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.