Mobile Phone News

By and large, mobile TV services across the globe have rallied around DVB-H, T-DMB, and ATSC Mobile, but a couple strange (and very important) bedfellows ended up going a different direction: Japan and Brazil, both of whom use variants of ISDB-T. In Japan, the service is more commonly known as one-seg, and Brazil’s localized version goes by the rather unwieldy ISDB-Tb. Got that? Good — because Samsung’s prepping yet another flavor of its Android-powered Galaxy S for the local Brazilian market, and the addition of an integrated ISDB-Tb tuner should be just what the doctor ordered to take advantage of that lovely 4-inch Super AMOLED display. It’s got Android 2.1 (though Froyo should be in the cards) and most of the other features you’re already accustomed to from other Galaxy S launches; one notable exception, though, is the addition of mobile hotspot capability, something that normal comes stock in Android 2.2. It’s coming in September, apparently for a whopping 2,399 reals which works out to something in the neighborhood of $1,367 — fully unlocked, we hope.

Samsung adds ISDB-Tb reception for Brazil’s Galaxy S originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The I’s have been dotted, the T’s have been crossed, and two of Japan’s mobile giants — Fujitsu and Toshiba — have apparently brought their handset division merger talks to a fruitful conclusion. Fujitsu will take a majority stake in the joint venture, which should become Japan’s number two domestic market phone supplier behind Sharp; together, they’ll still have virtually no significance on the global stage, but this might be an engaging attention opportunity for phones like the TG01 and its successors to get a little more play around the world. For its part, Toshiba is looking at the deal to step back from an unprofitable business; margins on phones in the Japanese domestic market are razor-thin, and other players like Mitusbishi have already bowed out entirely. Best of luck, you lovebirds.

Fujitsu, Toshiba lock up handset division merger originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The domestic Japanese phone market has been in a state of contraction for some time, most notably evidenced by Mitsubishi’s decision to exit the game altogether and the Sanyo-Kyocera tie-up from a couple years back. Fujitsu and Toshiba are the next two giants looking to combine their resources in the mobile space, a move that would create Japan’s number two phone manufacturing venture behind Sharp and reduce to six the total number of firms making handsets there (down from ten in 2007). Though technologically years ahead of the rest of the world, Japan also suffers from deeper market saturation than perhaps anywhere else — and the opportunities for product differentiation are sharply reduced by carrier RFPs that emphasize conformity to a standard spec sheet. Fujitsu is said to likely hold the majority stake if the deal goes down, but for what it’s worth, nothing’s been finalized yet. If a deal improves the odds of bringing hardware to North America by even the smallest of fractions, we’re all for it.

Fujitsu, Toshiba in talks to merge mobile units originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.