The first Symbian OS 3G smartphone is to start shipping to NTT DoCoMo. Made by Fujitsu the F2051 FOMA phone is also the first Symbian OS handset designed specifically for the Japanese market, incorporating a jointly developed "wholly new user interface" (what, the Japanese language?).

No pricing yet but quite a lot of spec - still and movie camera, email, colour TFT screen,"advanced PIM applications", support for Java Archive (JAR) apps. Symbian says the Fujitsu phone will start shipping "shortly" for NTT Docomo FOMA network subscribers.

DoCoMo is also taking on 3G phones from Matsushita and NEC. All are characterised by longer battery life than its current 3G round-up, running for "170 to 180 hours in standby mode before needing a recharge, up from 125 hours in its last model, from Toshiba Corp, and 55 hours in earlier models", Reuters reports.

DoCoMo is held up as the great success story for flogging mobile data services to consumers, but the same cannot yet be said for its FOMA 3G offering. So far just 150,000 people have signed up. ®

Press release: DoCoMo Introduces 3 New FOMA Models