Ntt -- Engadget Mobile

ntt posts

NTT DoCoMo's overheating BlackBerry Bold not caused by battery, says RIM

by Ross Miller posted Feb 27th 2009 @ 6:41PM

While RIM and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo still don't know why their BlackBerry Bold is feeling a little toasty around the keyboard, the duo has ruled out a likely culprit, the battery, as its unwelcome heat source. Word on the street is an estimated 30 people have issued complaints about the mobile device heating up while recharging, with around 4,000 units being sold before DoCoMo halted sales. One analyst speculates the issue -- which so far has affected only Japan -- may be based on region-specific software of other customizations. We're sure the pair are working around the clock to get to the bottom of this malfunction, but in the meantime, we recommend dusting off the ol' 8707h to get that retro BlackBerry feel -- y'know, just for kicks.

NTT DoCoMo halts BlackBerry Bold sales after reports of overheating

by Donald Melanson posted Feb 27th 2009 @ 10:58AM

It's apparently not quite the same fire hazard that the truth in advertising standard-bearer Quickfire is, but NTT DoCoMo doesn't seem to be taking any chances with its newly-launched BlackBerry Bold, with the Japanese carrier now suspending sales of the smartphone after some reports of it getting a bit too toasty for comfort. Apparently, some 30 users reported that the keyboard "heated up" while the phone was recharging, although it's not clear if that's due to the charger or the handset itself. For its part, RIM says that the issue "appears to be specifically limited to the BlackBerry Bold devices sold in Japan," and that expects to be able to fix the problem and resume sales of the Bold "shortly." In the meantime, stay frosty, Japan.

[Via Yahoo! News / AFP]

NTT docomo and Sharp show projector phone at MWC

by Sean Cooper posted Feb 18th 2009 @ 4:47PM

We had a brief peek at yest another pico projecting set at MWC, this time an NTT docomo Samsung affair without a name, price, or even a release date. Specs are as sketchy as these are usable in a brightly lit room, but the hopes are this device will be used for services like mobile TV, home theater (yeah, right), document editing, presentations, and video calling. We were enthused to see the mock ups (pictured above) of where the design of this device could go -- and we're hoping that by next year the bricks we've seen lately will be gone and sleek design will become the norm. We filmed a bit of it in action and honestly, we've seen TI's pico projector before and it doesn't seem to have changed significantly. Follow the link to see the media.

Gallery: NTT docomo and Sharp show projector phone at MWC

Continue reading NTT docomo and Sharp show projector phone at MWC

NTT DoCoMo and Vertu team up on Vertu Club MVNO

by Darren Murph posted Dec 10th 2008 @ 6:38PM

Vertu's been eying the Japanese market for months on end now, but we had no idea it would really go diving in headfirst like this. Okay, so we actually did, but we did our best to just blot it out for fear of it coming true. Now, the deed has been done, and Vertu has selected NTT DoCoMo to "provide communication services to Vertu customers." The MVNO deal will launch in Q2 2009, and it'll flatteringly be called Vertu Club. Details of the partnership have yet to be disclosed, but we are told that Vertu will open its very first store in Japan (Ginza Flagship Store) in February. Hey, if Softbank can make it in the ultra high-end market, why can't these guys? [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via UnwiredView]

NTT DoCoMo reveals fall 2008 lineup: Bold, E71, 20 others

by Darren Murph posted Nov 5th 2008 @ 8:02AM

Hot on the heels of RIM's BlackBerry Bold finally hitting AT&T sales channels comes word that Japan's NTT DoCoMo has also joined in to offer the handset. As the Asian carriers dump their cornucopia of fall 2008 mobiles onto the world, this particular one is serving up 22, all divided into the STYLE, PRIME, SMART and PRO series. Naturally, the latter category piques our interest the most, as it hosts the Bold, Nokia E71, HTC Touch Pro (HT-01A), HTC Touch Diamond (HT-02A) and Sharp's decidedly handsome SH-04A. Feel free to have a look at the entire family (and their respective launch dates) just below in the read link.

NTT DoCoMo's CTIA 2008 booth tour, hello Super 3G

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 3rd 2008 @ 11:18PM

NTT DoCoMo had a pretty lavish setup here at CTIA, though no new product caught our eye. However, they did have the results from the Super 3G / LTE shenanigans they've been up to in Japan, and the results show serious speed. They're touting Super 3G / LTE as 3.9G -- wow, that extra .4G seems to be making a huge diff -- with theoretical downlink and uplink speeds listed as 70Mbps and 300Mbps. Compared to current HSPA speeds this is a monstrous leap, can you say kiss your cable goodbye? Hit the gallery below for more pics.

Gallery: NTT DoCoMo's CTIA 2008 booth tour, hello Super 3G

NTT DoCoMo's Mobile World Congress 2008 booth tour

by Sean Cooper posted Feb 13th 2008 @ 10:32AM

Amid all the glittery stuff that is MWC, NTT DoCoMo has set up shop to show some of the stuff we will never have. Mobile gaming -- real gaming, not dodgy stuff -- mobile TV, waterproof sets, super-thin handsets, and a whole lot more was on display. After we wiped the silly grins off our faces, we remembered that pics were the order of the day so we took a good pile for your enjoyment. Follow the link for a whole gallery full of what we like to call: waytoomanythinhotclamshellstodealwith.

Gallery: NTT DoCoMo's Mobile World Congress 2008 booth tour

iPhone coming to Japan's NTT DoCoMo?

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 18th 2007 @ 3:35AM

According to the Wall Street Journal Asia, Jobs and Co are in Japan working out the details for a domestic iPhone launch. It's no surprise then that Jobs was rumored to have just met with NTT DoCoMo's president, Masao Nakamur, to discuss the deal with the largest carrier in the world's second-largest economy. As usual, Apple seems to be playing the carriers off one another with rumors that The Steve is courting Softbank as well. However, "people familiar with the situation" say that DoCoMo is the first choice. While the revenue sharing is a sticking point as usual, WSJA says that Apple doesn't expect to have any difficulty closing the deal. Funny, that's what everyone was saying about Vodafone in Europe.

P.S. -For what it's worth, NTT DoCoMo does not run a GSM / EDGE network. Any iPhone released on DoCoMo's FOMA service will be UMTS / HSDPA -- right, the 3G iPhone.

NTT DoCoMo shutters French subsidiary, doesn't mean much

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 26th 2007 @ 3:30PM

You know how the old saying goes: when one NTT DoCoMo office opens, another closes. Okay, we just totally made that up, but it's appropriate here seeing how Japan's largest carrier is shutting down its French subsidiary -- named "DoCoMo Europe (France) S.A.S.," if you must know -- and replacing it with a more pedestrian "representative office" in January of next year. Ultimately, the move means very little to anyone outside NTT DoCoMo; the subsidiary had been created to help Europe and Japan stay on the same page regarding UMTS standardization way back in '98, and now that said task is complete, there's not much purpose for its existence. For what it's worth, the newly minted representative office will be "monitoring" Europe's telecom industry, so be warned, folks: NTT DoCoMo is watching you.

NTT DoCoMo's FOMA 905i handsets on the loose in Japan

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 1st 2007 @ 7:07AM

It's just not fair. While we're lucky to bear witness to a single hot handset release per month, our Japanese brethren just received a batch of 10 new handsets to swoon over courtesy of NTT DoCoMo. The very best of the best from the new FOMA 905i series includes the Panasonic Viera P905iTV and 5 megapixel Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot SO905iCS. As you'd expect from a handset sporting the Viera branding, the P905iTV is all about the mobile TV with a feature that smooths-out 1Seg's 15fps mobile broadcast rate to display it at 30fps on that 3.5-inch 480 x 854 pixel display. The 17.7-mm (0.7-inch) slab also packs HSDPA and a battery capable of a 1-month standby. Otherwise, it'll pump that TV-to-vein fix for 6-hours straight or up to 80 hours of SD-Audio or 65 hours of WMA if that's your preference. Meanwhile, the Cyber-shot SO905iCS brings a 5 megapixel CMOS camera with 3x optical zoom and 2.7-inch, 480 x 864 pixel display to the Japanese market. It features an LED flash, face recognition and anti-shake stabilization while busting a 24-mm (nearly 1-inch) girth. Plenty more of these two in the gallery below.

Gallery: NTT DoCoMo's FOMA 905i handsets on the loose in Japan

[Via The Unwired and Impress]

NTT's HC-1000 puts you in control of home security

by Darren Murph posted Aug 8th 2007 @ 4:32AM

Here in America, we don't take our home security systems lightly, but for those in Japan, it appears that they haven't resorted to installing sensor-triggered weapons in their windows just yet. The HC-1000 camera can be controlled via the internet or a FOMA mobile, and allows users to take a peek at what's going on without actually being on the premises. The device sports a three-megapixel CMOS sensor, Ethernet port, 802.11a/b/g, 2x digital zoom, and a QVGA video mode to boot. Additionally, a "defense support" system can enable the piercing siren to let loose a wail, and the built-in microphone / speaker can even open up two-way communication between you and your home-wrecker (or faraway relative). The HC-1000 itself will run you a modest ¥29,400 ($247), but those looking to totally lock down their dwelling can spend up to ¥141,750 ($1,191) for an elaborate whole home system.

[Via CScout, thanks Mike]

NTT DoCoMo sees profits fall, but data revenue increases

by Brian White posted May 1st 2007 @ 11:55PM

Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo stated that the fiscal year just ended at the end of March showed no growth over the previous year. Oops -- wha? That's correct -- DoCoMo reported that it only had a teeny, tiny increase in yearly revenue to the tune of only 0.5 percent. The figure came in at 4.788 trillion ¥, or $39.90 billion. While that's not the best news, it became worse quickly. DoCoMo's profit during the same period fell like a sack of potatoes, dropping 25.1 percent to 457.3 billion ¥, or $3.81 billion. DoComo's rather paltry performance was due to higher sales promotion fees and the lack of "special gains" from the previous year, according to the incumbent Japanese carrier. However, DoCoMo's customer ARPU (average revenue per user) fell only 3 percent to 6,530 ¥ per month ($54.69) while revenue from data transmission use increased by 11.3 percent to 535,436 million ¥ ($4.5 billion) for the year. That's some serious xHTML browsing.

NTT DoCoMo announces new FOMA 904i handsets

by Sean Cooper posted Apr 23rd 2007 @ 1:48PM

We've all accepted the reality that Japan has the straight up coolest handsets on the planet, and this lineup of NTT DoCoMo's new flagship 9 series does nothing but up the ante. From the pic's top left to bottom right, we have the NEC N904i, Sharp SH904i, Panasonic P904i, Fujitsu F904i, and Mitsubishi D904i. As an upgrade to the FOMA 903i series, the new 904i stable brings a pile of new goodies to the table with features like "2in1" support (more on that in a moment), Uta-hodai (full track download), and Chokkan Game (game downloads with motion control), with One-Seg mobile TV reception and HSDPA on select models The 2in1 support is one of our faves, with two separate phone numbers, email addresses, and address books, all accessed via a mode-switching function which allows a, b, or dual-mode -- no word if dual-mode enables both numbers at once. We're also loving the Chokkan Game support, but the press release shared no detail about the touted "intuitive motion" beyond mention of finger tracing, tilting and waving as means of control. Pocket Wii, anyone?

Some of NTT DoCoMo's 904i series phones in the wild

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 22nd 2007 @ 5:55PM

NTT DoCoMo is poised to unleash yet another torrent of new models on an unsuspecting (or are they "suspecting" by now?) Japanese public, this time around with the 904i series. As the name suggests, these models follow up the 903i series launched just a few months back, reinforcing our hatred for the rate of product development exhibited by pretty much every other carrier and manufacturer in the world. Shown here are the D904i, SH904i, and F904i in clockwise order from the upper left, from Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Fujitsu, respectively. Specs aren't yet official, but as usual, we can expect these phones to rock unreal displays, clean our bathrooms, and create world peace.

The NTT DoCoMo booth, aka "the candy store"

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 21st 2007 @ 2:57PM

We were just reminiscing about the wonderful, albeit far too brief time we had at Spring CTIA last month, which naturally led us to start digging through our piles of leftover pictures from the event. The NTT DoCoMo booth was a special treat for many folks at the show who've never had the opportunity to experience the Japanese carrier's strange and wonderful wares in their natural environment -- Japan, that is -- so we took our sweet time perusing the goods. Even for jaded old hacks like ourselves who've pretty much seen it all, many of NTT's handsets continue to widen our eyes and put smiles on our faces when we finally have the chance to play with them. We hope this little gallery conveys even a small fraction of the fun we had at the booth!