Sh7218u

[zerox678]

And that was sold in cellphone stores and not department stores

[Funmap]

If they keep the FVWA phone than I will definitely buy it. The Samsung Android flip is gold and has an outer touch screen which makes you wonder why they designed a flip phone at all!

[yangj08]

It's also ridiculously expensive. I saw it in one shop for more than US$1000 (I have no doubt that whatever this one is it won't be breaking that particular barrier). Samsung really goes over-the-top for the China market for some reason.

[CELL-P]

I wouldn't have minded the ridiculous price if it had a decent and more advanced CCD camera.

I will never understand Sharp's reluctance to add decent cameras and tendency to make clearly inferior products for China (compared to what they release in Japan); considering the fact that Samsung and other manufacturers make high-end phones with more reasonable prices nowadays even though their designs and cameras suck even compared to the crappiest Sharp. Yes, I am talking about those ugly black Samsung phones and any other iPhone copycat.

However, I will consider SH7218u if they intend to make a GSM one. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Sharp has to do something about its naming conventions in China because I don't see any effort even in their naming convention. Seriously, I had to scroll up to the title a couple of times in order to type down this phone's name correctly.

[aw614]

If they keep the FVWA phone than I will definitely buy it. The Samsung Android flip is gold and has an outer touch screen which makes you wonder why they designed a flip phone at all!

rotating flip would have worked, and samsung has done a rotating flip many times

[vaiol123]

rotating flip would have worked, and samsung has done a rotating flip many times

They do it pretty well too. My friend had that one Verizon phone they made and it was very nice and well built.

[yangj08]

BTW- more details available on Blueshow now. Only one image of the front of the phone, looks like a SH-01B like expected.

3.3-inch capacitive touchscreen
Android 2.2
8MP camera
Release date Mar 2011
UMTS 900/2100 (no 3G for North America) and quad-GSM (good enough for some, maybe not for others)
Includes WiFi

[vaiol123]

I like this haha. No 3G for US isn't that big of a deal, since ATT's network is so painfully slow anyway D: If wi-fi is included too....

[qwerty1235]

They better have the cool lights on the side.

[CELL-P]

Yes, I was going to say that because I can hardly tolerate the camera downgrade. They always keep the cool stuff for Japan, so I am actually mentally prepared for the lack of those cool LED lights : P

I hope they keep the design, the colours and those cool LED lights and price it reasonably. Actually, the design and the LED lights are the most attractive things in this phone.

I am glad to hear that it is going to be quad-band GSM. Even tri-band GSM would have done it for me. I think I have to stop wasting money and start saving up. This phone is what I was always waiting for even though I was expecting CCD and better specs. Anyway, I will be waiting maybe something else/better will be announced in the next few months.

[yangj08]

One more thing-
A price point of "less than 4000RMB" has been given. US$605 or so. I'll be waiting to see how much less.

[CELL-P]

I think it is extremely conceited of Sharp to charge over $600 for a downgraded version of a phone that will be released more than 1 year apart from the original, more advanced one. And having Android, an open source OS, doesn't really justify the price since Android is what is typically used outside Japan nowadays, so it is more of requirement than an effort.

Again, the price would have been tolerable for some people if it had a 12 megapixel CCD camera even though those specs are already outdated in Japan.

I wonder if it will have a FWVGA or 720P video recording after this horrible camera downgrade...

[vaiol123]

Who knows, maybe this android keitai will open some more doors on domestic models

[eddieroolz]

Less than $600 is a reassurance; maybe I'll wait for the reviews first though. Kinda want waterproofing for the next phone over Android.

[yamanote]

Less than $600 is a reassurance; maybe I'll wait for the reviews first though. Kinda want waterproofing for the next phone over Android.

Waterproof+Android=motorola defy. best of both worlds

granted, it's not a keitai, but print out a few docomo stickers and no one'll ever know