Gizmodo: kddi au

Only in Japan: KDDI au's Spring 2009 Cellphone Line

Elaine Chow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:00:00 EST

In case you're curious about what else our friends across the Pacific are getting, here's some more of KDDI au's Spring 2009 line. This season's trends: 3-inch-plus screens, easy global calling and fitness.

Like the Winter/Fall season's phones, these ones are sleek clamshells chock full of features the public probably won't use—like "Run & Walk," a mobile fitness program that offers fashion advice, a personal trainer as well as the usual calorie and step counters.

It's funny. I used to feel like Japan was on the cutting edge of designing cellphones and features. Now though, minus a few interesting novelties (the music program phone or that 3D phone), KDDI au's offerings all seem a little stale. [KDDI au]

KDDI au Casio Phone Makes Music With a Touchscreen

Elaine Chow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:00:00 EST

Surprisingly absent until now, touchability has finally made it into the KDDI au line-up. Casio's offering utilizes a 3.1-inch touchscreen for some funky music apps — making it a music studio in your pocket.

The screen swivels around a central hinge to hide the phone's regular numerical keyboard. Through a Yamaha piano app program, you can also play and record various other instruments on-the-go. Sounds like a fun concept, but it's hard to tell if the phone's specced out enough to handle that kind of program smoothly.

Also included in package: motion sensing, an "urban fitness program," a 5MP camera and 500MB of internal memory. Per usual, only available in Japan for now. [KDDI au]

Hitachi Wooo Adds Another Dimension to Cellphone Screens

Elaine Chow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:25:45 EST

Hitachi's new Wooo, part of Japan's KDDI au Spring line, comes with the unique ability to watch 3D videos. Sounds coool, even if the 3D-induced woooziness will have you switching back to 2D in minutes.

The phone's 3.1-inch display is the first of its kind to have 3D-capabilities and can be swiveled horizontally to be more TV-like. There's not a lot of content being offered to accompany the phone right now, which is just as well since Hitachi doesn't recommend that people use the 3D feature for too long. Kids under the age of 6 shouldn't use it at all.

Besides the crazy stereoscopic screen, the Wooo also comes with a 5MP camera and a “Global Passport” that will connect you to KDDI au's network from anywhere in the world except Thailand, Guam and Canada. It'll be available in three colors by April—in Japan only, of course. [KDDI au]