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        Japanese Windows phone supports PHS and W-CDMA

        Jonathan Angel | Date: Nov 16, 2009 | Comments: 1


        The Japanese carrier Willcom announced a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone designed to work on both PHS (personal handyphone system) and W-CDMA networks. The Sharp-manufactured WS027SH includes a 3.5-inch screen with 854 x 480 pixel resolution, a five megapixel camera, slide-out keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a custom user interface, the company says.

        Willcom's PHS is a cellular network that is said to cover 99.4 percent of Japan, employ cells up to two kilometers in size, and offer data rates of up to 800Kbps. Touted for its low deployment costs, PHS is reportedly being phased out, a fact that the company's new WS027SH phone underlines by adding a W-CDMA radio. (Previous PHS devices, such as the Willcom 03 phone and WS016SH UMPC [ultra-mobile PC], both manufactured by Sharp, and the NS WS026T PDA, manufactured by Toshiba, provided no such alternative.)

        Like most modern phones, the WS027SH also includes WiFi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth 2.0, according to Willcom. Unusually, the device also has an IrDA port, though we could find no information on what functionality infrared is designed to provide here.


        Willcom WS027SH

        The WS027SH runs Windows Mobile 6.5, which Willcom has dressed up with its own "X-Crawl" user interface (UI). Images (above left) suggest that the phone's jog dial is used to navigate this UI, though a program launcher (above right) that more closely resembles the standard Microsoft offering is also supplied.

        Featuring a slide-out numeric keypad with a specially labeled "Windows Live" button and a five megapixel camera, the WS027SH has a 3.5-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. According to Willcom, the device uses an ARM11-based, 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7022A processor.

        Features and specifications listed by Willcom for the Sharp WS027SH include the following:

        • Processor -- Qualcomm MSM7200A clocked at 528MHz
        • Memory -- n/s
        • Display -- 3.5-inch touchscreen with 854 x 480 pixel resolution
        • Camera -- 5 megapixel
        • Expansion -- microSD, W-SIM, and SIM slots
        • Wireless:
          • WAN -- PHS and W-CDMA
          • WLAN -- 802.11b/g
          • PAN -- Bluetooth
        • Other I/O -- microUSB
        • Battery type/life -- n/s
        • Dimensions -- 4.72 x 2.08 x 0.66 inches (120 x 53 x 16.9mm)
        • Weight -- 5.57 ounces (158g)
        Further information

        According to Willcom, the WS027SH will go on sale in Japan in January 2010, though pricing was not released. More information may be found on the company's website, here.

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