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Sharp Launches WX-T91 in Taiwan

Sharp and Fareastone have launched a version of Vodafone’s 903SH [.jpg] 3G phone in Taiwan. Designed to run on GSM/GPRS and W-CDMA 3G networks, the WX-T91 [.jpg] features the same 3.2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, USB and infrared features, as well as a MiniSD card slot (supporting up to 1GB), an MP3/AAC music player and a bar-code scanner. It also supports Video/TV-Out enabling users to view their pictures and play games on their TV screens. The unit comes in three colors: black, red and white at an estimated retail price of almost $800 — approx. triple the street price in Japan.

Korean 3G Phone Finally Hits Japan Market

Korean 3G Phone Finally Hits Japan MarketKDDI/au has announced the roll-out of their A1405PT, made by Pantech & Curitel, will begin today in the Hokkaido region and throughout all areas of Japan over the weekend. The phone was jointly developed with KDDI and marks the first entry of a Korean maker’s handset into the Japanese market. Touted, at 98 grams, as the ‘lightest 3G handset’ available in the market, it comes with a limited set of features (only a VGA camera, for example), but it does have an organic EL “Stream Screen” sub-display and has a built-in crime prevention buzzer function, a feature which was also just introduced by DoCoMo (for good reason).

WWJ has been tracking rumours and hints on the entry of Korean terminals for some time now but this is hard fact on the ground. We have seen Sanyo and Casio pushing into the U.S. market along with Sharp and NEC making moves in Europe. It’s clearly becoming a two-way street with the recent launch of Motorola’s M-1000 with DoCoMo, who have also indicated that LG and Nokia models are in the pipeline.

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales“Despite the high prices, there were huge line-ups waiting to buy the new Willcom PHSes,” said my Kiwi pal in an email last night. It looks like some of Willcom’s PHS phones appear to be selling well on the strength of flat-rate voice and data and handsets that are at least comparable to the high-end 3G cellular models from the Big Three carriers. Is this a hint of price destruction to come when the new licensees jump into the market in 2006?

“It normally takes about 20 minutes to get a new phone, but the wait for the new Willcom models on the first day of sales was over an hour and a half. A day or two later and the long lines have vanished,” added Keith Wilkinson, a long-time Japan hand and a keen watcher of all things electronic.

He was referring to the WX300K, WX310K and WX310SA, from Kyocera and Sanyo, as initially reported by WWJ in October, the first in a new series of PHS models. PHS is the shorter-range, non-cellular standard that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to lower costs of usage and flat-rate pricing. According to Willcom, phones could be reserved starting on 11 November, and became or will become available in shops on the 18th (WX300K, silver and ochre), the 25th (WX310K, silver & pink; WX310SA, silver & red) and the 30th (WX310K, other color).

Finding the Camera Phone Creator

Back in July of this year, analyst Jon Peddie was on a mission to find the inventor of the camera phone — a product category that is responsible for a significant portion of the current mobile phone boom. Peddie found the first camera phone, but couldn’t identify the precise inventor, and wasn’t sure if there even was a single person who could be found. TG Daily picked up where Peddie left off — and got lucky in Japan. (Seems it was not Sharp’s J-SH04 after all! — Ed.)

Japan Gets 2nd Chance at Global Market

They have full-fledged Web browsers, and they even have fingerprint readers and cameras with face-recognition software that locks up a phone if an unwanted stranger tries to use it. Interested in getting one? Good luck. You essentially can’t buy one outside Japan.

Editor’s comment: This article is a good review of why Japan keitai are the world’s best, underscoring Editor-in-Chief Daniel Scuka’s comments earlier this week in the WWJ newsletter (click here to subscribe for free).

Vodafone Releases the V604SH

Vodafone K.K. just announced that on 19 November 2005 it will commence nationwide sales of the V604SH [ .jpg image ] entertainment handset made by Sharp, which features a 3.2 megapixel mobile camera with 2x optical zoom and auto focus, along with a built-in analog TV tuner. The V604SH also features a host of entertainment functions such as a high-quality, wide-angle view, large-size 2.4-inch Mobile ASV LCD, ‘Custom Screens’ for menu screen and icon customisation with popular characters including ones from Disney, a Music Player that supports AAC and SD-Audio MP3 music files for listening enjoyment and a ‘Motion Control Sensor’ that responds to movements for new mobile gaming experiences.