It used to be that every time the Japanese came out with a device I’d wave my fist in the air because it could do things like pay for groceries using NFC or tune into the free over the air crystal clear television signals. For all the things Japanese phones do, they’re mainly feature phones, unable to use applications … not like you really need them anyway to lead a smart digital mobile lifestyle. That’s all starting to change now with Android making a splash on the scene. Earlier this month it was Sharp who tantalized us with their Android device that housed a screen with the same resolution as the Apple iPhone 4 and featured a 9.6 megapixel camera. Now it’s Toshiba’s turn to make us slobber all over the floor with their Regza IS04, a device with a 4 inch screen that has a resolution of 854x 480 pixels running Android 2.1, but what makes it special is that it’s the first Android device to ship with a 12 megapixel camera. Slated to hit the market in January 2011, it’ll be offered by KDDI.
Now when are we going to see these things coming to Europe and America? If Sharp and Toshiba, two brand names who have zero presence in the handset market outside the land of the rising sun, can build mobile phones with such insane spec sheets, then what’s stopping the likes of HTC, Samsung and LG from doing the same? Don’t they have the talent? They’re all neighbors, so something must be happening in terms of rigging supply chains to serve some parts of the market while ignoring the others. We’ve seen it happen with Samsung, who had to release the Wave II because the Super OLED screen in their first Wave device simply couldn’t be built fast enough. Are all the hot pieces of technology going to Japan first?
Certainly hope not. I’m too jealous to deal with that.
[Via: Akihabara News]