Panasonic's Conference Speakerphone packs a SIM card

Any of us blessed (or cursed) to spend the majority of our waking hours theoretically locked in a corporate boardroom know very well the form and function of a desktop speakerphone, but Panasonic and Willcom and teaming up to deliver a rendition that relies on cellular technology rather than landlines. Oddly enough, it appears the forthcoming Conference Speakerphone will actually pack a SIM card, speaker, several built-in microphones, a mobile microphone, and even an SD slot for users to easily record conversations. Actually, if someone utilized a third-party battery pack, this entire unit could be taken on the go and used as what would quite possibly be the world's largest cellphone of the decade. The appeal is that Willcom will reportedly be offering a "flat-rate talk plan" that allows companies to equip their employees with these machines and then communicate gratis, similar to many mobile networks with free in-network calling. Although the Conference Speakerphone is slated to ship this Spring, the value here is definitely questionable, as picking up a numerous ¥100,000 ($828) devices can seriously squash that meager IT budget.

[Via DigitalWorldTokyo]

[TrafficGeek @ Jan 27th 2007 4:07PM]

Oooh, yes, I'm one of the road rats this is targeted towards. I would've snapped one of these sucka up last week when we had our hour long conference call on a 'quite' corner of an trade show. (five people on the floor and one calling from two time zones over)

...not intended for none-slave wage runner...

[Vince @ Jan 27th 2007 4:27PM]

Since it's Willcom, this thing will not be packing a SIM card per se, but rather one of their W-SIM units. The W-SIM modules are the size of a matchbox, and contain the PHS radio in addition to any subscriber information. That means this speaker phone will be incompatible with any GSM, UMTS or CDMA network, and seriously 'Japan only'...

[Jamar @ Jan 28th 2007 8:12AM]

Actually, it should be capable of use in any country with PHS (Taiwan/Thailand/China). Not quite worldwide, but not quite Japan-only either.