Motorola's smartphone for Japan

Well, we knew Nokia was angling for a return to the Japanese market, and now Motorola is getting in on the act too. They've inked an agreement with NTT DoCoMo to provide a dual FOMA/GSM/GPRS phone targeted at corporate users that should be out in spring next year. It'll be PDA-sized and (so the speculation goes) powered by either Symbian or Linux, and will include Bluetooth and wireless LAN (probably 802.11b, as it will be usable with DoCoMo's public hotspot network). It will also be able to connect via an ISP and browse regular websites, where current DoCoMo handsets are tied to i-mode and sites developed for phones. Pricing will be at a premium to the Y30,000 or so that most 3G FOMA phones go for. They also describe it as the first FOMA phone to be usable outside Japan, which is odd given recent news about NEC's imminent-looking N900iG worldphone.

[NTT DoCoMo press release]

[Crossposted to Engadget]