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Samsung has accustomed us to releasing specific versions of its flagship devices to celebrate the Olympics, such as the S7 and Note 8 limited editions. This year is no exception as the company has partnered with Japanese carrier NTT Docomo to unveil a special Olympics Games Edition S10+ to celebrate the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Japanese IT firm Fujitsu has announced a plan to spin off their mobile device business into a separate company. Under the deal, investment firm Polaris will take over management and assume control of 70% of the company, while Fujitsu will retain a 30% stake. While Sony is the largest Android device manufacturer in Japan, Fujitsu is also a major contender. Fujitsu's Arrows series of smartphones and tablets are available primarily on NTT Docomo, the largest mobile network operator in Japan.
Rakuten, the increasingly diversifying Japanese e-commerce giant, is looking to establish its own independent mobile network. The company intends to apply for part of the 1.7GHz and 3.4GHz spectrum rights in Japan when the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications opens applications for those frequencies early next year. Presently, Rakuten operates an MVNO using leased capacity from market leader NTT Docomo. Alongside second and third-place carriers au and SoftBank, the three companies effectively hold control of the Japanese mobile network.
We've been taking a close look at some of Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo's 2013 offerings: LG's flagship Optimus G Pro, Panasonic's similar Eluga X, and the dual-screen NEC MEDIAS W. DoCoMo announced three other phones at the same time, all of which are at the head of their manufacturer's lineups. We've already seen Sony's Xperia Z, Xperia Tablet Z, and Huawei's Ascend D2. Fujitsu's ARROWS X F-02E matches up to both, more or less. In the more mid-range areas are Sharp's Aquos Phone EX and a new 10-inch tablet from Huawei.
There have been a few cautious entries into the world of dual-screen Android devices from the likes of Kyocera, Sony, and Samsung, but Japanese manufacturer NEC is hoping to leave these efforts in the dust with their new smartphone. The MEDIAS W has a form factor that's distinctly different from any yet seen in the Android world: two 4.3-inch screens in equal resolution, side-by-side. It's a bit like a smaller, inverted version of the Sony Tablet P turned 90 degrees, or the old Microsoft Courier concept shrunken down.
In case there was any doubt that 5 inches is the new standard for Android superphones, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has removed all of it with a new hardware series. Right at the top of the list is a new device from Panasonic in their relatively young Eluga family, this one christened the ELUGA X P-O2E. The 5-inch LCD screen is naturally 1080p, and hides a 1.5Ghz quad-core Snapdragon Pro processor, and a 13.2 megapixel camera. Colors are a flat black and a more interesting teal, as seen below.
When the specs of the supposed LG Optimus G Pro leaked last week, it seemed almost too good to be true – like one of those fanboy wishlists you see populating forums and sub-Reddits across the web. Now Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has announced the device as part of its DoCoMo Next 2013 Spring lineup, and the reality matches the leak quite well.
The Optimus G on Japan's Docomo network is an interesting device, as it ships with a mandatory access control system that basically prevents remounting system, reading boot, executing tasks with root privileges, and things of that nature. Thus, the root process for this version of the Optimus G was a tricky one.
Panasonic is set to enter the high-end smartphone market in Europe and Japan in the coming weeks with the waterproof and dustproof Eluga.
If you didn't quite make it to Daily Steals' awesome deal a couple of days ago and still want to get your hands on an unlocked Galaxy Nexus at a crazy discount, Negri Electronics has you covered.
Although the official launch of Google and Samsung's first Ice Cream Sandwich phone is still a few hours away, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has prematurely confirmed the existence of the Galaxy Nexus. In a tweet sent out a few hours ago, @docomo stated that it would be "among the fastest" to launch the handset, when it becomes available in November.
If rumors are to be believed, NEC's newest Android phone - the MEDIAS E-04C - will be the world's thinnest smartphone at 7.7mm when it launches this Thursday. It has only been a short time since Sony Ericsson launched the razor-thin Xperia arc and Samsung crowned its Galaxy S II phone as the "world's thinnest smartphone," but at 8.7mm and 8.49mm at their thinnest points, respectively, these phones look positively obese in comparison.