Softbank pulls a DoCoMo, launches 12 phones

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 29th 2006 at 11:28AM

Adding a confusing, seemingly endless array of new handsets in one fell swoop is a tactic we normally reserve for NTT DoCoMo (and more recently, KDDI), but far be it from Vodafone Japan-turned-Softbank Mobile to get left out of the fray, launching 12 phones -- plus a data card -- for October delivery. Notable in the bunch are the X01HT (essentially a Hermes tweaked for the Japanese market, a la the Z) and the 705NK, a rebranded Nokia N73. If we get even one third the love spread out over an entire quarter on a US carrier, we're elated -- we obviously live in the wrong country.

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Nokia, Others, Sharp, Sony Ericsson, Vodafone, Symbian, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS

Tags: 705n, 705nk, 705p, 705sc, 706sc, 810sh, 810t, 811sh, 811t, 910sh, 910t, c01si, htc, japan, NEC, nokia, softbank, softbank mobile, SoftbankMobile, vodafone, vodafone japan, VodafoneJapan, x01ht

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

maes110781 @ Feb 8th 2008 10:49PM

How to unlock 811SH sharp???

Neutral

Sonata @ Sep 29th 2006 11:41AM

Let's discuss better N95!

Neutral

just @ Sep 29th 2006 11:58AM

we live in wrong time :)

Neutral

starrwulfe @ Sep 29th 2006 9:01PM

man I miss Japan...

Neutral

Tapani @ Oct 1st 2006 5:20PM

There are two more 3G Windows Mobile phones than just Hermes. 705SC and 706SC.

Neutral

jay @ Sep 29th 2006 3:58PM

hahahah pulls a DoCoMo!!!!!! I love this site, just gets better e'day:)
Good work guys!

Neutral

Vince @ Sep 29th 2006 11:23PM

Softbank's press release doesn't mention the OS of the Samsung phones, unlike the Hermes, so I don't believe that they are actually Win-Mo devices. They do have integrated readers for MS Office documents, and at least the 705SK can do some translation from English, Hangul, and Chinese (doesn't specify simple or traditional).

Anyway, don't get me wrong, Softbank's new lineup has a lot of nice phones, but I can't say if it's enough to woo people to the brand. Vodafone acquired the reputation of having spotty 3G coverage, and lost a lot of customers in the process. The three ex-vodafonies that I've talked to about their new lineup all said that the phones look nice, but that they'd need some assurances about network improvements before joining Softbank. If that sentiment is at all representative, Softbank may have to still work hard to attract new customers and pay off their massive debt.

Neutral

Sesaru @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:36AM

I just saw the page of HTC TyTN:

http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/en/product/3g/x01ht/index.html

And it says that this mobile is not compatible with MMS!! Why? Is a problem of the Phone, of SoftBank, or what!!

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.