and will be available in Q3 2008 at affordable price points. The news came on the same day that Kyocera finalized its acquisition of Sanyo’s mobile phone division, making it the 6th largest globally, and unveiled its first-ever GSM handsets.

KDDI Announces Kyocera Battery Recall

KDDI and Kyocera announced they are recalling 214,349 batteries used in the W42K model made by Kyocera handsets because they may overheat. The companies note they were aware of 13 cases reported where batteries overheated causing burn injuries burns to three people. According to the press release battery production was contracted to NEC Tokin Corp., 51 percent owned by NEC Corp., and made in China. Kyocera said it will suspend use of NEC Tokin’s products.