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3G iPhone in Japan?
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Now, see? That's what I like to hear.Not yet, but getting close.
I don't know what part of Japan you're in, but when my wife wanted to upgrade to the 3GS last month, we were able to do so at the Omotesando store ...This is ridiculous. I've been trying to upgrade from a 3G to a 3GS, but every SoftBank store seems to say that they have the phones in stock for new contracts, but not for 機種変更
CDMA for iPhone?
I don't heard that iPhone will take a CDMA UIM chip, I don't think AT&T have a CDMA network in US.
I don't what telecom copr. in Japan, are they have CDMA network?
I am in China, there are three big company. They are China Telcom (For House-Phone, CDMA network and TDS-CDMA for 3G), China Unioncom (For GSM network and WCDMA for 3G), China Mobile Telecom (For GSM network and TDS-CDMA for 3G).
I don't heard that iPhone will take a CDMA UIM chip, I don't think AT&T have a CDMA network in US. I don't what telecom copr. in Japan, are they have CDMA network?
I am in China, there are three big company. They are China Telcom (For House-Phone, CDMA network and TDS-CDMA for 3G), China Unioncom (For GSM network and WCDMA for 3G), China Mobile Telecom (For GSM network and TDS-CDMA for 3G).
I don't what telecom copr. in Japan, are they have CDMA network?
I am in China, there are three big company. They are China Telcom (For House-Phone, CDMA network and TDS-CDMA for 3G), China Unioncom (For GSM network and WCDMA for 3G), China Mobile Telecom (For GSM network and TDS-CDMA for 3G).
China Telecom uses CDMA2000 and EVDO for 2G and 3G respectively.
Now, see? That's what I like to hear.
I don't know what part of Japan you're in, but when my wife wanted to upgrade to the 3GS last month, we were able to do so at the Omotesando store ...
I'm in Nagoya and no one seems to have it anymore. They said I'd have to go check at some "田舎" store.
This thread is more active than most others. So I will post my question here.
Has anyone been successful at setting up a flat rate data plan with Docomo and an unlocked iPhone (or a non Docomo branded phone for that matter)?
If so, please let me know if there are any tips or tricks I have to do. Right now, I have been using my iphone and Docomo for over a week now, but I just found out yesterday, that the Biz Hodai Double isn't capping my price at ¥5,985. In fact after just a week of using it, I have already racked up a ¥16,000 bill for data.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/611210/
I found this thread, there are people who claim to have done it, but no instructions.
Any thoughts, or other threads where you know people have answers, please let me know.
Has anyone been successful at setting up a flat rate data plan with Docomo and an unlocked iPhone (or a non Docomo branded phone for that matter)?
If so, please let me know if there are any tips or tricks I have to do. Right now, I have been using my iphone and Docomo for over a week now, but I just found out yesterday, that the Biz Hodai Double isn't capping my price at ¥5,985. In fact after just a week of using it, I have already racked up a ¥16,000 bill for data.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/611210/
I found this thread, there are people who claim to have done it, but no instructions.
Any thoughts, or other threads where you know people have answers, please let me know.
Japenese are very good in electronic and electrical devices as well as in mobile phones and this latest addition has become a great success, i read an article about a week ago about their success specially with the low cost
I have this question as well.
Been a DoCoMo customer for over 13 years. Don't want to give away my longevity discount.
I just found out something interesting this evening talking to a friend who has an iPhone with SoftBank. With DoCoMo, I have voice mail on the server. So if I have my DoCoMo phone off, I can still receive messages. Periodically, I can turn on my phone and see if there are any messages, then turn it off. Checking for my messages is free.
With SoftBank you pay the airtime to check your messages. So if someone leaves a detailed 3 minute message, with DoCoMo it's free but with SoftBank you pay 129 yen. If you receive many messages this can add up quickly.
Other friends have continued their cell phone use and then signed a new contract with SoftBank. They use the iPhone for data and their cell phone for calls. Seems like a hassle.
Anyhow, I will be curious to hear the answer to the question above.
You're charged to call 1416 to retrieve voicemail with SoftBank, but the iPhone's visual voicemail just uses your data allowance to download the messages to your phone.
Since I don't have an iPhone yet, would you please briefly explain how this works?
For example, if I have my iPhone turned off, and someone calls and leaves a message, how I would retrieve and listen to it.
TIA!
If your phone is off when a caller leaves a message, you simply turn the phone back on, open the phone app and wait for the message to download. You'll see the spinning activity indicator at the top. Once the messages are downloaded, you can listen to them as many times as you like. Downloading the message (the initial download) uses packet data and is covered by the packet data plan, in fact I just confirmed this with customer service.
You can also access voicemail using the traditional system VM access line: 0906651416 (no, that's not a typo - it's a shorter number than usual. From overseas it would be +81906651416) after which you would enter your mobile number + #, then your SoftBank account PIN + #. The initial prompts are in Japanese but once you've entered your PIN it will switch to English if you have set up your mailbox that way. I just tried this with Skype and can confirm it works.
If your phone is off when a caller leaves a message, you simply turn the phone back on, open the phone app and wait for the message to download. You'll see the spinning activity indicator at the top. Once the messages are downloaded, you can listen to them as many times as you like. Downloading the message (the initial download) uses packet data and is covered by the packet data plan, in fact I just confirmed this with customer service.
You can also access voicemail using the traditional system VM access line: 0906651416 (no, that's not a typo - it's a shorter number than usual. From overseas it would be +81906651416) after which you would enter your mobile number + #, then your SoftBank account PIN + #. The initial prompts are in Japanese but once you've entered your PIN it will switch to English if you have set up your mailbox that way. I just tried this with Skype and can confirm it works.
And to access visual voicemail, is it necessary to be subscribed to either Softbank's Voicemail service (315 yen/month) or the iPhone Basic Option Package (498 yen/month), correct?
Hey Guys,
Just a heads up. I just checked my Docomo bill and I have the cap set in place (finally).
So, right now, I have "unlimited 3G data" on Docomo. (Yes, the bill is high, ￥12800, for those of you who are wondering). But that is under the PC tethering cap, so for that price you can tether to your computer unlimted too!
Also, one nice thing about Docomo is that the 3G network is a less crowded, so I'm finally being able to enjoy a true high speed data link.
Just a heads up. I just checked my Docomo bill and I have the cap set in place (finally).
So, right now, I have "unlimited 3G data" on Docomo. (Yes, the bill is high, ￥12800, for those of you who are wondering). But that is under the PC tethering cap, so for that price you can tether to your computer unlimted too!
Also, one nice thing about Docomo is that the 3G network is a less crowded, so I'm finally being able to enjoy a true high speed data link.
Thanks for the info.If your phone is off when a caller leaves a message, you simply turn the phone back on, open the phone app and wait for the message to download. You'll see the spinning activity indicator at the top. Once the messages are downloaded, you can listen to them as many times as you like. Downloading the message (the initial download) uses packet data and is covered by the packet data plan, in fact I just confirmed this with customer service.
You can also access voicemail using the traditional system VM access line: 0906651416 (no, that's not a typo - it's a shorter number than usual. From overseas it would be +81906651416) after which you would enter your mobile number + #, then your SoftBank account PIN + #. The initial prompts are in Japanese but once you've entered your PIN it will switch to English if you have set up your mailbox that way. I just tried this with Skype and can confirm it works.
Can docomo be used on an iphone that hasn't been jailbroken and the like? It would be carrier unlocked from Aus.
How is the speed if you tether? Have you tested this?
Does anyone know if the Apple stores in Japan sell iPhones directly? I've heard that in other countries, the Apple store is much more likely to have the devices in stock.
I'm getting kind of tired of being dicked around by the SoftBank store and their policy of hoarding all new shipments for new contracts.
I'm getting kind of tired of being dicked around by the SoftBank store and their policy of hoarding all new shipments for new contracts.
MMS and SMS on the Softbank iPhone
Just a couple of things re MMS and SMS on the iPhone.
» In the US there is a lot of buzz now that AT&T announced that iPhone users can use MMS from Sept. 25, 2009. I'm aware that MMS already works on Softbank iPhones, but I was wondering, are there are problems/limitations with it? e.g. limits to text length and/or size of attachments.
» SMS - for those of you who may not have heard, the four Japanese carriers (docomo, AU, Softbank, eMobile) will be supporting SMS between each company (currently you can only "text" a phone on the same carrier). No official date yet.
- Short announcement on Nikkei Net in Japanese
- Translation of the announcement on a blog in English
Just a couple of things re MMS and SMS on the iPhone.
» In the US there is a lot of buzz now that AT&T announced that iPhone users can use MMS from Sept. 25, 2009. I'm aware that MMS already works on Softbank iPhones, but I was wondering, are there are problems/limitations with it? e.g. limits to text length and/or size of attachments.
» SMS - for those of you who may not have heard, the four Japanese carriers (docomo, AU, Softbank, eMobile) will be supporting SMS between each company (currently you can only "text" a phone on the same carrier). No official date yet.
- Short announcement on Nikkei Net in Japanese
- Translation of the announcement on a blog in English
Does anyone know if the Apple stores in Japan sell iPhones directly? I've heard that in other countries, the Apple store is much more likely to have the devices in stock.
I'm getting kind of tired of being dicked around by the SoftBank store and their policy of hoarding all new shipments for new contracts.
Welcome to Japan. You won't be eligible for a new phone until your contract runs out. It always been like that.
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS (White, 32GB): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)
That's incorrect. I upgraded from the iPhone 3G to the 3GS mid-contract, no problem. It depends on the shop though - if they have a limited supply of phones, they will sometimes limit sales to new customers only. This restriction is always lifted once inventory levels rise.
mmulin said:Does anyone know if the Apple stores in Japan sell iPhones directly? I've heard that in other countries, the Apple store is much more likely to have the devices in stock.
I'm getting kind of tired of being dicked around by the SoftBank store and their policy of hoarding all new shipments for new contracts.
Welcome to Japan. You won't be eligible for a new phone until your contract runs out. It always been like that.
That's incorrect. I upgraded from the iPhone 3G to the 3GS mid-contract, no problem. It depends on the shop though - if they have a limited supply of phones, they will sometimes limit sales to new customers only. This restriction is always lifted once inventory levels rise.
Well, it looks like I got a call about the 3GS just a few hours after posting that last message.
What? Where did you ever get that idea? How is it that I now have a 3GS despite having been mid-contract with my 3G. Hell, I got my 3G while being mid-contract with Sharp p912. Do you believe that SoftBank made mistakes in those cases and I'm getting away with something not normally allowed? lol.
What? Where did you ever get that idea? How is it that I now have a 3GS despite having been mid-contract with my 3G. Hell, I got my 3G while being mid-contract with Sharp p912. Do you believe that SoftBank made mistakes in those cases and I'm getting away with something not normally allowed? lol.
It surprise me but maybe because I only have experience with business contracts. The only way to change phone would always been to buy out the reminder of the contract. Glad to hear though it is possible then otherwise..
Anyway, to answer your question, I haven't heard from anyone having bought is iPhone in the Apple Store.
Just received good news. The place that I am living is finally getting softbank coverage so I wont need to use docomo.
From the threads there was a big scare some weeks ago that foreign iphones were not being covered by the cap. Is this so, or is this just a rare unfortunate occurance.
Thanks
From the threads there was a big scare some weeks ago that foreign iphones were not being covered by the cap. Is this so, or is this just a rare unfortunate occurance.
Thanks
Can I ask where you found this information out? Does Softbank have official announcements on where they are expanding their coverage? Is it published anywhere? The information on their website (as far as I've seen) is like three years out of date.
Okay, so for using the iPhone on Docomo. Right now I'm using the tethering function on the iphone and have web surfing on my laptop. The internet speed while tethering varries, but I've tested about 1.5 Mbps to 700Kbps download and a capped upload at 386Kbps. This is using a 3G iphone, so I don't have 7.2 HSDPA, but I've been at the Docomo store and have tested their display laptops that are demonstrating their Wireless aircards that are using the 7.2 HSDPA, and I've gotten about those speeds as well.
Has anyone heard the rumors that Docomo will be carrying the iPhone too?
Yes, SBM started checking phone identifiers on the network against the contract. As far I know it is, at least, split into the smart phone category and the regular category. A regular category internet flat rate won't cap your usage with a smart phone. That meant, and still means, SBM will charge you packet rates when using a smart phone with a regular contract. They didn't feel to announce this publicly as they are legally protected by the small print in your contract - that you only allowed to use the phone you purchased with the contract. Many users suddenly received huge bills although in some incidents, SBM was polite enough to release the charges on case by case basis.
I am not sure if SBM also distinguishes between iPhone and other smart phone usage, YMMV.
However, using a foreign unlocked iPhonewith a SBM iPhone SIM probably won't get you in trouble.
Further, telecom laws will change in 2010, which might include making such provider practices illegal in Japan.
It's still only an unsubstantiated rumour, but docomo's president Yamada said at a press conference on July 30, 2009 that Docomo is still interested in obtaining the iPhone. He said they are bound by an NDA and cannot disclose anything at that time, however, they have not given up yet.
For the article in Japanese, see the k-tai.impress site (search for "NDA").
Who knows, maybe we'll see something when the fall/winter lineups are announced, which should be by sometime in October.