Willcom 9 flip-phone with Java, web, email support

At a press conference in Japan today, Willcom unveiled its new Willcom 9 handset, earning the distinction of being the company's first phone that integrates Internet and email applications accessible via dedicated shortcut buttons that jump to Google search and Gmail respectively. The flip-phone features a 2-inch, 320x240-pixel resolution LCD screen with 262K colors, and uses Willcom's proprietary W-SIM card.

Manufactured by KES, the phone has a 1.3-megapixel water-resistant camera to capture images, which it can then store on its embedded 16MB of memory. The software works with the camera to read QR codes. Another 4MB of internal memory is dedicated to e-mail, with that same amount reserved for Java applications, and there is no memory card slot.

The Willcom 9 will be available for purchase in either black or white on July 18 in Japan, priced at an equivalent of about $340. [via Impress]