vB Easy Archive - Docomo's 903SH competitor released 3 June

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Docomo's 903SH competitor released 3 June
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Posted by: bushcat

Docomo released the Sharp SH903iS today (3 June). The Vodafone 903SH will probably have similar features.

Given Docomo's arrangements with its various suppliers, I'd guess the 903SH will be released around Thursday 7th July.

Posted by: ofiaich

Quote:

Originally Posted by bushcat

Docomo released the Sharp SH903iS today (3 June). The Vodafone 903SH will probably have similar features.

Given Docomo's arrangements with its various suppliers, I'd guess the 903SH will be released around Thursday 7th July.

hi! Can you post a link please?

I am searching now, Google for starters, but no hits!

Ofiaich

Posted by: bushcat

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/p_s/prod.../901is/sh901is/

221k colors, 240x320-pixel display, 3.16-megapixel camera, 9-zone focussing, and other goodies.

Posted by: ofiaich

Quote:

Originally Posted by bushcat

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/p_s/prod.../901is/sh901is/

221k colors, 240x320-pixel display, 3.16-megapixel camera, 9-zone focussing, and other goodies.

Thanks! Homework time!

Ofiaich

Posted by: AL9999

I don't think DoCoMo's release schedule has any influence on Vodafone's. Remember Vodafone 3G phones are decided and run by the Vodafone Group, not Vodafone Japan anymore, so Voda JP have to coordinate with Voda Group for releasing handsets. And at the moment they're all running very late. The 902T should have been out two months ago in Japan, but is running stupidly late due to the last minute decision to redesign the user interface (due to sluggish sales of previous 3G handsets in Japan). The later 703/803/903 series phones won't be released until the 902T is released first (or canned altogether perhaps).

Posted by: bushcat

There are close links between Docomo and its Japan-based phone manufacturers. Docomo subsidises some aspects of developments, or pays for certain features, depending on how you look at it. In return, the phone manufacturers agree not to release a similar feature for another provider within a certain time. It may have been months, it's possible around 40 days now.

Thinking Vodafone is some kind of mighty player in this market is way wrong. Internally, it's still suffering from management woes that were inflicted upon the then J-Phone when Vodafone bought them. It simply doesn't have the clout in Japan to tell manufacturers what features should be included.

But anyway, Sharp could never release a 903SH before it had delivered a 3MP phone to Docomo, and now it has.

Posted by: AL9999

I never said anything along the lines of Vodafone being a mighty player in the Japanese market. All I said is that Vodafone Group decides the release schedule for their 3G handsets in cooperation with Vodafone JP, ever since they began 3G service worldwide. It only applies to the 3G handsets, since the 2G PDC network Voda JP runs is a relic of the J-Phone days and a Japan-only thing, meaning Voda JP have complete control over what handsets appear on that network.

Have you seen the V603SH and V603T? Do you think that Sharp and Toshiba decided on their own to put in motion sensors and TV tuners in these phones? Do you see these features in other phones made for other Japanese carriers? Not even DoCoMo has either of them. KDDI only just decided to have phones with TVs in them. Vodafone have had TV in their phones since late 2003, since the V601N came out (and it was Vodafone JP who said that they wanted to pre-empt TV on mobile phones by having analog TV on them, as opposed to digital TV which was being promised by KDDI and was years away at the time, and still is). If you read one of the interviews at K-tai Watch Impress with the V603SH, you will know that the motion control sensor was developed jointly between Vodafone, Sharp and Aichi Steel Corporation (that interview is here). Vodafone have very good relationships with Sharp and Toshiba. They probably have a better relationship with Sharp than DoCoMo do, considering the scale that Sharp provide handsets on for Vodafone subsidiaries around the world.

In the case of the V602SH (and 902SH and V603SH), the phone has a 2 megapixel camera with 2x optical zoom, that none of the Sharp phones for DoCoMo ever got. Sharp couldn't have used DoCoMo's funds to build that camera module, because they actually outsourced it from Kyocera, who doesn't have any relationship with DoCoMo (proof in this article, if you are a member). And the V601SH, developed for Vodafone, was the first in the Japanese market with a two megapixel camera (with a Sharp built camera module, incidentally), before any DoCoMo phone, made by Sharp or any manufacturer. The J-SH53, in the J-Phone days, was the first in the market with a one megapixel camera. The Mobile-ASV LCD appeared in the Vodafone 902SH and 802SH handsets first, before it appeared in the SH901iC for DoCoMo.

DoCoMo's funding grants to the manufacturers don't dictate everything they produce. They do actually have their own cash reserves that they use for research. While I don't know the specifics of the agreements that DoCoMo have with its partner manufacturers on research grants, I very much doubt that they are going to limit features going to other phones for a mere 40 days. 40 days exclusivity is nothing, and besides, phones start the production cycle more than a year before they are released, so I doubt 40 days exclusivity is even feasible.

Anyway, this post is already too big. My point is DoCoMo don't dictate mobile phone direction in the whole Japanese market, only for themselves. Vodafone aren't a mighty player in the Japanese market, but they can dictate what they want in their handsets, and with Sharp and Toshiba, they still are. As for the 903SH, we don't know when it'll be released, but I can guarantee you that until the 902T is released or shelved, we won't hear about it at all, nor about any of the next-gen handsets Vodafone plan to introduce in Japan, or the rest of the world for that matter.

Posted by: bushcat

Well, I didn't intend anyone to get all bitter and twisted about this, and I'm sorry you read it that way. I agree with most of your observations. Yes, I've seen the phones you refer to and another one, too. I'm not saying that Vodafone doesn't have features that are not available in the Docomo versions. What I AM saying, very specifically, is that if there is a Sharp-manufactured phone with a 3MP camera for Docomo, then there won't be a Sharp-manufactured phone with a 3MP camera for any other carrier before then, and for around (this is a guess) 40 days after. Since I guess you know the Japan market quite well, you also understand that there are incremental phone upgrades about 4 times a year, though this model is breaking down, but the "series" introductions coincide with the two annual employee bonus seasons, since despite indications to the contrary, they're the only times you'll get 40k-plus out of the average Japanese consumer for a phone.

I look at when Sharp chooses to submit its phones to the FCC, knowing it can only get 45-day confidentiality on some aspects such as pictures of the phones. I look at when Docomo rolls out a new model, and taking into account similar things, I guess when a Vodafone or au model will be released. We know the basic 903SH architecture was firm around the time the 902SH was designed, because they got other approvals within a few weeks of each other.

This summer is a little bit special, because the T has turned into a mess (though expected mid-June now: again, anything that's not available for bonus season isn't going to sell well). There's a major presentation to sales staff of 2G phones next week, and that's got to be a combination of market demand wanting 2G phones and a series of unfortunate events that have laid waste to Vodafone's 3G aspirations. We're looking at a company that recommends you borrow a 3G phone to make sure it works at home and in the workplace before you actually buy it.

In the rest of the Vodafone world, the Nokia(s) do quite well. They're a non-starter in Japan because the locals find the user interface incomprehensible. Interestingly, that's also a problem Vodafone has in Europe with its Japan-sourced phones. So I'm guessing right now there's a lot of frustration within the Vodafone empire, since whatever they do never seems to be the right thing for a particular market this season.

Anyway, I stick to my guess that there's no 903SH until mid-July, and Vodafone Japan is near tears over its 3G rollouts this year :-)

Posted by: AL9999

I got upset because you put words in my mouth. Really don't like people doing that

Anyway, you are probably right about the release date of the 903SH. The 902T is said now to have a confirmed release date of the 11th this month. Hopefully Voda will stick to the release date. Another person at WhatMobile (who is a Voda UK employee) has said the European version will appear on the 24th there, according to an internal memo. So it's coming.

Yeah I think it's breaking down to a two-time series introduction, rather than four-time incremental phone release. Phones are becoming more expensive and more difficult to buy, and as you say the bonus seasons help for people who want to upgrade, considering upgrading is much more expensive in Japan than getting a new contract.

Do you work for Vodafone Japan? Considering what you wrote about the 2G presentation. Maybe Vodafone are going to attempt to keep attention with the V501T and V501SH? They are odd enough phones that they may keep subscribers with them... I don't know.

I'm surprised you think Japanese phones for Vodafone in Europe are found to be difficult to use by Europeans. The Sharp GX series and 902 don't work at all like a Japanese handset, in fact the GX10 was one of the most obvious Nokia copycats I have ever used in terms of user interface. I haven't heard much dissatisfaction with Vodafone 3G handsets in Europe - it's mainly coming from Japan.

But yes, Vodafone Japan are screwed in terms of 3G at the moment. They expected their customers to just simply adapt to the European style of the 3G handsets, and they all told Vodafone to get stuffed or fix them. Bad luck for them

Posted by: LiteSpeed

wow ! what's with the essays

anyways ... wow amazing ... movie mode with image stabilizer

COOL !

Posted by: bushcat

Well I started off with short words and big writing. (Dang! I blew it again!)

But yes, the idea of image stabilization in a phone is pretty cool, isn't it? You have to grin at companies like Sharp, even if you despise their inability to get other features right, like seamless synchronization with desktop apps. It's like having an idiot savant as a cellphone manifacturer. Unfortunately managed by Vodafone, the idiot savant of the cellphone world.

Sigh. I think I've just messed up again.

Posted by: dave100

i read those essays, but didnt fully understand. are we saying the sharp 903 is coming out this month in the UK?

what features does it have apart from 3mp, qvga screen?

what is image stabilisation?

how big is the screen?