News
Japan's SoftBank Announces Gundam HD Video Phone
posted on by Egan Loo
Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: The Japanese mobile phone service provider SoftBank has announced on Tuesday that it will release a limited-edition phone to mark the 30th anniversary of the first plastic model kit from Sunrise's Gundam robot anime franchise. The SoftBank 945SH G Ver.GP30th phone follows in the footsteps of the 913SH G Type-Char Zaku phone that was released in Japan in December of 2007.
The 945SH G phone will bundle a 180-millimeter-tall, 1/100-scale plastic model kit of the first Gundam mobile suit robot. According to SoftBank, this kit will only be available with the phone, and it will be the first Gundam plastic model with an internal metal frame. The model's custom catapult display base will double as the phone's charger.
The phone itself is capable of recording high-definition (1280x720-pixel) video, although the phone only has a 854x480-pixel main screen. Users can customize the phone with a battery cover modeled after the Gundam's shield and exclusive decals. SoftBank will pre-install original Gundam content on the phone, such as images for the standby/menu screens and ringtones.
SoftBank will begin taking reservations on the phone in its physical stores and its website on Wednesday. The phone will begin shipping in the middle of September.
Image © Sotsu/Sunrise
Update: The video archive of SoftBank's 2010 Summer phone lineup event is now available in English. The Gundam phone announcement begins at the 1:07:50 mark.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history