The gap between the features in Japanese handsets and those in the rest of the world is rapidly going away....
idg.com.sg
Sharp packs new GX20 phone with high-spec features
By Martyn Williams
IDG News Service, Tokyo Bureau
06-05-2003
TOKYO - Comparing GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) handsets made by Japanese manufacturers, which are on sale in many regions of the world, to the PDC (Personal Digital Communications) phones that are for sale only in Japan used to be like comparing chalk and cheese.
They both performed basic telephony but where GSM handsets had a small, monochrome and often text-only LCD (liquid crystal display) and limited e-mail or wireless Internet functions, Japanese PDC handsets were packed with functions such as large, color screens, multimedia e-mail, cameras, packet-based wireless Internet and most recently additional functions such as support for Java.
Three new handsets recently announced by Sharp -- one for the GSM market and two for Japan -- show that the gap between the two markets is narrowing, at least at the top-end of the market. The handsets are the GX20, the as-yet-unannounced successor to Sharp's GX10, and its two latest models for J-Phone Co. Ltd. and NTT DoCoMo Inc.
First details of the GX20 were revealed on Monday courtesy of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The agency published details of Sharp's GX20 handset after the phone received regulatory approval for use in the U.S.
The phone differs from the GX10, which Vodafone Group PLC says is presently its best-selling model in the U.K., in several ways. One of the changes is obvious even when the clamshell style handset is closed. Sharp has upgraded the sub-display from a small two-line monochrome LCD (liquid crystal display) to a 65,536-color STN (super twisted nematic) display with 80-pixel by 60-pixel resolution, according to company documents released by the FCC.
That makes it a lot more like the handsets on sale in Japan, where color sub-displays are already common features and both the new domestic phones from Sharp feature them.
Another area in which GSM models are fast catching up is the camera function. The GX20 has a 350,000-pixel resolution CCD (charge coupled device) sensor, say the documents, which is a generation above the 110,000-pixel sensor on the GX10.
That is also the same level as is found on top-of-the-range handsets in Japan at present although that is about to change as Sharp has recently taken the wraps off two new handsets for Japan. The J-SH53 is scheduled to go on sale in late May by J-Phone Co. Ltd. and the SH505i in June by NTT DoCoMo Inc. The phones are the first from Sharp, and among the first in Japan, with megapixel-class cameras.
With the coming of megapixel-class cameras, users will find it more and more costly to transfer images from their handsets by sending them through the carrier's e-mail system to their computer and so both phones include memory card slots. The J-SH53 has an SD (Secure Digital) card slot while the SH505i is one of the first devices to use the newly developed Mini SD card.
In the area of display technology, the GSM handset is also close behind Sharp's domestic models. The GX20 has a QVGA (240 pixels by 320 pixels) display, according to the documents released by the FCC. That is equal to the two new Japanese handsets and four times the resolution of the GX10. The GX20 can display 65,536 colors, again according to the FCC documents, which puts it a step behind the Japanese handsets and their support for 260,000 colors.
Because it is based on the GSM standard, the GX20 beats the Japanese handsets hands down when it comes to roaming. Whereas the Japanese models can only be used domestically, the GX20 is a tri-band model and so can be used almost anywhere in the world where there is a GSM network. That is also an improvement over the GX10, which was dual-band and so could not be used in the U.S. and Canada.
Other features of the J-SH53 include a 2.4-inch (6-centimeter) LCD with QVGA (240 pixels by 320 pixels) resolution and the ability to display up to 260,000 colors and the sub-display is a 1.2-inch color LCD. Other features include support for Java with a 256K-byte storage area and video encoded in either the MPEG4 or Nancy formats.
Compared together the three handsets are almost identical in size. The GX20 is expected to measure 95 millimeters by 49 millimeters by 25 millimeters, the J-SH53 is 95 millimeters by 50 millimeters by 24 millimeters and the SH505i is 50 millimeters by 102 millimeters by 21 millimeters. The GX20's predicted weight is slightly lighter than the Japanese handsets. It is expected to weigh 105 grams compared to 115 grams for the two new Japanese handsets. |
