Mobile TV on the SHARP SH906iTV

Japan's Digital TV standard for mobile devices launched alongside many global standards in 2006 and became a staple in almost every mobile device until 2020. In Japan and some other countries the service is known as 1Seg, part of the ISDB family of terrestrial digital TV broadcasts. The first device to feature this service with a 90-degree cycloid screen was the Sharp 905SH, released in 2006 on Vodafone Japan which would become SoftBank in the same year.

Today, we're looking at the Sharp SH906iTV, part of the NTT Docomo network which launched in the summer of 200. This phone continues the tradition of cycloid displays on Docomo, a feature present since the Sharp 903iTV.

As there are two Sharp 906 devices on the network. The "iTV" suffix refers to its screen type, not its 1Seg capability, as the SH906i also supports 1Seg with a standard 2-axis rotating screen.

Let's talk features. The SH906iTV boasts a larger 3.3-inch WVGA ASV LCD with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Osaifu-Keitai NFC Mobile Wallet, and media playback with microSD card support. It also offers the typical NTT Docomo services like iChannel, Push-to-Talk (PTT), music and video streaming, ringtone downloads, and more.

For optimal 1Seg reception, the phone includes an extendable antenna, designed solely for TV viewing via terrestrial services, not the internet. It's Worldwing 3G and GSM enabled, supporting HSDPA 850/2100MHz and triband GSM frequencies.

A standout feature of the SH906iTV, like other Sharp 9-Series phones, is the TOUCHCRUISER: a touch-sensor in the keypad that lets users navigate the screen with a pointer. It's particularly handy for web browsing.

Running on Symbian OS, this phone is technically “smart,” but games and other non-native apps must be downloaded as i-Appli, built on Java via DoJa instead of J2ME.