DoCoMo's Phones Offer Motion-sensing

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s biggest wireless operator, on Monday unveiled a new mobile phone equipped with a motion sensor that lets users play games like the popular Nintendo Wii console.

With DoCoMo’s D904i, made by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., users can swing the handset like a tennis racket or wield it like sword to control game play, instead of punching on the keypad.

To lure more game fans, the Japanese operator also introduced two other phones, made by Sharp Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial, which uses a camera to detect motion.

Games are among the most popular contents downloaded onto mobile phones in Japan, where most of the users are signed up to so-called third-generation (3G) networks that allow fast and interactive data communications.

The operator unveiled a total of five handsets as its new 904i flagship series on Monday, which will start becoming available in Japan from May.

Also, all the 904i phones comes with a new option that offers users a second phone number and e-mail address for a monthly fee of 945 yen ($7.96).

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The service, for example, allows customers to use one number for work, and the other for private occasions on the same handset.

Earlier this year, DoCoMo, which caters to 54 percent of Japan’s mobile phone users, introduced a phone that features a touch-sensitive screen and a model that gives off a relaxing scent.