Tokyo - Mobile phone operator Softbank said on Tuesday it
would soon begin selling smartphones with radiation detectors, tapping into
concerns that atomic hotspots remain along Japan's eastern coast more than a
year after the Fukushima crisis.
Parts of northeastern Japan are still off-limits due to high
radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear plant was devastated by a huge
earthquake and tsunami, triggering meltdowns and spewing radiation.
Anti-nuclear sentiment is high, with advocacy groups in
Tokyo and other cities calling for radiation monitoring at schools and other
public facilities.
"The threat from the nuclear accident cannot be seen by
the human eye and continues to be a concern for many people, especially for
mothers with small children," said Softbank founder and president,
Masayoshi Son, standing in front of an aerial photo of the crippled plant.
The smartphone in the company's "Pantone" series
will come in eight bright colours and include customised IC chips made by Sharp
that measure radiation levels in microsieverts per hour.
The phone, which goes on sale this winter, can also keep
track of each location a user tests for radiation levels.
Son, who emerged as an outspoken critic of nuclear power and
advocate of renewable energy sources after last year's quake, told vendors and
reporters that the smartphone was more portable and user-friendly than
conventional Geiger counters.
Softbank, Japan's No 3 mobile phone operator, has not set a
price on the new smartphone yet, but Son told reporters after the event that it
would be in an affordable price range.