King Jim Revamps 'pomera' Mobile Input Device

Nov 25, 2009 21:54 Motonobu Kawai, Nikkei Microdevices

King Jim Co Ltd will release a new model of the "pomera," a mobile device dedicated to inputting characters, Dec 11, 2009, in Japan.

Aimed at writers including bloggers and reporters, the new model, "DM20," features a larger number of characters that can be input and a larger LCD panel than its predecessor. It is priced at ¥34,650 (approx US$395), and the sales goal for the first year is 50,000 units.

The number of characters that can be input increased from 8,000 two-byte characters x 6 files to 28,000 two-byte characters x 1,000 files.

"We thought that the previous model had a large enough number but received many complaints from its users," King Jim said. "We believe that the new model will satisfy them."

The size of the monochrome TFT LCD panel increased from 4 inches to 5 inches, enlarging the area of the panel by about 1.5 times. Though the power consumption of the panel increased, the new model has a battery life of 20 hours, which is the same as that of the previous model, because of the new power supply components and circuit designs, according to the company.

Furthermore, the DM20 has functions to convert up to 3,200 characters to a QR code (for mobile phones), to automatically insert line feeds at a preset number of characters, to display the total number of lines, to manage up to five layers of folders, etc.

The previous model, the DM10, was released in November 2008. And about 90,000 units have been sold since then. King Jim expects that the sales figure will reach 100,000 within 2009. About 84.5% of its users are male, and users in their 40s and 50s respectively account for about 30%.

For the future, the company plans to expand the line of the pomera for new users.

"For example, we are planning to improve the color, design and fonts for female users so that they can purchase the pomera like sundries," King Jim said.

The company has already been asked to supply the pomera as an OEM product by a general store. Also, it is considering connecting the pomera to devices including those developed by other companies and selling the pamera in overseas markets.

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