For the third time this year, NTT DoCoMo is to recall iMode mobile handsets for repair.

On this occassion 100,000 units of the Panasonic "Digital Mova P503i HYPER" iMode phone are being recalled, with stock in the channel suspended for ten days for a software fix.

The phone will not receive incoming calls or emails intermittently, DoCoMo said in an advisory, which you can read here.

Two months ago, DoCoMo recalled 420,000 Sony iMode phones, and in February 100,000 phones manufactured by Hitachi, Ericsson, Sony and Japan Radio were hauled back in for a fix.

iMode contributed to 7 per cent of the giant Japanese telco's revenue in the past year, the company said in May. ®