NTT Docomo is Japan’s largest cell phone service provider right now, and everyone gets excited when the biggest announces plans for upgrades and expansions to its network and phone choices. The changes to be excited about are 12 new devices, sold through Docomo, and a network addition: Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE).
The carrier put up a new couple of pages on its website today, announcing the addition of 12 new devices in what they called the “2014 Summer Feature Lineup”. The lineup includes modern flagship phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2, as well as the Xperia A2 smartphone and Z2 Tablet. Docomo also bring some of Sharp’s products into the family with the Aquos Pad and Aquos Zeta, while also bringing its own devices, like the F-07F and sH-07F flip phones, and the Easy Smartphone 3 (F-06F).
These devices look to update and spice up Docomo’s lineup for this summer, with these devices coming to the carrier between late May and August. The big names like Samsung and Sony will doubtlessly please customers, and for those with less of need for a smartphone, the flip and easy-smartphones are perfect choices. But what about those VoLTE expansion details?
Yes, NTT Docomo is introducing Voice-over-LTE this Summer. Select devices from Docomo’s Summer 2014 Feature Lineup will be capable to take advantage of video calls over the cellular data network with the opportunity to browse the Internet while doing so. The Xperia Z2 and Z2 Tablet, Galaxy S5, Aquos Zeta and Pad, and Arrows NZ devices will compatible with this new VoLTE introduction from their respective launches. Also worth noting is that Docomo will be offering free data to utilize the VoLTE service until September of 2015.
For, reference, Voice-over-LTE is a relatively new technique of technology. It uses the 4G network, which was previously and up until the development of VoLTE used expressly for data. It sends voice as a ‘packet’ of data, and the network treats that packet just like a normal data-only packet, and sends it along the network to the receiving end as usual. The VoLTE service also will support HD voice and video calls, to other VoLTE-equipped and -capable devices. The biggest change to come with the emergence of more VoLTE services is the direct challenge to services like Skype and FaceTime. Regardless, VoLTE from NTT Docomo on its new devices will doubtlessly please customers, and VoLTE as a whole has a large future ahead of it.