Willcom have announced that they will be officially announcing their new Windows Mobile 6 smart phone next Thursday June 7.
The flash site has been updated with some emotion invoking imagery to tempt us all. Small and fashionable seems to be the core message.
Microsoft will also officially announce Windows Mobile 6 to the press at MEDC on June 6.
Looking forward to some fun news next week.
Softbank today held a press conference and announced two new Windows Mobile 6 phones for the Japanese market:
The X01T marks a return to Windows Mobile device in Japan by Toshiba. Very similar in format (slide out keyboard) to the X01HT from HTC, but with a wide VGA screen. This the device for power users. It feels very solid and the keys are rounded in such a way that may make it better the the X01HT for typing. On sale from mid-August.
The X02HT is HTC's second device for Softbank It is a Windows Mobile (WM) Standard device (formerly called WM Smart Phone, compared to the Toshiba = WM Professional = WM Pocket PC). The absolutely HUGE news for English speakers in the Japan is that this is the first Windows Mobile device ever here that has an English interface option. This opens up the huge foreign enterprise market here and will definitely boost adoption of Windows Mobile in Japan. The Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard and smaller lighter design will also be popular with many users. Finally in addition to red and white, the X02HT comes in red hot orange! I guarantee these will sell out fast. On sale from end July.
Naturally they both of 3G HSDPA data access and international roaming. I don't have price information as yet, but in his presentation, Masayoshi Son said they would be planning some special campaigns with Microsoft. See below for a video of the short presentation by Darren Huston, President and CEO of Microsoft (after 20 difficult to hear seconds by Masayoshi Son of Softbank).
The products aren't up on Softbank or HTC's sites yet but they should be here soon:
One of the biggest events on the calendar for Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded is coming up on 6th June at Meguro Gajoen, Tokyo. Especially with the number of Windows Mobile phones on the market steadily increasing and more come come this year it should be an exciting conference for anyone lookng to work with the platform.
"Mobile and Embedded DevCon (MEDC) is a global connected community of events focused on collaborative learning, shared knowledge and practical hands-on development featuring more than 130 technical sessions and 70 labs. This annual event is tailored for the developers, IT professionals and business professionals who are looking to innovate and scale their mobile and or embedded development investments, applications and solutions."Japan Event Information (Japanese only)
