NTT DoCoMo unveiled today Raku-Raku PHONE Basic, the newest handset in the Raku-Raku PHONE series for people interested primarily in user-friendly handsets equipped with basic functions.

Special features include "Slow Voice", which improves comprehensibility through embedded software that slows the other person's voice speed, and "Clear Voice" noise-detection, which automatically adjusts voice and ringtone volume according to surrounding noise level. Enhanced "Read Aloud" audibly announces the name of the caller or e-mail sender and provides audio readouts of i-mode pages, while "Simple Mail Generation" offers preset messages for quick replies to e-mails.

The Raku-Raku PHONE Basic is compatible with i-channel, DoCoMo's push-based service for automatically delivering news and other information as telop text on standby screens, and the text can be displayed in extra-large letters for easy reading. The "Raku-Raku iMenu" within the iMenu site, created specifically for the Raku-Raku PHONE family, is an easy-to-view menu that aids navigation. In addition, the handset functions as a pedometer, can measure the distance the user has walked and also calculates calorie consumption.

DoCoMo plans to market the new handset from April.