Even though most of this week's announcements have come from IFA 2017, Sharp decided to strike out on its own by making its big reveal in Shanghai. At that event, Sharp announced the launch of its new 8K AQUOS TV. Though this is technically a global roll out, the regions in which the AQUOS 8K TV is launching are limited to just four for now.
The iPhone 8 may have its notch, and the Essential Phone its front camera cut-out, but Sharp is exploring some seriously unusual shapes for its latest panels. The company brought its latest IGZO free-form displays along to IFA 2017 to demonstrate that, at this point, square is pretty passé. Targeting mobile devices, smart home gadgets, and car dashboards, the new screens promise tiny bezels along with their odd shapes.
The iPhone 8, Galaxy S8 (and Galaxy Note 8), Essential Phone, and Mi Mix (and 2) have a bit of competition in the Sharp AQUOS S2. This phone has a full-faced display, with minimal bezels, and a forward-facing camera set in its forehead. It also has a pair of cameras on its back lined up vertically, and a set of odd colors in casings to choose from. It's as if Sharp saw the playbook for every major smartphone brand and said, "yes, let's do ALL of this."
While we're looking to either Sony or OnePlus to bring the next smartphone powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, we might have overlooked one potential candidate. Granted, Sharp isn't exactly a common name in the smartphone market outside of Japan. So when it comes out with something like the AQUOS R, it's hard not to take notice. While not as glamorous as an LG G6 or Samsung Galaxy S8, the Sharp AQUOS R still packs top-tier hardware and throws in its own AI-assistant and a rather strange charging dock to go along with it.
This week the Nokia P1 has been teased right on the heels of the announcement of the Nokia 6. The latter device is the real deal - the former isn't yet confirmed as a real device. Sources suggest that the Nokia P1 will utilize company connections to base its design on the Sharp Aquos Xx3. As such, the images you see in this article are literally of the Sharp Aquos Xx3, as it was when it was introduced last year.
An iPhone with a curved OLED display could arrive as early as next year, according to new reports. Apple is apparently asking its display suppliers - which include companies like LG Display, Sharp, and Japan Display - to ramp up production of OLED panels, according to sources close to the matter. We've heard that Apple wants to deliver a knock-out for iPhone's 10th anniversary, and shipping a model with a curved OLED could be part of that strategy.
A new Star Wars movie is coming out soon, so that means lots of tie-in merchandise. And few countries love big-name brands and media properties more than Japan. Put the two together and it means Japan is getting exclusive Star Wars-themed smartphones in celebration of the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Apple's iPhone 8 details appear (well before release date) at a talk with Sharp CEO Jeng-wu Tai. This event occurred over the weekend at at Tatung University and, at first, seemed innocuous enough. Speaking about displays isn't off-topic for Sharp's CEO, but revealing Apple's future is. A switch by Apple from LCD to OLED would be a big move, especially since it'd be the first major update to iPhone displays in years.
If there were still any doubt that Apple will be ditching LCD for OLED for its future iPhones, then Tai Jeng-wu has just dispelled them. The man, after all, is the president of Sharp and an executive at Foxconn, who now owns Sharp, both companies deeply involved in the production of the iPhone. Apple’s transition in display technologies is just one of the expected strategies that will spark more interest, and therefore more sales, in the iPhone, after Apple reported its first ever sales slump since 2001.
Back in 2014, Google launched the Android One program as a sort of mix between Nexus and Google Play Edition devices meant for emerging markets. In a nutshell, that meant OEMs have more freedom to design smartphones to their liking while still getting the software and update benefits of a Nexus. While originally intended for emerging markets, like India for example, it seems that it has now outgrown that limitation. Japan, which is hardly an emerging market, has just gotten its first, and so far only, Android One device, the Sharp 507SH.
Sharp one-upped just about every other smartphone two years ago when it debuted the Aquos Crystal, a device with almost nonexistent bezels on three sides. Now the Japanese phone maker is back with a smaller version: the Aquos Mini SH-M03. With dimensions measuring 126 x 66 x 9mm, it manages to fit a 4.7-inch display, the same size as the iPhone 6s' screen.
It’s a robot and a phone, and it’s called RoBoHon. No, it’s not a mobile phone in the shape of a robot — it’s an actual walking robotic that happens to be small enough to carry around with you while out and about, never mind how eccentric you’ll look holding a humanoid robot against your head. RoBoHoN is particularly focused on hands-free control, featuring a projector, speaker, and camera, among other things.
