Photo report: Japan's KDDI au presents new designer brand for cell phones (iida)

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Friday, April 10th, 2009

iida

KDDI, Japan’s second biggest mobile phone carrier, currently showcases a number of cell phone design prototypes (and a working one) in their five-floor Design Studio [JP] in central Tokyo (where I went today). The cell phones (and peripheral devices) are part of the so-called iida brand [JP], which is supposed to be focused on the development of unusual handsets only.

KDDI as a whole is well-known in Japan for their penchant for outlandish cell phones. We saw a number of their weird hardware prototypes (developed for the so-called KDDI Design Project) showcased live in the KDDI showroom in Tokyo and during the CEATEC exhibition last year. But the pieces made under the umbrella of iida, which stands for innovation/imagination/design/art, look even weirder.

iida_0

KDDI au held a press conference on Tuesday [JP], introducing a handful of these handsets. I took pictures of all of them, which you can see below. They were designed by avant-garde artists Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitaka Mukae.

[PSGallery=1smrpxv2105]

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