January handset shipments in Japan reach 2.1 million

JEITA published mobile handset shipment numbers for January 2010. The highlights are as follows:

• Mobile phone shipments in Japan reached 2.1 million units in January 2010, an 8.7% increase YoY
• Among those cellular phones' share accounted for 97.6%, with the rest going to PHS phones
• Mobile phones with one-seg TV chip shipped in 1.6 million units, an 6.4% increase YoY
• Installed base of one-seg phones reached 77.1%

Source: JEITA

Sharp SH905i first to feature Dolby Mobile

Sharp came up with an amazing piece of technology when they recently announced the SH905i handset for NTT DoCoMo. According to Sharp, it is the first handset in the world to use Dolby Mobile technology to enhance the sound of music and live TV played on the SH905i. The list of wow things they put into this phone doesn’t end with Dolby Mobile. Other advancements worth mentioning include 3-inch Wide VGA AQUOS display that uses Sharp’s proprietary developed vertical alignment technology called Mobile Advanced Super View enabling wide viewing angles, TOUCH CRUISER pad, which is an interface similar to the touch pads on notebook PCs, Manga Book Reader, IrSimple & IrSS standards for easy wireless transfer of pictures to compatible printers, and HSDPA for high-speed data transfers of up to 3.6Mbps.

Phone Specs
Model:	SH905i
Carrier:	NTT DoCoMo
Maker:	Sharp
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Clam/swivel
Color variations:	Black, White, Pink, Blue
Weight:	125 g
Dimensions:	112 X 48 X 16.9mm
Main display:	3 inch (480X854) Full Wide VGA (16,777,215 colors)
Talk time:	200 min
Standby time:	max 540 hours
Platform / OS:	Symbian
Memory:	memory
Memory card slot:	microSD/HC
GPS / Location:	Yes
Bluetooth:	No
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	3.2MP
Video calling:	Yes
One-seg TV:	Yes
Music player:	Yes (AAC/WMA/SD Audio)
Browser:	Full browser
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	Yes (DCMX)
QR-code:	Yes
Biometrics:	Yes (Writing recognition)

Source: Sharp press release

Related articles on Sharp's mobile phones:

• Sharp handsets do magic and spur mobile web usage in Japan
• Softbank Spring Collection: Sharp Internet Machine 922SH
• Sharp is still undisputed handset leader in Japan: 1Q07 data

KDDI au ships Hitachi Woo mobile TV phone

Mobile phones with built-in one-seg TV tuner are driving replacement sales in Japan, making any self-respecting handset manufacturer release its version of mobile TV phone. Now that everybody does mobile TV phone, how are you supposed to differentiate your product from the bunch of others. Well, there are some ways to do so. First of all, you are in luck if your company is also in flat-screen TV business, because you can borrow its established brand and re-use it for mobile phones. As a result, we have Sony Ericsson Bravia, Sharp Aquos, and Panasonic Viera mobile TV phones attacking the market. Hitachi is not exception here as it also uses its TV brand Wooo to woo mobile phone customers. In order to make the appeal of Wooo handset stronger, Hitachi says they adopted the same graphic quality control technology Picture Master they are using in Wooo TV sets. Besides, the external design of the Wooo handset also borrows from the Cutting Edge Design concept used in Wooo TVs. To further differentiate itself Hitachi brings into play Wide QVGA organic light emitting display that complements handset’s slim body (14.2 mm) in a very cool way. Not to mention handset’s 2MP camera, contactless payment capability, GPS navigation and full HTML browser. KDDI au is shipping it this week at unknown price under the Wooo W53H model name. I can only say, “Wow Wooo!”

Phone Specs
Model:	Wooo W53H
Carrier:	KDDI au
Maker:	Hitachi
Price:	N/A
Form factor:	Clam/Swivel
Color variations:	Black, White, Purple
Weight:	131 g
Dimensions:	51 X 107 X 14.2 mm
Main display:	2.8 inch WQVGA (240 X 400 pixels) OLED
Talk time:	250 min
Standby time:	360 hours
Platform / OS:	N/A
Memory:	100MB shared with BREW folder
Memory card slot:	microSD card
GPS / Location:	Yes (EZ Navi Walk - Voice input 3D navi)
Bluetooth:	No
Infrared:	Yes
USB:	N/A
Wi-Fi:	No
Camera:	2MP
Video calling:	No
One-seg TV:	Yes
Music player:	Yes (Lismo, SD Audio)
Browser:	Full HTML
FM radio:	No
Mobile Wallet:	Yes (EZ FeliCa, QUICKPay)
QR-code:	Yes
Biometrics:	No

Source: KDDI au

Mobile TV phone shipments surpass 11m in Japan

Built-in TV tuners seem to be the next messiah for mobile handset manufacturers in Japan. Similar to cameras a few years ago, they are driving the handset sales up and becoming a default feature for new models. For instance, in July, 1.87 million TV phones were shipped, accounting for 36.6% of overall domestic shipments, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. Overall, the installed base of cell phones with built-in one-seg TV tuners reached 11.77 million units by the end of July. Not to mention that the first shipments of one-seg phones just started in April 2006. What makes them so popular? First of all, getting the broadcast TV programs is free for handset users. Secondly, the quality of the reception and clarity of the picture is exceptionally good in most cases. These are the founding blocks to build a successful service. The strong sales of Sharp’s Aquos-branded TV phones even propelled the maker to the top market position. BCN Inc., a research company for information-technology products, estimates that Sharp accounted for 25.1% of the market share in the July-August period, nearly twice more of the 12.9% share held by second-ranked Panasonic.
Source: Asahi.com

Ultra-small standalone mobile TV tuner (one-seg) revealed

You don’t need to own a TV phone in Japan in order to watch mobile broadcasting TV called one-seg in Japan. Princeton Technology came up with a standalone TV tuner that can connect to your laptop through USB or portable DVD player through RCA cables. The tuner weights only 30g along with a retractable antenna, which makes it a good travel companion. It also downloads EPG data, schedules recordings and supports time shifting, which allows pausing, rewinding and watching video in a slow motion. The suggested price is JPY24,800 ($205).

Specs
Model:	PTV-DT1W
Maker:	Princeton Technology
Bands:	470MHz ~ 770MHz
Channels:	UHF 13~63ch
Form factor:	box
Antenna:	Intrnal rod-type antenna, External signal buster
Weight:	30g
Dimensions:	(W)69 x (D)50 x (H)14mm
Ports:	USB2.o/1.1, RCA plug
Power (RCA):	DC12V
Power (USB):	USB bus (DC5V)

Source: Princeton Technology (Japanese)

After Walkman and Cybershot next comes Bravia – the SO903iTV handset

Marketing people at Sony Ericsson did it again – they assigned Sony’s well-known consumer electronics brand to a cell phone. As DoCoMo expands its handset line-up with ‘one-seg’ terrestrial digital TV broadcasting compatible devices, Sony Ericsson introduces the SO903iTV model that is being marketed under the Bravia brand – a name more known for Sony’s flat-screen TVs. To give Sony Ericsson a credit, the Bravia handset bears more than just a TV-associated brand name – the handset actually spots the newly developed mobile Bravia engine that enhances the picture quality of one-seg TV. The phone should start shipping in June 2007.

Source: DoCoMo
Related article: Walkman: old brand gets new life in mobile world