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Fujitsu Japan Rolls Out 2 “Girls-Only” Cell Phones

Posted: 13 Jan 2012 02:23 AM PST

fujitsu featured

Do women need special cell phones? Certain companies, such as Deutsche Telekom or Samsung, seem to think so. Now Fujitsu Japan is ready to roll out [JP] not one but two handsets specifically designed “for girls”, a feature phone and an Android model.

The Android phone, the so-called F-03D Girls’, has been developed in cooperation with popular teenage fashion magazine Popteen:

It comes with a waterproof body, special lights at the bottom and around the camera (see below), pre-installed (and extra-cute) photo frames, and pre-installed apps specifically designed for a female user base.

Technically, the F-03D Girls’ features Android 2.3, a 3.7-inch LCD with 480×800 resolution, 1GB ROM, 512MB RAM, an MSM8255 1.4GHz processor, an 8MP CMOS camera, Wi-Fi IEEE802.11b/g/n, 2.1+EDR Bluetooth, a TV tuner, an e-wallet function, and a microSDHC card slot.

The F-06D Girls’ is one of the very few new feature phones that are coming out in Japan. Fujitsu designed the handset with nicola, another teenage fashion magazine:

Buyers get an original tote bag, a stylus pen (the phone has a 3.3-inch touch display) to decorate pictures (see above), an 8MP camera, various nicola wallpapers, 39 different photo frames, and a total of 3,010 pre-installed emoji for cuter emails. Like its Android counterpart, the F-06D Girls’ is waterproof.

Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo plans to start offering both Fujitsu phones on January 20.

Daily Crunch: Make or Break

Posted: 13 Jan 2012 01:00 AM PST

The Last TechCrunch Gadgets Live CES Podcast Is Going Live At 4PM

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 03:44 PM PST

Our coverage of CES is coming to a close, and we’re finishing it off with a third and final video podcast from the show floor. We’ve got some really great stuff to give away, both for viewers and our audience here at the booth. After this, our live CES coverage is concluded and we’ll be focusing on posting some of the highlights from it, as well as our lists and editorials relating to the show. Then, sadly, it’s back to business as usual.

The show starts at 4PM sharp! Read on for details on the giveaways. We’re talking cameras and helicopters here.

For everything but a Blue Mics Yeti that we just got dropped off, there are two of everything, one to give away to the audience and one for our followers on Twitter. We’ve got a pair of Parrot AR Drones here, the new ones with the camera in the nose. Or maybe if you already have a quad-rotor, maybe you could use a GoPro camera to stick on it. We’re giving away those too. Then Ooma has generously volunteered to give two lucky winners Telo VoIP systems. Then, for our audience, we’ve got a handful of Jot capacitive styli, some sweet Schick razors (yes), and the Yeti.

How to win? If you’re at CES, come by the booth. If not, you’ll need to tweet @techcrunch with hashtag #ces2012, using the name of the product you want to win in a sentence. So if we were giving away a puppy, you’d say “@techcrunch love that puppy! gimme! #ces2012″ and a winner will be selected from among you beautiful people.

On a related note, we’d like to thank all our many viewers and readers, many of whom we’ve met and high-fived here at the show. We do it all for you.

Eyes On: The Nokia Lumia 900

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 03:19 PM PST

Ah, so close yet so far. Nokia’s new flagship Lumia 900 handset was on display here at CES 2012, and though we couldn’t quite get our hands on it, we did the next best thing — we shot some video.

While the Nokia Lumia 710 technically led Nokia’s U.S. Windows Phone charge, the newly-announced Lumia 900 for AT&T is likely to be the one that gets phone fans’ hearts fluttering. With its 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 1-megapixel front-facing camera, stylish polycarbonate design and support for AT&T’s fledging 4G LTE network, it could soon be the Windows Phone to beat in the United States. For a while, anyway.

That being said, Nokia could face some stiff competition from devices like the HTC Titan 2, a whopper of a new Windows phone from HTC that sports (among other things) a 1.5GHz processor and a 16-megapixel camera. Even so, while some customers will end up choosing one over the other if they decide to buy a Windows Phone, either purchase would help grow the Windows Phone platform as a whole.

Personally, I’d be inclined to go for a 900 thanks to the fact that it will be available in the same cyan hue as its little brother that Lumia 800 does. There’s no official release date or price as of yet, but Nokia’s representatives assure us that it will hit store shelves within a few months.



A Fireside Chat With Boxee’s Avner Ronen On The State Of Boxee And Smart TVs

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 02:43 PM PST

Boxee is one of the rare success stories of a software company making the leap to consumer electronics. The formula is simple: a clear message combined with a solid product. Having smart and passionate people help too. And as shown by this video shot at TechCrunch’s CES booth, Boxee has both.

Boxee’s Avner Ronen, CEO & co-founder, sat down with John Biggs to talk about Boxee’s upcoming releases but also the emergence of smart TVs.

Boxee has a very unique perspective having participated in the smart tv platform before it was called such a thing. Boxee hopes to be there to the end. As Avner explained, the future of TV is not apps. TV is a passive device and the challenge is to get real content to the consumer. That’s where the Boxee Box comes in.

Starting yesterday, January 11th, Boxee is accepting pre-orders for the ATSC USB tuner. Just plug this guy into a Boxee Box and connect an antenna to add OTA stations to the Boxee Box. As Avner says, it’s great for cable cutters. But as a Boxee Box owner myself, the device is perfect to supplement live TV as well.

Hands-On With The Sony Ericsson Xperia S From CES

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 01:29 PM PST

I’ve never been a huge fan of Sony Ericsson. The phones are fine, I guess, and I certainly commend the company’s drive to differentiate. The Xperia Play is a great concept but it failed to really take off.

Today, however, I was very impressed after taking a good hard look at the new Xperia S. It’s not the thinnest phone at .4 inches, nor does it have the biggest screen, but it is something fresh which is more than I can say for most Android Gingerbread phones.

The phone is very boxy, and even has an extra bit of hardware on the bottom that seemingly has no purpose. Still, I don’t mind it since it adds something new to the look of the phone with that thin strip of clear plastic. I also tend to frown upon white phones, but the Xperia S is a sexy little beast in white.

Spec-wise, this new phone continues to impress with a 4.3-inch HD Reality Display powered by Sony’s Bravia Engine. The screen boasts a 720p resolution, joining ranks with the Galaxy Nexus, the LG Spectrum, and the HTC Rezound.

Under the hood you’ll find 1GB of RAM, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and a memory card slot with room for up to a 32GB card.

Another impressive feature of the Xperia S is its 12-megapixel rear-facing camera that is capable of video capture in 1080p, along with a front-facing shooter for video chat.

All in all, the phone feels great in the hand and looks hot. The corners are a bit “sharp” but not at all uncomfortable, and the purposeless extra hardware along the bottom doesn’t make the phone cumbersome at all. Oh, and if gaming’s your thing than you’ll be happy to know that this phone is Playstation-certified.

Sony promises that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will head to the S eventually, but we have no word on pricing or availability yet so stay tuned.



Bre Pettis Of Makerbot: “The Future Is Already Here”

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 12:14 PM PST

330558-makerbot-replicator

We got a great look at the new Makerbot Replicator and, more important, we sat down with founder Bre Pettis to talk about the future. His take? The future is here and 3D printing is one of the things that will change the world.

Pettis built the first Makerbot at NYC Resistor, a hackerspace in Brooklyn. He realized the potential was, in a sense, infinite and, thousands of sales later, Makerbot is now selling new 3D printers entirely assembled that can make objects about “the size of a loaf of bread.”

Pettis noted that kids of the future who understand 3D printing will have a leg up on kids without the experience. He sees the Makerbot as the first in a long line of increasingly cheaper devices that will allow us to separate ourselves from the long logistical chain associated modern gadget sales. The means of public production has reached media. Now it’s coming to manufacturing.



Hands-On With RIM’s New BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 OS: Great, But Too Late?

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 09:44 AM PST

When RIM first launched the BlackBerry PlayBook last spring, we were all rather shocked to find that RIM’s stand-out core services — secure messaging and productivity related apps like calendar and contacts — were… absent. The company promised an update to fix it, and after eight months said update has finally been unveiled here at CES.

Truth be told, the new PlayBook OS is much better than expected, but I guess you start to set the bar low when the first time around was so disappointing. We got a chance to go hands-on with the new system here at CES, and recorded a video just for you fine readers.

In it, you’ll see the new unified inbox which I find to be the best new feature. I also like the fact that you’re not bombarded with a home screen full of pre-set app tabs, but can now customize tabs to hold whatever apps you like. Everyone organizes themselves differently and on a tablet specifically designed for the productive professional, there shouldn’t be any restrictions to how you set yourself up.

The only problem is that this is exactly what PlayBook 1.0 should have been, as Matt points out. RIM was relatively early to the tablet space, and flopped entirely. It would’ve been better to enter the tablet space now (with 2.0) than to try and regain consumer interest in what has become a rather crowded segment.



Watch Our Third And Final Day Of Live CES Coverage Here

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 09:17 AM PST

It’s day three of CES, and our last one here. The show goes on for one more day, but we’re taking off, since after today we’ll have gone through all the major sections of the show. Day one was the central hall, with the major CE companies’ building-sized “booths,” then day two was the cavernous south hall, populated with smaller vendors. Now we’re off to the north hall, where we’ll find car tech, health gadgets, and tons of accessories for the devices many of us have. Live coverage starts at 9:30!

And in the afternoon, we’ll be starting things off with a nice hot shave. Yes, you read that correctly. Schick wants us to come by their booth and get a hot shave. Then we’ll be hitting some of the booths we missed on the first go round.

If you have any requests, questions, or just want to talk at us, use @techcrunch and #CESCrunch and we’ll see it right away.

Following LG Patent Deal, Microsoft Execs Taunt Google On Twitter

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 07:10 AM PST

Boxing gloves pair red

Microsoft this morning announced that it has signed a patent licensing agreement with Android device manufacturer LG, its eleventh deal of the kind.

Microsoft says effectively 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the United States today are covered under its patent portfolio, not mentioning the fact that they’re also suing Motorola Mobility and NOOK maker Barnes & Noble over their Android devices.

Continuing a tradition that we hope will stand the test of time, Microsoft’s head of communications, Frank Shaw, took to Twitter to taunt Google.

First, Shaw tweeted “Hey Google – we are the 70% #anotherandroidlicense” with a link to their press release, and later said:

The second one is of course a bit disingenuous, since pretty much every player in this industry employs patents as weapons, will at some point, or wishes they were in a position to do so.

Shaw isn’t alone in his endeavor to try and get a response out of the Google camp, by the way.

Here’s Brad Smith, Microsoft’s EVP and General Counsel, tweeting:

And here’s Horacio E. Gutiérrez, Corporate VP and Deputy General Counsel, tweeting:

We love this stuff. We want more. Come on, Google, it’s your turn. Keep this going.

Update - no comment needed:

Microsoft Strikes Another Patent Deal With An Android, Chrome OS Device Maker: LG

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 06:08 AM PST

lg

Microsoft has signed a patent licensing agreement with LG, maker of tablets, phones and other consumer electronics devices running Android or Chrome OS.

This marks the 11th deal with a device manufacturer leveraging Google’s operating system software; other major agreements were struck with the likes of HTC, Samsung and Acer, among others.

Now that the LG deal is done, Microsoft says more than 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the United States today are covered under its patent portfolio. Evil, or genius?

Either way, Android is turning into quite a cash cow for the Redmond software giant. No wonder Google refers to their methods as pure extortion and a sign that they’re afraid of Android.

Terms of the deal with LG were, per usual, not disclosed, although it’s worth pointing out that Microsoft says it expands upon a pre-existing agreement between the pair.

We’re anxiously awaiting Google’s response to this announcement.

EV Mini Sport: Mini Electric Sports Car From Japan (Video)

Posted: 12 Jan 2012 05:53 AM PST

ev mini feat

It’s not a Tesla, but Japan-based Tajima Motor Corporation has developed a zero-emission (and pretty cool-looking) mini sports car. The so-called EV Mini Sport [JP] has been publicly showcased first in 2010, and will go on sale in Japan and abroad “soon” (according to the company’s website).

The car weighs just 280kg and is 2.49 m long, 1.29 m wide, and 1.09 m high. It runs on a 40Ah lithium-ion polymer battery, which provides enough juice for about 30km on a single charge (Tajima will also offer a 80Ah and a 120Ah version).

Powered by a 0.59 kW motor, the EV Mini Sport reaches a top speed of 70km/h.

Tajima will be selling the EV Mini Sport for US$47,800, with the base model going for US$26,000 (buyers can order batteries, exterior panels, lamps, etc. separately).

This video, shot by Diginfo TV in Tokyo, provides more insight (in English):