11/10, 12:20pm
Softbank announces new winter, spring handsets
Japanese telecoms provider Softbank on Tuesday announced an upcoming lineup of handsets, including revealing that it will launch an Android-powered smartphone by the spring of 2010. The device will use a 3.7-inch OLED and be powered by Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon CPU but has received few other details. Otherwise, Snapdragon is already found or to be found in a number of other smartphones from various manufacturers.
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11/09, 1:35pm
Japan's Softbank climbs on iPhone sales
Apple is persisting in efforts to expand iPhone sales before the end of 2009, reports note. Singapore is set to gain a third iPhone carrier in the form of StarHub, which will join competition with M1 and SingTel by the end of the year. Vodafone has announced a deal for Qatar, making it the first iPhone carrier in the Middle Eastern country. A local launch could slip into 2010.
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09/23, 9:40am
More than 30 WM 6.5 phones due before 2010
More than 15 phone manufacturers will release over 30 new smartphones running on Microsoft's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system before the end of 2009, the copmany's GCR Mobile Team Unit senior director Benjamin Tan said recently. Tan was speaking to a group of reports at the time, according to a Wednesday Digitimes report. Among the phone manufacturers slated to introduce models are HTC, Acer, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and HP.
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09/09, 12:50pm
Nokia Maemo phones won't carry custom apps
Nokia will mirror Apple's approach to carrier software with all of its Maemo Linux-based smartphones, the company said on Wednesday. Rather than agree to include carrier-specific apps and modify the look of the OS to appease carriers, as it does with most of its Symbian phones, Nokia told Reuters it will insist that devices like the N900 come only with their default apps and interface. The choice is characterized as an attempt to focus on an ideal experience for the user and less an attempt to placate carriers.
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08/17, 9:50am
iPhone 3GS Tops in Japan
Apple's third iPhone generation has ousted Japan's own phone manufacturers for the top sales spot in the country, according to market data from Gfk Japan. The 32GB iPhone 3GS was the most popular phone in Japan during July and outsold even more advanced touchscreen phones from the local market, such as the runner-up Sharp SH-06. Of the top ten, the 16GB iPhone 3GS was the only other non-Japanese phone to make the list, occupying ninth place ahead of the Sharp SH001 camera phone.
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08/05, 1:15pm
I-O Data intros SEG Clip
I-O Data has recently launched its latest SEG Clip, the GV-SC310, which connects to PCs via a USB connection and picks up 1Seg TV broadcasts. The tuner then has the ability to send these broadcasts wirelessly, whether live or recorded, to Sony's PSP or to iPhones and iPod touch devices.
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07/30, 1:55pm
iPhone profitable in Japan
Japan's largest cellphone carriers experienced contrasting performance in the first fiscal quarter, as the leader NTT DoCoMo reported a slide in net profit by 15 percent to Y147.38 billion (~$1.54 billion USD), according to the Wall Street Journal. Softbank, meanwhile, surprised analysts with a 41 percent jump in profit to Y27.38 (~$286 million USD).
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07/20, 2:35pm
Japan Looks to iPhone
The Japanese are turning to Apple's iPhone as a source of ideas for how to rescue their ailing cellphone business, the head of a local think tank said today. Professor Takeshi Natsuno of Keio University told the New York Times that companies like Hitachi, NEC and Sharp have generally been unable to sell phones outside of Japan due to difficult, often highly customized interfaces and that the iPhone is a key example of how to solve the problem. Its emphasis on ease of use over hardware is believed to have made it more palatable worldwide and encouraged third-party app development that isn't usually present in Japan.
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07/03, 1:35pm
iPhone tops in Japan
The iPhone is currently the best-selling smartphone in Japan, at least at retail, according to a recent survey. Gathered by research firm BCN, data from 2,300 stores shows the 8GB iPhone 3G as the most popular smartphone, followed by its 16GB sibling. Ranking third in the survey is the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A, designed by Sharp; RIM's BlackBerry Bold ranks sixth, and a full four slots in the list are occupied by devices from HTC.
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06/25, 3:40pm
Japanese iPhone 3GS launch
Japanese shoppers are already in line to buy the iPhone 3G S, which goes on sale with Softbank at 7AM local time on Friday, equivalent to 6PM Eastern on Thursday. Lines are smaller than those for the iPhone 3G launch, according to IDG, at present closer to 100 people at Softbank's flagship Omotesando store. When reservations opened for the 3G S last week, approximately 200 people arrived at the Omotesando location. Online preorders have not been allowed with Japanese iPhones.
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06/18, 4:00pm
Japanese iPhone 3GS lineup
Japanese carrier Softbank today opened up reservations for the iPhone 3GS, allowing people to pre-order the device. As neither Apple nor Softbank have allowed online pre-orders in the country, lineups formed outside of Softbank retail stores, with as many as 200 people showing up at the flagship outlet by 1AM. Though crowds at the outlet disappeared towards the afternoon, they are said to have grown again in the evening.
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05/21, 9:15am
Panasonic May Use Android
Panasonic late on Wednesday said a real chance exists that it may develop an Android-based phone of its own before the end of its fiscal 2010 year, which ends next March. The company's mobile device director Keisuke Ishii told guests of a press conference for its new phones that Panasonic is "seriously considering" Google's mobile OS. He couldn't provide a timeframe but said the market for open-source smartphones would explode to 100 million phones by 2012, giving the electronics giant a strong reason to do well in that area itself.
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05/19, 11:10am
SoftBank 8MP camera phones
Japanese carrier SoftBank has recently announced it will soon add the 934SH and 936SH handsets to its range, both manufactured by Sharp and meeting IPX5 and IPX7 waterproof specifications. The former also goes by Mirumo because it features a unique external LCD display developed by Sharp with a 456x240 resolution. Not quite e-paper, the display simply turns off the backlight and is said to use up 500 times less power than a conventional OLED display.
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05/19, 9:55am
SoftBank 10MP camera phone
SoftBank has recently showed off this high-end camera phone, the Sharp 933SH AQUOS Shot. It not only sports a 10-megapixel camera but has an extremely high ISO sensitivity range, at up to 12,800, for capturing images in low-light environments without blur. The camera functions are accessed via a 3.3-inch, 854x480 rotating LCD touchscreen that is mounted on a two-axis hinge. Continuous autofocusing is also built in, and touching a subject on the screen will result in it always staying in focus, even if it moves.
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04/09, 3:45pm
FLO TV iPhone In Works
Qualcomm today revealed that it's developing an add-on that could give several smartphones, including the iPhone, a tuner for FLO TV digital broadcasts. The communications firm's FLO TV head Bill Stone remarks to SAI that iPhone OS 3.0's support for third-party hardware has set Qualcomm to developing an external receiver that could give both the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as other smartphones, access to the over-the-air TV service. When it would ship isn't yet certain, as is whether it would use the Dock Connector or else attach wirelessly.
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02/09, 4:15pm
Verizon commits to LiMo
The LiMo Foundation on Monday announced six new wireless providers have committed to release LiMo Platform based handsets in 2009. The Linux OS-based phones will become available from Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Vodafone sometime in 2009. The open-source Linux operating system in the devices will be based on the latest version of the LiMo Platform.
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12/09, 11:50am
Open Handset Adds 14
The Open Handset Alliance today said it has added 14 new members to its group in a move that will bolster support for Google's new Android operating system. The new roster includes phone manufacturers such as ASUS, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba as well as prominent chipmakers like ARM and Atheros as well as carriers Softbank and Vodafone. GPS device maker Garmin is also included in the list.
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11/06, 3:55pm
SoftBank intros 8MP mobile
Sharp executives believe the SoftBank 930SH handset, which Sharp helped to develop, features the highest quality camera of any handset. Its integrated 8-megapixel camera sports a 1/2.5-inch CCD sensor usually found in actual digital cameras rather than the CMOS sensor in most other handsets. Another spec not usually found in camera phones includes the maximum ISO setting of 2500, making it suitable for taking legible photos in low-light environments. A mechanical shutter is used, and can be left open longer to help with capturing images in darker situations, while a neutral density filter helps in reducing glare when shooting outdoors on sunny days. In addition, there is a CMOS camera facing the user that will allow for making video calls.
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10/30, 2:40pm
Sharp AQUOS Fulltouch
Breaking relatively new ground for Japanese cellphone makers, Sharp on Thursday launched the FULLTOUCH 931SH for Softbank. The AQUOS-branded phone is one of the few full-touchscreen cellphones from the country but is also record-setting through a new, landmark display: the 3.8-inch touch LCD carries a 1024x480 resolution that rivals smaller notebooks and provides an extremely sharp view for browsing and videos, including live TV from its 1Seg tuner. The phone supports two-finger input for zooming into website views and even uses touch to focus its built-in 5.2-megapixel camera.
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10/30, 7:45am
Softbank iPhone 1Seg Tuner
Japanese cell carrier Softbank on Thursday catered to local tastes with the introduction of an official 1Seg TV tuner add-on for the iPhone 3G. Through a custom App Store download, the adapter gives access to the country's over-the-air digital TV broadcast network over a local Wi-Fi link, allowing residents to watch live shows from the iPhone while leaving the tuner in a bag or pocket. The tuner carries its own battery and can either power the tuner for three hours of TV or serve as a USB battery pack for the iPhone.
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08/08, 8:30am
KDDI Hit by iPhone 3G
Japanese wireless carrier KDDI has seen its growth stifled in July primarily by the iPhone 3G launch the same month, according to a report from the company itself. The company's subscriber growth was near flat at just 17,000 new users for the month and saw the first month KDDI has known where the amount of cancellations with phone number portability, or the number of customers switching to rivals, overtook new subscriptions of the same kind. The sudden downturn comes just as the iPhone's official carrier, SoftBank, saw an immediate spike and added 52,000 new users.
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08/05, 9:40am
Softbank iPhone cuts
Japanese carrier Softbank is introducing a revised version of its iPhone plans, an announcement reveals. The new options mean iPhone customers can pay as little as ¥2,990 ($28) per month. The price cuts reflect a new data rate system at the company, which scales in terms of regular fees. People are still able to use an unlimited amount of data, but are now being charged based on usage up to a certain maximum. Plans begin at a low of ¥1,695 ($16), and as data usage increases, increase to a maximum of ¥5,985 ($56).
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07/14, 10:20am
Japan iPhone Demand Spikes
Japanese interest in the iPhone 3G surged to where more than one in seven Japanese phone customers has been considering an iPhone, according to a survey published today by iSHARE and conducted at the end of June. The researchers note that while a pre-announcement study showed just 8.9 percent of buyers considering an iPhone, that number has since climbed to 14.5 percent, a jump of about 63 percent in just a few weeks. Existing subscribers with official iPhone carrier SoftBank are disproportionately more likely to want the device, with exactly one in five (20 percent) likely to buy while just 10 percent of those with other providers mulling a switch of carriers to get the device.
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07/09, 3:05am
iPhone line forms in Japan
While the first iPhone 3G lineup began at Apple's flagship NYC store, people are already lining up in Japan at the Softbank flagship store in “Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue”, Omotesandou street where the iPhone will be "available extra-early in this particular store on July 11th, 7 am (July 10th, 6pm EST)," CrunchGear notes. "And the man you can see in the video, Hiroyuki Sano, will be the first person in Asia to lay his hands on the 3G iPhone (assuming stores in Hong Kong will open later in the day). I shot the video and the pictures just now, in the middle of the night (July 8th, 2pm EST). This means Hiroyuki and the 15 people waiting with him must suffer for another 52 hours from Tokyo’s tropical heat."
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07/08, 10:05am
Japan's iPhone launch day
Japan's Softbank has announced launch-day plans for the country's first iPhone, according to IDG News. The carrier says that it will be one of the first in the world to sell the iPhone 3G, opening the doors of its Harajuku store at 7AM Friday JST, a time equivalent to 10PM Thursday in GMT, or 2PM Thursday in PST. The only country to launch before Japan should be New Zealand, where the 3G is being carried by Vodafone.
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07/07, 10:30am
iPhone in Japan
In the face of reports suggesting ambivalence to the iPhone 3G in the Japanese market, Kakaku.com has released survey results indicating that these accounts may be significantly off the mark. The Japanese iPhone is currently set to be carried exclusively by Softbank on July 11th; in the Kakaku survey, early 8,000 people (90 percent male) were questioned in June through a price comparison portal for electronics. Extrapolating from the respondents' answers, Kakaku says that over 50 percent "will definitely purchase one," or at least intend to. Of this group, over 45 percent are not current Softbank subscribers.
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06/23, 9:20am
Softbank iPhone 3G plans
Japanese carrier Softbank has announced its planned prices for the iPhone 3G, Reuters writes. Launching with the initial wave of 22 countries on July 11th, Softbank will sell the 8GB iPhone for 23,040 yen, or approximately $215; the 16GB iPhone should cost 34,560 yen ($322). It is expecting most subscribers to sign up for a 7,280 yen ($68) per month plan, which will guarantee unlimited data use and free calls to other Softbank users.
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06/20, 10:05am
NTT DoCoMo on iPhone 3G
NTT DoCoMo is defending its inability to secure an iPhone deal, writes Japan's Impress Watch. Speaking at a shareholder meeting, DoCoMo CEO Masao Nakamura has stated that while the iPhone is attractive and has an appealing fanbase, many of its features are already present on the likes of LG's Prada touchscreen phone, or the Sharp SH906i. The first iPhone was also unusually heavy, says Nakamura, although he appreciates that the 3G model weighs only 4.7 ounces.
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06/18, 12:20pm
Japan iPhone 3G Study
Despite the relative success of the iPod in Japan, the iPhone 3G isn't likely to get an immediate footing in the country, according to a new iSHARE study. Of the Japanese adults polled, 91 percent say they have no plans to buy the device when it becomes available on July 11th. Of the remaining nine percent, nearly all (8.9 percent of the total) said they planned to purchase the device. Slightly under half of these are users already signed up for SoftBank, the carrier picked for the initial Japanese launch.
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06/04, 7:10am
SoftBank Gets 3G iPhone
SoftBank today said it has an agreement carry the iPhone, making it the first provider in Japan to offer the device. The company follows in step with past carrier announcements and doesn't reveal launch information, saying only that the Apple phone will be available "later this year." SoftBank's announcement confirms the imminent announcement of a 3G-capable iPhone, as all Japanese networks use 3G technology (WCDMA and faster) exclusively for calling as well as data.
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02/27, 12:30pm
Softbank 'robot' phone
Japanese carrier Softbank is preparing an unusual addition to its lineup. Toshiba is developing an exclusive phone for the carrier called the 815T PB, meant to help promote a TV drama called Ketai Sousakan 7, directed by Takashi Miike. Owners can attach a set of flexible robot limbs to the phone, enabling various poses; for full effect, the phone also comes installed with an AI personality called "Buddy Talk," which makes various expressions and responds to voice conversation, gradually improving its answers.
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02/25, 2:40pm
EMobile Japan
Planning to disrupt what it believes is a static phone industry, startup carrier EMobile today announced its first service plans for its home country of Japan. Instead of requiring a monthly fee or having customers buy prepaid blocks of time, the new service will operate largely on a metered system. Customers pay roughly 17 cents for every 30 seconds of call time; they can also buy unlimited local calls for slightly more than $9 per month if they are regular users, EMobile adds. In exchange, the carrier asks customers to use 3G Internet access over HSPA up to 7.2Mbps for between $19 and $55 per month depending on the level of access.
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02/08, 11:00am
MS Yahoo May Settle Today
Yahoo will make its ultimate decision as to whether or not it will accept a takeover by Microsoft today, sources have reportedly told TechCrunch. With potential suitors including Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank having so far declined to offer a deal of their own, Yahoo is now believed to be on the verge of a board meeting which will either accept the Microsoft deal with little negotiating room or else turn to Google for a deal that might bring the latter's advertising and even search functions to Yahoo's pages.
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01/29, 12:25pm
Hitachi W61H w/e-ink
Japanese carriers KDDI and Softbank are adding a unique Hitachi phone to their lineups, according to multiple reports. The W61H uses a regular, 2.7-inch LCD on the inside of its clamshell design, but this is mirrored by a similarly-sized e-ink display on the back, where most phones would place an OLED screen. This screen is not intended to be practical, however, but instead display one of 95 decorative patterns, matched to the available black, silver or cyan colors.
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12/18, 9:20am
Japanese iPhone talks
Apple is already in negotiations to release the iPhone in Japan, reports indicate. Sources say that Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently met with Masao Nakamura, the president of Japan's largest wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo. Jobs has also supposedly met with people from Japan's third-largest carrier, Softbank, and executives from both carriers are said to have flown multiple times to Apple's Cupertino headquarters. Notably excluded from reports is Japan's second-rated carrier, KDDI.
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12/05, 1:35pm
Sharp 820SH and 821SH
Japanese carrier Softbank has begun carrying two new 3G phones by Sharp, the 820SH and 821SH. Both are extremely flat, stainless-steel clamshells, and come in an unusual assortment of colors: the 820 can be had in blue, black, red, white, gold and green, while the 821 has deeper hues of red, green, purple, silver, cyan and brown. The phones also have Bluetooth, GPS and two-megapixel cameras, but the primary attraction is 1Seg TV recording, saved to microSD cards up to 2GB in size.
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