You can never be too thin, too ... NEC's L1 keitai

[Taro Toporific]

. NEC's superthin L1 Engadget.com, Aug 18, 2005, 8:40 AM ET
Looks like NEC's new L1 is a mere 11.9mm thick--- mere 0.46-inches---which is 2mm thinner than the RAZR, and 2.6mm thinner than the Blade (V740)...more...

[Brax]

Hopefully Japanese mobile phones will come to Australia soon... we are so far behind.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Hopefully Japanese mobile phones will come to Australia soon... we are so far behind.

Unfortunatly the Japanese market is unique and pretty locked down by Japanese phone companys, which are not really international. Only Vodafone (british company) which operates in Japan and Nokia have the same or similar models elsewere.

Its not really going to happen. Besides many japanese phones look like s shitty transformer.

[emperor]

Anyone played around with the Sharp 903?
http://www.vodafone.jp/english/products/model_3G/v903sh/index.html


Released about a month ago in Japan and last week in UK.
Ive seen a few on ebay that tickle my fancy, but the ones coming from Japan are far cheaper than the UK ones, the catch is they arent yet unlockable - its theorised Vodafone Japan will released the unlock codes in 4 to 6 weeks - the sellers on ebay say you have to then send the phone back to them to unlock (which sounds so fucking ridulous?!).

I guess Ill hang on a month or two for lower prices and ... oh - the ability to use the phone.

I am wondering about the voltage though - my AU sony ericsson was cdma and only for use in japan hence it only supporting 100/110V (not up to -200/220V) - for some reason it wont charge or power on now in Ireland - maybe the cells in the battery died? - all my contacts in japan were on that keitai
maybe i can swap the Japanese 903 plug for a UK one?

[Tsuru]

Here in Holland Vodafone offers a model that looks like it came straight from Japan like 2 years ago... cheap plastic, hideous design, big as a brick, but with a large screen and 1.3MP camera.

Sony-Ericsson v800

Can't wait until Western Europe catches up with widespread 3G/UMTS and cool phones that do everything short of driving you home. The worst shortcoming of the current phones in Europe in my opinion is the fact that the phone doesn't download new email messages automatically and gives off a warning when a new one arrives like with SMS (Text) or a Japanese phone with Supermail/Skymail. The moment they offer such a device in a nice-looking package I'll be the first one to get it. My current phone is just 7 months old but it's not much better in terms of features than my previous one. It only looks nicer (Nokis 6260)

[FG Lurker]

That new Sharp was looking kinda cool......until I noticed the damn thing is 29mm thick! I guess for the baggy-pants set 29mm is no problem... But it's gonna look HUGE in a suit pocket.

Guess I'll be holding onto my lowly V401SH for awhile yet.

[guckedfaijin]

In a few years time they will be able to make it thin enough to really use it as a blade. (old style shaver)

[mr. sparkle]

I just got the Motorola Razr. Prob'ly primitive compared to what you guys got. Sheet, even in Thailand they are further along than the U.S. A lot of headphones coming out of the cell phones. Is iPod dead?




Extremely thin, though. 13.9mm! And Bluetooth is cool too.

[emperor]

I just got the Motorola Razr. Prob'ly primitive compared to what you guys got. Sheet, even in Thailand they are further along than the U.S. A lot of headphones coming out of the cell phones. Is iPod dead?

Some people complain its too wide, but I think its nice.
Theres supposed to be a 2megapixel version with some other improvements later this year on beginning of next.

I ordered a Sharp 902 for my sister off ebay, one of vodafone japans better phones in the last year, should get here in a day or two. Since ordering i read a few things i didnt like about it though... I wont tell my sis - ill see if she can find them for herself

[Taro Toporific]

Sheet, even in Thailand they are further along than the U.S. A lot of headphones coming out of the cell phones. Is iPod dead?

The Japanese keitai with headphones are DOGSHIT because you cannot copy your 3MPs to (and from) the phone---you can only download tunes you may already own for 300yen each.

The rumoredMotorola-iPodphone with use iTunes in the correct way so you can use the MP3s you already own on the phone and save any music you purchase with your cellphone onto your home computer.

Apple said Monday it would hold a major music-related news event on Sept. 7 in San Francisco, according to the Times....The newspaper said the new phone brings together two of the most popular digital devices today -- the cell phone and Apple's (Research) iPod, which has popularized the practice of downloading songs from the Internet.
The report said having iTunes software on the phone would allow people to transfer songs from their personal computer to the phone and listen to them.
"It's a deluxe music player now on your cell phone," Roger Entner, the telecommunications analyst briefed on the announcement, told the Times.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/30/technology/personaltech/ipod_phone/

[mr. sparkle]

Some people complain its too wide, but I think its nice.
Theres supposed to be a 2megapixel version with some other improvements later this year on beginning of next.

I'd rather have it wider than bulgier. I am the kind of guy that likes to have the phone in a front pocket, not clipped to my belt.

The Japanese keitai with headphones are DOGSHIT because you cannot copy your 3MPs to (and from) the phone---you can only download tunes you may already own for 300yen each.

The rumored Motorola-iPod phone with use iTunes in the correct way so you can use the MP3s you already own on the phone and save any music you purchase with your cellphone onto your home computer.

Oh, that sucks! I think that the new iPod phone is going to be huge for that reason alone. Oh well, I guess I'm stuck with carrying two devices everywhere I go. 3 If you count my new Olympus snappy cam which takes great QT movies.

BTW, I've not been working at Apple for a couple of months now. I may get rehired there at the end of the year for a new project though.

[Taro Toporific]

The Japanese keitai with headphones are DOGSHIT because you cannot copy your 3MPs to (and from) the phone---you can only download tunes you may already own for 300yen each.
The rumored Motorola-iPod phone with use iTunes in the correct way so you can use the MP3s you already own on the phone and save any music you purchase with your cellphone onto your home computer.

Oh, that sucks! I think that the new iPod phone is going to be huge for that reason alone. ...

Well, the iPod-phone sounds totally fucked and useless now....

With 25-Song Cap, ITunes Phone May Underwhelm
David M. Ewalt and Peter Kafka, 08.30.05, 4:03 PM ET

NEW YORK - For more than a year, Apple and Motorola's plans to release an iTunes-enabled phone have tantalized the music and mobile phone businesses. Now, with the two companies set to unveil the long-rumored handset Sept. 7, they might be underdelivering.
A person who has seen a version of the phone says it was designed to accommodate just 25 songs, which would be "sideloaded" from a user's computer using iTunes. The phone was equipped with a 128-megabyte Sandisk TransFlash memory card--just one-quarter the capacity of Apple's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) smallest iPod, the 512-megabyte shuffle, which holds about 120 songs.
While it should be possible to swap out the memory card on the new iTunes phone for one with more capacity, the person who has seen the handset says the phone's software appears to artificially cap song storage at 25 songs, regardless of how much memory the phone has.
Both Apple and Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) declined to comment. An earlier statement from Apple said the phones "are expected to become available later this summer."
On Monday, Apple distributed an an e-mail to the media hinting at a new product release on Sept. 7. Published reports say that Apple and Motorola will announce an agreement with wireless carrier Cingular, a joint venture between BellSouth (nyse: BLS - news - people ) and SBC Communications (nyse: SBC - news - people ), and will introduce the phone that day.
Some caveats: It is possible that the model the source previewed is different than the one Apple and Motorola will unveil next week. It is also possible that the two companies may be introducing multiple versions of an iTunes phone with different capacities.
But if the phone is reflective of Apple and Motorola's launch, it's likely to underwhelm analysts and Apple fans who have been waiting for an iTunes phone since July 2004, when Motorola Chief Executive Ed Zander first announced plans to roll one out.
Since then, the music and mobile-phone industry has been rife with rumors that the two companies have been unable to find a wireless carrier willing to work with them. The main problem: By loading music from a user's PC to a phone, the handset doesn't create any revenue-generating opportunity for the carriers....more....

[Seamster]

Here's a list of the non-3G J-Phone/Vodafone Sharp phones that I think that, at the time of production, were the best phones in the world (to me).

V600SH (Called J-SH53): For me this was the phone that started it all in the summer of 2003. It was the first phone to display the Vodafone symbol, the world's first phone with a 1 MP camera, and only the second to boast a 2.4 inch QVGA display screen. The phone kept with tradition of the SH51 and SH52 (both of which secretly boasted VGA cameras) of having an SD memory card for pictures, email, and telephone directory backup. The processing speed was extremely fast. The phone was released when external display screens were common.

V401SH: This was the little brother of the V600SH. It was almost the same, but had a smaller screen, slower processor, and less data-sending abilities. But, it was released a few months later, so it had the software update I wish the V600SH would have had. Its replacement, in the summer of '04, the V402SH, added a TV, but took away the sub-display screen and added a flipping screen, which is so popular nowadays.

V601SH: This phone was the first to boast 2 MP and 2x zoom camera with autofocus. It first started selling around Jan 2004. It had all of the features of the V600SH, the better camera, and the highly necessary software update. To this day, for me, this is still one of the best two phones Vodafone has ever released. The other one is its replacement, the V602SH.

V602SH: This is the V601SH's replacement (summer '04). It includes all the V601SH had, but shows no major upgrades. The software was perfectionized (no mistakes like on the SH600SH) and the external sub-display screen was taken away and replaced with a "simple sub-display." I dislike the flipping screen design, but like the fact that the new flipping style phones don't click when you open them. This phone, to me, is barely a step up from the V601SH.





Here are our available options in summer 2005:

V603SH: I view this as a step backwards from the V602SH. The is no longer ANY external display screen; meaning no clock either. A TV tuner was added in it's place, along with, again, a heavier handset. Some may, but I don't think a TV is an upgrade for a telephone.

V501SH: This one was a surprise. It is basically a V401SH and a V602SH hybrid. It has the basic 1 MP camera of the V401SH, but simple sub-display of the V602SH. It can't be a 400-series phone, however, because it has the same memory and data capabilities of the 600-series. If you desired a good phone with an external, this would be a good choice, but the year-old V602SH, if available, would still be the better choice.




V604SH: Vodafone has released a new phone in this series every 6-7 months since the J-SH51 (V598SH, to avoid confusion) was released in the spring of 2003 in all of its memory card, MP3 player, and VGA camera glory. The V604SH by tradition should be around the corner, but since a lot of people are buying the new 3G series, the V604SH may not drop until Christmas. I'm expecting basically a 602/603 design, probably with a one-line sub-display. I hope the TV tuner ISN'T included due to the extra weight, but this series of phones has never done away with any feature since 2003. Seeing that the V903SH is getting a 3 MP camera, the V604SH might too. This is not only unnecessary, but allows for even more blurry night shots. If it does get the TV, mini-display, and 3 MP, I would probably still choose the V602SH.


I can't help you with much about anything else, but please ask me about the Sharp phones if you have a question. Yes, I'm a dork.

[oyajikun]

The 603 feels cheap in comparison with the beloved 602. And the TV gets zero reception anywhere I would actually want to use it. I might actually fork out the money for the 903.

[Seamster]

The 603 feels cheap in comparison with the beloved 602. And the TV gets zero reception anywhere I would actually want to use it. I might actually fork out the money for the 903.

I'd reconsider, dude. I walked into Yodobashi Camera today to play with the 903. It's HUGE! Besides the size and weight, you'd also be paying extra for the 3G service, right? (I've never really looked into their 3G service plans, though, because I was told the signal was even worse than regular Vodafone! Anyway, I think all the 903 will give you over what you have is the extra megapixel, right? It has stereo speakers, but I don't know if that's all that important. If you look at the back and front of it, no matter what way you set it down, even if you add little stickers at the corners, it's gonna get scratched after a while of sitting on a table or desk.

You think the 603 feels cheap? It's not much different than the 602, which, for me, broke after 1 week and had went into the repair shop two times in the first month. They wouldn't give me a new phone so I vowed to not buy their next model--the 603 which I don't like anyway.