NTT DoCoMo's 906i and 706i handsets answer "who's your daddy?"
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 27th 2008 4:39AM
posted May 27th 2008 4:39AM
posted May 27th 2008 4:39AM
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In the end it's still a phone so yeah? It does look nice though and useful.
Not too much a big update from the 905i series (most of the features cant be used outside Japan), but still a nice phone to show off. Too bad there is no SO906iCS version.
it's only been half a year since 905 was released, also whether the "phone" function can be used outside Japan is still unknown, gotta wait for a new sim hack.
Dude,....Nice.
But what are the odds we can actually get one of these?
Yeah, Japans got the shiznit in talkie tech. And they just seem to have more phone models than america has snack foods.
They all look the same, and still no qwerty!
Japanese users don't need qwerty. Their alphabet fits perfectly into the cellphone keys.
Er - no qwerty because they're Japanese phones...in Japanese...for Japanese speakers...in Japan...
Er, no kana then?
I think most people here in Japan can type faster on their cell phone than a regular keyboard...
your pretty buggered for choice if you don't like flip phones in japan
lol, my thoughts exactly.
and these sound nice in theory but where are the english reviews? =)
no your not, the last 3 fone i've bought here are sliders, there are TONs of choices here! just go to any Yamada or any of the many, many electronic store here and you'll find so many fones you'd be amazed. sure there are alot of flip phones but thats mostly due to convenience. cell fones are used so much here that people rarely go anywhere without at least one in their pocket and they dont want to have to worry about accidental button presses. sure they could just put key lock on but that slows them down. Japanese people usually live rather fast paced lives, thats why most fones here have so many entertainment options, so that while they're on the train they can catch up on new or play games and stuff. cell fones here are so much more than just fones, they're the equivalent of an internet pc, a game system, camera, tv, phonebook, shedule, phone and so much more.
Love the specs (especially the browser) for a clamshell, but the design of the phones seem kinda stale imho.
Clamshells are ace. I don't actually want to press the thing against my ear. They are nice but I only see two with any style.
Yep, they all look similar, but that's pretty-much what the Japanese market seems to want. Vodafone tried to sell more European designs in Japan a few years ago and they didn't really sell.
there is a possibility that the big "D" in japan (docomo) already lost the iphone bid since they are about to launch a similar touch screen phone, the prada phone!
http://www.nttdocomo.com/pr/2008/001398.html
iphone heart softbank!
can i get one that's not a rectangle
Ummm, not trying to be a smart a**, but what shape would you like to have?
So what if the phones are ugly... so is my N95 !! but hey it does loads of stuff too.
I just want the translator function that these bad boys have
"3G iPhone fantasies", eh?
At least the 3G iPhone can be unlocked and used without limitations worldwide, making it everyone's fantasy.
These things, however, are more than fantasies - they're pipe dreams for anyone outside of Japan. Shame on them for being this selfish.
I agree.. They could at least offer some of their models outside Japan even if some of the functions wont work. Some people (like me) would surely buy them.
So.. Pretty. I'm aiming for the SH906i, touchscreen is nice. Very nice. Too bad the camera is the worst one out of all the of them and only one to offer up wifi is the N906iL. I'm wondering what these things will be going for and here's hoping the 905i series drop in price...
The nokia looks like the ugly duckling in the group.
Two questions:
1. Can someone confirm there is only Japanese text on keys/menus?
2. Can I get one unlocked from Japan? If so, where?
All Japanese phones also have the ability to type English (roman) characters, as long as you enjoy hitting #7 three times to type "s"
So the person saying no QWERTY above, I wish there were at least a couple mainstream QWERTY phone options for us ex-pats.
And a real sized screen instead of those small ones would be nice.
All the features listed in the article pretty much require the ability to read and write Japanese.
UGLY! These are some of the most beautiful cell phones I've ever seen. We really need stuff like this in the US. Our flip phones look like junk here.
I am moving to Japan.
If i'm correct, since NTT Docomo uses their own "type" of CDMA, you can't use it in the states because of that added data that go on the frequency, though I believe KDDI's Win service does use ev-do, and does offer a nice selection of phones (been to their website) which if you're good you might be able to unlock
On a note about phones, I have a slider, but i'm open towards all phones
P906 - Looks like it has qwerty, i can't explain the design if it doesn't
SH-706i 00 looks sweet.....
No the p906i does not have qwerty. It follows the same design as the p905i which doesn't have qwerty. Its called w-open style and is used for games, videos and 1seg.
Those phones can't be used outside of Japan because they use their own techonologies such as PHS, w-CDMA, PDC,etc that rest of the world don't use.
I think that most of the world would like to beg to differ on WCDMA being Japan-only. Even AT&T uses it.
These phone support the triband of CDMA and quad band of GSM. Hong Kong and Singapore have successfully hack these phones. the cost is around $500 USD.
functionality after hack is 2.5G only.
Since TV is 1-SEG, it will not work outside of Japan. I believe MMS also is not working.
but SMS and all the other function works. (GPS, bluetooth, camera).
Yes, you are right.
MMS, i-mode and 1-Seg is not work after its hack.
For some models even SMS is not work.
And you would need to "reboot" your SIM card from other phones while it is signal out (roughtly once a week)
N906iL have 802.11a/b/g! very nice indeed.
Some phones here do have qwerty keyboards and some are running windows mobile as well, functioning as mini PDAs. Many phones work in most countries but functions like navigation and 1seg won't work, as far as I know. I have a AU phone by hitachi that's 3 years old now and it has navigation, 1seg and a 3.0 camera. I mean, I love lots of stuff about the USA (affordable t-bone steaks) but for some reason most US cell phones are embarrasing at best. I guess that's why everyone there needs a bluetooth headset to balance out the lack of technology in the phones. Not so many people using headsets here in Tokyo it seems.
They seem to have all of the things that would "kill the battery life" on the iPhone. So it makes me wonder what the battery life is like on these.
Ha, I'm actually getting a phone through DoCoMo when I move to Japan next year =D
They're bulky as hell, and cell phones are not for talking over in Japan.
Expensive as hell too.
But a necessity considering dorms do not get their own phones XP
1seg still seems pretty useless, it doesn't work in places like moving vehicles and trains....
actually you may consider 706i series
really not heavy at all, and yet cheaper then the 906i series! Im using N705i and its nice.
Of course you can docomo phones in the US, all you need is a hypersim... im currently using n905i on AT&T
what sim hack are you using with att? and are you using old att wireless or a cingular/new att sim?