| Japanese carrier upgrades Windows Mobile smartphone line |
Jun. 15, 2006
 PHS (Personal Handyphone System) service provider Willcom plans next week to begin selling an upgraded version of its popular W-Zero3 smartphone line based on Windows Mobile 5.0 Japanese edition. The new WS004SH models feature double the memory, push email, and a new bundle of dictionary software.
The original Willcom W-Zero3 devices, announced by Sharp last December, were hailed as the first Windows Mobile 5.0 Japanese edition phones to reach market. The devices boast a 416 MHz PXA270 processor and come with 64 MB of RAM, in addition to a generous helping of flash memory (other features and specs are here).
When the devices were first introduced, the rollout of the QWERTY slide-out device with its large 3.7-inch, full-vga (640 x 480) color display was "an astounding success," according to PocketPCJapan.com, with hundreds of people waiting in line at stores to get a phones. W-Zero3 sales are said to be brisk this year, and other carriers have followed suit in announcing Windows Mobile Japanese phone plans.
DoCoMo and HTC in January announced plans to launch commercial sales of 3G FOMA handsets running Windows Mobile Japanese edition in the second half of 2006. In March, Vodaphone also jumped on the bandwagon with an announcement in Japan of an upcoming Windows Mobile phone, PocketPCJapan.com reports.
Willcom is trying to keep its early lead in the Japanese Windows Mobile market by enhancing its W-Zero3 offering. The new WS004SH version, now available in a silver color, doubles its flash memory from 128MB to 256MB. It also comes loaded with four different Japanese and English dictionaries, for a total of 285,000 terms.
The latest version of the W-Zero3 will also be the first Windows Mobile phone in Japan enabled for push email, the company says, with Microsoft's Messaging and Security Feature Pack built into the operating system. According to PocketPCJapan.com, Willcom announced separately the expected availability in August of the Exchange Server upgrade needed to implement Microsoft's direct push email technology.
Microsoft's direct push technology, announced one year ago, uses Exchange Server 2003 SP2 to push compressed Outlook information to devices equipped with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) for Windows Mobile 5.0. Updates to email, calendar items, contacts, and tasks are transmitted to the devices as they arrive at a corporate system running Exchange Server. The technology also provides device security and management features, including over-the-air device password policy enforcement, remote wipe of the device in case of loss or theft, native S/MIME support, certificate-based authentication, and FIPS 140-2 certification, according to Microsoft.
Sharp, which builds the W-Zero3, was in 2005 the leading supplier of handsets to the Japanese market, according to Tokyo's MM Research Institute. MM Research forecasts total Japanese handset shipments to grow 10.5 percent this year, to over 51 million units.
The W-Zero3 version WS004SH will be available in Japan beginning June 22, Willcom said.
Refer to our earlier story for complete details and more photos of the W-Zero3 Windows Mobile smartphone:
First Japanese Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone debuts
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