Japanese mobile network operators usually renew their cellphone lineup every season. “Summer cellphones” this year have been specially interesting. It all started with AU KDDI releasing a cellphone with a small photoelectric cell that allows users to recharge their phone by exposing it to sunlight (the problem is that if you want to talk 1 minute on the phone you have to recharge it for 15 minutes).
Softbank soon responded and launched its own solar cellphone. It appears to be better; with only 10 minutes of recharging required in order to talk 1 minute on the phone. Apart from being solar, this Softbank cellphone is also water resistant. According to Softbank, it is a hybrid cellphone because it is solar and water resistant, and that is how they call it in their marketing campaign: “The hybrid cellphone”. Moreover, the cellphone specs are not that bad, it has a 8 Mpx camera and a 3 inches screen.
If you think about it, it is the ideal cellphone to go to the beach or the swimming pool. Knowing that users probably don’t have the need to change their phones, 5hey have been thoroughly thinking about how to sell more phones in Summer. One of the biggest problems that network operators and cellphone manufacturers have right now is that the market is stagnant because everybody has a cellphone and they are happy with it. They don’t really feel the need to change their phone.
This is not only a problem in Japan but also in the rest of the developed world. In Japan, the strategy followed is to design cellphones that are aimed for certain population sectors: cellphones for kids, cellphones for teenagers, cellphones for businessmen, cellphones for people with sight problems, cellphones for sportsmen, cellphones for going to the beach…
Most of the cellphone surface is used to capture sunlight energy.
8Mpx camera.
This is another “Summer cellphone” by Softbank. The unique spec of this phone is that it includes a UV rays meter so you can know how much sunlight energy the the phone is receiving at the moment.