Fujitsu Japan has developed the F-01A [JP], the world’s first cell phone that’s waterproof and also features a security function utilizing fingerprint biometrics. In Nippon, it’s part of the line-up of NTT DoCoMo, the country’s biggest telecommunications company.
The fingerprint technology is developed by AuthenTec, a provider of fingerprint sensors and solutions. The Symbian-based F-01A comes with a 3.2-inch VGA display (touchscreen), a 5.2-Mpixel camera with autofocus function, GPS (it also displays Google Street View images), a One-Seg digital TV tuner, an e-wallet function and microSDTM／microSDH slots. Users can use it underwater for about 30 minutes in up to one meter.
The Fujitsu phone is already on sale in Japan where it’s available as part of DoCoMo’s PRIME series since November last year. But for some reason AuthenTec waited a long time to make the collaboration with Fujitsu official.