3G iPhone in Japan?

[mavis]

How long did the activation progress end up taking?

One hour and twenty-five minutes.

No kidding. And the manager told me I was actually easier than he expected most Japanese customers to be, because I had already done my research and was familiar with all the fine print. He said Japanese customers would likely require a lot more explanation than I did. Part of the problem was that he had to fill out forms in triplicate (seriously, I had to answer THREE times that I understood I would need a Mac or Windows PC running iTunes 7.7, etc) ... Complete and utter waste of time for all parties involved.

Whatever. It's done now and I can get on with my life.

 

[macdigger]

Congrats. Aren't you lucky!

Just out of curiosity, what part of Nagoya are talking about? I'm wondering if everyone's already sold out in my area.

Anyway, be sure to thank your wife. I asked my girlfriend to do that and she was down right offended that I had the temerity to ask. On top of that, she's even free all day as she's on a 7 month sabbatical from work.

My wife will receive very tasty cakes today

I got my iPhone in Seto area (east of Nagoya).

That's a shame your GF couldn't get you one! But contract processing is really strict, so may be it's better you go yourself..

My wife even had to visit local municipal office and get some papers proving that we are actually married so that we can use the family discount service!! Just how bloody f**ked up approach is that?? We were on family discount for several years already and they have everything in their bloody records!!

Hope you'll get one for yourself soon!

 

[zentraedi]

Seto, huh? lol, I was gonna check there since that's where my girlfriend lives. I was gonna either check around here (Nakagawa-ku/Minato-ku) or later today when I head out to Seto.

Oh well, if I don't get one today, it's not the end of the world. Still, I gotta wonder about Gifu. If I could pick one up out there tomorrow at some inaka shop, it would be a great little birthday present for myself.

 

[MacbookSwitcher]

Anyway, be sure to thank your wife. I asked my girlfriend to do that and she was down right offended that I had the temerity to ask. On top of that, she's even free all day as she's on a 7 month sabbatical from work.

You need to upgrade my friend. And I'm not talking about your phone

 

[AcrossThePond]

compatibility

Has anyone tried power the phone on minus its SIM? is softbank going to hardcode it or whatever to softbank network or SIM's? Any of you folks know if it should/will transfer to AT&T? there were some posts on this site a while ago stating that it would be locked to japanese service?

 

[Podgy]

taihen

Wow, what a day!
At the Softbank shop at 8:30. Got a ticket for an iPhone at 9:50.
Back at 12 and an hour and a half later got the iPhone!
The girl knew nothing and didnt even know she had to slide to power off...

So far this thing is amazing.

Oh and I avoided the passport thing then when she insisted(she was following the requirements leaflet) out came my passport. She opened a blank page then went on to setting up my phone! Obviously she didnt know what she was supposed to check in there...

Did I say the phone is amazing...?

Podgy

 

[WSwingley]

Congrats you guys on getting the phones!

So now all us second-rounders want to know... Anyone get a semi-accurate estimate of the second batch of phones?
I'm running to Sapporo station to hit the 3-4 Softbank shops there (which will most assuredly be sold out) and put in an order for a 16GB model.

I'll let you guys know later tonight if I have any new information.

 

[mavis]

Wow, what a day!
At the Softbank shop at 8:30. Got a ticket for an iPhone at 9:50.
Back at 12 and an hour and a half later got the iPhone!
The girl knew nothing and didnt even know she had to slide to power off...

So far this thing is amazing.

Oh and I avoided the passport thing then when she insisted(she was following the requirements leaflet) out came my passport. She opened a blank page then went on to setting up my phone! Obviously she didnt know what she was supposed to check in there...

Did I say the phone is amazing...?

Podgy

'grats, mate!

Don't forget to set up a Japanese iTMS account in addition to a US one - certain apps are only available in the US store, others in the Japan store. You can, however, sync apps purchased from BOTH accounts ...

 

[xenohawk]

Hey guys, anyone of you going to Omotesando?

I asked all the local shops on my place and they all have sold out. The only place left right now seems to be in Omotesando. I would have gone today, but due to work I can't. I pray that 16GB (with 1500 today, I'll doubt it) is still there, else it is still not the end of the world.

I guess the queue there tonight will be at peak due to off-work hours and weekend the next day.

 

[kashimo]

Totally cool!

I was thinking of going up to Gero (the closest Softbank store) and getting one but instead bought an Air Conditioning unit and will have a 2nd child in the spring...damn priorities.

I was reading the literature on the softbank website.

It seems like you cannot use a Softbank email address with the iPhone.
You cannot use "emocons" on the iPhone either.

This means that all my "phone only" contacts would be sending mail to my phone and my .mac/mobleme mail account.

More importantly when is Apple going to start TV shows and Movie sales/rental in Japan? That would be a huge sales point over music I think.

 

[alextokyo]

Hi Mavis,

Can you confirm that you were able to purchase the iphone for the two year subsidy without going through the whole "visa length requirement" that was mentioned earlier in the thread?

I am planning to get an iphone with my Japanese driver's license and am hoping they won't try to make me pay up front.

One hour and twenty-five minutes.

No kidding. And the manager told me I was actually easier than he expected most Japanese customers to be, because I had already done my research and was familiar with all the fine print. He said Japanese customers would likely require a lot more explanation than I did. Part of the problem was that he had to fill out forms in triplicate (seriously, I had to answer THREE times that I understood I would need a Mac or Windows PC running iTunes 7.7, etc) ... Complete and utter waste of time for all parties involved.

Whatever. It's done now and I can get on with my life.

 

[Podgy]

Gps?

Hey guys,
Has everyone gotten their iPhones to correctly locate?
So far no go.

Do I have to be outside?

Podgy.

 

[mavis]

Hey guys,
Has everyone gotten their iPhones to correctly locate?
So far no go.

Do I have to be outside?

Podgy.

Tried it outside. Didn't work.

I'll try it again tonight, just as soon as I'm done restoring for the second time.

The really lame part about restoring is that it takes the better part of an hour to do - and that's just settings and apps! No media whatsoever!!!!

 

[Podgy]

Weird. I wonder why....

BTW Why are you restoring?

P.

Tried it outside. Didn't work.

I'll try it again tonight, just as soon as I'm done restoring for the second time.

The really lame part about restoring is that it takes the better part of an hour to do - and that's just settings and apps! No media whatsoever!!!!

 

[mavis]

Weird. I wonder why....

BTW Why are you restoring?

P.

Well, let's see. The first time it locked up (stuck at the Apple logo) was when I canceled the iTunes backup (which was taking about thirty minutes) ... The second time was when I tried to install Shazam directly on the phone (rather than downloading on my Mac and syncing) ... HIGHLY annoying.

Oh and BTW, GPS definitely doesn't work for me. The AP News app crashes when I try to use GPS to determine my location, and Maps just does nothing.

You know, as anxious as we all have been for the iPhone 3G and the 2.0 software (especially me!!!!) it's fairly obvious that this launch was very premature. Nothing works. This iPhone 3G is slower than my Touch (loading menus, prefs, stuff like that) and to have had to restore TWICE in the first afternoon (with each restore taking HOURS to complete, including media) is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Bad, bad Apple.

 

[Noonzio]

Well, let's see. The first time it locked up (stuck at the Apple logo) was when I canceled the iTunes backup (which was taking about thirty minutes) ... The second time was when I tried to install Shazam directly on the phone (rather than downloading on my Mac and syncing) ... HIGHLY annoying.

Oh and BTW, GPS definitely doesn't work for me. The AP News app crashes when I try to use GPS to determine my location, and Maps just does nothing.

You know, as anxious as we all have been for the iPhone 3G and the 2.0 software (especially me!!!!) it's fairly obvious that this launch was very premature. Nothing works. This iPhone 3G is slower than my Touch (loading menus, prefs, stuff like that) and to have had to restore TWICE in the first afternoon (with each restore taking HOURS to complete, including media) is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Bad, bad Apple.

Bad Apple, Bad Softbank . . I guess the world is just against you?!

 

[mavis]

Bad Apple, Bad Softbank . . I guess the world is just against you?!

Certainly does seem that way sometimes.

Seriously though, I'm having big problems with this iPhone.

1) I cannot set up my MobileMe/.Mac account. It just doesn't work. I've tried using username@mac.com, username@me.com and just plain username - every time, I get a 'cannot connect to server' error, using both 3G and wifi.
2) Installing a 0.5MB app (Shazam) over 3G caused a complete lockup.
3) Almost every time I connect to iTunes, it takes about 10 minutes to backup my iPhone. Canceling this process caused my iPhone to lockup, requiring a restore.
4) GPS does not work in Maps. Trying to use GPS in AP News app causes that app to crash.

Maybe it's just me? I don't know. I've never had problems with my iMac or my iPod Touch, so I'm finding this whole experience highly frustrating.

 

[Podgy]

hang in there

Heya Maves,

I set up the mobile me in iTunes.
Just for the hell of it I clicked the check for update and DID get a carrier
details update but so far no go on the GPS.

Just got into the web side of mobile me. Looks good but .Mac is still
showing up as .Mac instead of Mobileme(in Macs Sys prefs)

P.

Certainly does seem that way sometimes.

Seriously though, I'm having big problems with this iPhone.

1) I cannot set up my MobileMe/.Mac account. It just doesn't work. I've tried using username@mac.com, username@me.com and just plain username - every time, I get a 'cannot connect to server' error, using both 3G and wifi.
2) Installing a 0.5MB app (Shazam) over 3G caused a complete lockup.
3) Almost every time I connect to iTunes, it takes about 10 minutes to backup my iPhone. Canceling this process caused my iPhone to lockup, requiring a restore.
4) GPS does not work in Maps. Trying to use GPS in AP News app causes that app to crash.

Maybe it's just me? I don't know. I've never had problems with my iMac or my iPod Touch, so I'm finding this whole experience highly frustrating.

 

[WSwingley]

Wow, sorry to hear about the problems you guys are having. I'd personally appreciate it very much if you can keep us all updated as to these issues. Makes rushing out to get one less appetizing.

Well, I did come on here to announce some success in my search, and an interesting note.

I visited my Yodobashi Softbank store and saw immediately that all "sign-up" counters were completely full. After my compulsory "dare ka eigo ga hanasemasu ka?", which gestured at one girl who was booked with a customer, I proceeded to ask about the phone in Japanese.

He immediately told me I couldn't get one today, but I could reserve one. "Muri" (impossible) on reserving a 16GB because they are apparently crazy rare at this point... weird. So I asked to reserve an 8GB and he passed me off to a super fast-talking sales manager guy.

I managed to catch questions about "what time" from the fast-talker and was surprised that he meant TOMORROW. He got me a #36 ticket and signed up my name. After seeing their time-block schedule I realized this reservation is for activation. So the interesting thing is that this Softbank is blocking everyone at least one hour to activate... so much for Apple's "15 minute activation", heh!

Anyway, I'll hopefully get my phone tomorrow unless Mavis' or Podgy's horror stories scare me away! Then wish me luck on not needing all of this crazy paperwork we've heard the stories about.

 

[mavis]

Heya Maves,

I set up the mobile me in iTunes.
Just for the hell of it I clicked the check for update and DID get a carrier
details update but so far no go on the GPS.

Just got into the web side of mobile me. Looks good but .Mac is still
showing up as .Mac instead of Mobileme(in Macs Sys prefs)

P.

Thanks mate.

I'm happy to say MobileMe is working now (finally!) ... Still no joy with the GPS though.

Also, I don't seem to have the "From" field in my Mail.app (as seen in the capture below) ... Do you have it, or know how to enable it?

 

[Podgy]

Yep its in the settings on the phone...

Thanks mate.

I'm happy to say MobileMe is working now (finally!) ... Still no joy with the GPS though.

Also, I don't seem to have the "From" field in my Mail.app (as seen in the capture below) ... Do you have it, or know how to enable it?

 

[mavis]

So the interesting thing is that this Softbank is blocking everyone at least one hour to activate... so much for Apple's "15 minute activation", heh!

Anyway, I'll hopefully get my phone tomorrow unless Mavis' or Podgy's horror stories scare me away! Then wish me luck on not needing all of this crazy paperwork we've heard the stories about.

Yeah, my activation took an hour and a half. And it was really straightforward as I already knew all of the details (I'd done my homework, heh) ... I guess part of the problem was having to fill out forms in triplicate, acknowledging that I would need a PC or Mac to sync the phone, that I wouldn't be able to use MMS, and that Softbank's IMAP servers will only hold my mail for a month.

But don't let my horror stories scare you. I'm still glad I got this thing!! I've been waiting 18 months to get my hands on an iPhone, and a little rough patch at the beginning is no problem. Having access to my email, no matter where I am? Priceless.

 

[mavis]

Yep its in the settings on the phone...

Really?

I don't mean to be dense, but ... I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Podgy]

LOL I was hoping you wouldnt say that!
OK...
iPhone settings then mail?
I dont recall manually setting mine but the from field is there.
Dig around the mail account perhaps.

Did you set up your Softbank mail addy yet?

P.

Really?

I don't mean to be dense, but ... I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[skippy911]

Have you guys heard anything through the grapevine over there in tokyo if the japanese iphone will work in the states or vice versa? I work in the Atlanta area now but will be moving to Tokyo next spring. I would like to just be able to use my US iphone 3G in japan, same hardware right?