Sharp GX40 Rumours
23rd
October 2004
Vodafone's arrangement with Sharp to
be the exclusive distributor of Sharp handsets in regions
where Vodafone has operations has been a significant
boost to Vodafone's range, first with the GX10i then
GX20 and GX30.
However, the GX30 has been around for
a while now, and even though it has the best screen
of any phone outside of Japan, one of the best cameras
and a good feature set, people are beginning to wonder
when the replacement for the GX30 will be announced.
Vodafone and Sharp are soon to announce an upgrade to
the GX30, called the GX30i which will address issues
with Bluetooth and add MP3 ringtones and other software
enhancements.
However, the technology is certainly
available to make a much more impressive phone, as Sharp
have demonstrated with their Sharp
902 and Sharp
802 handsets designed for the 3G market in Japan
and worldwide. And some months ago we looked at the
Sharp
V602SH (pictured - image source Vodafone
KK) 2.5 phone made for Vodafone Japan's PDC
network, which has broadly similar specifications to
the Sharp 902.
There's very little definite information
on the specification of the GX40, however it does seem
that there will be one. Looking at the V602SH
and 902 models, it would be logical to assume that the
GX40 would have the same 240x320 pixel 262,000 colour
rotating display, 2.0 megapixel camera (perhaps with
optical zoom), Bluetooth, SD removable memory, quad
band GSM, and MP3 and rich media playback.
Bluetooth has always been an issue on
the GX30 models, in that it was essentially a crippled
implementation meaning that the GX30 could only be used
with Bluetooth headsets and not with a PC. This proved
to be the GX30's biggest problem, and both the newer
GX15 and GX25 handsets come with better Bluetooth, plus
the new GX30i, so it's fair to assume that the Bluetooth
on the GX40 should be normal too. The GX25 takes some
design cues from the V602SH and 902 too, so we're likely
to see a shift away from the silvery sharps of old to
something that looks much more like a digital camera
on the outside. Really, the upgrade path from the GX30/GX30i
looks obvious. As the GX30 platform is already pretty
highly specified, then any upgrade would have to be
very impressive in design terms, and the smart money
seems to be pointing to a handset very like the V602SH
(basically a GSM version of the 902).
However, it's likely that the real issue
is timing. It's pretty clear that it wouldn't be difficult
for Sharp to have something impressive waiting to be
rolled out, but a GSM phone based on the V602SH would
compete head on with the Sharp 902 3G phone - and the
902 is a phone that Vodafone and relying on to give
their 3G launch a boost. As a result, it's highly unlikely
that Vodafone would want to announce the GX40 until
well after the start of the 3G rollout, which means
that we could be waiting until late Q1 or Q2 before
the GX40 is actually announced.
It looks as though Vodafone can sit
on the GX40 for as long as they need to, and this is
true. However, Sharp also has a distribution agreement
with SmarTone
in Hong Kong, who sell the Sharp GX12, GX22 and GX32
handsets (functionally identical to the GX10i, GX20
and GX30), plus the Xera GZ100 which is the same hardware
as the GX15. SmarTone is expected to start it's 3G rollout
much later than Vodafone, perhaps sometime in mid-2005,
and given the highly competitive nature of the mobile
phone market in Hong Kong, it's quite possible that
they may be acquire the Sharp GX42 (or perhaps a Xera-branded
handset) much earlier than Vodafone.
In any case, the Sharp GX40 and GX42
is likely to be one of 2005's most anticipated handsets.
We'll let you know the details as we get them - please
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for updates.
|
Sharp
GX40 anticipated specifications
|
Available:
|
Q2
2005
|
Network:
|
Quad
band GSM
|
Data:
|
GPRS
|
Screen:
|
240x320
pixels, 262,000 colours
|
Camera:
|
2.0
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Medium-large
clamshell 99x55x25mm
/ 130 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Infra-red:
|
Yes
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
Not
known
|
|
|