KDDI’s recent resurrection of its au iida Infobar designer phone series seems to have been a success, as the next model is launching in a few days. While last year’s A01 had a unique look that touched on the series’ design history, it largely stuck to the standard “slab” smartphone form factor that a lot of Japanese customers remain unconvinced by. Its followup, the C01, mixes old and new by taking a 3.2-inch, 16:9 (854 x 480), 306 PPI touchscreen and fusing a traditional “ten-key” Japanese keypad to the bottom. It’s running the same “iida UI” found on the A01, which is a heavily (and actually quite attractively) skinned version of Android 2.3 that you can see in the video below.
Infobar C01 smartphone launches in Japan on February 3rd
KDDI’s iida INFOBAR series gains another member on February 3rd with the C01 smartphone, which attaches a standard “ten-key” number pad to a touchscreen.
KDDI’s iida INFOBAR series gains another member on February 3rd with the C01 smartphone, which attaches a standard “ten-key” number pad to a touchscreen.
There are various features standard to the Japanese market, such as a one-seg TV tuner, “osaifu keitai” FeLiCa NFC, emergency earthquake notifications, and infrared data transfer. Unlike a lot of recent Japanese smartphones, however, it’s neither waterproof nor WiMax-equipped. If you’re in Japan, you’ll be able to get your hands on it from February 3rd, though be quick — its matching leather case is limited to 1,000 units.
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