SoftBank Mobile's "Honey Bee 101K", released on January 27, is an Android smartphone that is mainly conscious of high school girls, including its design, user interface (UI), and body color variations.
Speaking of Honey Bee, it is a familiar terminal as a colorful and pop design PHS.The first "HONEY BEE (WX331K)" was released in February 2008, and in November of the same year, the second generation "Honey Bee 2 (WX331KC)" equipped with a camera appeared.
The third generation "HONEY BEE 3 (WX333K)" released in November 2009, about one year later, is a model that emphasizes "self -portrait" with 350,000 pixel CMOS on the out camera and in -camera.In February 2010, the "Honey Bee Box", which focused on the first folding type and illumination function, was added to the lineup.And the latest model "Honey Bee 4" (released in December 2010) is also popular as a PHS that can use WILLCOM's "Fixed amount" by WILLCOM.There is.
There are several other limited and derivative models in the HONEY BEE series.And they were all in line with the WILLCOM strategy, "The second and third mobile phones for calls."
The tide of brands that were popular with feature phones revived and reprinted on smartphones, but is Honey Bee really the same?We asked Mr. Nozomi Yokota of the Second Marketing Division of the Kyocera Communication Equipment Division, which was in charge of the development of HONEY BEE 101K, Mutsumi Urushihata, and Takayuki Sato of the Marketing Department Design Center.
製品企画を担当いた京セラの横田氏Although the introduction has become longer, Honey Bee has a strong image of a cute design calling mobile phone.From a smartphone, also known as a high -performance mobile phone, it is a product that is a little distance.Mr. Yokota says that the reason for making Honey Bee a smartphone was "a big boost from users to use a smartphone."
"Because of the development of Honey Bee, we are conducting a survey of needs, mainly for high school girls who are users.The interest in touch -operated mobile phones is getting bigger. The number of opportunities to see it has increased due to rapid spread, and it seems that the existence of smartphones has spread to high school girls. "(Yokota).
As seniors and adults around me have changed to a "touch operation mobile phone", the fashion -sensitive girls are not interested in smartphones overflowing in the city.However, it was not to change their mobile phone into a smartphone.The reason is quite clear.
"As part of the survey mentioned earlier, when I tried various smartphones, such as popular models of other companies, I did not want to have it because it was" uncle -like "and" not cute ".The design is bad or not cool. It's not cute, so it doesn't seem to be "our own belongings" "(Mr. Yokota)
「HONEY BEE 101K」のホワイトピンクAlthough smartphones have become widespread, it is undeniable that there is still an image of some people.Many smartphones have advanced designs like props in science fiction movies, and details are minimal to emphasize simplicity.It is good for the geek layer who is interested in smartphones early on and the business base that seeks the processing capacity close to a PC, but of course young women are shunned.So what kind of design should I do?
"It's" cute ". Cute, cute, kawaii ... It seems that the nuances change in the same word, but I don't want to have it if it's not cute anyway.Let's make it a smartphone -that's the start of development "(Mr. Yokota)
When making Honey Bee into a smartphone, the size of the terminal became important along with the design.Honey Bee 101K is about 3.A 5 -inch wide VGA (480 x 800 pixel) touch panel is used, and the body width is about 56 mm, which is quite thin.This is because he was particular about one -handed operation.
"Assuming a transfer from the feature phone, it is extremely important that it can be operated with one hand. The smartphone display is more than 4 inches, but this is big for high school girls.I am particular about the size "(Mr. Yokota)
Of course, even high school girls should have a bigger display, but there is no point in "mobile phones" in the size of a good idea.The size of the touch panel that can display sufficient information as a smartphone while emphasizing operation was selected.And various interfaces are devised so that not only is it smaller but also one hand can be operated comfortably.The first thing you can see at a glance is the number of hard keys.Mr. Urushikabata, who was in charge of the hardware design, explains:
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