NTTDocomo
Latest
NTT DoCoMo unveils winter lineup, pushes big displays, LTE, quad-cores and NFC payments
Just as the air begins to chill, NTT DoCoMo has announced its forthcoming lineup for release in November and December, including nine smartphones, four feature phones and a tablet. As the Japanese populace would no doubt demand, all of the bigger smartphones -- from the 4.7-inch Arrows V F-04E through to the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II -- come with 1,280 x 720 displays, a healthy degree of water- and dust-proofing, plus decent quad-core credentials. The new Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E stands out for its low-power 4.9-inch IGZO panel and 16-megapixel camera, while the Arrows Tab F-05E 10-inch tablet packs a 1,980 x 1,200 display and what sounds like the latest 1.7GHz iteration of Tegra 3 (as seen in the HTC One X+). It's also interesting to a see a Korean-style variant of the Galaxy S III (the Alpha SC-03E) packing a souped-up 1.6GHz Exynos chip and 2GB RAM. In related news, NTT has also announced that it's partnering with Mastercard PayPass and will offer the contactless payment system for Japanese customers travelling abroad by fall next year -- and indeed all the new smartphones are NFC-equipped. Click the first source link below for the full run-down.
The first smartphone with a low-power IGZO display: the 4.9-inch Sharp Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E
Japanese mega-operator NTT DoCoMo has just unveiled a interesting addition to its winter line-up: the Sharp Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E, which is the first production smartphone we've seen with an IGZO display. If you hadn't heard, the indium gallium zinc oxide technology promises higher translucency compared to regular LCDs, which reduces the demand for backlighting and hence means less battery drain -- and you can learn more from our hands-on at IFA. Fortunately, in addition to its new-fangled 4.9-inch 1,280 x 720 panel, the SH-02E boasts a healthy spec sheet in other departments too, including a 16-megapixel camera, 1.5GHz S4 Pro quad-core engine with Adreno 320 graphics, NFC and compatibility with NTT's LTE network. The only slight downer is that it comes with Android 4.0 out of the box, but that's hardly going to be an issue by the time a model with this type of display lands stateside -- assuming it ever does.
NTT DoCoMo opens Japanese pre-orders for the LG Optimus G L-01E tomorrow, sales start October 19th
LG revealed Japan's NTT DoCoMo would be the first carrier to offer its Optimus G (which it's been proud enough to announce more than once) and now we have an exact date. Pre-orders for the L-01E start tomorrow ahead of it going on sale October 19th, bringing its quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4.7-inch True HD IPS LCD, 13MP camera, Android 4.0 packaged with the waterproofing, DMB tuning and FeLiCa wallet support local buyers will expect. While we wait for release details in the US on AT&T and Sprint (or another leak of that supposed LG Nexus phone) you can check out the red and black variants rolling out across the Pacific.
Via Licensing assembles an LTE supergroup to share standards-essential patents
Dolby spinoff Via Licensing has shone a signal into the night sky and assembled some of the world's biggest telecoms players to form a patent supergroup. AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica are some of the names that'll pool their standards-essential LTE patents to prevent getting embroiled in litigation over FRAND licensing. While there are some notable holdouts to the team, we suggest company president Roger Ross coax them over by hiring Michael McCuistion to write them a rockin' theme song.
CEATEC 2012 wrap-up: concept cars, eye-tracking tech and motion sensors galore
CEATEC, Japan's largest annual electronics show, is winding down here on the outskirts of Tokyo. We've spent the past two days scouring the halls of the Makuhari Messe, digging up no shortage of concept cars, eye-tracking technologies and even the odd Windows 8 device. The star of the show may have been Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, with its gaze-controlled prototypes and real-time translation app, but there were plenty of other gadgets on hand to peak our interest -- even if many of them won't make it to market anytime soon. Have a look for yourself by browsing our complete CEATEC 2012 coverage past the break.
Softbank to acquire competitor eAccess, expand LTE network by 50 percent
Softbank isn't content with being Japan's third largest wireless provider, so its scooping up competitor eAccess for $2.3 Billion (or $1.8 Billion, if you ask Reuters) to claim the number two slot. Bringing the other carrier into the fold will give Softbank a total of 39 million subscribers and infuse its network with 50 percent more LTE base stations. Picking up the new customers and additional LTE capacity comes at a premium, however, as the firm will purchase eAccess' shares for roughly three times their value. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son expects to launch a new tethering service with the aid of the new-found resources come this December. Ink on the deal won't fully dry until February, but Son is already dreaming of the number one spot. "I never liked third place," Son said in a statement. "We fought for No. 2, and someday, we will be No. 1." You've been warned, NTT DoCoMo. [Image credit: Miki Yoshihito, Flickr]
NTT DoCoMo translation app converts languages in real time (hands-on video)
Last year at CEATEC, we saw NTT DoCoMo demo its translation app, which made life easier by translating a Japanese menu into English text. This time around the carrier is showing off the new Hanashite Hon'yaku service for Android devices, which can translate spoken Japanese to English and vice versa (it supports a total of 10 languages, including French, German and Korean). In addition to providing an on-screen translation, the system reads out your speaking partner's words in your language.To use the service, you need an Android-enabled (2.2 and higher) device running on either the carrier's spumode or moperaU plan. Provided you fit those requirements, you'll simply have to dial the other party, speak into the phone and wait for it to play back your words in a foreign tongue. Of course, you can also use the service in person, which is exactly what we did at DoCoMo's booth. When we gave it a test run with some simple questions ("Where are you from?", "What time is it?"), the app had no trouble spitting back those phrases in Japanese so the DoCoMo rep could respond. When he answered in Japanese, the translation to English was equally seamless, taking just a second or two to communicate that he is from Japan. Though the app is free, you'll have to pay call and data charges (using the service for face-to-face conversation only entails a data fee). The cross-cultural barriers will break down starting November 1st, but you can get a glimpse of the service in action just after the break.
NTT DoCoMo's i beam tablet prototype is driven by your eyes (video)
Another prototype from DoCoMo aimed at Nihon's commuters, the i beam concept tablet forgoes any touch at all, allowing the user (once they're at the specified 'sweet spot') to navigate around apps and screens using your eyes. Two sensors along the bottom edge of the tablet track both of your eyes and after a slightly laborious configuration setup, we were able to tour around the prototype slabs features without laying a finger on it. The navigational dot was a little erratic, but we'll put that down to prototype nerves. The tablet was otherwise able to follow our eye-line and fulfill what we wanted it to do. Returning to the home screen by targeting the kill box in the top right corner proved to be the most difficult thing -- we soon resorted to tapping at the screen for that. DoCoMo showcased an eye-controlled game, alongside picture galleries, a web browser and a reader app. The e-book client seemed to be the most heavily involved, with the ability to look up words with a hard-stare, and flip pages by eyeing the two lower corners. The Japanese carrier isn't planning a consumer launch any time soon -- and the hardware comes with a pretty pronounced chin at the moment, but if you like staring at someone staring at a tablet, our eyes-on is after the break.
NTT DoCoMo hands-free videophone prototype replaces that off-center webcam stare with your digital doppelganger (video)
In a sort of reverse-Project Glass, one of DoCoMo's latest prototypes flips its cameras back at the wearer. This hands-free videophone headset ties together seven separate cameras, each recording 720p video from wide-angle lenses. Aside from the single camera pointing behind the user (and beaming the background image), the rest of them point at the users' face, recording different quadrants. These are then composited together, creating a three-dimensional avatar of the user that's then broadcasted to the other caller. The model then nods, blinks, and moves -- all based on the camera footage -- all in real-time. In its current guise, the bottom half of the face is still composed from high resolution stills captured beforehand, but the program is able to animate the mouth based on the words and tones that the built-in mic picks up. NTT DoCoMo had some lighter, slight less clunky, future prototypes on show, and suggested that the headset could have medical applications, embedding further sensors that could gauge blood pressure, pulse and temperature and possibly broadcast this data during a call to your future physician. Work is currently underway to utilize smaller, higher quality sensors. We take a closer look at CEATEC after the break.
NEC Medias Tab UL runs Android 4.0, weighs just over half a pound (hands-on)
Folded in between DoCoMo R&D prototypes and One Piece-themed smartphones unlikely to make it across the Pacific, NEC's new Android tablet caught our eye. The 7-inch NEC Medias Tab UL is one very svelte slab. Measuring in at just 7.9mm (0.3 inches) thick and weighing a mere 250g (0.55 lbs), the tablet still manages to house a 3,100mAh battery, and a Snapdragon MSM8960 1.5GHz dual-core processor. If you'd compare it to the Nexus 7, Google's own effort look a little weighty and thick against this white-finish tablet. Performance from the dual-core chip is also suitably impressive, despite the curious DoCoMo-decked Android skin coating the Ice Cream Sandwich OS. In true Japanese style, there's a TV aerial embedded within the side and while it won't broadcast the crisp high-definition delights of NOTTV, there's plenty of terrestrial viewing available -- if you stay in the Land of the Rising Sun. We were pleasantly surprised with its crisp WXGA screen, which looks to be TFT. The 1,280 x 800 resolution display meant videos and websites looked sharp, while there was barely any color degradation at wider angles. On DoCoMO's network, users can expect to see download speeds up to 75Mbs, and upload speeds hitting up to 25Mbps. The tablet is now on sale across Japan, but there's still no word yet on it launching elsewhere.
NTT DoCoMo Grip UI detects how you hold your device, makes big phones friendly for tiny hands (video)
Maintaining your balance on a packed train while trying to handle the big-screened smartphones of today is often a tough challenge. At least NTT DoCoMo thinks so, offering up a new interface to avoid such issues -- and throw in some extra gesture shortcuts. Gesture UI is a combination hardware-software prototype that the Japanese carrier is showing at this year's CEATEC showcase in Japan. Consisting of a trio of grip sensors located along the two edges and across the back of the prototype phone, these can each detect up to five levels of pressure from your hand, as well as detecting how you're holding the device. This data is then channeled into the user interface, which allows the user to customize what the device does under certain conditions. We saw demonstrations of grip "shortcuts" to send you back to the homescreen, while holding certain portions of the sides would launched pre-assigned apps -- pinching at the top of this device launched the internet browser. Once inside the browser, the Grip UI also allows the user to transfer across to other programs without returning to the aforementioned homescreen, using a combination of gripping and swiping across the display. We get a handle on the prototype UI inside DoCoMo's imaginary train right after the break.
NTT DoCoMo preps automatic translation from Japanese through Android, leaves no one an island
Japan's unique language makes calls to other countries a challenge: locals often don't have much choice but to brush up on someone else's language or hope there's a Japanese speaker on the other end of the line. If all goes well with NTT DoCoMo's planned Hanashite Hon'yaku automatic translation service, international calls will be as comfortable as phoning a store in Nagano. As long as a subscriber has at least an Android 2.2 phone or tablet on the carrier's moperaU or sp-mode plans, the service will automatically convert spoken Japanese to another language, and reverse the process for the reply, whether it's through an outbound phone call or an in-person conversation. The service will bridge cultures starting from November 1st, when it will translate from Japanese to Chinese, English or Korean. Indonesian, Thai and five European languages are coming later that month. If you're not that patient, NTT DoCoMo will provide a holdover on October 11th through Utsushite Hon'yaku, a free Word Lens-like augmented reality translator for Android 2.3 that can convert text to or from Japanese with a glance through a phone camera.
Tobii, Fujitsu and NTT DoCoMo partner on eye tracking ibeam tablet, promise a peek in October
Tobii's eye tracking Gaze UI hasn't been especially portable so far, but we'll soon see that change through a new collaboration involving Fujitsu and NTT DoCoMo. The trio plan to reveal the ibeam, an Android tablet with Tobii's smaller IS20 (formerly the IS-2) detector taking input just through glances. Together, the partners want to show that an eye-driven interface can be more reactive than plain old multi-touch: think turning a page in an e-book while you're holding on to a subway car strap. We're only getting a brief preview as of today, but we're teased with the prospect of a full look at NTT DoCoMo's CEATEC booth in early October. Whether or not ibeam leads to more than a well-that's-nice prototype, though, is still up in the air.
WSJ: 2012 iPhone to support global 4G LTE
Now we're intrigued. It's a common (if unconfirmed) belief that the next iPhone will support LTE-based 4G, but the Wall Street Journal now understands through the ever-present "people familiar with the matter" that Apple is taking 4G worldwide. Where the current iPad only supports two LTE frequencies and drops to HSPA+ outside of the US and Canada, the new iPhone will supposedly cover parts of Asia and Europe as well. The exact countries haven't been outlined, although it's easy to imagine Apple going for those countries where 4G speeds matter the most: there's been rumblings of talks with KT and SK Telecom in South Korea, but we could also see France, Germany, Japan and Scandinavian countries in the mix. The rumor hasn't been confirmed, of course. That said, the iPhone was already purported to be using a new cellular chipset -- and a number of carriers, most often in the US, have long said they won't carry new smartphones unless LTE is part of the package. We'll know the full scoop on Wednesday.
LG Optimus G revealed: 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, ICS, LTE, 4.7-inch screen with in-cell touch
LG has been teasing its upcoming Optimus G smartphone for weeks after promising LTE phones that would be "second to none" and now we finally have the full specs. When it arrives in Korea next month it will be the first with LTE mounted to a quad-core CPU, thanks to the 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 at its center. The display is also groundbreaking, featuring LG's fully integrated touch technology -- sounds like its new in-cell touch to us --for a thinner screen and bezel. It's a True HD (1280 x 768) IPS LCD, and LG claims the 3mm bezel and body of the phone match the screen seamlessly when it's turned off. Just as the leaks indicated, it also has 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera and 2,100mAh battery, all while measuring only 8mm thick. The only bad news so far? It will arrive in Korea next month (and on NTT Docomo in October or November as the L-01E in black and red, seen after the break) with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, not Jelly Bean. The software will be as we've seen on other high-powered LG units like the Optimus Vu, with the addition of a "live zoom" feature on video and Dual Screen Dual Play mirroring for external displays. The real triumph for LG however, is its ability to vertically integrate technology from its various units to create the device. LG Chem provided a battery that is the first to offer a lifespan of 800 cycles, while LG Display created the screen and partnered with LG Innotek on the G2 Touch Hybrid Display unibody tech that eliminates the gap between the glass and the LCD panel. A worldwide launch is promised later in the year, although we'd expect to hear more soon at IFA 2012. Update: The English PR is now available and embedded after the break. Check it out for the full specs, including the Optimus G's Adreno 320 GPU, Bluetooth 4.0, MHL and NFC capabilities and more software enhancements including Time Catch Shot picture selection and Cheese Shutter voice command to take a picture.
NTT DoCoMo releasing limited edition JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Optimus Vu
If you can't get enough of the adventures of the Joestars and their various progeny, then you're in luck. NTT DoCoMo knows how to keep hardcore fans happy, releasing a limited run of 15,000 LG Optimus Vu with the phablet carrying custom wallpaper and illustrations from the creators of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Beneath the surface, it's the same phone we've seen before -- albeit with support for mobile TV standard Nottv. If you're now throwing your yen at the screen, we'd suggest going to your nearest store on August 30th, because online sales are limited to 750 on that day and a further 750 on September 1st.
Reserve the Sharp AQUOS SH-10D on NTT DoCoMo from tomorrow, full launch next week
We knew the Sharp AQUOS SH-10D was due to hit NTT DoCoMo at some point this summer, and now we've got the full details. You can reserve yours through the carrier from tomorrow, and the proper launch will take place the following week on August 30th. The device will be available in the three colors you see above, and as it recently passed through the FCC, a trip to the US could also be in the cards. But unfortunately, that orange wallpaper is all too harsh a reminder of one that never ventured outside Japan.
Sony LT25i Tsubasa pops up in benchmarks, may swell the high-speed Xperia ranks
Add another future Sony Xperia model to a rapidly growing pool. The LT25i Tsubasa (not to be confused with the ST25i/Xperia U) has been caught by Tencent in AnTuTu and NenaMark2 tests, seemingly running the same mix of a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, a 720p screen and Android 4.0 that we've seen in the upcoming Xperia T (LT30p). So what's different? There's rumors of in-cell touch to keep the display thin and vivid, but even the unverified source isn't certain that it will become a reality. The crew at Xperia Blog also claims that there will be international LTE and HSPA+ models along with China- and Japan-specific editions. Assuming the details are at all consistent with the truth, having the Tsubasa arrive on the scene mostly hints that Sony might be readying a broader speed-up of its roster than we first thought.
Sony Xperia GX makes Japan debut today
The Xperia GX passed muster at the FCC labs a few weeks back and is filling shelves of NTT DoCoMo stores starting today. If you like your smartphone screens big and high-resolution, you'll probably be very happy with the Xperia GX's 720p 4.6-inch display, wrapped in a curved frame similar to last year's Xperia Arc. There's no word on whether the phone will remain a Japan-only exclusive, but Sony is likely to have something new to show off at European trade show, IFA, in only a few weeks. Arguably more of a looker than the Xperia S, perhaps we'll see a global model -- there's a pentaband 3G radio in this iteration -- sidling up next to an Xperia tablet in Germany very soon.
NTT DoCoMo, Fujitsu and NEC rekindle love and LTE partnership, Samsung and Panasonic left in the rain
The fractious on-again, off-again love affair between NTT DoCoMo, Fujitsu and NEC has taken another turn. After dissolving a partnership to build a common LTE platform that included Samsung and Panasonic, the trio have rekindled their love over a candlelit dinner. The gang are stumping up the cash to bankroll Access Network Technology, a venture to build, wait for it, LTE platforms for smartphones and tablets, with each party bringing its own R&D and IP knowhow to the table. There's no word on how jilted lovers Samsung and Panasonic feel about the team-up, but we wouldn't be surprised if they didn't shed a private tear and think about the good old days.
