Sharp Provides AQUOS Crystal Smartphones in Japan and the U.S.

Sharp Corporation is making its AQUOS Crystal smartphone available to two major telecommunications companies: SoftBank Mobile Corporation in Japan and Sprint Corporation in the United States. SoftBank Mobile, headquartered in Minato Ward, Tokyo, is led by Masayoshi Son; while Sprint, headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, is led by Marcelo Claure. Developed specifically for SoftBank Mobile and Sprint, the "AQUOS Crystal" will be available in Japan on August 29, 2014 and the US soon. This device will be available to Sprint customers as well as two of Sprint's no-contract brands, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA. Sharp will also be providing the "AQUOS Crystal X" in Japan, planned to be available in late Q4 2014 to SoftBank Mobile.

Lineup and Availability

• Note: Specifications and the release dates are subject to change.

Key Features

1. AQUOS Crystal (for US & Japan market)

Crystal Display with approx. 5.0 inch edge-to-edge HD LCD screen and Crystal Sound featuring high-quality audio technologies, together in a compact and slim body.

• • The Crystal Display is a "frameless" LCD screen that incorporates two of Sharp's innovations: a thin-bezel LCD panel and a technology that uses the optical lens effect on the front panel of the device to eliminate the edges. With these two innovations, the Sharp AQUOS Crystal breakthrough mobile design revolutionizes a near-frameless structure which minimizes the size of the handset's frame^*1.

Sectional view (image)

• • The compact AQUOS Crystal is approximately 67 mm wide, with approx. 5.0 inch HD (1280X720) S-CG Silicon LCD.
• • Featuring harman/kardon audio technologies , Clari-Fi ^TM and LiveStage^TM , AQUOS Crystal delivers enhanced digital sound quality through headphones or external speakers.
• • Exclusively developed to enhance share-ability, the Clip Now feature takes screenshots from the AQUOS Crystal with one simple swipe. The screenshots will be taken and saved into the Clip Now folder with a single swipe on the top edge of the display, including an embedded URL if browsing a webpage.

2. AQUOS Crystal X (for Japan market only)

Larger screen, with approx. 5.5 inch Full HD LCD with Crystal Display and Crystal Sound

• • Frameless Crystal Display features approx. 5.5 inch full HD (1920X1080) S-CG Silicon LCD.
• • Supports new VoLTE (Voice over LTE) service in Japan.
• • Featuring harman/kardon audio technologies, Clari-Fi ^TM and LiveStage^TM, AQUOS Crystal X delivers enhanced digital sound quality through headphones or external speakers.
• • Grip Magic, a unique feature that automatically lights up the display with notifications and time when the user "grips" the device.
• • Exclusively developed to enhance share-ability, the Clip Now feature takes screenshots from the AQUOS Crystal X with one simple swipe. The screenshots will be taken and saved into the Clip Now folder with a single swipe on the top edge of the display, including an embedded URL if browsing a webpage.

• Note: Specifications are subject to change.

• *1 The "frame" means the edge of the screen, which is surrounding casing.

• • SoftBank, the SoftBank equivalent in Japanese, and the SoftBank logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SoftBank Corporation in Japan and other countries.
• • AQUOS, the AQUOS logo, AQUOS Crystal, AQUOS Crystal X, CG Silicon, Grip Magic, and Clip Now are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sharp Corporation.
• • LiveStage^™ and Clari-Fi^™ are trademarks of Harman International Industries, Incorporated. harman/ kardon^® is a registered trademark and trademark of Harman International Industries, Incorporated.