Hasta La Gadget!

“XPERIA A SO-04E” is a smartphone designed with round edges to fit in your palm well with an approx. 4.6 inch (720×1280 dot) LCD. It’s Docomo’s version of XPERIA’s global model “Sony XPERIA ZR”.

If you say XPERIA, you might remember its highly-functional camera. Sony’s CMOS image sensor “Exmor RS for mobile” is featured with “XPERIA A SO-04E” and that makes it strong against backlight. When it’s in sleep mode, it will shift to camera mode instantly by pressing a small bottom on the side so it is harder to miss the moment than with other smartphones when you want to take a photo. This is functionality that we’ve only seen with XPERIA.

It is waterproof and dustproof, and it’s compatible with NFC, infrared data communication, Bluetooth, and wallet phone function.

Release date: May 17
Colors: white, black, pink, mint
Dimensions: 131 x 67 x 10.5mm
Weight: 141g
Display: 4.6 inch, 720×1280 dots, HD, TFT display, 16.77 million colors
External memory: microSD (2GB), microSDHC (32GB), microSDXC (64GB)
CPU: APQ8064 (1.5GHz Quad Core)
OS: Android 4.1

Amid the bevy of phones outed in NTT DoCoMo’s summer lineup, the Japanese carrier snuck in a tablet: Sharp’s Aquos Pad SH-08E. A 7-inch 1,920 x 1,200 IGZO display dominates the front of the Android 4.2 device, while a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and a 4,200mAh battery are tucked inside. When it comes to imaging, the slab totes an 8.1-megapixel shooter on its rear, and wears a 2.1-megapixel cam on the front. The hardware’s also been kitted out with WiFi, NFC and TV tuning capabilities, along with waterproofing and dustproofing, to boot. As the slate’s outfitted to work with DoCoMo’s Xi LTE network, it’s capable of sucking down 100Mbps and uploading at 37.5Mbps. There’s no word on how much it’ll empty wallets, but it’s penciled in to be available in Japan by the end of July.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: NTT DoCoMo (PDF)

Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has announced it plans to invest around $50 million into Japanese digital entertainment company Pioneer Corporation, which makes in-car electronics, to acquire approximately seven per cent of the company. The pair described the investment as “a business and capital alliance” in a press release today. The news was spotted earlier by ZDNet.

Specifically, DoCoMo said it intends to “integrate Pioneer’s in-car navigation telematics technologies and related peripheral development capabilities with [its own] mobile cloud expertise to make a full-scale entry into the field of intelligent transport systems (ITS)”. The pair have previously partnered for the integration of car electronics and information services, including the “Docomo Drive NetTM” navigation service, which incorporates DoCoMo’s smartphones placed in dashboard-mounted cradles, but this latest move pushes DoCoMo deeper into the transport systems space.

The pair said they will jointly develop an ITS, for launch later this year, which will comprise of a platform plus services for consumers and businesses, and also in-car hardware.

Here’s how they describe the plans:

The envisioned in-car ITS system will use probe data gathered from Pioneer’s car-mounted navigation system and DOCOMO smartphones in moving vehicles to process detailed traffic information in Pioneer’s ITS cloud platform. ITS services that integrate this information with various other services will be jointly developed and launched for individual and corporate customers this year.

In addition to developing such services and constructing ITS-related cloud infrastructure, the two companies will develop and sell compatible car-mounted communication devices.

DoCoMo said it will make the investment of about five billion yen (approx. $50 million) through a third-party allocation of new shares to acquire approx. 7% stake in Pioneer this coming June 28.

ZENRIN DataCom released the “Photo Japan Guide” Android app today. It is the English version of the Docomo map navigation tool, “Gotouchi Guide” and introduces tourist sites and local gourmet food to foreign visitors to Japan.
There is a lot more to Japan than Tokyo, Kyoto and Mt. Fuji. So download it and give it a try if you plan to visit Japan or live here and want to take a look around.
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NTT is developing technology that faithfully reproduces pictures and sound from distant locations, creating a natural sense of distance and position, as if both people are in the same room.
“Regarding the picture, this system includes technology that uses 3D video. It continually generates pictures from such a viewpoint that, the other person seems to be right in front of you. Regarding the sound, the system uses technology that reproduces the sound wave-front, so you can hear the other …