Sharp 931sh = iPhone, HTC killer

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PeterCH

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Today Softbank released Sharp's 931SH, a mobile phone with a slide keyboard featuring a stunning 3.8” XGA (1024x480) touchscreen and a 5.2Mpix AF camera.

It also comes with 1Seg, HSDPA, Felica 2.0, GPS, and Bluetooth at a size of 52x115x16mm and only 130g.

Definitely Softbank's best looking and most interesting toy this winter!
Click to expand...

3.8" HXGA AQUOS LCD multi-touch capable touchscreen (480x1024)
Measures 52 x 115 x 16mm and weighs 130 grams
HSDPA, GSM
Slide keypad
1-Seg TV Tuner
GPS
Bluetooth 2.0, IrDA
microSDHC
Felica 2.0
5.2-megapixel AF CMOS camera

Video at:
http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/product/3G/931sh/
Do check out the video, the link zoom function for the www browser looks really easy to use. :)

English preview at:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/new...Hands-On.html

http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php/photo/7626
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php/photo/7625
 
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Japanese cellphones are always much more advanced/higher specs than HTC/Nokia. And my friends there change their phones every 3 to 6 month as that's how often Sharp/Toshiba/NEC release new models.
 
cyberarmy said:
Japanese cellphones are always much more advanced/higher specs than HTC/Nokia. And my friends there change their phones every 3 to 6 month as that's how often Sharp/Toshiba/NEC release new models.
Click to expand...

They come out twice a year or significant models annually.

The thing is that Japanese phones lead in terms of advanced non-smartphones and not even features. GPS has only been implemmented in the
Sharp 923sh recently for example, and Wifi is not available on most phones.

The only thing keitai have for them are their super high res displays.
My Sharp has a native res of 854by480. The other thing is that these
phones are all double locked, multimedia and sim lock.

Luckily Sharp has started releasing them in Taiwan too. This December will
be the turn of the 923sh, midyear was the turn of the 920sh. These
phones are totally unlocked but have no 1-seg TV tuners as its only
available in Brazil and Japan.

However I do want this phone too. Did you see how easy the internet browsing is, the zoom so you can pick individual hyperlinks with your wide
finger? The high res screen can render any website in detail, and UNLIKE
the iPHONE you can read every bit of text. This thing has a screen with 4x iPhone resolution :).
 
Park@82 said:
OS?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but I don't think its a smartphone. They usually use Symbian tho.
Smartphones not popular in Japan.

Check the video though, the touch function looks good, and the browsing
is really hot. This thing also plays back video.
 
Vegeta said:
smartphone OS or it = FAIL!
Click to expand...

Maybe for YOU. But I would choose a phone with a real browser, email
and great function over that.

What do you want a smartphone OS for? To edit Word documents
on the phone?

This phone has Maps, has better Internet browsing than any HTC, Nokia or iPhone. It has full email. It has Felica, which means you can pay for tickets,
movies, subway, do shopping etc on it. Has full messaging and email.
It plays back video and pictures. Prolly has a Office/PDF viewer too.
Has a planner with calendar. Audio DSP by Yamaha not
some unknown cr@ppy company.

It still runs JAVA apps, so you can use those. Flash wallpapers work too.

What more do you want? Just curious. This phone looks better than anything from Nokia, HTC, Sony-E, or Apple. I'll definately buy this when an unlock hack comes out or it appears in TW.

A display with 1024by480 pixels renders small links and text on www sites properly. The touch zoom function lets you
choose the tinies hyperlink with the fattest of fingers. This is what I would want.
 
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I want to manipulate the phone to do anything I can think off. FTP,YES edit word docs, add utilities, ssh.
I want to browse the file system, i want to install ANDROID once its ported!:D
So many things i cant even think of them right now, i want to install divx codecs i want to be able to unzip files, i want to use it as a Wifi, hsdpa router, i want to multitask i want to edit the registry.
You dont want to and that makes me sad :( You SHOULD want to do all those things and more with hardware like that! It has amazing specs btw
 
Vegeta said:
I want to manipulate the phone to do anything I can think off. FTP,YES edit word docs, add utilities, ssh.
I want to browse the file system, i want to install ANDROID once its ported!:D
So many things i cant even think of them right now, i want to install divx codecs i want to be able to unzip files, i want to use it as a Wifi, hsdpa router, i want to multitask i want to edit the registry.
You dont want to and that makes me sad :( You SHOULD want to do all those things and more with hardware like that! It has amazing specs btw
Click to expand...

Well you're an IT developer.
What would a businessman want?
What would a scientific researcher want, eg someone who
co-ordinates numerous people, studies, labs etc.

Well most of these people don't run FTP servers or require telnet or
such.

They would want, I guess easy communication (email, sms, mms, internet, skype), sync and organiser capabilities. A great browser which let's you have a PC equivalent in your pocket would be great too.

For such people a non-smartphone is not 'FAIL'. :)

I guess if you need to edit Excel docs and Word docs, that would be a fail, but most people I know don't do that on their phones.
 
PeterCH said:
Well you're an IT developer. What would a businessman want?
Click to expand...
Nope not an IT guy actually i'm the second one "businessman" I'm an Accountant. :D

But yeah IT is my hobby(kinda)... I get what you're saying, a simple phone for the masses. One thing I’ve noticed is that phones like these have to be replaced to add new functionality sometimes thats a no go for me.
Take that nice Samsung F(whatever) great phone but if you now want to add a new utility you will have to replace it with a handset that has the utility or function you want... in that case these non-smartphones should be priced much lower than smartphones but the fancy ones aren't :(
 
Support of the standards of the connection: WCDMA (national and international networks); HSDPA; GSM of 900/1800/1900 MHz

Sizes: 52[kh]115[kh]16 mm
Weight: 130 deg.
Display: wide-format, with the size of 3,8- inch, by the permission of 1024[kh]480 of points, sensory, New Of mobile ASV LCD
Camera: 5,2 [MP], CMOS - complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) with the auto-focus, the system of the compensation for the vibration of the hands
Permission of the obtained by video files: to 864[kh]480 of the points
Support of the method of digital TV programs in the standard “of one-segment”
Memory: 100 mb., expansible by the maps of the memory of the standard of microSD/microSDHC
Support GPS of the navigation
Communications: Bluetooth of v2.0, IrDA
Built-in noncontact pay map Of feliCa

http://justamp.blogspot.com/2008/10/softbank-aquos-fulltouch-of-931sh.html

Better than iPod Touch -- 864 x 480 video.
 
Vegeta said:
Nope not an IT guy actually i'm the second one "businessman" I'm an Accountant. :D

But yeah IT is my hobby(kinda)... I get what you're saying, a simple phone for the masses. One thing I’ve noticed is that phones like these have to be replaced to add new functionality sometimes thats a no go for me.
Take that nice Samsung F(whatever) great phone but if you now want to add a new utility you will have to replace it with a handset that has the utility or function you want... in that case these non-smartphones should be priced much lower than smartphones but the fancy ones aren't :(
Click to expand...

Well businessmen or people who co-ordinate numerous people like the medical researchers I co-operate with in the US, don't need those other things, as you've said. I also wouldn't call this a simple phone. It's better than anything on the Western market in terms of display and video resolution, plus you
can watch digital TV.

Functionally this thing is more functional in Japan than HTCs, Nokias, iPhones etc are elsewhere. You can communicate with anyone, really browse the web, pay for goods and services, watch TV, view multimedia (in better res than the iPod) and
stay in touch in terms of IM apps, email and messaging. Plus you have your GPS maps, image stabiliser for camera etc.

However, just the aspect of browsing the web on this phone, beats all other
aspects. The internet in your pocket at 1024by480 pixels and on a display
by one of the best LCD makers in the world. :)
 
Sounds awesome but can you then call it a "smartphone"(iphone/htc) killer if it doesnt even compete in the same market?

A notebook is a better internet device than this phone but i wont call a notebook an iphone-killer it makes little sense. But in its niche(non-smartOS Multimedia-phone) its the best phone i've ever seen agree with you on that no doubt!
 
Vegeta said:
Sounds awesome but can you then call it a "smartphone"(iphone/htc) killer if it doesnt even compete in the same market?

A notebook is a better internet device than this phone but i wont call a notebook an iphone-killer it makes little sense. But in its niche(non-smartOS Multimedia-phone) its the best phone i've ever seen agree with you on that no doubt!
Click to expand...

I think you're saying that some people want a smartphone just to have a 'smartphone'. That's a western trait. Have features just to have them but actually get less usability out of the device.

Most people get iPhones or HTC phones in SA to do what?
The same thing an ordinary phone does, but also get a great WWW browser.
Who actually creates new content on a smartphone?

So when you say does it compete, maybe it can't compete because people
are clueless and believe the hype Taiwanese HTC and Finnish Nokia have fed them about needing a 'smartphone'. When a non-smartphone provides better capability than a smartphone.

Surely someone who needs great internet in his pocket will want this phone over a 'smartphone' which runs a mini version of Office. Oh you can still view Office docs on this phone - and at 1024by480 res. If you don't create office docs on your smartphone - why not use a better (ie killer) non-smartphone.
 
Okay i'll agree its a "killer" in what it was designed for(internet, multimedia etc)
Ur right ppl are clueless and splash out for a "smartphone"
I wont call the iphone a smartphone it might have OSX but its rather stupid(no copy/paste, no document editor, no multitask) sounds like a regular phone 2 me. So its an Iphone killer mos def even if its no "smartphone"... Showing you exactly how ppl have been brainwashed by apple and the like agree
 
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