After
Softbank announced the HTC Desire and DoCoMo began pushing its very first Android smartphone (
Xperia X10), Japan had big hopes for AU's press event today. An
EVO perhaps, or maybe something more from this
once proud home of the original superphones? Unfortunately, Engadget Japanese let out a collective
meh in response to a 5-inch IS01 handheld from Sharp running Android 1.6 on a Snapdragon processor and measuring 83 × 149 × 17.9mm and 227g. While it looks like the classic Japanese eDictionary, the IS01 is meant to be used as a general purpose MID with a 5-row QWERTY, Sharp-built "New Mobile ASV" multi-touch capacitive display pushing a 960 x 480 pixel resolution and a 5.27 megapixel auto focus camera on back with a 0.43 megapixel jobbie up front for video calls. Rounding out the specs are 802.11 b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, microSD slot, 1Seg mobile TV tuner,
IrDA, 4GB of internal storage, and Qualcomm 3G CDMA data. Look for it to ship in October while a developer friendly version (JN-DK01) should be available in May.
posted March 30th 2010 3:32AM
Two thumbs up!!
@hero785
+1
@hero785
Whats not to love? +1
@hero785 Its good to see JP finally embracing android devices. In my opinion the phone looks cute, just a little bit more redesign and I'm sure, it'll look even more nicer. Opinions: http://bit.ly/sharp-is01-compiled-updates
I suppose the only thing wrong with it is the 1.6 it's running? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal otherwise.
@Pryomancer
how can it sound like a "pretty sweet deal" when there's no info on price?
@mrqs
That's true, it looks like it would be rather expensive. I meant "deal" as in 'the whole package in general', rather than specifically the price, though.
@Pryomancer
yeah, 2.0 or 2.1 please. otherwise, definitely meh. I actually still love the clamshell form factor, though.
@Pryomancer Why do carriers and OEMs insist on putting Android 1.6 on handsets? Is there something insanely hard to port about 2.1?
@starkruzr
I know right. One assumes there must be some sort of reason... whatever it is...
I'd buy one if it were 50$
I think it's quite nice, reminds me of my Psion days. Just like having a very small PC!
Where's the hole to put those cute cell phone straps? Without that, I don't think this will sell much. :D Is Sharp forgetting their own market?
This isn't a phone right?
Sharp make such brilliant phones! ^^ For example the Sh-04, slap on android onto that with a new snapdragon and some ram and its good to go =D
I sure hope this wasnt the rumored sharp android device... Was hoping for more
about the size of the dell mini5 and more resolution otherwise similar specs. why "meh?"
@etwashoo
because you'll need a separate phone (costing another $300) to make/receive calls and to handle e-mails(widely used instead of SMS).
Personally I love this device, but most of people looks disappointed at it can't replace current phones.
@etwashoo how's the keyboard on that m5? (for the record I want both)
@num0 calls maybe, but emails??? There's also no hardware reason bluetooth calling shouldn't work that I can see, but Qualcomm firmware can be tricky. At the very least the hsuart should support bluetooth sco over hci, even if the qdsp routing is missing. That wouldn't be calls though, so I guess that's pointless.
This is probably the best looking Android MID. And the specs are great.
@etwashoo Here in Japan, people use phones and phones only. You will rarely see someone with a laptop/netbook and when you do it would be an employee using the device his employer gave him.
While Japan makes great tech stuff, people here are generally surprisingly NOT tech savvy. Guess it is like Paris and fashion.
Does it make normal call?
@darkmax
Yes, according to slashgear :-)
I won't link it, you know what to do.
usb would be nice?
@Atkins Only thing that worries me are Sharp's prices.
Is this another April Fools joke?
This looks like a throw-back to the Psion Epoc handheld device, for those of you who are old enough to remember that far back!
@Ruthless More like the Sharp Mobilon line of Windows CE handhelds.
I am vaguely reminded of the early days of PDA... ahem personal digital assistants:
http://www.pencomputing.com/features/mobilon4500.html
Lovely memories.
It is cute.
This is a pathetic effort from both KDDI and Sharp. Japan has been sinfully slow to adopt Android for reasons unknown. Finally Docomo introduced HTC Magic. It is more of a lame excuse for an Android, but an Android nonetheless. Now finally next moth X10 and HTC desire will hit Japan, with Docomo and Softbank. And this is what AU comes up with? Shame on you AU. You are the second largest mobile provider in Japan!
Sharp already had a very similar MID thing which ran Ubuntu. Saw it in shops sometime ago but seems it has quietly vanished off the shelves. Japan needs to stop giving those candy like phones... for some strange reason all 3 big boys keep releasing phones with rainbow colors..
@Atkins Thats what Japan is touting. They say their phones are more complicated than rest of the world. Which was true couple of years ago. Features like Felica is really useful, but their i-Mode is no longer cutting it in this IP world.. Also One-seg TV is just a marketing ploy at most. I commute everyday on train and I hardly see anybody watching TV.. I agree there are some contents specific to Japan, but the sales of iPhone proved many Japanese don't care about it. Japan cannot simply ignore Android when the rest of the world is embracing it.
@Atkins Yes. iPhone is a sweet deal. It's really cheap. True Japanese people are hooked up on these 'Japan-only' features, which probably is because Japan hardly got any international phones.. How many Nokias are/were in Japan? how many Sony-Ericsson's? They were and are trying to keep it very closed with only offering phones from their own manufacturers.. so there will obviously be 'Japan-only' features and people are alienated from other phone experiences..
What is the biggest marketing point of Japanese phones?? the friggin camera! they stuck in a 11MP camera in that thing and think it's soo advanced! how lame is that?
@Madu
That's because market enclosure have worked very effectively since mid-1990s in Japan. Using unlocked phones on Japanese careers meant no messaging at all for you and just calls. We still can't send SMS over domestic careers. The only way for a KDDI/au customer to reach a text message to a docomo phone is to use e-mail client on an au-branded phone. Under this circumstance, what careers don't customize and sell directly (i.e. Android smartphones) virtually can't exist in the country. They had zero influences until SoftBank started to sell iPhone with Japanese e-mail and emojis.
@Madu Felica may be useful, I guess when Visa starts giving away 8/16GB microSD cards with Visa payment support we'll see it come to these kind of devices.
@Madu was that ARM based or x86? was it a comparable cpu/gpu to this?
@Madu "Japan has been sinfully slow to adopt Android for reasons unknown" The same reasons why the iphone took so long to get adopted and even now is not selling so much. Japanese people care about specific content on their phones which only japanese companies provide for them. They are VERY used to this.
@Madu That's not exactly what I meant. Their phones don't seem to me so complicated. It's really specific features. Example: they write a lot of emails on their phones and use those... small pics/icons/whatever-u-call-them. I personally know 3 girls and 1 guy who love the iphone, but didn't buy it because of the lack of this specific feature. I am not joking here.
Also, as you may know japanese don't really like non-japanese stuff (yes, I am generalizing a lot, but still).
"Japan cannot simply ignore Android when the rest of the world is embracing it."
Absolutely, but they will be the last on the train. Just check what it took to adopt the iphone (make it free campaign, cheaper contracts, etc.)
@Madu Forgot to make my point :)
The reasons are known and they are hardly valid.
Tell me about it. They protect their market. I am hiking and check the price difference on this backpack:
http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Product.aspx?top=2039&prod=3383&cat=2066&viewAll=False
http://www.columbiastore.jp/shop/g/g4536974844426/
Have fun with your bass-ackwawrds CDMA Rx/Tx frequencies, KDDI.
@Atkins
IMO $80 premium isn't so big
@num0 On a 130$ backpack??
@Madu Tell me about it. They protect their market. I am hiking and check the price difference on this backpack:
http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Product.aspx?top=2039∏=3383&cat=2066&viewAll=False
http://www.columbiastore.jp/shop/g/g4536974844426/
I've always been a fan of Sharp's Zaurus line. This thing appeals to me the same way.
@gilnear much, much faster cpu and a real gpu though, oh and cell data (assuming from snapdragon, anybody please confirm)
Other than the capacitive screen, I love this form factor.
Pity it doesn't have a touchscreen I can use.
@jgp
So you'd rather have a resistive touch? .....why?
Android 1.6 and Snapdragon!? What!? C'mon with the Fragmentation ya'll!
I want to see this thing closed also
Put it on T-Mobile USA 3G, with full voice call and txt message capability, and I'm in (esp. if it's upgradable to Android 2.1). That'd be my ideal pocketable.
This is the Worst year Ever... So Many awesome, wonderful devices in the pipeline .... and yet nobody can bring them to market (except for Apple, which I Don't want).
It's always some nebulous date, months and months away. ...