NTT DoCoMo has announced that the Sharp Aquos SH-07D, SH-09D, and SH-10D smartphones will be appearing on its network this summer. The three phones, each running Android 4.0, will debut separately on the network in a variety of colors.
The forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S III for Japan has been fitted 2GB of RAM, versus the standard 1GB of RAM for most other international markets. The Japanese variant of the GS III also runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 ‘Krait’ dual-core SoC, which is compatible with Japan’s NTT Docomo 4G LTE network. The inclusion of the additional RAM is likely to help support Japan-only features such as 1 seg TV tuner without bogging down overall system performance.
Japan's NTT DoCoMo has revealed its summer lineup of releases including 16 Android 4.0 smartphones, a tablet, a mobile phone for children and a mobile Wi-Fi router. The announcement comes at the same time as plans for the company's Dmarket content to be expanded to offer anime videos and music on a flat-rate basis for smartphones and tablets.
In a rare instance of backing off of a major deal, NTT DoCoMo said Monday that it had broken up its planned 4G chip alliance. The Japanese carrier along with Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic, and Samsung had ended their joint venture in chips after an agreement on exact terms "could not be reached" by the end of the fiscal year, at the end of March. The company NTT DoCoMo had made to get ready for the alliance, Communication Platform Planning Co., was being closed and liquidated as a result.
Panasonic's extra-thin Eluga smartphone has edged closer to release with more concrete launches for Japan and Europe. Its home country is getting the Android 2.3 hardware as the P-04D on March 29 through NTT DoCoMo. That carrier is getting a special Deep Purple hue instead of the normal black.
Japanese wireless provider NTT DoCoMo has teamed up with hardware makers NEC, Panasonic, and Fujitsu on developing a rare large-scale integration (LSI) chip for modems that supports GSM, WCDMA, HSPA+, and LTE networks. The companies have developed both the software and hardware intellectual property. An engineering sample of the chips exists, and testing on major mobile networks has been completed.
Industry association Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) revealed on Thursday that some of the biggest carriers in the world have successfully tested Next Generation Hotspots (NGH). Wi-Fi access to these hubs is much simpler, and the second half of 2012 will see more tests that involve more advanced features. The first commercial NGHs will be built over the course of the next 10 months.
MPEG LA, which holds patent rights for several technologies including components of MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ATSC, and AVC, is now offering a consolidated license for patents pertaining to MVC (Multiview Video Coding). MVC is the standard for encoding and decoding video that is used in 3D-capable hardware, such as Blu-ray disc players and burners, video cameras, and PCs.
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has dated two new portable Android devices that are also waterproof. The Sharp Aquos SH-06D phone has already been seen before, and despite being promised to launch at the start of December, still hasn't surfaced. The other new device is the seven-inch NEC Medias Tab N-06D, which shares the handset's dual-core 1.2GHz processor.
Fresh details leaked Monday have an LTE iPad 3 shipping for at least two US carriers. AT&T and Verizon would both sell the tablet at 4G speeds, the Wall Street Journal said. Whether or not Sprint's upcoming LTE network wasn't mentioned, but the hardware would have the expected fallback to 3G in areas where LTE wasn't available.
A new smartphone from NEC Casio is due to launch in Japan at provider NTT DoCoMo. The high-end Medias LTE N-04D will support 4G LTE speeds and sport a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. As is typical of high-end Japanese phones, a 1Seg TV tuner will also be onboard.
Disney has partnered with NTT DoCoMo to release a pair of new Android-powered smartphones. The phones are part of a new range of smartphones to be sold exclusively under the 'Disney Mobile on DoCoMo' brand. The first of the two models (F-08D) will be launched in late February with the second (P-05D) due to follow in March, both Japan only.
Nintendo is partnering with Japanese service provider NTT DoCoMo to bring speech recognition tools to the classroom. Together, the two companies are using Nintendo's DS handhelds to display a teacher's words directly on the handheld gaming device's screen as they are spoken. The intent is to help students with disabilities learn better.
Second-largest Japanese carrier KDDI showed an immediate effect from its getting the iPhone 4S Thursday after it upped its outlook for 2012. It now expects to get 2.6 percent more revenue in 2012 than it did before owing to becoming one of Apple's latest official carriers. Although its profit dipped 17 percent in the fall to the equivalent of $697.1 million, it saw its data revenue go up 8.2 points, mostly as customers switched from their conventionally Japanese basic feature phones to smartphones.
Japanese automaker Nissan has applied its self-healing paint technology to an iPhone case. The first-of-its-kind case is a tribute to the Juke crossover and was created with the help of the University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials. As on Nissan's cars, any small scratches or scrapes can fix themselves over time.
Fujitsu in its turn at CES was focusing mostly on the mobile side, demoing the Arrows Tab and, in a surprise, a quad-core smartphone. The Arrows-badged phone, which was using a Tegra 3, was behind glass at the main Fujitsu booth running the Riptide GP game NVIDIA likes to use to show the Tegra 3's graphics power. We were told it was running Android 4.0 and, on-device, had a 4.6-inch "HD" screen.
Japan's three largest wireless carriers are uniting to ensure NFC standards compatibility. NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and SoftBank are establishing the Japan Mobile NFC Consortium to coordinate the adoption of multiple international standards for NFC technologies used in their mobile devices and services. By doing so, the three hope to be able to offer lower-cost NFC services to both Japanese residents ans international visitors.
The LG Optimus LTE will become available on NTT DoCoMo's Xi 4G LTE network in Japan on December 15, the South Korean manufacturer announced. The phone will be offered in black, white and red, the last of which is unique to the carrier. The phone is already available in Korea, Canada, and the US.
The chief for US Cellular's parent, TDS, hinted in a presentation at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday that US Cellular would be open to an LTE iPhone. It was "never going to say never" about Apple's device, but the carrier wanted the device on its newest network before considering. Its LTE network goes live in early 2012 and will already be at half coverage of its regional-sized network by the end of 2012.
NTT DoCoMo may have given clues to Apple making LTE a staple of its next iPad an iPhone. A claim in Japan's Nikkei asserts that the carrier is hoping to carry a 4G iPad by the summer and a matching iPhone by the fall. Apple chief Tim Cook had supposedly had NTT DoCoMo VPs Kiyoyuki Tsujimura and Takashi Yamada visit Apple's campus to successfully make a "basic agreement" and had been hashing out details such as minimum shipment volumes.
Japenese provider NTT DoCoMo has just officially announced that the Sharp SH-01D will ship on December 2. The Android 2.3-powered smartphone is waterproof and gets a 4.5-inch LCD with a 720x1280 resolution. The Aquos-branded screen uses a parallax barrier design for glasses-free 3D images.
Japan's largest cellphone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, has not "given up" hope of selling the iPhone, according to CEO Ryuji Yamada. Yamada explains that Apple and DoCoMo are still in talks, but that there are several concerns, such as Apple's insistence on high volume commitments. The CEO also worries about the risk of the iPhone becoming a "mass majority" of DoCoMo products, and the closed nature of iOS blocking the carrier from pre-installing otherwise commonplace DoCoMo apps, such as its e-wallet system or custom i-mode email.
The largest Japanese mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo, has just shown a Japanese-to-English, two-way translation service that will work on its phones. The unique service works fairly quickly, with a voice speaking the translation back to the user. The carrier said it can be used not only during phone conversations but also personal ones.
A last-minute discovery of a poster and detailed specs may have divulged most details of the Galaxy Nexus. The Blog of Mobile sighting of an NTT DoCoMo ad both cemented the name and gave it a November 10 release date, the same as that for Verizon. Samsung is now known to be using a dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP4460 processor inside, and Android 4.0 has been identified as Ice Cream Sandwich's final name.
Google and Samsung dropped clues of a turnaround as quick as a month for the Galaxy Nexus (Nexus Prime) when unveiled at their special event Tuesday night in Hong Kong. Samsung's press in Canada has promised Electronista that the device, which it didn't name, would be coming to the country "soon." Details would be available with the next few weeks, a spokeswoman said.
Intel and Samsung partly confirmed rumors by unveiling Tizen. The effective successor to MeeGo still uses Linux as an open-source foundation for a mobile OS but is focused on a much broader coalition of LiMo supporters that includes Japanese phone makers NEC Casio and Panasonic Mobile, OS developer Access, and carriers NTT DoCoMo, SK Telecom, Telefonica (O2), and Vodafone. The group will focus more on HTML5- and Wholesale Applications Community-based apps that can run on MeeGo and can share much of their code for other platforms and devices.
KDDI will soon end SoftBank's lock as the only Japanese iPhone carrier, sources claimed late Wednesday. The new provider would open up to sales of the iPhone 5 under its Au service sometime early 2012, the Nikkei said. It could theoretically start earlier, but it would need more time to prepare.
Sharp on Thursday checked its ambitions in the tablet arena with word that it was dropping its original two Galapagos tablets. Both the 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch models will exit the market at the end of September, about 10 months after they went on sale. Only the seven-inch A01SH launched last month will stay on sale.
Samsung is reportedly building new partnerships with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo and several other companies to develop chips that will be used in upcoming smartphones. According to a Nikkei report (sub. required), the South Korean company is attempting to decrease its dependence on components produced by competing chip maker Qualcomm.
NTT DoCoMo has officially announced two new tablets for its Xi LTE service, which it launched in December. The Japanese service provider will be offering its customers the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE and the Fujitsu Arrows Tab LTE F-01D. Both Android 3 tablets will come in white and feature 10.1-inch 1280x800 displays
A newly discovered FCC filing suggests Fujitsu is readying to bring its recently leaked and Japan-only F-01D 10-inch Android tablet to the US. The device meant for American shores won't have access to mobile or broadband networks however, only supporting Wi-Fi. This could also indicate Fujitsu is just trying to get an FCC certificate for the tablet for travelers who come to the US often.
The seven-inch Android 3.1 tablet from Fujitsu that surfaced back in May is likely to turn out to be a 10-inch device, according to a new leak from China's Juggly. The tip puts the device to launch at Japanese provider NTT DoCoMo near the end of September. The device would also support the carrier's LTE-based Xi 4G service, with the carrier itself promising to launch two such 4G tablets this fall.
The NEC N-04C Android smartphone that's offered by NTT DoCoMo in Japan may be coming to the US, Japanese daily business paper Nikkei reported. The handset, touted as the world's thinnest at 7.7mm, was announced to be coming to the US last year and may be offered by Verizon and some other carriers. It will be made by NEC Casio Mobile Communications, which was formed back in 2009.
The Samsung Celox smartphone that first appeared last week has been spotted thanks to Japanese site Ameblo. The handset, basically a redesigned Samsung Galaxy S II with an LTE radio, will arrive at Korea's SK Telecom, as revealed by the provider's logo present on the rear of the phone. The large, iPhone-like home button is also gone from the front of the device, replaced instead with Android's standard navigational keys.
Japanese carrier Softbank posted strong results (PDF) that it could credit largely to Apple. Its profit jumped from the equivalent of $250 million a year ago to $1.22 billion this year. Much of this came through a shift to smartphones, which on Softbank are led by the iPhone.
Android is holding on to its place as the most popular platform in Japan, comScore determined on Thursday. Google's platform more than doubled its user base in the country between December and March to hit 4.6 million devices, overtaking the iPhone in the process. Apple also saw its base go up but budged by just over 100,000 phones to reach 3.9 million.
Sony Ericsson took advantage of Singapore's CommunicAsia expo to put out two new Android 2.3 smartphones, including its first real rugged model. The Xperia active is built for both exercise and outdoor use with a dust-proof, scratch-resistant, and water-resistant shell. It can work with ANT+ to pick up the heart rate and pulse from a monitor and has both a barometer and a compass beyond the usual GPS.
The biggest Japanese wireless provider, NTT DoCoMo, on Monday announced the upcoming release of a number of new handsets, including the Sharp Aquos Phone f SH-13C. Chief among the phone's features is its out-of-the-box Qi wireless charger and pod, a first of its kind for smartphones. Users just need to place the phone onto a pod or any other Qi charger for cable-free power.
Twitter's ambitions for Japan were expanded past smartphone alerts on Friday after NTT DoCoMo promised a slew of new features. At least with feature phones, the carrier plans to use NFC (near field communications) to let Twitter users follow each other through a new version of the "touch and follow" feature. Those using either the DoCoMo Market on a smartphone or i-mode on a feature phone will get real-time Twitter updates fed into search results.
Twitter and NTT DoCoMo have signed an agreement by which Twitter will provide its databases to DoCoMo. The Japanese telecom will use the information for a location-based alerting service for smartphone users. The service will be rolled out early next year. It will be available to DoCoMo smartphone customers only when released.
Sharp pushed to keep Android on top in Japan by launching a new flagship with multiple firsts for the country. The Aquos SH-12C carries two rear eight-megapixel cameras that, like the Evo 3D, can shoot 3D video or still photos. Its 4.2-inch display is both one of the sharpest in Japan at 540x960 but also provides glasses-free 3D to show off the resulting footage.
Android successfully pushed past the iPhone for the top smartphone platform in Japan last fiscal year, according to MM Research Institute. Google shot up from just 250,000 phones and 11 percent of the market at the end of March 2010 to 4.91 million phones at the end of March this year, or 57.4 percent. Apple moved 3.23 million iPhones over the same period and was 37.8 percent; BlackBerry and Windows Mobile were virtually non-existent.
SoftBank on Monday posted banner results that it directly credited to the iPhone and iPad. A rise in smartphones, led mostly by Apple on the Japanese carrier, was a "huge factor" in pumping profit for the early winter to $588.4 million. The figure was over 25 times larger than a year ago, although SoftBank was quick to note that dropping its 2G network cut into its profits a year ago.
Official Android developer Eric Chu just announced that Sprint subscribers will soon get the ability to be bill their Android Market app purchases directly to their provider. This feature is already in use by T-Mobile and AT&T in the US, as well as SoftBank, KDDI and NTT DoCoMo in Japan. Sprint users will see the option roll out in all regions over the next few days.
NTT DoCoMo announced on Monday it will begin shipping the Optimus Pad L-06C tablet in Japan beginning on Thursday, March 31. NTT will be the first to offer the tablet, as T-Mobile hasn't officially confirmed its own launch date. It was expected to arrive in the US as the G-Slate on March 23 but missed that date and is more likely to ship April 20.
NTT DoCoMo said on Friday that it would at last begin allowing device unlocks and support outside hardware. Any phone, tablet, or other device bought on the Japanese network from April 1 onwards will be unlockable for use on another carrier. Owners have to visit a DoCoMo store and pay both a 3,150 yen ($38) fee and sign a waiver understanding that the carrier's specific features won't work on another network.
Android is catching up to the iPhone in Japan but is much further back, new data from comScore found on Thursday. Google's platform exploded over the last half of 2010 and jumped from just 435,000 users in June to almost 2.2 million at the end of that year. The gap with Apple was noticeably wider than it was in the US, however, as Apple still grew from about 2.6 million Japanese owners just at the cusp of the iPhone 4 launch to 3.8 million six months later.
Japan had the distinction today of being one of the first countries to get the Optimus Pad. LG's 8.9-inch Android 3.0 tablet will come to the country as the L-06C on NTT DoCoMo. Its version will be customized with a BeeTV app for Internet video as well as a 2DFacto app to read Japanese comics and e-books.
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has introduced what it claims is the world’s thinnest Android smartphone, the NEC MEDIAS N-04C. Measuring just 0.3-inches thin, the phone incorporates an 800MHz processor and runs Android 2.2 with support for Flash 10.1. It also centers on 4-inch TFT LCD with 854×480 resolution with Corning’s Gorilla Glass.
A leak Monday morning has shown NEC leaping into smartphones in earnest with an Android device that would be thinner than any other phone to date. At 7.7mm (0.3in) thick, the Medias N-04C would not only be thinner than the iPhone 4 but even other Android phones that have claimed the title just days earlier, such as the 8.5mm Galaxy S II or Optimus Black. The phone material seen by Draft Life would still manage to fit a four-inch touchscreen, 1Seg over-the-air TV tuning and NFC for using FeliCa wireless payments in Japan.
