Japan's #1 cellular carrier preps Windows Mobile handset

Morshad published 12 Jul 2006, 18:38 in main - 226 views

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NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest cellular carrier, will release its first Windows Mobile handset later this month. The DoCoMo "hTc Z," sporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and 802.11b/g wireless, and dual cameras, will target corporate customers in Japan.

As its name suggests, the hTc Z is being manufactured for DoCoMo by HTC of Taiwan, a major ODM (original design manufacturer) of Windows Mobile handhelds. While no photos of the device have currently been released, the hTc Z is probably based on HTC's Apache platform, pictured above.

The device is a dual mode W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS phone that also includes built-in Bluetooth and 802.11b/g WiFi wireless, according to DoCoMo. It sports two CMOS cameras -- the "outer" camera is 2 Mpixels with a macro function, and the "inner" camera is 100 Kpixels. The unit comes with 64 MB of SDRAM and 128 MB of flash memory. The processor has not been disclosed, but is likely to be a 416 MHz PXA270 or other Intel XScale processor. From the software perspective, the hTc Z runs Windows Mobile 5.0 Japanese edition, including the synchronization capabilities of Microsoft's Messaging and Security Feature Pack. The device synchronizes with Windows Server and Exchange Server 2003 SP2 for push-based access to email, calendar items, contacts, and tasks, according to DoCoMo.

In June, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) service provider Willcom became the first wireless carrier in Japan to offer a smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0 Japanese edition, and including push email and data-synchronization capabilities, when it introduced an upgraded version of its popular W-Zero3.

The hTc Z signals a change in platform strategy for DoCoMo, which had previously based its mobile handsets on Symbian and Linux. In June, the company joined with a number of major phone vendors and wireless carriers to collaborate on an open Linux software platform for mobile phones. Like Motorola, which offers mobile handsets based on Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Linux, DoCoMo appears to be expanding its platform range in order to satisfy a broader set of customer requirements.