I'm kinda sort interested in this device, but honestly I'm in the sit and wait given that Sharp isn't exactly a name brand anymore.
Man, if you actually tried to sell your phones, Sharp, they might have sold? Funny concept.
If this phone is indeed a Sharp creation, I'm all over it.
This is classic Japanese market electronics. Rather than increase bottom line, add loads of niceties to compete.
My phone was a smartphone, a mobile wallet (osaifu-keitai, tap-to-pay), my train pass (osaifu-keitai is different hardware to android pay, as it works on turnstiles, even when the phone is dead/off, and has been a thing since 2004), a television (over the air!), an answering machine (no messages stored by carrier; the phone picks up if you don't answer and records it to the SD card), had those privacy filter things, and a really responsive camera.
Sadly, it has a non-replaceable battery and refuses to update android unless it can connect to a docomo tower (I think docomo hosts it's phone's system updates on internal network only, not internet). I had to retire the phone long before the hardware gave out.
I'm pretty much stuck with the phone's stock android because A) It's sharp, so the android hacking community hasn't heard of it. and B) I don't think any ROM would have drivers for any of the galapagos features. (especially I need osaifu-keitai, which as well as being a wallet and my train pass, has all of my arcade top scores associated with it (whenever I go, I just tap the phone and the arcade machine looks me up - unlocks all the bonuses I've achieved and my prefs))
Oh, wow.
> Anyone looking from the side will instead see a floral pattern, butterfly pattern, or something else I forget (stars?), depending on your setting.
Wow.
> (You can't pick beyond these three because each pattern is physically its own layer it looks like)
I see.
> This is classic Japanese market electronics. Rather than increase bottom line, add loads of niceties to compete.
TIL the Japanese are still ahead of us with stuff that's really nice, and the rest of the world succumbed to being flooded out with high-fructose corn syrup laden toy electronics that hack our attention spans.
> My phone was a smartphone, a mobile wallet (osaifu-keitai, tap-to-pay), my train pass (osaifu-keitai is different hardware to android pay, as it works on turnstiles, even when the phone is dead/off, and has been a thing since 2004), a television (over the air!), an answering machine (no messages stored by carrier; the phone picks up if you don't answer and records it to the SD card), had those privacy filter things, and a really responsive camera.
Wow.
I can't find it now but I remember seeing a Japanese phone that had OTA TV, a GPS, and even a fingerprint reader on the back. I checked the date, and the thing was made in 2008. Shakes head
> Sadly, it has a non-replaceable battery and refuses to update android unless it can connect to a docomo tower (I think docomo hosts it's phone's system updates on internal network only, not internet). I had to retire the phone long before the hardware gave out.
Hah.
> I'm pretty much stuck with the phone's stock android because A) It's sharp, so the android hacking community hasn't heard of it. and B) I don't think any ROM would have drivers for any of the galapagos features.
Mmmm...
> (especially I need osaifu-keitai, which as well as being a wallet and my train pass, has all of my arcade top scores associated with it (whenever I go, I just tap the phone and the arcade machine looks me up - unlocks all the bonuses I've achieved and my prefs))
_wow_ that is absolutely awesome.
What's really sad is that if this sort of integration ever came to the US I know it'd be used in the most invasive ways possible :(
I wonder if there are any videos documenting any of this out there. I wouldn't mind seeing this stuff in action, especially the game console bit. That's awesome.
The problem with the US market is that reviewers look for any superficial reason to slam you.
Smartphones are a brutal business to be in, especially in North America, where Apple and Samsung have basically locked up the high end of the market and everyone else is fighting for the scraps (and usually losing tons of money in the process). Probably Sharp just realized there was really no way to break in, especially considering they'd have to start from scratch with channels like carrier partnerships, retail presence, and advertising.
OnePlus has none of these and seems very successful.
- Asking when accessories would be available on their site (car chargers and screen protectors were out of stock)
Supposedly Lineage runs well on them btw.
These problems are not acceptable for a modern phone company.
On the plus side I plug my dash charger in and forty minutes later I've got a charge that will last the day.
But agreed that if I forget to bring it on overnight trips it's annoying.
And the phone has worked flawlessly for my needs.
Huh? The phone ships with the screen protector already applied.
I was referring to tempered glass protectors. I didn't realize that people still use plastic ones.
Again, I can assure you from personal experience that this isn't true.
Also, the phone came with a screen protector which is still on after 1 year of use.
The phone is great in every way except ergonomics. It's so fat that holding it hurts my hand. Apparently they had a smaller model for the generation before the 3, but the OnePlus 5 is absurdly fat only; I'm not going to be able to keep buying their phones.
Patents and different cellular bands (meaning radical antennae design).