3G iPhone in Japan?

keyboard and felica

about the keyboard, they just released an update within the iphone 2.0 beta which addressed my concerns with the keyboard being too small to be useful. still haven't used it, but if it's the same size as the normal english keyboard, with a kana keyboard thrown in, my size concerns are alayed... now if the conversion type is taken care of... (sentence by sentence and not word by word...)

also, the thing about felica, that is just something thrown into phones which half the people use and half the people don't even know what it is... I have so many friends who have gotten new phones or even had them for a couple months and suddenly say "oh wow, i didn't know my phone could show tv..." (almost all phones come with sattelite 'oneseg' standard now...)
felica is the same, except almost no smartphone out now, microsoft based(htc, sharp) nor nokia based has a felica chip, tv, or can use the features usually included on ALL OTHER NORMAL JAPANESE PHONES.

Thing is, this does not doom these phones, instead, people buy them because they have their own merits and the type of people who buy these phones want the features they offer instead of just because they have a long list of features that they probably won't use.
In regards to the phone, not only will it have the flexibility of a smartphone (with the 2.0 update), but it will also have apple usability and association with the ipod which will take it beyond the normal 'smartphone crowd, far beyond...

Ipod, easy to use typing, mailing system (Japan must be push or no go, even softbank's microsoft phones got a special push program installed on them. why not exchange, don't ask me... ), bad-ass internet browser, and beautiful colorful screen... WINNER...

I've just come back from Japan yesterday and the Apple obsession there is absolutely huge. its funny to go somewhere like Yodobashi or Bic camera and see the melee around the iPods and the crickets chirping around all the other mp3 players. How it must gall Sony to see Apple so comprehensively kicking their ass in their own back yard.

Based on the Apple love out there I can only assume when a 3g iPhone comes out over there its going to be huge.

it approacheth

The buzz here in Japan was that Softbank already had a deal, and have just been ironing out the details... which probably include various network/roaming issues, as well as things like Japanese conversion and predictive text (not to mention the all-important emoji -- much farther-ranging than smilies). "This year" was all I could get out of a friend who works at Softbank. Also apparently delayed by all the effort put into Softbank's recent DisneyPhone release (Yawn).
The Japanese Mac community forums are regularly full of speculations... but I'm not sure how well it would compete in the regular phone market (not that it really needs to, at the price), seeing as a lot of Japanese use their phones INSTEAD OF, rather than as auxiliary to, a computer. Also lacking things like IC-compatibility for train passes and keitai-saifu "cell-phone-wallet" point-of-sale money transfers may make it difficult to sell -- except to the Mac'ers, who will buy it for the same reason they buy Apple products in general: because they're so freaking slick.

If the Japanese handwriting-identification comes through, I'll be sold. I'll change providers if it's not in fact Softbank.

Rumor has it that Apple talked to all three carriers. However, Apple's pricing model is not compatible with the Japanese mindset if you will, so that is delaying the release in Japan. However, I've been told not to expect anything before January. Hopefully this will change.

An engineering buddy mentioned that some DoCoMo only code (API type) has been found in the iPhone. If true, that would indicate DoCoMo is favored -- well at least when the code was written.

Of course, the rumorville is rather robust these days so who knows.

My bet is still on DoCoMo.

BiginJapan said:

The buzz here in Japan was that Softbank already had a deal, and have just been ironing out the details...

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That is the complete opposite of what the 日本人 are saying at school. They say DoCoMo.

Like sushi, I also say DoCoMo (they have the most foreign phone brands I think).

Damn. I hate docomo.

yoyo5280 said:

That is the complete opposite of what the 日本人 are saying at school. They say DoCoMo.

Like sushi, I also say DoCoMo (they have the most foreign phone brands I think).

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No offense, but unless your Japanese schoolmates have part time jobs in the Japanese telecom industry I doubt very much that what they believe holds much more weight one way or the other than our very own speculations in here.

Damn. I hate docomo.

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No arguments here.

SaSaSushi said:

No offense, but unless your Japanese schoolmates have part time jobs in the Japanese telecom industry I doubt very much that what they believe holds much more weight one way or the other than our very own speculations in here.

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Your right, however im just curious about how the least techy/ apple hating ones knew about it. I think it must have been published in a mag or something.

yoyo5280 said:

Your right, however im just curious about how the least techy/ apple hating ones knew about it. I think it must have been published in a mag or something.

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Well that definitely could be, Yoyo, and tbh, like you, I have this sinking feeling in my gut that it will end up being DoCoMo as well. If that
is the case, I will never own an iPhone in Japan.

That might push me over the edge towards getting an iPod Touch though.

It might be a good thing, it being on DoCoMo. Im afraid that if I get one I will accidentally scratch/dent it.

Maybe ill just get a Softbank 911T and load it up with iPhone themes.

SoftBank on top

Just heard some news tonight that adds weight to SoftBank getting the iPhone. After announcing financial results NTT DoCoMo announced that that they will be carrying the Prada iPhone wannabe. I doubt very much that you'd find the iPhone and the Prada in the same stable....

waddaya think ?

JapanScott said:

Just heard some news tonight that adds weight to SoftBank getting the iPhone. After announcing financial results NTT DoCoMo announced that that they will be carrying the Prada iPhone wannabe. I doubt very much that you'd find the iPhone and the Prada in the same stable....

waddaya think ?

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Yep, it's true: Here is an English source for the story.

I completely agree it highly unlikely that Apple would go with NTT if they are carrying the Prada because as you said its definitely an iPhone ripoff.

It could be a preemptive strike on some backroom deal between Softbank and Apple OR a breakdown/walkout in the NTT-Apple iPhone negotiations.

But you never know. The bit in that story about the Prada's being slated for sale primarily in Prada stores and not NTT retail outlets is concerning. If its that low profile (and high end) Apple might not give a toss.

I've got my finger crossed anyway.

All these announcements from carriers on every continent and still nothing from one of the largest markets in the world.

You know this from experience ?

Judging from Apple's less than desirable text conversion in Mac OS X, this is not likely to be found.

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I wonder, do you actually use a Mac running OS X for actually inputing Japanese ? I use OS X daily and have no problems inputing Japanese text (other than the fact I will be 'still' learning for a long time). My wife however IS Japanese and obviously knows the language. I have NEVER heard her complain about Japanese text input.

I agree with JapanScott. I use Mac OS X input for Japanese all the time. Unfortunately my work computer is a godforsaken Windoze piece of crap, and I infinitely prefer the Mac's input conversion. I have a number of Japanese Mac-using friends, and none of them have anything bad to say about the input, either (I'm non-native).

The only thing that's a drawback with the Mac is that there's no version of Babylon available for it, nor is there any really comparable software available (unless someone can correct me on that!?). But this seems to be drifting off thread-topic, doesn't it?

Well, here's a new bit of rumor, by way of AppleInsider:

Telecoms Korea is reporting that NTT DoCoMo is in talks with Korea Telecom Freetel about a joint launch of the iPhone in both Japan and Korea. Don't know if there's any truth to this, but it's the first time I've heard Japan mentioned in connection with the iPhone in a while ...

Guess I'm the only Gaijin that wants DoCoMo to get the iPhone, I live in the countryside and DoCoMo's Mova is the only thing that gets any reception here.
I'd Get rid of my complicated cell phone in a minute for a simple to use device. There is a big Mova antenna near my house.

This particular gaijin doesn't care which company brings the iPhone to Japan, I just want it here! I'm on Softbank now (have been since it was J-Phone, lo, those many years ago), and I've been happy with their service and especially their rates, but I'll happily switch providers to have an iPhone (currently carrying a cell phone, iPod, and beloved-but-currently-on-its-last-legs PDA... )

Wirelessly posted (iTouch 1.1.4 (pWN'd + JB'd): Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

BiginJapan said:

This particular gaijin doesn't care which company brings the iPhone to Japan, I just want it here! I'm on Softbank now (have been since it was J-Phone, lo, those many years ago), and I've been happy with their service and especially their rates, but I'll happily switch providers to have an iPhone (currently carrying a cell phone, iPod, and beloved-but-currently-on-its-last-legs PDA... )

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I think I'm beginning to agree with you - DoCoMo or Softbank, I don't really care as long as we get the damn phone! I'm tired of using this plastic POS Sharp mobile and would love to be able to have my Touch's internet functionality while out and about. Bring it on, DoCoMo, Softbank, whoever!

More evidence of a Docomo iPhone:

Rumor: Simultaneous iPhone 2.0 release for Korea, Japan

And if that is the case it will still most definitely be a deal breaker for me ever getting one. Nothing could get me to switch to NTT. It would probably get me to stop putting off buying an iPod Touch though.

SaSaSushi said:

More evidence of a Docomo iPhone:

Rumor: Simultaneous iPhone 2.0 release for Korea, Japan

And if that is the case it will still most definitely be a deal breaker for me ever getting one. Nothing could get me to switch to NTT. It would probably get me to stop putting off buying an iPod Touch though.

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Yeah, they link to the same article I linked to in my post ...

But seriously, Apple seems to be influencing package/tariff/rate plans with each carrier - I'm hoping that even if they go with DoCoMo (which which will certainly garner more respect from the Japanese public, BTW) they might be able to get NTT to commit to less highway-robbery-ish pricing for us iPhone people.

yoyo5280 said:

It might be a good thing, it being on DoCoMo. Im afraid that if I get one I will accidentally scratch/dent it.

Maybe ill just get a Softbank 911T and load it up with iPhone themes.

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I don't recomment 911T. The interface is sluggish and reception is pretty bad.

I'm guessing it's going to be DoCoMo here. They recently changed their company logo just for the iPhone.

I really want FeliCa support though. I have gotten used to not having to carry my wallet around just to go to the convience store.

makku said:

I don't recomment 911T. The interface is sluggish and reception is pretty bad.

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Thanks for the tip I am going for the N73. cheaper then the iPhone will ever be.


Still, I am really disappointed that it looks like docomo. Docomo is dying and its just a matter of time until softbank takes over in the countryside.

mavis said:

Yeah, they link to the same article I linked to in my post ...

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Well, actually they link to Fortune Magazine which I now see links to your Telecoms Korea article.

But seriously, Apple seems to be influencing package/tariff/rate plans with each carrier - I'm hoping that even if they go with DoCoMo (which which will certainly garner more respect from the Japanese public, BTW) they might be able to get NTT to commit to less highway-robbery-ish pricing for us iPhone people.

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Well it's not just the outrageous NTT fees that are a showstopper for me but the massive discounts I have accrued with J-Phone->Vodafone->Softbank over the course of my nearly 8 years with them. I'm on a plan where the rates drop annually.

I actually hardly use my cellphone at all, making/receiving less than a few calls each week. It would be more of a web surfing/e-mail device for me. I probably should just be considering an iPod Touch anyway.

For those of you actually considering switching carriers to NTT in the event of a DoCoMo iPhone though I do hope they seriously drop prices for you.

I don't really care which carrier release iPhone in Japan. I use au/KDDI and there's absolutely no talk about au.
I'm also worried that if I have to have a Japanese account on iTunes to activate the iPhone when it's realesed in Japan because I have a US account.
I'll just get 3G iPhone from US and jailbreak and unlock it and put my au chip (SIM card) in it. I just hope that it's compatible with au's CDMA system.

mavis said:

I think I'm beginning to agree with you - DoCoMo or Softbank, I don't really care as long as we get the damn phone! I'm tired of using this plastic POS Sharp mobile and would love to be able to have my Touch's internet functionality while out and about. Bring it on, DoCoMo, Softbank, whoever!

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Word. Do you not have any mobile internet connectivity with the Touch? Can't you use WiFi hotspots and such, or aren't they reasonably available?
(I've yet to see one model on the Japanese market that wasn't at heart a POS. They're essentially disposable.)

kungfumaster007 said:

I'll just get 3G iPhone from US and jailbreak and unlock it and put my au chip (SIM card) in it. I just hope that it's compatible with au's CDMA system.

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If that were possible, I think I'd probably know someone who'd done it already... But knock yourself out -- and let us know how it goes!

yoyo5280 said:

Thanks for the tip I am going for the N73. cheaper then the iPhone will ever be.

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... and kick yourself repeatedly and vigorously for settling for that when the iPhone DOES come out, because that's what you REALLY wanted? Don't say I didn't warn you...