Gizmodo: willcom

Willcom Kuma Phone Puts the Cellphone Inside the Teddy Bear

John Mahoney — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Here's an idea: people gesticulating wildly with their hands-free headsets already look crazy—why not capitalize on our nation's love of all things crazy and cute by putting a cellphone inside of an, oh, i don't know, a teddy bear! So went a recent design meeting at Japanese firm Willcom apparently, who was showing their $500 Kuma (bear) Phone concept at the recent Good Design Expo in Tokyo. Kuma takes an embedded SIM card and has assignable speed dial points on each paw, which you dial by squeezing. And of course, to accept and hang up calls, you squeeze its ass. Of course. [Trends in Japan]

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC With Intel Atom Centrino, Vista Hits the States on June 20th

Sean Fallon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:10:00 EDT

If, for some reason, you were interested in picking up one of Sharp-Willcom's new D4 WS016SH UMPCs, the device will be available in the States starting on June 20th from GeekStuff4U. Personally, I would not be thrilled about dropping $1,526.33 on a device running Vista huffing and puffing with only a 1.33Ghz processor and 1GB or RAM—but to each his own. [GeekStuff4U via BGR]

Someone Put a Phone in a Flashlight

Jason Chen — Wed, 02 May 2007 21:20:14 EDT

We're big fans of gadgets shaped like other gadgets or one gadget shoved inside another gadget, and this flashlight cellphone is no exception. Designed for use in emergencies, this flashlight phone from Willcom runs on two flashlight batteries and has no screen.

We suppose it's useful to store this with the rest of your emergency supplies, but we'd probably prefer to keep our regular phone on us instead. We can never remember anyone's number if it's not already programmed in. – Jason Chen

MobileMentalism

Willcom WX321J Does It All, But Only Beautiful On the Inside

Travis Hudson — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 18:43:56 EST

The United States may have the Treos and Blackberries, but the Willcom phones are all the rage in Japan for all-in-one smartphone solutions. The latest update in Willcom's series is the WX321J smartphone. This does it all and a bag of tricks: biometrics, 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD expandability, MS Office suite support, POP, SMTP and other e-mail support. Sorry folks, it is Japan-only, but doesn't it look purty in an oversized and crowded sort of way? –Travis Hudson

Willcom WX321J all-in-one phone [uberphones]

Willcom R9: The Most Simple Phone?

Brian Lam — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 23:40:34 EST

Who makes the most simple phone these days? Here's a Japanese handset from Willcom that trims away the camera and music functions of modern cellies, but it retains web browsing and email functions.

Then there's the Motorola Motofone, meant for developing countries.

But there has got to be something that merely dials. Kick em into the comments, folks.–Brian Lam

Willcom R9 [Mobile Mag]

Willcom nico, For the Kiddies

Travis Hudson — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 14:49:37 EDT

With kids getting their own cellphones at younger and younger ages, the responsible parents out there need to ensure that their kid has the dumbest looking phone possible, right? Isn't it an unwritten rule that parents are responsible for embarrassing their kids at any cost?

Enter the nico from Willcom. This phone includes a parent-friendly urgent button along with a tracking mechanism to make sure those kiddos aren't sneaking off to the arcade when they shouldn't be. This phone will be available July 13 in blue, green, yellow, pink or "chocolate." – Travis Hudson

Press Release (Japanese) [Via MobileMag]

Sharp/Willcom W-ZERO3 Gets Release Date: June 22

Jason Chen — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:24:35 EDT

This sweet looking PDA Phone from Japan that we talked about last year is finally getting a release on the 22nd of this month!

To refresh, it's Windows Mobile 5, Intel PXA270 416 MHz processor, 64 MB of RAM and 128 flash RAM, 3.7" screen, WiFi, 1.3 megapixel camera, and miniSD slot. This is manufactured by Taiwan's HTC, the same ones who did the Wizard and the upcoming Hermes. We hope they bring this one over to the US sometime. After all, we did let them borrow Natalie Portman for their Lux Shampoo commercials. – Jason Chen

http://www.2dayblog.com/blog/?p=772 [2dayBlog]