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Sony Xperia A hits the FCC with 5-inch screen and removable battery
Many have suspected that Sony wasn't done with its 2013 high-end phones just because the Xperia Z and ZL were shipping. As of today, that's more than just speculation: a once-rumored Xperia A has swung through the FCC for approval as NTT DoCoMo's SO-04E. The filing is unusually detailed for a device that isn't official, showing a 5-inch, 1080p handset that maintains Sony's OmniBalance look while including a removable, 2,300mAh battery that we haven't seen in the Z or ZL. The manual also has the Android phone sharing the Z's 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of built-in storage and LTE, although mum's the word on any upgrade to the Snapdragon S4 Pro. Sony hasn't confirmed what we're seeing, but we may not have long to learn the full story when NTT DoCoMo is revealing its summer mobile lineup on May 15th.
NTT DoCoMo trials Tap-de-Concier service with a Google Now flair
Japan's NTT DoCoMo isn't content waiting for Google Now to become commonplace before it gives customers a taste of predictive search. The carrier is near launching a trial for Tap-de-Concier, an Android-based service that will pop up maps, media, games and more depending on both the user's own habits, as well as usage and trends from DoCoMo's other portals. The result is a service that theoretically knows what you want, when you want it: Tap-de-Concier can tell that you're looking for train schedules before work on a Monday morning, and restaurants on Friday night. We imagine that some will like the alternative just because it won't be confined to Jelly Bean -- any DoCoMo-offered phone or tablet with at least Android 2.3 can run the service, including Raku-Raku phones. Locals will have between March 26th and September 30th to decide whether or not Tap-de-Concier is more helpful than its Google parallel.
Sony Xperia Tablet Z with LTE to hit NTT DoCoMo on March 22nd
Sony's major Mobile World Congress product reveal turned out to be the very same slate it had already taken the wraps off of this past January in Japan: the Xperia Tablet Z. Now that the 10-inch Android tablet's been officially announced for global availability, it's time for it to start trickling out to market and (surprise, surprise) Japan's getting first dibs. Starting March 9th, NTT DoCoMo will begin accepting pre-orders for the LTE-enabled tablet (in black or white) with a general launch date set for March 22nd. There doesn't seem to be any indication of pricing as of yet, but we've seen figures that indicate this region-specific Xperia Tablet Z could retail for around ¥85,470 (about $900 USD). If you like what Sony's done with this waterproof, Jelly Bean tablet and you live in the Land of the Rising Sun, well then you know what to do. For everyone else around the globe, there's always the vague promise of a Q2 launch to cling to.
NTT DoCoMo confirms successful 10Gbps wireless test, clears a path to 5G
No, it's not the world's most conspicuous surveillance van -- it's one of the first steps toward 5G data. NTT DoCoMo has just confirmed that the gear-laden vehicle above successfully conducted a 10Gbps wireless test in Ishigaki this December with the help of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The dry run relied on frequencies and bandwidth well outside of usual cellular service, in the 11GHz band with 400MHz of spectrum, but proved that it was possible to blow past the speeds of LTE and LTE-Advanced while moving outdoors; the test used 24 antennas to maintain the link. DoCoMo ultimately hopes for similar speed in frequencies over 5GHz, and it's not shy about hoping the technology will define mobile communication as it improves. Although we're not expecting this kind of breakneck performance in a phone for years, it's good to know that 4G isn't necessarily the end of the line.
NEC's Medias W global prototype spotted: 4.3-inch Android phone or 5.6-inch tablet? (hands-on)
NEC will launch its dual-screened Medias W in Japan in April, but now the company is working to get the phone landing in shores beyond Nihon. We saw glimpses of the red-finish global prototype that's on show here at MWC, although the company wasn't able to confirm any prices or destinations for the worldwide versions just yet. We also managed to get to grips with the Japanese iteration. Fortunately the only difference between the two models is NTT DoCoMo's baked-in proprietary apps and menus. So that's less bloatware? Count us in. We've got more impressions the on the dual 4.3-inch phone (and our hands-on video) right after the break.
Fujitsu Arrows X F-02E hands-on: a powerhouse flagship with a 1080p display
We'll get this out of the way upfront: you will probably never be able to buy this phone. And by "you" we mean the American consumer. The Arrows X F-02E will, at least for the immediate future, be a NTT DoCoMo-only device. But, now that you know not to get your hopes up, let's get a feel for just what you'll be missing. Fujitsu's waterproof flagship is powered by a 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3 and 2GB of RAM. And that horsepower is put to good use pushing pixels to a brilliant 5-inch, 1080p display. We'd stop short of saying it's the best phone screen we've seen, but it's definitely in the running. Colors are bright, text is crisp and viewing angles need to be seen to be believed. Thankfully, all that lovely screen real estate isn't being eaten up by some insanely outdated version of Android. On board you'll find Android 4.1.2 -- not the latest and greatest, but at least it's Jelly Bean.
NTT DoCoMo's Xi gets 10 million subscribers on the LTE bandwagon
Lately, NTT DoCoMo hasn't had to push its customers to LTE so much as give them a gentle nudge. Just half a year after it notched up 4 million customers on its Xi service, the Japanese carrier has already reached 10 million -- no mean feat when it took the carrier a year following the 2010 launch to get its first million. Of course, it's not too difficult to explain just why adoption has been accelerating. Along with expanding coverage and improved speeds, DoCoMo has been releasing LTE phones aplenty to virtually guarantee that customers will move to 4G. Still, we don't see any sign that the trend will stop when the carrier is launching a slew of high-end devices to catch 3G stragglers.
NEC's Medias W unveiled: a folding smartphone with two 4.3-inch displays
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo just outed its spring lineup of handsets, and the Medias W N-05E caught or eye, just like it did as a hollow mockup at last year's Mobile World Congress. The NEC-made handset has gone from a mere plastic shell to an LTE-wielding phone with a pair of 4.3-inch LCD displays (each 540 x 960 in resolution), a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel shooter, 16GB of built-in storage and a microSDHC slot. When open, the device serves up roughly 5.6 inches in diagonal screen real estate, and measures up at 64mm in width when shut. Thanks to the nature of the dual-screened beast, apps can use each screen independently or together to provide more space. Despite the Jelly Bean-toting rig's penchant for going over the top, it leaves out NFC and Japan-centric digital TV tuner functionality. The smartphone is slated for an April release with an unspecified price tag, but there's no word on availability in other territories.
NTT DoCoMo announces 12 new mobile devices for the spring, launches Smart Home initiative
Change of season? You can bet NTT DoCoMo has an armload of new devices to announce -- it's almost a tradition. This time around, the Japanese carrier has revealed 10 new smartphones, two tablets and a mobile WiFi hotspot. Large, 4.5 to 5-inch displays and quad-core processors pepper the entire spring smartphone line, but there are a few notable standouts, including the previously leaked LG Optimus G Pro, Huawei's Ascend D2 and the NEC Medias W -- a curious dual-screen smartphone we first saw at MWC 2012. DoCoMo fills its tablet quota with the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and a carrier branded device called the dtab, a 10.1-inch WiFi slab apparently built for DoCoMo's Smart Home initiative. Don't let the name run away with your imagination -- the Japanese carrier is focusing on sharing music, video and digital content between smartphones and other home electronics, not automating your apartment. The dtab is compatible with a handful of carrier exclusive services, such as the dmarket and DoCoMo cloud. It's not technically part of the carrier's mobile line, but DoCoMo had one more announcement for spring: an HDMI dongle. The SmartTV dstick gives HDTVs access to the carrier's dvideo, danime store and dhits services, and can be controlled with via smartphone or a similarly named tablet. Spring hardware will start hitting Japan on January 25th with the Aquos Phone EX, and continue to roll out through March. Read on for the official press release. Update: Apparently, we're looking at a different Ascend D2 than the one we saw at CES, one with a smaller screen (4.7-inch 720p vs. 5-inch 1080p) and battery (2150mAh vs. 3000mAh).
LG Optimus G Pro official for Japan: 5-inch 1080p LCD, 1.7GHz S4 Pro and Jelly Bean
Remember how the LG Optimus G Pro saw its biggest leak in Japan? We might just know why. Local carrier NTT DoCoMo has confirmed the new flagship's existence as part of a spring device lineup, and it's everything that was rumored just days ago. LG is adding to the rapidly burgeoning crowd of 5-inch, 1080p phones while freshening the formula we'd seen in the regular Optimus G: there's now a quicker, 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, a heftier 3,000mAh battery and Jelly Bean (albeit Android 4.1, not 4.2) out of the box. Other elements are familiar carryovers, such as the 2GB of RAM, 13-megapixel camera, 32GB of built-in storage, a microSDXC slot and LTE. Japanese buyers will have to wait until early April to pick up an Optimus G Pro for themselves; as LG hasn't confirmed the phone separately, other countries' launches are still up in the air.
LG's Optimus G Pro revealed in leaked image with 5-inch 1080p display, 3,000mAh battery and LTE
LG's Optimus G won the hearts of our reviewers and finding the barely-different Nexus 4 is a feat worthy of a mythological hero -- so here's some exciting news. A tipster has sent us the above leaked slide, revealing that there's a new(er) kid on LG's block in the form of the Optimus G Pro. The 5-inch handset comes with an upgraded 1,920 x 1,080 display and is packing a 1.7Ghz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064, 2GB RAM, 32GB Memory, LTE and a 3,000mAh battery -- tallying with a separate leak we've spied on Blog of Mobile. Reportedly weighing in at 160 grams and measuring 139 x 70 x 10.1mm, there's talk of Jelly Bean, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 2.4-megapixel forward-facer for even better self portraiture. Naturally, as it's destined for Japan's NTT DoCoMo, you'll also find One-Seg and NOTTV functionality baked inside -- which only adds to our complex that those in the Far East get all the best toys. [Thanks, Anonymous]
NTT DoCoMo suggests Sony Xperia Tablet Z in the works, will get early reveal in Japan later this month
Sony had no shortage of devices to show off at CES last week, but there might be more on the way -- before Mobile World Congress has even begun. NTT DoCoMo has let slip that it'll be showing off an "Xperia Tablet Z" alongside the previously announced Xperia Z at a preview event next week. The page in question has already been pulled, and may only be an announcement mishap -- if there was an L in there, we'd reconsider -- however, it's highly likely the phone network knows exactly what's in store from the electronics maker. We've also heard from our sources that Sony's new Exmor RS camera sensor will make its way into a new tablet, although the exact sensor specifications are likely to be different from the 2013 Xperia devices seen at CES. A slightly suspicious spec list has also found its way on to Twitter, suggesting a familiar 10.1-inch form factor and a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, but we're waiting to hear more directly from the Japanese carrier (or perhaps Sony) sometime next week.
NTT DoCoMo changes its tune, now open to carrying iPhone
It would appear that Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo is performing an about-face with regard to supporting the iPhone on its network. Following reports late last year that it had seen record defections of customers to other carriers, the company's president now says it is open to carrying Apple's smartphone, something it has been openly against in the past. NTT DoCoMo president Katoru Kato recently told the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun that the company has actually wanted to offer the phone to its customers, but that Apple has been demanding it guarantee certain sales quotas before allowing it to. According to Kato, this would require the iPhone to amount to 20 to 30 percent of NTT DoCoMo's total annual sales. The carrier serves more than half of Japan's mobile customers, but has seen its subscriber base on the decline during 2012, particularly after the launch of the iPhone 5 on rival networks Softbank and KDDI. Both saw six-digit growth in new subscribers each month following the phone's introduction, while NTT DoCoMo saw five-digit losses. [Via The Mac Observer]
Samsung reportedly launching Tizen-based phones on NTT DoCoMo in 2013
According to Japan's Daily Yomiuri, NTT DoCoMo is partnering with Samsung to develop phones running the open-source Tizen operating system, with the first handsets reaching the market next year. According to the Yomiuri, other mobile carriers are also getting behind the development of Tizen because they "fear the hegemony" of Apple and Google. We've heard about Tizen as far back as September of 2011 -- this Linux-based (and Intel-backed) software came about when Nokia's MeeGo OS bit the dust, and we've already seen evidence of a Tizen-based Galaxy S III.
Panasonic P-02E smartphone appears in the FCC flesh, looks Japan-bound
Earlier this month, a supposed Panasonic P02-E smartphone popped up on an NTT DoCoMo Japanese server log, but such scant evidence required more than a few grains of salt to swallow it. Now, the ever-reliable FCC has revealed the device to be an actual thing, and putting the two sources together would make it a 5-inch, 1,920 x 1080, Android 4.1.2 smartphone with a quad-core, 1.5GHz APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, along with LTE and NFC capability. Don't get too excited if those specs float your boat, however -- judging by the retractable TV antenna, NTT DoCoMo origins and general Panasonic elusiveness in the west, it looks to be aimed squarely at the Japanese market only.
NTT DoCoMo subscribers on the decline without iPhone
It's difficult to imagine, but Japan's leading cellular carrier still doesn't offer the iPhone. In fact, NTT DoCoMo is seeing its subscriber base shrink by record numbers as its competitors, Softbank and KDDI, continue to grow. Both have been offering the iPhone for some time. NTT DoCoMo saw its subscribers drop by 40,800 in November alone according to Reuters and freely admits that its lack of the iPhone is to blame. By comparison, Softbank gained 301,900 new subscribers in the same month, and KDDI did almost as well adding 228,800 customers. Both carriers are seeing brisk sales of the iPhone 5, which launched in Japan on September 21. Despite admitting that its subscriber numbers are suffering without iPhone on offer, NTT DoCoMo continues to be staunchly pro-Android. The company remains wary of iPhone, citing Apple's closed platform (read: the inability to modify the OS) as its rationale. [Via VentureBeat]
Fujitsu's Arrows V F-04E launches with 4.7-inch display, fingerprint scanner, lust for ramen
When Mr. Fujitsu was designing the Arrows V F-04E for NTT DoCoMo's winter lineup, he probably wrote "ALL THE FEATURES" and knocked-off early. That might explain the pile of tech nestled beneath that 4.7-inch, 1,280 x 720 display -- including 64GB Storage, a 13.1-megapixel camera, NFC, 2,420mAh battery and a fingerprint scanner. The Tegra 3-powered handset also comes with Fujitsu's Human Centric Engine, which, like all J-Phones, promises a few quasi sci-fi features like calibrating the display to be comfortable for your age. It's also water-and-dust resistant and you'll be able to watch 1-Seg broadcasts while on the Bullet Train -- the perfect combination to make westerners feel jealous.
Sharp ships its first phone with an IGZO display on November 29th, ushers in a low-power LCD era
The gray clouds of Sharp's gloomy earnings are about to get a silver lining: NTT DoCoMo is at last launching Sharp's new flagship phone, the breathlessly worded Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E, on November 29th. When it arrives, the SH-02E will be its* first smartphone to carry an IGZO-based display and show us just how well the high-brightness, low-energy invention fares in a 4.9-inch, 720p LCD. There's no known fixed pricing, although it's likely the Android 4.0 device will be sitting at the very top of its Japanese carrier's range through its Snapdragon S4 Pro, 16-megapixel camera and LTE data. Not fully convinced of IGZO's worth? Fujitsu's more conventional Arrows V F-04E is arriving a day earlier with a regular LCD and a Tegra 3, although we'd say that it's worth waiting the extra 24 hours to be a technology vanguard. Update: While the SH-02E was the first phone announced with an IGZO LCD screen, it's been beaten to the market by ASUS' Padfone 2, which is also rocking the new technology.
NTT cuts fiber internet prices in Japan, may be reacting to an LTE generation
As manic as LTE adoption has been in the US, it could be triggering a full-fledged generational rift in Japan. NTT is cutting prices for fiber-to-the-home internet access by as much as 34 percent in the midst of falling landline subscriptions, and Australia's Delimiter hears from unofficial sources at the provider that the cuts may be in response to youth being enamored with 4G on their phones. The tipsters believe that many of the younger set are picking one expensive LTE plan, even with data caps, instead of paying for two services; a price drop would be an attempt to keep at least a few of these wireless rebels onboard. Take the assertions with a grain of salt when there's no official statements to match, but there's no doubt that 4G demand is booming when NTT's own DoCoMo just landed its 7 millionth Xi contract. We only wish American wired and wireless carriers would be so accommodating of our temptation to cut the cord.
NTT DoCoMo readies first dual-mode HSDPA, LTE femtocell for December
LTE's frequent gotcha has been indoor coverage: as it often relies on high frequency ranges outside of the US, the signal can drop off quickly at home or in the mall. There have been LTE femtocells before to fill in the gaps, but NTT DoCoMo claims to have the first mini cell site that would cover our needs much more thoroughly. The Japanese carrier's new base station run simultaneous 112.Mbps LTE and 14.4Mbps HSDPA (sorry, no HSUPA upload speeds) on the 2GHz band to keep 3G data and voice working side-by-side with 4G, piping both through a wired broadband connection; there's no need to sacrifice the basics or legacy support just for a better LTE signal. NTT DoCoMo plans to sell the dual-mode femtocell to local homeowners, offices and stores in December. Sadly, there's no immediate word of plans for femtocells that support networks abroad, although the technology's existence gives us hope that we'll see it spread to other providers -- and that black holes in cellular coverage will be distant memories.
