05/15, 10:07am
Heat transferred from phone processor to graphite radiator via liquid tube
NEC has unveiled a smartphone aimed at women, which it claims to be the first in the world with a water or liquid-cooled processor. The Medias X 06E, forming part of NTT DoCoMo's summer release list, uses a tube of liquid that transfers heat from the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor to a graphite radiator located elsewhere on the phone, spreading generated heat across the phone instead of in a single place.
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05/15, 5:21am
List includes nine smartphones, one tablet, one Raku-Raku device
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has revealed the lineup of mobile devices that it will start offering over the summer. Eleven models make the cut, including nine smartphones, one tablet, and one "Raku-Raku" simplified smartphone. Notable additions include a new Sony Xperia smartphone, the Aquos Phone Zeta, and the Aquos Pad tablet from Sharp.
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01/22, 5:06am
Android apps usable on single screen or spanning both
An Android smartphone with hinged dual screens has been revealed as part of NTT DoCoMo's new range of mobile phones. Originally shown at Mobile World Congress last year, the NEC Medias W has a pair of 540x960 TFT LCD displays measuring 4.3 inches, which when unfolded, gives the user a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1080x960.
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01/10, 4:08pm
Ascend D1 LTE bound for Japanese market
If you're familiar at all with astrophysics, you'll understand how the gravitational pull of Huawei's Ascend Mate phablet drew us back to the Chinese manufacturer's booth for the second day in a row. This time, we crossed the event horizon in order to check out Huawei's other offerings, namely the Ascend D1 LTE and Huawei's Windows Phone offering, the Ascend W1. Huawei also had a few tablet offerings on display that we'll get to later, but for the moment these two actual hand-friendly handsets were our targets for handling.
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01/03, 10:44am
Confirms earlier reports of Tizen OS handset development
Samsung has confirmed it will be making Tizen-based devices, with the first of the range expected later this year. The announcement comes shortly after reports surfaced at the end of 2012, claiming the manufacturer was working with NTT DoCoMo Vodafone, and Intel to ship a handset in Japan, followed by other Asian and European regions shortly afterwards.
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12/31, 12:59pm
Open mobile operating system to spread across Asia, Europe
Samsung is to launch its first Tizen-based smartphone in 2013, according to reports. The open-source operating system, being developed in partnership with NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, Intel and others, will apparently appear on a handset in Japan in early 2013, and will spread to other Asian and European countries shortly afterwards.
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12/26, 1:50pm
P-02E to sport 1920x1080 display, Android 4.1.2
Panasonic has had another handset approved by the FCC, with filings from the regulatory body revealing what appears to be a high-end Android device. The P-02E sports a recent version of Jelly Bean, NFC, LTE, and a high-resolution screen. It doesn't appear to be coming to the United States any time soon, though; the filing has the device headed for Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo.
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12/07, 9:20am
Softbank, KDDI pull in DoCoMo customers
Japan's largest cellphone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, has posted a net loss of 40,800 subscribers for the month of November, Reuters reports. The company is blaming the draw of the iPhone 5, which is only carried in Japan by DoCoMo's two main rivals, KDDI and Softbank. DoCoMo adds that the bleed is the first time it has seen subscribers drop in over five years, and its worst drop to date.
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10/13, 4:48pm
Hardware upgrade seems to match Galaxy Note II
A new version of the Samsung Galaxy S III has been announced in Japan. Appearing on Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, the Galaxy S III Alpha is an improved version of the original, sporting hardware remarkably similar to that of the Galaxy Note II. A new color is also carried over from the Galaxy Note II, however the stylus does not.
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10/01, 1:37pm
Japanese carrier also releasing AR translation app
Japan's NTT DoCoMo is set to launch the world's first Android-based commercial mobile service for conversation translation. Hanashite Hon'yaku provides automatic voice translations between Japanese and another of three languages, with results not only being displayed on-screen, but read out to each side of the conversation as by a voice synthesizer.
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09/19, 3:26pm
Prototype ibeam uses eyes for navigation
A tablet concept with embedded eye-tracking is being prepared for its first public demonstration. The ibeam, a collaboration between NTT DoCoMo, Fujitsu, and Tobii Technology, is an Android tablet with Tobii's IS20 sensor that can detect where eyes are looking at, and then perform the action being focussed on by the user.
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08/01, 7:18am
Access Network Technology set to take on Qualcomm, Samsung
Fujitsu, NEC and NTT Docomo have formed an alliance to manufacture their own smartphone mobile processors. Access Network Technology will see Fujitsu taking a majority 52.8 percent stake, with Docomo holding 19.9 percent and NEC 17.8 percent - Fujitsu Semiconductor will pick up the remaining 9.5 percent stake. The partnership has been borne out necessity as mobile chip supplies are constrained due to global demand, while the Japanese companies want to reduce their reliance on chips sourced from outside Japan.
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07/23, 4:30pm
Fujitsu T-02D gets OLED touchscreen, 13.1-megapixel cam and Japan-only launch
Fujitsu has just introduced a new handset for the Japanese market, the NEXT-series REGZA Phone T-02D. It gets a 4.3-inch OLED touchscreen with 960x540 resolution that Fujitsu calls new AMOLED Plus. The display works with a sensor that measures the color of ambient light to change its own color as needed.
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05/28, 8:08am
Amazon first foreign company to become an NVMO in Japan
Amazon will be the first foreign company to offer a prepaid wireless service in Japan. Nikkei [account required] reports prepaid SIM cards with 500MB preallocated to it will be sold for 1,980 Yen ($25) through the website, and as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), will be carried by NTT Docomo's LTE network. This takes place ahead of the expected Japanese launch of the Amazon Kindle in the summer.
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05/17, 3:05pm
NTT DoCoMo to bring three new Android 4.0 phones this summer
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.
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05/17, 8:37am
Japanese Samsung Galaxy S III users get bonus RAM
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.
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05/16, 1:10pm
NTT DoCoMo brings Galaxy S III to their network
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.
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04/02, 8:55am
NTT DoCoMo and firms don't reach pact in time
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.
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03/22, 7:55am
Panasonic Eluga gets dated for Japan and Europe
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.
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02/24, 11:40am
LSI chips will allow for multi-network modems
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.
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02/23, 1:00pm
Commercial NGHs coming over next 12 months
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.
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02/22, 5:55pm
Pooled license simplifies technology dispersal
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.
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02/16, 10:40am
Devices shares many specs, support Nottv channel
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.
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02/13, 11:05pm
iPad 3 should get multi-carrier launch
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.
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02/10, 6:05pm
High-end phone to be waterproof, get LTE, NFC
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.
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02/01, 6:00am
Disney and NTT DoCoMo parter on exclusive phones
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.
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01/30, 6:10pm
Voice to text to aid disable students in classroom
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.
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01/26, 12:05pm
KDDI gives optimistic outlook because of Apple
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.
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01/18, 2:20pm
Nissan puts its self-healing paint on iPhone case
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.
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01/15, 9:05pm
Fujitus teases Tegra 3 and shows Arrows Tab in US
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.
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12/23, 4:15pm
Form consortium to coordinate efforts
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.
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12/14, 4:30pm
LG Optimus LTE to be first HD 4G at NTT DoCoMo
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.
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12/05, 7:30pm
US Cellular next among carriers open to 4G iPhone
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.
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11/30, 2:10pm
Paper says NTT DoCoMo in talks with Apple
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.
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11/25, 4:55pm
Sharp to ship waterproof 720p smartphone in Japan
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.
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11/15, 1:05pm
Japanese carrier still in talks with Apple
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.
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11/09, 3:20pm
NTT DoCoMo begins live translation service test
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.
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10/18, 9:15am
Samsung Galaxy Nexus name and specs confirmed
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.
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10/18, 7:45am
Galaxy Nexus to come soon for NTT DoCoMo, Canada
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.
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09/28, 8:15am
Tizen rises from ashes of MeeGo
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.
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09/21, 11:15pm
KDDI to become second Japanese iPhone carrier
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.
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09/15, 11:25am
Sharp Galapagos down to just seven-inch model
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.
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09/12, 5:30pm
Companies collaborating on smartphone components
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.
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09/09, 5:20pm
White Android tablets will hit Japan in October
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
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09/06, 1:15pm
Fujitsu 10-inch Android tablet undergoes FCC test
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.
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08/29, 2:30pm
NTT DoCoMo to get 10-inch Fujitsu 4G tablet
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.
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08/29, 11:25am
Slim, 7.7mm Medias N-04C phone due in US?
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.
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08/15, 2:35pm
Samsung Celox due at SK Telecom, NTT DoCoMo
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.
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07/28, 2:15pm
Softbank net income soars in Q2 through Apple
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.
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06/30, 8:55am
comScore shows Android doubling sales in half year
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.
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