Traditionally, Symbian Smartphones came in three varieties: S60, UIQ and FOMA. While S60 and UIQ are covered and used all over the world, Foma phones (also known as Raku-Raku, whatever that means) are limited to selected Asian markets. The recent Symbian Smartphone Show had a Renesas booth showcasing a few devices…an opportunity we used to bring you this mini-hands-on:
FOMA devices come in a variety of form factors – here are a few shots of the three sample phones:
One of them has a flip-out antenna for TV on the go:
The individual devices are surprisingly big:
The Japanese heritage can be felt by looking at the devices carefully – for example, the funky external LCD shown below:
Amusingly, the keyboard of the three phones are completely different from each other:
Finally, here’s a little video showing the phone’s software. I unfortunately didn’t have the time/the tools for a more thorough review, but think that the video covers all important aspects:
In the end, I don’t think that the upcoming demise of the FOMA phones will make anyone shed a single tear. The devices IMHO can’t even be considered smartphones: they are not programmable except for J2ME, and don’t even have a “common platform”. People currently having an S60 or UIQ phone can safely ignore them – while they definitely are innovative and look cool, their software can not stack up in any way…
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Thanks for the helpful information.
FYI Raku-Raku translates into Easy Easy. These phones are meant to be easy to use mobiles and are marketed to digital immigrants (like the elderly who didn’t grow up with cellphone technology).
In the UK Vodafone have a similar offering with their “Simple” branding. Thankfully these phones live up to the promise a little better than these NTT Docomo offerings.
Hi David,
thank you so much!
I linked to your web site in a new post – thank you!!
Tam