Japanese manufacturer Kyocera, which is better known for its printers in some parts of the world, plans to launch Digno, a 8.7 mm slim waterproof Android smartphone that supports Mobile TV and Mobile Wallet.
Since Kyocera acquired Qualcomm in 2000, it only manufactured smartphones for Sprint. In 2008, the company expanded even more, by taking over the smartphone division of Sanyo. However, Digno is the first such device for the Japanese domestic market. This explains why it has support for Mobile Wallet and Mobile TV, features that are only available in Japan at the moment.
It is nice to see that smartphones get slimmer and with a depth of only 8.7 mm, Kyocera Digno will surely turn some heads. Besides that, Digno is addressed to people who live in wet climates, since it is waterproof. In the past, we used to see waterproof phones that were bulky, to say the least, but now, due to Kyocera, we get to see some advancements in this direction, too. This smartphone weighs only 130 grams, so it is very pocket-friendly.
In terms of video-chat and photo shooting capabilities, Kyocera Dingo is not out of the ordinary. It features an 8 megapixel camera and a VGA front-facing camera. The device will also feature WiMAX and 3G support, which means that data transfers of up to 40 Mbps are possible. Infrared data transmission is also listed among the features of Kyocera Digno, but this is considered by many an old technology, since most smartphones rely on bluetooth for data transfers at small distances. The high-contrast OLED display is protected by what the manufacturer calls “toughened glass”, which is presumably Gorilla glass.
Another feature worth mentioning is the Text Now capability, which allows users to write text even if the smarphone is locked. Besides traditional software keyboards, users can also use voice recognition for entering text, but most likely, this feature is optimized for Japanese.
Kyocera Digno is scheduled for launch in December 2011, but there is no word on the price of the device, nor on its worldwide availability. For an increased diversity, the manufacturer decided to offer three color options: pink, green and black, fact that makes us think that the target audience for this device is the younger crowd.
If you liked this post, please check the Samsung Note smartphone and Google Wallet.
