2011 Winter NTTDocomo Smartphone Roundup

The day is October 18, 2011 and NTTdocomo has announced its slew of winter/spring 2011 line of cell phones.

The biggest attraction this year is the expanded range of Smartphones. A worldwide phenomenon, smartphones are also catching on in Japan recently, with iOS and Android being the major driving force.

Though the Japanese manufacturers took much longer than established heavyweights like HTC and Samsung to enter the Android smartphone business, the 2011 winter/spring lineup proves that Japanese makers can be the best in the world when pushed to the edge.

Let’s cover some of the models in detail.

SoftBank Winter/Spring 2011 Lineup Debut

Another year passes by, and as usual the three Japanese carriers are announcing their Winter model lineups in succession. au by KDDI recently announced their Winter 2011 lineup just this last week, and this week is SoftBank’s turn.

As evident, the recent smartphone craze overtaking the developed world has reached Japan. Unfortunately, the high-specced domestic flip phones have paid the price, as there are fewer and fewer of the traditional “keitai” available today.

So, let’s cover some of the interesting models from the SoftBank Winter/Spring 2011 series.

AQUOS PHONE 104SH

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• Android 2.3/2.4 (Possibly)
• 4.5” HD (1280 x 720) Screen
• OMAP 4460 1.5GHz Dual-Core
• 63.4 x 129.9 x 8.7mm
• 12.1MP CMOS AF, 0.3MP CMOS
• IPX5/IPX7 waterproofing

SHARP was one of the first domestic manufacturers to jump into the smartphone arena, and they have responded this time around with a monster phone. Equipped with 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 4.5” HD screen, this thing is a beast.

It will become available in Spring 2012.

 

AQUOS PHONE 102SH

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• Android 2.3
• 4.5” HD (1280 x 720) Screen
• OMAP 4430 1.0GHz Dual-Core
• 137g
• 65.1 x 128 x 9.7mm
• 12.1MP CMOS AF, 0.3MP CMOS
• IPX5/IPX7 waterproofing

A smartphone from SHARP that sees reduced spec in the processor arena, presumably to be slightly cheaper than the 104SH brother. However, aside from the processor everything else remains the same, with HD screen, 12.1MP camera and waterproofing.

Available December 2011.

 

LUMIX Phone 101P

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• Android 2.3
• 4.0” qHD (960 x 540) Screen
• OMAP 4430 1.0GHz Dual-Core
• 128g
• 64 x 123 x 9.8mm
• 13.2MP CMOS AF
• IPX5/IPX7 waterproofing

A year ago, Panasonic revealed its LUMIX Phone line. Originally it was a true, thoroughbred keitai model – complete with Japanese domestic OS. However, it seems the development staff at Panasonic has come under the same pressure everyone else has, and so they merged the LUMIX Phone identity with a smartphone – resulting in the 101P. It features a host of features that can be found in today’s digital camera, so if you have a 101P you probably won’t need to carry a digital camera any longer.

Available mid-November 2011.