The Sharp IS01 is already old news in Japan and internationally but since it’s only available in Japan there’s not much video coverage on it, so I thought I’d take a look at it. It is also identical to the slighter newer Lynx SH-10B which has a slightly modified chassis and sells under Docomo rather than AU.
It’s unusual in that it sports a clamshell design with a keyboard and trackball, so it’s just as MID as it is smartphone. It sports a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 960 x 480 resolution which is bright, vivid, sharp and exhibits excellent viewing angles. One major downside (apart from it and all Japanese phones being SIM locked) is that it sports the aging Android 1.6 OS with no plans for an upgrade to newer Android versions. There’s also a 5.3MP auto focus webcam on the lid but it only records 640 x 480 video at 15 FPS, and a front facing 854 x 480 camera. You can grab these off Yahoo Auction (eBay of Japan) for a measly 16,800 yen ($200) but I’ve read that you can’t even use them for Wi-Fi due to the SIM / carrier lock issue. I need to look into this!
