NTT DoCoMo announced the launch of new Conran-branded mobile phone by late June/early July in Japan. This is NTT DoCoMo ‚s first candy-bar shaped mobile phone in two years. The phone and graphic elements of the GUI are designed by Studio Conran, manufactured by LG and branded under the Conran name. In Japan, arguably the most technologically advanced mobile phone market in the world, the Conran phone is positioned as a lifestyle phone and is aimed at 20-40 year old design conscious men and women. The Conran phone is characterised by a 176-degree angle which echoes the natural contour of the human face. It wraps gracefully and gently in the hand and on the face when making calls and rests comfortably in pockets. The deliberately slender candy-bar profile, measuring just 11mm thin, is radically different from the flip phones most often seen in Japan.
The phone will be available in three colours chosen to appeal to Japanese consumer sensibilities: sleek gender-neutral black and red bodies with black faces through to a more feminine brown body with a pale face. The phone measures 132mm x 49mm x 11mm and weigh 100 grams. Television commercials will be run by LG in Japan to support the launch later this summer. With a long heritage in product design and branding, Studio Conran‚s work focuses on improving quality of life through ingenious solutions to modern problems. Current and past clients include Nigella Lawson, Nissan, Sealine, John Lewis, Royal Doulton and Virgin Atlantic.
