vB Easy Archive - Sharp at 3GSM World Congress 2007

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Sharp at 3GSM World Congress 2007
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Posted by: AL9999

I've restarted this thread because the previous one got topic hijacked.
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Well here we are with just a few hours to go before 3GSM 2007 opens up and we learn a heap of new things in the phone industry that haven't been leaked out already. We haven't heard much yet about what Sharp is going to show but they've opened the lid a bit, posting a press release on their Japanese website. It details (slightly) what they're going to show at their booth at 3GSM.

Sadly, there's nothing of the sort that most of us here would have liked to see. The focus is going to be on the 770SH and GX29, as well as their Vodafone-McLaren Mercedes versions.

About the only thing moderately interesting is a prototype they will have there. It's a 'prototype with a focus on a slim slider mechanism, high-speed HSDPA support and AV functions'. It sounds a bit like Toshiba's recent 911T but that's all they've said, so make of that what you will until we see some news stories.

If anyone remembers, last year's 3GSM was where a prototype of the then unannounced 904SH with its VGA screen was shown. This was sadly later confirmed to be a Japan-headed model, so it's anyone's guess whether this new model will also head to Japan or not.

Sharp also mentioned a 'wireless PDA' will be shown. This could be a new device or just some form of the WZERO3 PHS PDA made for Japan.

I'll update this thread later when more news develops.

Posted by: AL9999

As of today (about three days after the original posting), no news site has even bothered to visit the Sharp booth and report on it. I'm not really surprised, considering they have nothing interesting from a 'new phone' point of view. The only development I have here is Sharp posting on its phones website its exhibition summary: http://www.sharp-phone.com/global_n...94-DDD34C131B1E

When the news sites decide to visit the booth, I'll post more then.

Posted by: AL9999

Well, K-tai Watch has finally posted its Sharp booth report, and the results are disappointing:

http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/33200.html

The article's focus was on the ancient PV200 (T-Mobile Sidekick 3/Hiptop), with a quick look at the VMM 770SH and other technology exhibits. No look at that prototype or nothing.

Posted by: Junglizt1210

that is VERY disappointing.

Posted by: yangj08

Just wondering- is 3GSM open to the public or is it restricted?

Posted by: ace587

this sucks, at least our phones are still ahead of the game lol

Posted by: benrailey

that sucks... nothing interesting and they are featuring a 1.3 megapxel fone... its all looks nothing new...

Posted by: faifai9394

well AL didn't mean to hijack your thread, sorry

Posted by: faifai9394

oh no they even put the sidekick out....... and again as we expected the wzero3.... but why not the ES version instead??? Seems like they wanted to give up their world market share

Posted by: AL9999

Sharp's entire range (including the WZERO3 ES) was probably there, K-tai Watch just wanted a certain angle on their report so they put the Sidekick in the headline.

ITMedia should report on their booth at some point, so we'll see what happens.

3GSM is a trade show and is very expensive to get in if you're not part of the media.

Posted by: AL9999

Ok we've got ITMedia's report on Sharp's booth, and it's a far better report than K-tai Watch's. I'm quite disappointed with K-tai Watch for completely ignoring the prototype, because ITMedia have shown there to be some interesting things about it.

It's a slider prototype and the keypad design suggests it's been made with Europe in mind (there's a video dial key and it uses the Vodafone icon for example). While there were live units playing back videos in enclosed boxes, visitors could only play with dummy phones. The specs are unconfirmed, but ITMedia has worked out that there's a 2MP camera (seemingly fixed focus from the screenshots), HSDPA 3G support, FM radio and microSD card slot. Nothing too crash hot compared to the rest of the industry, so I wouldn't be surprised if this phone gets commercialised (at the very least, it's better than Sharp's previous European phones, the 550SH and 770SH).

There's more good news: the dummies shown are in several colours. ITMedia spotted five different colours: silver, gold, green, red and blue. The silver and gold ones have a shiny look to them, while the other three were metallic in nature.

The best news is, on one of ITMedia's screenshots, one of the prototype dummy phones has a picture of the main menu or the standby screen or something, and the status bar icons at the top are from the current user interface used by all of Sharp's recent phones such as the 910SH and 911SH. This suggests the prototype is running Sharp's modern UI! This is great news.

The article: http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/a...15/news050.html

The pics (courtesy of ITMedia):

Posted by: pks

This is excellent news! Now I wonder if this phone will ever get released in Australia. *drool*

Posted by: AL9999

If Vodafone Australia skips another potential Sharp phone I will see to it personally that their management never sees the light of day again.

Kidding, but really, they're making some shocking handset procurement decisions these days. Anyway, we'll leave that for another thread.

Posted by: pks

The only decent Sharp phone they ever brought out was the 903, and that wasn't around for very long, which cost an arm, a leg and 2 of your children.

Posted by: lamplighter

Wow, top notch report as always Al

Look at the colour of those sliders behind the glass, wow, super looking. Almost makes me wonder if they will be Japanese only. They are simply too nice looking for outside of Japan.
LL-

Posted by: yangj08

A Vodafone logo was mentioned, so probably this means that the rest of the world's finally getting a cool phone (except for America, most likely,　but this would make a great phone for T-Mobile's starting 3G line-up).

Posted by: Junglizt1210

I've love another Sharp... and I hope theres some worldwide potential for it.

Posted by: faifai9394

Oh no chrom again.... personally I am not really interested on slide phone, but I am glad that at least we would have something sharp in the future market. I wonder why didn't they want to make one of those W-zero series phone to the world? People would definitely willing to pay a higher price on those.

Posted by: AL9999

I would have preferred a clamshell too, but I get the feeling Sharp may have started following Samsung's phone designs now and might think sliders are all the rage in Europe. Besides the fact Samsung is probably the biggest manufacturer of slider phones these days, just look at the soft key buttons on the prototype. Sharp used to use diagonal lines for the soft key icons, but in the prototype there's three dots, exactly like Samsung phones.

As for not bringing a WZERO series phone, I think Sharp will be killed by the competition. HTC are bringing out a load of good smartphones these days, and now with Toshiba entering the fray (that G900 is pretty hot for a PDA), it's only going to get more crowded. The only thing good about the WZERO3 was the high res screen, and now Toshiba has beaten it with a widescreen version of it in its G900. Personally I'd prefer Sharp to keep bringing in good standard phones than go down the smartphone road like Toshiba.

Posted by: faifai9394

I understand, but it order to capture a bigger piece of market share, they need to differentiate their product. Just doing Clamshell is not enough. I have played with the ES last september and it was great, I mean all the quality work and design. I also understand that HTC make good function PDA phone, but when you look at the quality of the phone, it was not as great.... Plus the size and thickness, I think sharp can definitely do a better job on that.

Posted by: totaltoanage

is anyone here hyped about the new LG Prada at 3GSM Congress? I cant wait to upgrade if everything looks good, and soo far it is on some youtube videos.

Posted by: Ultraman666

http://www.gsmarena.com/3gsm_2007_r...eview-129p9.php

Check out the new Sharp pics and the new Sharp pc phone and of course its Japan only that figures!!!!!

Posted by: ace587

i want that vodafone cap lol

Posted by: AL9999

Oh nice find Ultraman. Didn't realise GSMArena had did such an exhaustive photo visit.

Posted by: Junglizt1210

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL9999

Oh nice find Ultraman. Didn't realise GSMArena had did such an exhaustive photo visit.

same.... good photos indeed!

I really want to see more Sharp 3G phones regardless of market. im THAT desparate for another 3G phone....

Posted by: Ultraman666

Hey thanks Al999 dont go there that often anymore but you and juglizt1210 are right good photos and yes wish they would come out with another 3g phone that rocks!!!!

Posted by: Ultraman666

There is a video up now of the sidekick, but thats all they have added. Oh well its still nice to look at the new phones they are possibly coming out for all brands.