For those who feel a bit lonely just talking on the phone, a Japanese company is offering a cellphone that turns into a robot buddy ready to chat.

    Softbank Mobile Corp.'s new mobile line looks like a small humanoid with attachable arms and legs, with the screen showing various faces.

    The PhoneBraver will be released in April after a character in an upcoming television drama series entitled "Cellphone Investigator 7."

    The telephone comes with enough artificial intelligence to learn the user's habits.

    If the user calls a particular person many times, a text phrase such as "You're calling her often these days, aren't you?" might appear coming out of the face's mouth, according to Softbank Mobile spokesman Katsuhide Furuya.

    The user could carry on conversations with the phone by responding "yes" or "no" or with other simple replies.

    "We haven't decided on specifics yet on the communication between the user and mobile, but your mobile would grow into a buddy different from others that is unique in the world," he said.

    The PhoneBraver does not move by itself but can strike a pose with movable joints. The price is not disclosed yet.

    Japan is known for its fondness for humanoids, which have been put to use as security guards, receptionists and for other functions in a country with a declining birth rate.

    Japan also has cutthroat competition in mobile telephones, with three main companies constantly trying to find new incentives to snare users.

    The number of cellphone subscriptions topped 100 million in Japan at the end of December against the nation's total population of 127 million, according to industry data.

    覺得一個人打手機(jī)有點(diǎn)孤單的人現(xiàn)在不用發(fā)愁了，日本一家公司將推出一款能陪主人“聊天”的機(jī)器人手機(jī)。

    軟銀移動公司推出的這款新型手機(jī)外形像個小機(jī)器人，有胳膊有腿，屏幕上還能顯示各種不同的面部表情。

    這款“PhoneBraver”手機(jī)將于四月份面世，它得名于即將播出的電視連續(xù)劇《手機(jī)調(diào)查者7號》中的一個角色。

    這款手機(jī)應(yīng)用了大量的人工智能，能夠了解用戶的習(xí)慣。

    據(jù)軟銀移動公司發(fā)言人本木誠章介紹，如果用戶多次呼叫某一特定對象，“機(jī)器人”的嘴里（顯示在屏幕上）可能就會冒出“最近你是不是老給她打電話？”此類的話語。

    用戶可以用“是”、“否”或其他一些簡單的回答與手機(jī)交流。

    他說：“用戶與手機(jī)交流的一些細(xì)節(jié)問題還未確定，但這款手機(jī)的與眾不同之處在于，它可以成為你的伙伴，這在世界上是獨(dú)一無二的。”

    PhoneBraver手機(jī)自己不能移動，但由于它的關(guān)節(jié)可以活動，所以能夠擺出各種不同的姿勢。目前，這款手機(jī)的價格還未公布。

    日本一直以對機(jī)器人情有獨(dú)鐘而聞名。日本的出生率持續(xù)下降，機(jī)器人已被應(yīng)用于保安、接待及其他一些崗位。

    日本手機(jī)行業(yè)的競爭也很激烈，國內(nèi)三大運(yùn)營商為了吸引用戶一直在努力尋求新的策略。

    日本共有1.27億人口。據(jù)業(yè)內(nèi)統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，截至去年12月底，日本的手機(jī)用戶數(shù)量已超過1億。