What's a decent alternative to a Blackberry in Japan?

[kamome]

I'm looking into wireless devices that will help me connect to my office's Outlook server and do some basic work-related tasks similar to what a Blackberry does in the States.

Can anybody who is familiar with wireless technology give me some advice?

[GomiGirl]

Do you need it to synch in Japanese? The solutions are pretty poor for synching double byte contact names etc - there is no issues with ASCII..

But.. the pocket PC range of PDA's are not too bad. Ipaq etc. Some have pretty chunky form factors though.. Pocket PC is designed to work with Windows so you will have fewer problems that with another OS.. sure they will work but you may need some tweaking and I doubt that you are keen to play so much (given your non-geek sensibilities)

I haven't tried it myself, but I hear the HP isn't too bad. Haven't kept up to date with the latest models..

But make sure you look at one with Bluetooth as well as a cable options.

Also one that has built in WiFi and/or can take a WiFi card.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

A raspberry? :P

[GomiGirl]

[kamome]

[cstaylor]

Damn drug dealer lawyers... get a laptop like everyone else!

[GomiGirl]

What about Sony Clie and PalmPilot, etc.?

You are joking with me aren't you? OK a new Sony Clie I could let you get away with but a PalmPilot in 2004 - are you NUTS???

But the underlying chipset and OS are dinosaurs!!

Palm OS is dead.. they have lost market share hand over fist and have restructured . But they haven't had a new idea for a long time. If the Clie wasn't supporting the platform with all the multimedia bells and whistles that only Sony can offer, Palm would be dying a very ugly death by now. Palm pulled out of Japan years ago as the writing was on the wall even then.

Palm had a great form factor when they first came out and they were cheap. But in terms of features and functions they really were a glorified organisers - not much use outside the office for real office work.

What do you really want to do? Run powerpoint presentations or perhaps check some figures and emails when you are on the road?

My suggestion - get a great mobile phone and hook up with some of the services that let you check your work emails while you are on the run.

If you must run Excel and Word, get a Pocket PC. If you need Japanese, get a Clie. I am happy to go shopping with you if you like. I love spending other people's money at geek shops!!

Don't tell me you are still carrying around that horrendous Word Tank too?

[kamome]

What about Sony Clie and PalmPilot, etc.?

Hey, you're talking to one of the true NON-GEEKs on FG! I don't know about this stuff!

But going window shopping sounds intriguing. We'll have to set something up soon.

[GomiGirl]

What about Sony Clie and PalmPilot, etc.?

Hey, you're talking to one of the true NON-GEEKs on FG! I don't know about this stuff!

But going window shopping sounds intriguing. We'll have to set something up soon.

Anytime my friend. You know how to find me!!

[cstaylor]

Just make sure we don't have a meeting with a customer on the same night.

[GomiGirl]

Just make sure we don't have a meeting with a customer on the same night.

Double

m(_._)m

[kamome]

Just make sure we don't have a meeting with a customer on the same night.

Good point.

[omae mona]

GG (or any other gadget gurus) (speaking of which, I just realized GG is also an abbrevation for Gadget Guru) -

Do any of the combinations you've recommended have the capability of picking up email in real time? And in particular, will they vibrate in my pocket? (I need non-stop stimulation)

I am dying of i-mode packet charges by cc'ing all my incoming mail to my docomo phone, and that's just to read the first 500 bytes!!

[kamome]

GG (or any other gadget gurus) (speaking of which, I just realized GG is also an abbrevation for Gadget Guru) -

Do any of the combinations you've recommended have the capability of picking up email in real time? And in particular, will they vibrate in my pocket? (I need non-stop stimulation)

I am dying of i-mode packet charges by cc'ing all my incoming mail to my docomo phone, and that's just to read the first 500 bytes!!

This is precisely why I'm looking for a Blackberry-type device in Japan. I need an always-on connection that will access Outlook at my office as if I were sitting right there. And running MS applications is also a necessity. GG makes it sound like pocket PC's are the only way to go.

[cstaylor]

Don't forget the Air-H to go with the pocket PC.

[GomiGirl]

Nooper
(English version)


It is not really in real time but it is pretty close to it, but you can set it up to log into your mail server and send you and email when you get emails that you want arrive into your mail server.

A few things though: you have to know how to be able to access your mail server.. ie the server name, address etc. Also, set up who you want to know has emailed you.. ie your favourite meru-tomo's This weeds out all the rubbish and only sends you a summary of who has emailed you and the subject line. Then, you can click through and open the emails that you want to read.

This will only be text based as Nooper are pretty cluey and have run everything via their compressions engines and strip out all the white space and graphics. But if people are sending heavy HTML emails or large attachments, it is not that great.

This will save you a bucket load in packets but also keep you informed of your important emails. I used it alot when I was on a major project last year and the emails were all being sent in the wee small hours so I wasn't surprised when I showed up to work the next day.

You can also use this to check your Hotmail and Yahoo.jp mail accounts as well.

Nooper is sensational. They are some very smart guys. Check out all their other alerts as well. Oh plus it is free to use Nooper.

They now have a Web-based version.

These guys get the Gomi 5-Star mobile rating!!

[Taro Toporific]

What about Sony Clie and PalmPilot, etc.?

You are joking with me aren't you? OK a new Sony Clie I could let you get away with but a PalmPilot in 2004

Via the KAKYOU'S WORLD DOMINATION DIARY/ April 02, 2004

Palm is Dead in Japan
....PalmOne has dropped support for Japan.
The webpage is still up in a skeleton mode, but no product informtion nor sales information is anywhere on the site.
One wonders with Palm dropping Japan and Mac support if Sony will continue supporting PalmOS on the Clie line....

[Mulboyne]

One Blackberry-like device in Japan might soon be...the Blackberry.

Reuters: Research In Motion to launch BlackBerry in Japan

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile phone company, will start selling Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices this fall, RIM said on Thursday. The highly anticipated market entry comes on the heels of RIM's announcement last month that it was rolling out service in the massive market of mainland China with China Mobile Ltd. The devices will be marketed to DoCoMo's corporate customers, RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie told Reuters in an interview. "It's a big market because there's such a large corporate presence, both foreign multinationals in Japan and Japanese multinationals that operate abroad," Balsillie said. He declined to provide RIM's subscriber expectations for Japan, but said the Waterloo, Ontario-based company will provide some guidance when its next financial results are released on June 29. BlackBerries to be sold in Japan will operate on both W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS networks and will be usable around the world for voice and data communications, the company said.

[kamome]

One Blackberry-like device in Japan might soon be...the Blackberry.

Reuters: Research In Motion to launch BlackBerry in Japan

About 3 years too late, but whatever.

[emperor]

finally being released

[GomiGirl]

Check the link guys - this will support browsing in Japanese but NOT INPUT!!! This is an email client!! No japanese input.. so they are really wanting this product to fail miserably.

Methinks they need help from GomiGirl!!!

[Mulboyne]

[GomiGirl]

I love Daniel Skuka - he looks past all the hype and gets to the truth of the matter!! He is what tech journos should aspire to be like.. Besides that he is a hell of a great guy.

So this is very silly to launch in Japan without Japanese input and it is basically just an email client... ho hum!! Somebody tried to tell me once that Blackberrys were the holy grails of holy grails.. honestly.. it is just simple enough that the average person on the street can use and priced at a point where it hit mass market. If the mobile phones were half way decent in the US then they would never have had a shot...

[mr. sparkle]

This just cracks me up. How can companies as savvy as these make such a huge mistake to roll out devices that don't even accept the Japanese language within Japan? What idiots.

It's almost as if RIM never has traveled to Japan to see just how pervasive the use of cell phones is for most ALL consumer computing needs. Many consumers don't even bother getting a PC (or even a laptop) because they can do everything they want on the keitei.

If the mobile phones were half way decent in the US then they would never have had a shot...

Probably the most salient point. I'm just so jealous of the functionality of Japanese keiteis.

[Jack]

DoCoMo will be launching the Blackberry in Japan soon complete with enterprise server and so forth. You will be able to get the same Blackberry service we get in North America. I think September is the launch date.

[cstaylor]

Jack, Japan has had FOMA devices for years that act like the Blackberry... they're just uglier.

What is *really* needed, coming from a programmer's perspective, is a 802.11b/g or WIMAX compatible portable device like the Danger's HipTop or the BlackBerry. The closest thing in that space that I've seen is the Pocket@i NEC handhelds, and they're for factory instead of corporate use.

Speaking of DoCoMo, I wish they'd get with the program and make their software kits MIDP compliant (J2ME).

[GomiGirl]

Jack, Japan has had FOMA devices for years that act like the Blackberry... they're just uglier.

Exactly right CS.. I wish somebody could explain to me what is so good about blackberry technology.. email push - big deal as CS said, we have had it for years on our cell phones. Web browsing.. same again.

IMHO it is just another (unnecessary) device to carry around in my already bulging handbag.

CS I belive that the E series Nokia devices that have just been announced have this.. or is it the communicator series? I can't remember. But keyboard, wifi, wCDMA, J2ME.

Unfortunately DoCoMo does what it wants.

[omae mona]

Exactly right CS.. I wish somebody could explain to me what is so good about blackberry technology.. email push - big deal as CS said, we have had it for years on our cell phones.

The allure of Blackberry for me (I've never had one) is the two-way synchronization with a mail server. If you switch between an office and mobile setting, and if you want to be able to file, delete, and flag messages from either location, then it's a drag just to get copies delivered to your mobile. You need to remember what you did (or want to do) with your messages when you return to the office.

Anybody know if there are there mobile devices in Japan that have IMAP clients or similar built in? That would keep me happy.

[kamome]

I'm glued to my Blackberry (or as it's sometimes known - my "Crackberry") for the reason that Omae Mona says. It is very convenient to have all email synced through the Enterprise Server. But I find that a Blackberry's other features are less than functional; reading email attachments on them is not a very good experience and the web browsing is slow with few sites built for viewing.

[cstaylor]

CS I belive that the E series Nokia devices that have just been announced have this.. or is it the communicator series? I can't remember. But keyboard, wifi, wCDMA, J2ME.

Any recommendations on where I can get one? Do they sell them for the Japanese market? I'd only be using them at a customer location on their internal network.