The number one handset manufacture in Japan, Sharp, may be facing some steep competition if the rumor about NEC getting into a three way with Hitachi and Casio are to be believed. Nikkei is reporting that Japanese publication Yomiuri Shimbun has been tipped offed that the three companies plan on merging their handset divisions as early as April 2010. This combined entitiy would give them 20% of the Japanese domestic market, which still isn’t enough to topple Sharp. At the end of the day, if these companies want to make more money, they should look at releasing their handsets to the rest of the Asian markets, and even Europe. I think I speak for mobile phone geeks everywhere when I say I would love an 8 megapixel clamshell with WVGA screen and a solar panel built in.

[Via: The Inquirer, Wireless Watch Japan]

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NEC and Panasonic (NYSE: PC) have introduced nine new LiMo handsets through Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM), spread across three families. In the PRIME series, we have the N-06A, P-07A and N-07A; in the STYLE series there’s the N-08A, P-06A, P-08A, and P-10A; and finally the SMART series is including the N-09A and the P-09A. No fresh additions to the PRO series, which usually hosts some of the more exotic (by their standards) handsets, like the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold, HTC Magic and Touch Pro.  As usual, tha majority of these new handsets come off as blockish, cheap-looking flips, but don’t be fooled – many are rocking TV tuners, 7.2 Mbps, GPS, WVGA displays – hell, three of them have 8.1 megapixel cameras.  With this release, the number of LiMo-compliant handsets goes up to 42 – a solid lead on its brother-in-Linuxosity, Android, although when it comes to hardware, the next year is looking busy for Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile platform.

[via LiMo Foundation]

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Japan’s NEC and Sharp plan to export their handsets to other countries. Both companies were already present on markets outside of the Land of the rising Sun, but have struggled to gain any significant marketshare.

Now due to sliding decline in handset sales in Japan, Nec and Sharp are revising their strategy and plan to expand overseas.

According to a Reuters article, NEC hopes to export at least 1 million phones for an average price of $300. Sharp, on the other end, intends to release smartphones in Europe, and has a goal to sell a total of 4 million devices.

We’re certainly pro-competition and are looking forward to see some of those sexy high-end phones from Japan being available in Europe and the U.S…

[Via: Unwired View]

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Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), NEC, Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), Samsung, Texas Instruments and three other wireless heavyweights have all signed an agreement under the eye of the European Commission to adopt a microUSB standard on data-enabled devices. This will hopefully cut down on consumer waste when it comes to chargers, as well as make life easier when switching devices. The change to microUSB will probably be the biggest deal for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), who have shoved people into using their inconvenient proprietary iPod plug for so very, very long. Charging seems to be the main focus of the agreement, though considering data-enabled phones are specifically targeted, it will also make syncing and transferring a heck of a lot easier.  A move like this follows closely in the steps of North America – CTIA has already thrown in their support to get all mobiles running on microUSB chargers by 2012.

[via Reuters]

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Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) had announced their 12 megapixel camera module a couple of months ago, but now NEC is keeping them company with this here CE143 chip. We had heard rumblings that a 12 megapixel handset would be coming out from Samsung at Mobile World Congress, so if it does get announced, it’s entirely possible they made use of this technology. On top of processing images at 12 megapixels and integrating noise reduction, face recognition, and image stabilizing functions, the CE143 will also be able to pump out video in full 1080p HD quality. Yowza. Hopefully we’ll be able to see this thing in action at MWC… Head over here for the full technical specifications.

[NEC via MobileBurn]

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NEC is presenting four handsets at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in two weeks, all based on the 22-phone lineup scheduled to be wrapped up by March. The Prime N-01A is a multi-configurable touchscreen device with 3.2 inch VGA screen, 5.2 megapixel camera with advanced face detection and auto focus and SRS TruMedia for virtual surround-sound.

The Style N-02A closely resembles the N-03A, the prime difference is that the N-03A was designed by (apparently) famous French Pastry Chef Pierre Herme. Wow, really? A phone designed by a pastry chef? The N-03A will come appropriately preloaded with a bunch of “gourmet content”. The N-02A is a little more business, featuring mobile TV, 5.2 megapixel camera, face detection and 15 different key illuminations for various kinds of alerts. Finally, the Smart N-04A is a global roaming phone with 3G and mobile TV in a slider form factor.

[via NEC]

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When it comes to the future of digital data consumption, we’re going to see the LCD display eventually give way to OLED technology, and eventually to holographic technology. But, active displays aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. For color, contrast, and response time, you just can’t beat an actively powered display.

But, the “future” has reserved a nice, big table for passively-powered E-Ink technology. We’ve been seeing E-Ink displays make their mark in a nascent niche market that includes the Amazon kindle, a smattering of prototype devices, and in concept devices. E-Ink’s strength lies in its passively powered display technology.

NEC e-Paper with 16-step grayscale

Rather than continuously drawing power, E-Ink displays only draw enough power to momentarily apply a charge to micro-electrodes underneath the display. The electrodes maintain the charge and attract positively- and negatively-charged pigment-particles. The oppositely charged white and black pigment-particles differentiate to display a static image (usually text) on the E-Ink display without the need for any additional electrical power. When the “e-Paper” needs to display a new image, voltage is re-applied and the pigments re-align to “rewrite” the text on the screen.

The latest development in e-Ink technology comes from NEC. By creating a new type of e-Paper, in A3 and A4 equivalent sizes, that feature bezels as thin as 1mm thick, NEC has announced the first-ever modular e-Paper display. NEC’s new e-Paper displays use E Ink’s Vizplex Imaging Film, and the A3-sized displays, with their 1mm thick bezel, can be almost seamlessly tiled together to form a larger E-Ink display. NEC says that up to eight e-Paper modules can be tiled together using their multi-tiling controller.

E-Paper boasts higher reflectivity rates than any actively powered display, allowing to it literally “outshine” its LCD rivals in terms of direct sunlight viewing, viewing angle, and absolutely trumping actively-powered displays when it comes to power-consumption. We welcome e-Paper advances and look forward to the day when e-Paper can handle higher resolutions, color images, and faster refresh rates!

[Via: Ubergizmo]

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There’s no denying that SMS text messaging has been a tremendous success. With hundreds of millions of SMS users worldwide, it makes sense that NEC is looking to cash in on what it hopes will be the next-generation of the short messaging service.

NEC demonstrated their “Bubble Talk” technology at NXTcomm in Las Vegas and it sounds like it could gather a decent audience. Bubble Talk is essentially a voice SMS message that allows users to send short voice-recordings to compatible handsets in the same way that they send SMS text messages.

The Bubble Talk technology is reportedly integrated so that sending a Bubble Message (?) is as seamless (and possibly more convenient) as sending out a text message. Seven carriers are apparently on board with the problem, and NEC is in talks to bring their Bubble Talk tech to other carriers.

Will Bubble Talk manage to gain traction against SMS text messages? There’s a certain level of comfort and ease associated with the kind of faceless and voiceless interaction that text-based messaging allows. Can Bubble Talk convince users that voice-messages are just as convenient and comfortable?

[Via: AVING]

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While NEC’s Flask Phone might not help you smuggle any reasonably-priced alcohol into that kitschy nightclub in West Hollywood, it’ll help you save the environment one handset at a time.

The NEC Flask Phone features a large liquid-reservoir that holds the precious “fuel” that is converted to electrical juice. Without the need to recharge the device with electricity, NEC’s Flask Phone should reduce your carbon footprint a bit.

There seems to be a “recharging” port on the bottom-end of the fuel-cell, possibly allowing for the liquid-fuel to be re-filled when needed. Just don’t open up the fuel-cell and take a swig.

NEC says that they’ll be releasing the liquid-powered handset sometime in 2008 with a touchscreen. We’d love to see this handset hit the US, but chances are we’ll only dream of a fuel-cell handset in 2008.

[Via: ChipChick]

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Japanese handset manufacturers must have gone crazy from all the domestic market demands for the high-end devices. So, it doesn’t surprises to see NEC going wild with its latest concepts. Not that they are too futuristic, it’s just I can’t imagine myself using a phone with a carpet or leather keypads. On the second thought, they are too futuristic for my taste! The scissor-like phone, watch-like phone… – it’s just not my cup of tea… Take the jump for more pics.

[Via: Gearfuse]

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NEC’s really on a roll with innovative new technologies these days. Their new M2 LSI chip allows for twice the power efficiency from the same battery. NEC says that their new system will “drastically cut the energy used by a cellular phone” – giving you a longer lasting mobile phone. Since a phone is only as good as its battery life. The new chips should start showing up in 3G phones by year end.

The M2 LSI chip is a perfect match for NEC’s 8 megapixel CMOS sensor. The new “system chip capable of processing cameraphone images at resolutions of up to eight-megapixels,” can even do “image stabilization circuitry as an option.” Look for this new badass imaging sensor in October!

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

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With more and more phones these days coming packed with all sorts of wireless technologies, it makes sense that somebody develop technologies that will allow the device which wireless technology is best suited for a particular action. Case in point, the USPTO has awarded NEC a patent on their technology for smart file downloads.

The technology has been designed for phones with built-in wifi radios – allowing them to connect to any wireless access point. The idea is to have the phone decide, on its own, whether to download a file over-the-air (OTA: via cellular networks) or through a wifi network (wireless access point). Apparently, the tech is capable of determining which of the two networks (WiFi or cellular) would be best suited for downloading a particular file (considering cost and speed).

We’re waiting for someone to patent a technology that lets our mobile phone make our decisions on what to eat for dinner – that’s always such a hard one to figure out.

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Yo yo form factor seems appealing to some designers. Last month we’ve showed you ModeLabs’ version of YoYo phone, and this time it’s Shaik Ridzwan that designed such device. Shaik designed this device as senior at Academy of Art University in San Francisco in a corporate-sponsored project. As you can see from the images below, his Yo Yo phone is one weird device with futuristic look and feel. Interesting thing to note is that this device comes with wireless headset that can be neatly stowed away in the Yo yo leash ring, just like in real Yo yo. We got Shaik to talk more on the design and here is what he had to say.

“I approached the design using a ‘found object.’ A phone does not necessary have to look and feel like a phone. I chose the Yo Yo as the first found object. The second and third came later while spending hours trying to design the yo yo leash. It came to me and it was obvious when including headphones as part of the design that it had to be a ‘Pearl Ring.’ The wireless headphones lock into place in the leash ring therefore made to look like a pearl ring. When parted and used they would now look like pearl earrings. The functions that incorporated the use of a yo yo is the ‘Trick Mode.’ When turned on the used could do a trick to make a call to an assign user.

I used the contrast of toys and fine jewelry to create a different feel to the design. Just imagine a person playing a yo yo and his yo yo starts to ring. He plugs his headphones back in his leash and picks up the call. This is the scenario that I had in my head while designing the Yo yo phone.”

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We’ve already talked about NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM)’s plans to enter the fashion phone market. Well, they’re in!

As announced, the Japanese carrier worked with an award-winning designer Stefano Giovannoni on the new line of 3G handsets. As a result we now have a ultra-cool FOMA N904i available in Orange Cut, Day and Night, Urban Blue, and Pink Soda colors.

DoCoMo’s exhibition titled “DoCoMo: New Vibes from Stefano Giovannoni – design for cellular phones” is still open in Milan at Superstudio Più in Zona Tortona. (via: FarEastGizmos)

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Corn really does have a lot of different uses. We can use it for food, cooking, and even gas for our cars (E-85 ethanol). Now, thanks to the R&D team at NEC, we can use corn to make plastics. We’ve seen this eco-friendly technology used to make disposable tableware, but now we can benefit from bio-degradable cell phones as well. With double the heat conductivity of stainless steel, corn-plastic is poised to replace traditional plastics – and devices can shave precious millimeters by doing away with heatsink materials.

The new corn-plastic’s high heat conductivity is the result of NEC’s researching breakthroughs. They’ve developed a new way to form the plastic using “a cross-linked structure of carbon fiber through use of a unique binder in the polylactic acid (PLA) resin achieves high heat diffusion.” Basically, the scientists at NEC found a way to make all the fibers line up to conduct heat more effectively. High heat conductivity will become more and more important as electronic devices get more powerful. More power means more heat, and you better have a good way to dissipate that heat.

Look for this new plastic (hopefully in more exciting colors than the pictured ‘Institutional Beige’) about a year from now – April 2008.

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Again, it’s the Japanese cell phone market that impresses. It’s not enough that their handsets already look way-too-sexy, NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) wants to add a designer label on them and rip the benefits from fashion-savvy cell phone buyers.

During the Design Week from April 18 to 23 in Milan – Italy, the Japanese carrier will premier their latest 3G FOMA handsets developed in partnership with award-winning designer Stefano Giovannoni and handset maker NEC.

Famous designer will also prepare an exhibition booth for DoCoMo, entitled “DoCoMo: New Vibes from Stefano Giovannoni – design for cellular phones”, that will showcase the latest DoCoMo’s devices. (via: FarEastGizmos)

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