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Editors' note: The original story incorrectly stated that Motorola is planning to build an Android set-top box for KDDI in Japan, based on reports from the Web site Android Guys. To avoid confusion, the story has been removed. Please click here to see the appropriate information regarding Motorola's set-top box.

CHIBA, Japan--Sony has an entire wall of its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs set up here at Ceatec 2008, but in contrast with past gadget shows, it's not the only company showing off OLED prototypes.

Panasonic may have said earlier this week that OLED is still far from becoming a mass-produced mainstream technology for use in big-screen TVs, but other electronics makers are plowing ahead with their own research on the organic, thin film technology: NEC, Sony, and KDDI showed off what they've been doing with OLED in their research labs.

Sony, of course, continues to press ahead its … Read more

CHIBA, Japan--If the concepts on display at Ceatec are any indication, completely deconstructing the traditional form factor of the mobile phone is one of the next major phases of design and development research.

Japan has one of the most robust mobile phone cultures anywhere, and it shows here on the second day of the show. Sharp, Fujitsu, NTT DoCoMo, and KDDI each had intriguing takes on the next form factor for devices used not just for mobile communication, but watching videos, playing games, and performing mobile navigation.

Take the necklace on the right. It alerts the wearer when there's a call or a message incoming. It's made by Fujitsu and, while it isn't an actual product, is indicative of how cell phones are thought of here: not just communication devices, but accessories made to fit neatly and inconspicuously into the daily routine.

Then there were a host of phones whose screens and keyboards pull apart to be used separately. The Fujitsu version shown below uses magnets to connect the two pieces in the desired configuration. NTT DoCoMo was demonstrating a similar concept.

But as far as futuristic, elegant design goes, KDDI was far and away the winner. The wireless company showed off beautiful designs, which are nowhere close to being reality, but show the aspirations it has for the cell phone. The Ply was part of its yearly Design Project. (Here's a picture of last year's version.)

Designed by Hideo Kambara, the Ply imagines the phone as a device with a series of layers. One layer is a pop-up projector, another is a slide-out keyboard, and another is a printer, a game controller, and so on. The ones on display here and shown further down the page are just papercraft renderings.

… Read more

Toshiba and KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator in Japan, have teamed up to squeeze a calorie counter and pedometer into a mobile phone.

The result? An unusual-looking mobile phone called the Sportia. Not only does this mobile looks "fat," its weird-looking buttons are almost too small to use. Furthermore, the directional buttons are placed on the left side of the phone instead of the usual top central position. The overall design is simple and unattractive, not what one would expect of normally fashion-conscious Japanese phones.

According to Softpedia, the Sportia will be available in mid-June, but only in … Read more

Johnny Carson lived by a golden rule of standup comedy: Quit while you're ahead. The longer you try to milk a routine, he'd say, the better the chances that you'll bomb.

If only companies would take that advice. Case in point: Like others, we thought Au's candy-colored "Infobar" phones looked good enough to eat--and that's where it should have stopped. Instead, according to OhGizmo, it's been paired with a retro-looking line of Nikes in coordinated hues.

We realize that Nike has a thing about incorporating technology into its wares--shoes in particular--but … Read more