Continuing with the extra large superphone trend that led to phablets like the Galaxy Note II and LG Intuition, the HTC J Butterfly also has more to offer than just its super-sized Super LCD 3 display. Under the hood is a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor (1.5GHz), a full two gigs of RAM, 16GB internal storage, microSD expansion, 2020mAh battery, Wi-Fi tethering for up to 8 devices, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, HDMI out, and BEATS audio. It also ships with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box, overlaid with HTC Sense 4+.

The camera on the back looks like it’s going to be really good too, following in the footsteps of the flagship HTC One X superphone. There’s an 8MP CMOS shooter back there with a wide F2.0 aperture for better low-light performance. There’s also a front-facing 2MP camera for video chats and self portraits. All of this is housed in a phablet that’s just 9.1mm thick and 140 grams.

That’s all good news, except it comes with one giant caveat. It appears that the J Butterfly is being offered exclusively in Japan via KDDI. It’ll use their 4G LTE network that is capable of download speeds of up to 75Mbps. HTC might offer a variant to other markets eventually, but the Japanese model will ship in early December in your choice of black, white or red.

[Source]

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Toshiba Light Pool phone with 22 triangular LEDs

When things blink and flash they are cool, when they are in a particular sequence with multiple colors and sound, they are rad. You could say the same for the KDDI Light Pool clamshell phone. On the outside, you’ll see a total of twenty-two LEDs in the shape of triangular windows arranged in a criss-crossing grid-like pattern. These LEDs are meant to display a touch of personality, lighting up in 100 different patterns sequenced with music. Patterns can indicate an incoming call, email, or whatever you prefer.  The lights and sounds “rongupureimodo” were created by filmmaker Masakatsu Takagi.

Going through the specs and feature set, however, you’ll find that this phone isn’t exactly anything to write home about. The Light Pool has a 3.2-inch VGA TFT display, 8MP autofocus, Bluetooth, GPS, and a microSDHC expansion slot.  Expect Toshiba handset to launch with KDDI at the end of this month in your choice of pink, black, or white.

[MobileCrunch via Impress]

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