We posted a spy pic of the W51PT last month, and Pantech finally announced the Korean version of that at CES this week. We believe that the specifications are similar, EVDO support, 2.2″ QVGA screen, 2MP camera with autofocus, but we are still waiting for announcement from AU KDDI’s side in mid January, as well as the confirmation on its thickness (W51PT thinner than 15mm?). None the less, the real Korean model looks as good as what the pictures promised. For the time being, you can only get the white version in Korea, we expect that there will be more colors available by the time it is launched in Japan. — Sam Chan

Press release in Korean [Pantech]

In Japan, Sharp has already released AQUOS DMB (One-Seg) phones for NTT DoCoMo (SH903iTV) and Softbank (905SH and 911SH), so the next target is AU KDDI. And we managed to dig up a leaked pic of what’s supposed to be the W51SH from Sharp, surprise surprise surprise, the same old Cyclone screen design is used. The difference between Sharp’s Cyclone screen and Samsung/LG’s swivel-turn screens is that the Cyclone has more than 2 hinges, allowing the screen to slide back to the middle when it is turned landscape (see link below). If everything goes as planned, the phone pictured above should be announced on January the 19th. CDMA EVDO Rev.A should be supported, the screen should only be 2.8″ (comparing to 3.0″ on 911SH) and the camera should be 2 megapixels fixed focus.

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What are the 2 things that come into mind with the word Casio? Anorexic cameras and G-shock watches. If you are a Verizon user, you must have hard the G’zOne phone, which was sold under the brand of UTStarcom, and you would probably be aware that the G’zOne phone is the G-shock phone, developed by Casio in Japan and later adopted to Verizon. The G’zOne phone is actually a whole series of phones in Japan, and it has been really popular too. Impress Japan had an interesting interview with the G-shock phone designers lately, and we thought it might be worthwhile to talk about it here. After all there is still a chance for Verizon to carry a second G’zOne phone in the future. The latest addition to the line-up is the E03CA, which is actually targeted to business market. Just for a recap, the specifications aren’t weak either, it retains all the shock/water/dust proof functionality of earlier G-shock phones, the camera is upgraded to 2 Megapixels and the screen widened to 2.4″ diagonally. The difference between the E03CA business model is mainly the battery (1200mAh in the biz model), the firmware (with the Business IM that supports conversation with up to 20 people simultaneously) and an even sturdier hinge. The whole idea was to develop a non-smartphone for young business users, and that it’s okay to look sporty when you are serious. Take a look at what the company is capable of doing, do give Verizon some pressure if you wish them to migrate this. — Sam Chan

Interview with the E03CA developers [Impress]

You know how the Japanese mobile business works, it’s really different from the rest of the world. Operators in Japan take the lead in product development, they decide what should be included in the new series, out-source the development to manufacturers and then buy in the phones as OEMs. (To read more, try the link quoted below) Since the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) system has been launched, all the Japanese operators have to dig customers from eachother. And they do this by price slashing and holding phone buffets. This morning the big boy from AU KDDI (2nd largest operator in Japan) made it clear that they would expect the phone markets to behave more like that of home appliances. In other words, it’s about having a super broad portfolio and a lower individual volume. For the autumn/winter season, AU KDDI has announced 12 new models, Softbank 13 models with 54 color variations, NTT DoCoMo puked out 14 models all at once. We also know that AU KDDI has got at least 12 more under its sleeves. 2007 is going to be an interesting year.

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We’ve seen straight phones and bi (dual hinge) phones, we’ve seen slider phones and swivel phones. Having informally stating that they’re giving up on swivel phones (not forever, hopefully), SonyEricsson is said to be working on yet another form factor. Supposedly the newly designed hinge will do what the W44S can do, i.e. landscape and portrait viewing, but shredding off some bulk. No, the 3″ screen will be retained (phew), the new hinge should first appear on the upcoming W5 series (W51S) for AU KDDI. According to our sources, who managed to predict the Toshiba TX80 announcement correctly, Most of the functions on W44S will be retained, the speed will be upped to EVDO Rev.A, DMB recording can now be done in VGA resolution. They got the fruits, we want the juice. Not far from announcement. Stay tuned.

– Sam Chan