(keitai-l) Handsets with full web browsers

"William G. Perrin III" <bill@tsubakimoto.com> writes:

> Which phones would you recommend? I'm using an SH900 FOMA phone and
> admittedly the browser leaves a lot to be desired. I can surf sites
> but am limited in terms of page size and a number of other factors.

Below is a by-carrier list of handsets that I am aware of that
have full web browsers on them. I'm sure it's incomplete, so if
anybody knows of others, please post a follow-up.

OK, if you want to stick with Docomo, perhaps the M1000:

  http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/business_model/m1000/

It runs Symbian OS and along with having a full browser, it is a
mighty piece of work in quite a few other ways -- though I
personally would not call it a keitai, if you think of "keitai" as
meaning a handset. (It's a PDA, one you operate with a stylus.
Meaning you need two hands to use it. Meaning it's more of a
"hands"-held than it is a handheld.)

Flash presentation about it here:

  http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/business_model/m1000/special/index_flash.html

Perhaps there are some other Docomo ones with a full browser.
That's just the one I happen to know of.

And you might be able to update the browser on it to an even newer
and better version. I'm not sure if that one supports that or not.
I have not tried one of those handsets yet.

I am pretty sure that the following one does support installing
the latest browser, though.

  http://www.vodafone.jp/japanese/products/other/v702nk/index.html

It's for Vodafone's service. I've tried it, with a version of the
browser that supports Ajax (the XMLHTTPRequest Javascript
function). Which means it's not only capable of displaying
non-mobile web sites well, but is also capable of handling sites
that make use of "Web 2.0" features or RIA (or whatever you want
to call them) features. That is, modern web applications -- ones
that look and feel more like "fat client" PC applications. Parts
of the pages getting reloaded automatically in real time as a
result of click or actions or focus changes. (All within some
limits of course. It can't let you do stuff that relies on drag-
and-drop actions. And of course the limits of the small screen.)

For Au, there are these:

  http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/kinobetsu/seihin/w32t/index.html
  http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/kinobetsu/seihin/w32h/index.html
  http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/kinobetsu/seihin/w31ca/index.html
  http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/kinobetsu/seihin/w31t/index.html

I have a W31T (Toshiba) and like it. A lot. There's a nice
animation at the Toshiba site that illustrates the full-browser
behavior.

  http://www.toshiba.co.jp/product/etsg/cmt/au/w31t/w31t_02.htm

I have viewed pages on that handset in excess of 450K. I do not
know what the upper limit on it is, but I have never once gotten a
"page size too big" or "out of memory" error message. And it's fast.
(Though part of that comes from the fact that it's getting data on
the Au CDMA 1X WIN network, at speeds up to 2.4 Mbs.)

For Willcom, there's the W-ZER03:

  http://www.willcom-inc.com/ja/lineup/ws/003sh/index.html

That has the coolest animated presentation of all:

  http://www.sharp.co.jp/ws/special/index.html

Unfortunately, I think it also has the slowest data speed of all.
It is a PHS networ, and I think the base data rate is just 32K.
And (for some reason), I think it is not Bluetooth-enabled.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm sure there are some I've left out.

  --Mike

P.S. The usual stuff here about the fact that I do not work for
any of these companies nor have a stake in any of them (except as
a customer). And nothing I say anywhere should be construed as fact.

-- 
Michael(tm) Smith
http://tokyo.metblogs.com/
http://sideshowbarker.net/
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/890