BlackBerry 7250
I love BlackBerry smart phones - thing is, they’re not just phones, it’s a phone-organizer-email device-web browser all in one. It’s like the PDA but way better. You can’t readily find them in Asia, but they have stomped over Europe, US and Canada (its country of origin) and are selling very, very well especially to people who depends on mobile/web communication who is on the go.
It’s therefore, great news that DoCoMo, Japan’s largest telecommunication operator, has brought the BlackBerry into the Far East. They are partnering BlackBerry to bring consumers a GSM / WCMDA “worldphone” versions of the addictive handhelds. And the agreement was set in stone last Autumn in 2006. Read more about the partnership here and here.
It’s undeniable that BlackBerries smart phones will definitely be larger than the usual Japanese phones (not to mention slightly heavier), some questions have arised regarding its sellability in Japan. In my opinion as a meddler of BlackBerry (for a few hours), I think it’ll be just fine - It will sell in Japan, especially when it’s comparatively small to have a phone, a web mail device, an organizer all into one and being the tech savvy people that most Japanese people are, they will most probably fall for the Blackberry’s usability and style.
It’s latest BlackBerry Pearl is sleek and professional (and the smallest Smart Phone in the world). It’s most useful for executives on the move and what’s more, the fact that Blackberry Pearl is the smallest SmartPhone would appeal to the Japanese crowd almost instantly.
I guess a lot will still remain to be seen with time since the deal between DoCoMo and Blackberry was just quite recent. I would be curious to know how the BlackBerry is going to pack thousands of keys necessary to represent all those Japanese glyphs on their interface.
Mobile phones, or keitai, are obviously a big fashion accessory in Japan. One of the best selling phones of the last year, the au KDDI Neon was perhaps a bit under-developed in the amazing-only-in-Japan-technological-features department. But it was, quite frankly, beautiful, which is why it sold out.
Now Mitsubishi (through DoCoMo) have released the FOMA D702iF which is meant to have everything that a woman could want from her keitai. The feminine pastel colours complements the skin on the hand, while a special alarm keeps track of the female monthly cycle.
Yes, you read that correctly.
There’s also the special design, which includes soft and smooth contours and a small shape to avoid chipping fingernails. The small, palm-size and marquee cut is also meant to enhance to look of a woman’s hands.
The phone was designed by renown fashion designer Momoko Ikuta. They are available in Coral Coral, Green Air, White Sand and Lilac Mirage.
I really should have learnt by now never to be shocked by the phones available in Japan.
Links:
Metropolis
Mitsubishi Electric - Japanese only
Finally! Somebody creates a phone that is safe in the hands of klutzes everywhere! Sony Ericsson in conjunction with DoCoMo have released the SO902iWP+ 3G phone and it’s really waterproof!
Image from Akihabara News
At the recent Wireless Japan expo, they demonstrated just how waterproof the phone is. You could even call the phone while it was floating in the tank. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t have Bluetooth (strange?) so you couldn’t answer it unless you were in there with the phone.
So, if you tend to drop your phone in the toilet, pool, coffee or if you’re James Bond, you might want to consider investing in this phone. No word on whether it will be available outside Japan.
Link:
Akihabara News
Jon at PingMag has written an article comparing the most popular phones in Japan with the most popular in the West. Japan (and maybe South Korea) is easily the mobile phone (or cell phone, if you’re that way inclined) capital of the world. They aren’t just phones. Nowadays, they’re also TVs, your train ticket, business card as well as all the functions known to the West, like email, mp3 player and personal organiser.
I like the phones in Japan. Australia is usually about 3 years behnd the rest of the world technologically, so there’s no way my old candybar style Nokia can compare to what can be found here. An interesting point to note: nearly all the phones here are flip phones. It’s gotten to the stage where it’s embarrassing to take out my top-of-the-Australian-line phone out, because it’s just plain ugly and featureless compared to the phones you can find here.
I think I’ll have to get myself one of these phones soon. The one with digital TV looks tempting.
Over on the Japan Media Review website, Kenji Kohiyama, Professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University, examines the “Meaning” and the “Future” of Keitai. Author of the book Keitai, he seeks to understand the culture of mobile phones in Japan, their multimedia use and their societal impact. Not really “fun” per se, but an interesting read if you are into mobile phones and Japan (otherwise why would you be reading this anyway?).
The keitai (mobile phone) is like a toy box with lots of different media stuffed inside where one can pull out the one of your choice as if from a magician’s hat.
In this book I hope to look at the meaning of these and their interest they bring and to gain some understanding on these issues. For this reason, I will take up each of the various media that are in a keitai, the very thing that our country is leading the world in promoting, and investigate their purpose and potential.
The Meaning of Keitai
The Future of Keitai
I stumbled upon this upon my usual goss-search. The japanese forum post isn’t very discript, however this is reported to be the N902i. [See full image]
From first glance, it’s appears to have a double-hinge, something Sony Ericsson demonstrated in some prototypes a little while ago. It also appears to be the standard 2.4 inch, stereo speakers handset with a camera.
One thing to note is that the keypad has no Japanese characters on it… interesting.
PR -
FOMA® users will be able to exchange text, images, video and music, while mova® users will be able to exchange text, as well as receive, but not send, images and video. Outgoing messages will be converted to MMS format, and incoming messages to i-mode.
And ofcourse, as difficult as it is to send an international SMS, MMS are similar -
Senders must enter the country code, telephone number and @mms-j.jp. The charge is 100 yen for a message under 30 KB and 200 yen for a message of 30 KB or more, plus packet charges based on the file size. Recipients only need to pay packet charges.
So it’s not hugely expensive, but you won’t want to be sending any 4 Megapixel D901iS pictures from it ^^;;
The data, pictures and information on the new N901iS has only just been put up! I’ve translated and documented the new phone due for release tomorrow! The eagerly awaited N901iS by NEC defines style with a list of impressive features. Complete with a 2 mega pixel camera, and PictBridge for direct USB printing, it also features a huge 2.5 inch QVGA display!
Click here to take a look-see at the N901iS.
June 21st, the beta version “ibisBrowser” has been released!
The full-html browser displays websites as they would be seen on a standard personal computer. Fullscreen browsing (with both left and right scrolling to see the whole page) is now available on the 900iX, 901iX and 700iX series phones!
The software reportedly contains features like quick search, high-speed cache and “keitai view”, which I think means rotating the handset 90 degrees.
The software is also due for beta release for the 505iX and 506iX series over the next few days!
Ibis: http://www.ibis.ne.jp/
LG and NTT DoCoMo have apparently come to an agreement to create a dual-mode 3G FOMA handset that works on W-CDMA and also supports international roaming for GSM/GPRS networks.
Of course the handset will support all basic FOMA and i-mode features.
I expect the new hanset will be similar in function and features to the N900iG by NTT DoCoMo, which also supports GSM/GPRS.
The handset is planned for release in spring 2006.
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