iPhone Hysteria

[FG Lurker]

Does the Blackberry have a docomo.ne.jp address?
Does the Wilcomm?

The Blackberry is a business-users phone that is almost always linked to an Exchange Server for push mail purposes. I have no idea about the Wilcomm phone -- do they actually have any customers? I have two HTC phones (X01HT and X02HT) and both support push mail via the Softbank network with all the expected features.

[quote="GomiGirl"]Actually, what they may do is have a special pop mail system set up under the yahoo mail system but have the domain mimic a softbank.ne.jp address. Missing would be the emoji I would suspect, but some clever person may develop it as an app for download via the apps store. ]
Missing would be push support. People use their email here like a chat client, sending messages back and forth in rapid succession. A POP client that checks every few minutes is going piss people off to no end.

I'd like to see the iPhone do well here but it is going to be a flop until Apple realizes that they need to cater to the needs of the Japanese market. A cookie-cutter solution isn't going to cut it.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Softbank announces Japan prices for iPhone

Softbank, the carrier that won the coveted right to sell the iPhone in Japan, said Monday it will sell for 23,040 yen -- comparable to the marked down U.S. price for the hit gadget. Japan will be among the overseas nations awaiting the global rollout of a new version of the iPhone promised for July 11. That will mark the iPhone's debut in this nation reputed as loving gadgets, including Apple products such as the iPod portable digital-music player. Tokyo-based Softbank Corp., Japan's No. 3 mobile phone company, said people will get a discount in their mobile phone bills that will calculate to their paying 23,040 yen for Apple Inc.'s iPhone over two years. Whether the announced price will be seen as a discount by Japanese gadget fans is still unclear.

For years, some mobile phones were practically given away for free as carriers were eager to win market share and earn revenue through phone fees. But recently, as the market here saturates, mobile phones have gone up in price, and the more sophisticated ones can cost about 50,000 yen. Cheaper models are still also available. Softbank spokesman Daisuke Muranaga said the iPhone Japan price was comparable to other high-end mobile phones at the carrier. Apple has given the U.S. price at US$199 for the 8-gigabyte iPhone and US$299 for the 16-gigabyte version. Analysts say that compares favorably to rival products.

In Japan, the 16-gigabyte version will cost 34,560 yen, although consumers won't be buying the phone outright but with the payment being combined with discounts for the fees. Apple says it has sold about 6 million iPhones so far this year, and has a goal of selling 10 million. The new iPhone is going on sale in more than 20 countries, including Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Hong Kong. Softbank has been on aggressive push to gain market share from rivals NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp. by slashing prices and airing catchy ads as those starring Cameron Diaz. Signing with Apple on the iPhone is a major coup for Softbank.

Japan has long had high-speed Internet-connecting mobile phones, which give restaurant searches, e-mail, electronic shopping, novel and comic book downloads and other services. Nearly all Japanese mobile phones come with digital cameras, which can also take short video clips. The latest ones also have digital TV broadcast reception, which the iPhone will not have.

[Caustic Saint]

34,560 isn't too bad. It's about $328 at the current rates and works out to 1,440 a month over 2 years.

I guess we just need to know if the leaked pricing plans are real, and whether or not the 16gb version will be out on the 11th, or later in the month.

[maraboutslim]

[quote="FG Lurker"]
Missing would be push support. People use their email here like a chat client, sending messages back and forth in rapid succession. A POP client that checks every few minutes is going piss people off to no end.

I'd like to see the iPhone do well here but it is going to be a flop until Apple realizes that they need to cater to the needs of the Japanese market. A cookie-cutter solution isn't going to cut it. ]

In the USA, email will automatically check every 15min, but it seems you can force it to check more often than that (every time I select the mail account, it logs on and checks: i check two pop accounts, a yahoo, and a gmail account with my iphone). But when we really want to "send messages back and forth in rapid succession", we use text messaging instead of email.

[Iraira]

Women with long nails speak out against iPhone design
Most people either love or hate the iPhone's touch screen, and based on a report on the LA Times, women with long fingernails are among the haters. Why? Well, since the iPhone's touchscreen only responds to electrical charges emitted by your bare fingertips, women with long nails are left out in the cold. A woman interviewed for the article went so far as to suggest Apple was being misogynistic because it did not include a stylus for women and didn't consider womens' fingers and nails when designing the phone.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/29052

[canman]

My thoughts exactly Iraira. All the Koda Kumi's of Japan won't be able to send those vacuous emails they are constantly sending to each other. So there is a whole target market lost to apple already.

[GomiGirl]

Hot gossip from the mobile tech forums - DoCoMo staff were informed today that DoCoMo have signed with Apple for an iPhone release. Current roadmap is for an Autumn release in time for Christmas but many are suggesting this may happen earlier.

This is just rumour at this stage.

[Mulboyne]

[YT]WQUiXQP5tu8[/YT]

Tokyo Mango posted this video of Japanese input on the iphone.

[Charles]

[YT]WQUiXQP5tu8[/YT]

Tokyo Mango posted this video of Japanese input on the iphone.

The new IME looks great, can't wait to get the new software update when this is available for the original iPhone. I've seen pics of a kanji IME that uses your fingertip to draw the character, there is a rumor that Apple bought a company that makes this type of IME.

I thought I'd resurrect my own pic of the original iPhone's kanji IME, from earlier in this thread. There was no kana input that I could find, just romaji.

[FG Lurker]

In the USA, email will automatically check every 15min, but it seems you can force it to check more often than that (every time I select the mail account, it logs on and checks: i check two pop accounts, a yahoo, and a gmail account with my iphone).

Yes, that's great if you want to use your iPhone as a normal email client. For normal email users it is a better solution than any standard Japanese phone.

The point is though that it is not push and it is not MMS. Both of these are key features in the Japanese market and if they are not on the iPhone I think Apple is going to lose a lot of potential sales.

But when we really want to "send messages back and forth in rapid succession", we use text messaging instead of email.

You mean SMS? The iPhone does support that but at only 80 double-byte characters per message it isn't exactly useful for any sort of real communication.

I'm not anti-iPhone or anti-Apple. I would like to see the iPhone do well here and I hope that Apple does what it needs to do to make that happen.

[IkemenTommy]

[Caustic Saint]

[Taro Toporific]

Survey: 29% of Japanese Consider Switching Carriers to Use iPhone
July 4, 2008 -- TechOn Nikkeibp.co.jp/
Kakaku.com Inc, which runs the "Kakaku.com" price comparison portal for home appliances and other items, carried out a survey on Apple Inc's "iPhone" mobile phone to be shortly launched in Japan July 11, 2008.....

[American Oyaji]

Ya know, on one of the daily news shows, they were comparing the iPhone with phones from other carriers and in typical Japanese fashion, they were playing up the other phones and how their features were good for Japanese users.

[Caustic Saint]

5 more days!

Softbank finally has a real page up for the iPhone, rather than just linking to the Apple site. It's all in Japanese and they've got nothing on their English site aside from press releases.

There are a couple community sites, both called "iPhone in Japan."

The first is a blogspot page that's tracking all the information as it trickles out.

The other is a mini social network site dedicated to sharing info and exchanging plans for how to score an iPhone on day one.

Unfortunately I may not be able to snag one on Friday. The Softbank shop near me opens at 10am, but I won't be able to get there until 2 in the afternoon.

(Of course, if the rumors are true and there are only 8GB phones at launch, it won't matter anyways, as I want a white, 16GB model.)

[GomiGirl]

I had heard today (from a reliable source) that the large stores such as Bic Camera and Yodabashi camera were only getting 500 units each. Plus the large Softbank stores are only gettng 100 units each - the smaller ones are not getting any. This is as this shipment was air freight.

So unless you are already on a waiting list, it is doubtful that you will get one on Friday anyway.

The next big shipment (funabin) is on the water now and will be here in a few weeks.

[Catoneinutica]

Ya know, on one of the daily news shows, they were comparing the iPhone with phones from other carriers and in typical Japanese fashion, they were playing up the other phones and how their features were good for Japanese users.

No surprise there, but no amount of J-wishful thinking will overcome the fact that the Second Coming of Steve Jobs at Apple has consigned pretty much every J-electro-doodad to the dustbin of DASAI-osity. Look, for example, at all the sad attempts by Sony et al at copying the MacBook Air.

[Charles]

No surprise there, but no amount of J-wishful thinking will overcome the fact that the Second Coming of Steve Jobs at Apple has consigned pretty much every J-electro-doodad to the dustbin of DASAI-osity. Look, for example, at all the sad attempts by Sony et al at copying the MacBook Air.

Oh what's even worse is the me-too imitation iPhones, like the LG Dare and the Samsung Instinct. They're crap.

[Adhesive]

I was thinking about getting this new iPhone but does anyone know if you can use any type of stylus? I don't see how I'd ever be able to draw kanji with my finger-tips, which means I couldn't use the device as a translater like my Treo.

[American Oyaji]

I think if Apple could figure out a method for gyaru to use the phone with their crazy long fingernails, then they could reap a king's ransom out of Japan.

Otherwise...

[CrankyBastard]

The iPhone can't possibly hope to compete in Japan, it doesn't have an anchor spot to attach all that dumb dangly crap on a strap

[halfnip]

I think if Apple could figure out a method for gyaru to use the phone with their crazy long fingernails, then they could reap a king's ransom out of Japan.

Otherwise...

Sounds like a business opp to me.... Hmmm, I just got a few ideas (runs to the bank)!

[Baka Chan]

The iPhone can't possibly hope to compete in Japan, it doesn't have an anchor spot to attach all that dumb dangly crap on a strap

[GomiGirl]

The iPhone can't possibly hope to compete in Japan, it doesn't have an anchor spot to attach all that dumb dangly crap on a strap

Sure but look at all the real estate on the back for sticking on bling crap.

[CrankyBastard]

Sounds like a business opp to me.... Hmmm, I just got a few ideas (runs to the bank)!

Um, when you get back from the bank you might want to check this out

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/07/03/new_apple_touch_patents_show_body_part_sensing_fingernail_input.html

[Kuang_Grade]

The iPhone can't possibly hope to compete in Japan, it doesn't have an anchor spot to attach all that dumb dangly crap on a strap

I had been hoping for hardpoint for a strap on the new version, although there are a few of silcon skins and cases that can have straps attached to but they are not as secure as a proper hardpoint.

And non finger touch input device could be appealing to both the gyaru and men with fat/blunt fingers

[ichigo partygirl]

Vodafone here in NZ announced today the handsets would be selling at only NZ$199 which is well under what apple priced them at. I am horrified to think what the plans are going to cost and we won't even be able to use 100% of the features. I'm thinking that waiting untill i come back to Japan early next year will be cheaper.

[Caustic Saint]

I saw this posted in the window of my nearest Softbank shop today:



Rough translation:

"You want an iPhone? Good luck with that."

[GomiGirl]

Another company we work with has hired people to stand in lines as of today. They are running shifts of uni students to stand in line to make sure they get some of the few iPhones that are coming out from noon on Friday.

They are spending a fortune as these kids have to be fed and have hotels when they are not in line for their "shift".

I really hope these devices are going to be good... the Mac fans here are a hard lot to please.

[GomiGirl]

Word from the street - aready more than a dozen people in line outside the Softbank store in Omote Sando. This is TUESDAY!!! Noon FRIDAY is the scheduled release.

Will take some snaps if I can.