Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Panasonic, NEC, Sharp, GSM, HSDPA, UMTS, Softbank Mobile, Toshiba

If you’re noticing a trend in Softbank Mobile’s latest lineup, you’re not alone. With the exception of a single device — the PANTONE Slide 825SH from Sharp — every single device in this place is a flip, although the Panasonic 921P rocks a dual pivot to make the one-seg viewing even more enjoyable. in this place’s a quick rundown of what we’ve got:

• Sharp 923SH. very big 3.3-inch WVGA display with AQUOS branding. Early July launch.
• The Premium Waterproof 824SH from Sharp. Alleged to be the world’s thinnest waterproof phone with a 15.3mm metal body. Early July launch.
• Panasonic Tropical 823P. We’re not sure where the “Tropical” comes into play in this place, but it’s waterproof. lat. June launch.
• Sharp PANTONE Slide 825SH. Integrated motion sensors and a choice of eight colors are all well and good, but we think the 825SH’s real selling point in this place is that it’s the only slide in a sea of flips. Early July launch.
• NEC 821N. It’s got a “cute incoming light,” according to the translated press release, and that’s good enough for us. Early July launch.
• Panasonic Mirror II 824P. It’s alleged that the 824P’s glossy surface changes color when you look at it from different angles, though it’s the WQVGA display that we’d probably be spending most of our time ogling. Early August launch.
• Toshiba 824T. This one is targeted at women, according to Softbank, with a jewel-like surface and color options to match. Early September launch (so much for the “Summer” part of “Summer collection” on that one, we guess).
• NEC 821N GLAMOROUS. This extra-fancy version of the 821N is being launched in collaboration with GLAMOROUS Magazine, featuring custom designed shells, themes, wallpapers, and ringtones. Launches September 6.
• NEC 820N. A stainless steel 11.7mm body should be enough to sell this one to a few souls; one-seg and a 3-inch display aren’t plan to hurt, either. Early July launch.
• Toshiba 823T. The 2 megapixel camera isn’t plan to garner a lot of attention, but this might be our favorite design of the lot with some tastefully integrated carbon fiber accents. Launches early September.
• Panasonic 921P. Taking a cue from the 923SH, this one rolls with VIERA branding on its 3.1-inch WVGA display, which pivots in Bot. directions for easy TV viewing. Launches early August.

It’s not Truly the varied motherload that the carrier’s Spring collection swept in, but as usual, it still leaves the typical phone from… oh, anywhere else in the dust. We bow to your technical superiority, Softbank.

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Tags: 3mm, 7mm, Angles, Color Options, Early August, Early September, Fancy Version, Flips, Glossy Surface, Hsdpa, Incoming Light, Launch, Motion Sensors, Pivot, Rundown, Shells, Single Device, Softbank Mobile, Surface Changes, Umts

Filed under: Handsets, Panasonic, NTT DoCoMo

Last we saw Panasonic’s P905i handset it was bunched in between a slue of other phones NTT DoCoMo was touting, but at this time that the phone is finally on sale it’s getting the spotlight to itself for a little while. In case you missed it, the real stand-out feature on this one is the phone’s Viera image processing and 3.5 inch, 854 x 480 screen, which should get put to good use thanks to the ample supply of PMP features including, of course, a 1seg TV tuner. Otherwise you can expect the usual 3G capabilities, along with a 2 megapixel camera, 1GB of built-in memory, and support for theDCMX iD mobile banking service. No word on a price just yet, but you can probably guess if it’s in your budget or not.

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Filed under: Software, LG, Panasonic, NEC, Samsung, Orange, Linux, NTT DoCoMo

Not to be outdone by a powerful Android presence, the boys and girls at the LiMo Foundation have brought it strong with a series of announcements at Mobile World Congress. Yeah, the SDK is en route, but that’s just the beginning; first up, and perhaps most notably in its effort to fight the Android juggernaut, LiMo has managed to sign up a slue of new partners. Most notable on the refreshed roster include ACCESS (which just hooked up with MontaVista, itself a LiMo member), Samsung, and carriers Orange and SoftBank.

The foundation is backing up its talk with some walk, too, in the form of several production-ready handsets: the U9, Z6w, Z6, E8, RAZR 2 V8, and RAZR 2 V8 Luxury Edition from Motorola (all devices that have previously been launched using MOTOMAGX, Moto’s own special flavor of mobile Linux), the Samsung i800 which is destined for Orange’s airwaves, and the N905i, N905iu, N705, N705iu, P905i, P905iTV, P705, and P705iu — a mouthful of models from members NEC and Panasonic for Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. Also rocking out at MWC are prototypes from LG and Aplix along with the Purple Magic low-cost flip from Purple Labs. Is it all enough momentum to give some balance to the mobile Linux landscape and serve as the yin to Google’s yang? Seems like a strong possibility, but we’ll have to hold our horses until developers are playing with the final tools and handsets are in wide circulation.

Read - LiMo Foundation unveils first LiMo handsets
Read - New LiMo Foundation members introduced

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