iPhone in Japan on DoCoMo? But there is a catch... it has to be 3G!

[BiikeMike]

According to the Wall Street Journal Japan, Apple has met with DoCoMo about launching the iPhone in Japan. The catch is, they do not have a GSM/EDGE network, any phone on their network has to be HSDPA.

Very Interesting I say.....




Engadget Link

 

[powerbook911]

According to the Wall Street Journal Japan, Apple has met with DoCoMo about launching the iPhone in Japan. The catch is, they do not have a GSM/EDGE network, any phone on their network has to be HSDPA.

Very Interesting I say.....




Engadget Link

Yes it is interesting, but I expect around June next year there will be a 3G phone everywhere.

 

[asxtb]

Boo! I hate DoCoMo. Worst service by far.

 

[mavis]

Boo! I hate DoCoMo. Worst service by far.

Not to mention ridiculously overpriced.

I regularly paid well over $100USD for my DoCoMo with LIGHT usage. A big chunk of that was data; the pathetic thing was that I only used their stupid portal (iMode) and never visited "real" websites, or downloaded content. Yet my data usage regularly topped $30-40 ...

I sincerely hope Apple doesn't go with them. Service for the iPhone will cost a fortune (substantially more than it costs in the US or even Europe)

 

[mavis]

OK, having read the article now, I'm a little relieved.

IMO, Softbank will bend over and grab their ankles to get the iPhone (anything to boost subscriber numbers!), and if Apple's main interest is a lucrative deal, they will probably be the only way to go. A Softbank iPhone likely will not break the bank (as opposed to DoCoMo, anyway) and since both companies have a 3G network in place, either one would be a good choice as far as technology goes.

I sincerely hope Apple signs a deal with Softbank - it would be a good move for both companies.

 

[synth3tik]

Boo! I hate DoCoMo. Worst service by far.

At least that is a really cool, funny name.

Do Coo Moo.

 

[TurboSC]

interesting battle going on in Japan...

I'm sure we'll get the 3G iPhone alongside the Japan Launch Or Apple might try to bait the Japanese carriers by releasing the 3G in the US and everyone swarms and dives for it... thus the Japanese carriers will really bend over for Apple as they march into Japan.

 

[TheFreshPrince]

I hope they go with Softbank, it's just so much cheaper and I don't wanna change carriers. Softbank has worked with Apple in the past though with the "free iPod Nano when you buy a phone" campaign so hopefully the two already get on well enough to want to work together again with the iPhone.

 

[aki]

Like everyone else, I really hope they go softbank.

I wonder how succesfull the iPhone really will be in Japan. It's hard to say. I had been thinking it would be only so-so popular. The Japanese market is (obviously) so different from the US. Even though the most basic phones have billions of features, most people use most phones for calls and messaging most of the time.

I wonder how good the iPhone will be for a messaging culture. I was surprised how well the text entry works for English, much better than I expected, you can get quite fast. But Japanese text entry on the touch at least is a little laggy as it checks for kanji matches, and I'm not sure how fast you could really get. Then again, I suppose no one could guess how fast people would get at texting with regular phones.

Be very interesting to see.

On the positive side, people seem to looooove the touch here. Everyone who sees the touch interface is totally blown away.

 

[irmongoose]

I'd also prefer Softbank - I think they would cater to the right crowd for the iPhone. DoCoMo might be the giant in the picture, but in terms of corporate identities and marketing strategies, I think Apple fits in better with Softbank.

OK, I admit, the real reason is that I use Softbank. So there. I said it.

irmongoose

 

[koobcamuk]

as they march into Japan.

urusei!

Like everyone else, I really hope they go softbank.

I wonder how succesfull the iPhone really will be in Japan. It's hard to say. I had been thinking it would be only so-so popular. The Japanese market is (obviously) so different from the US. Even though the most basic phones have billions of features, most people use most phones for calls and messaging most of the time.

I wonder how good the iPhone will be for a messaging culture. I was surprised how well the text entry works for English, much better than I expected, you can get quite fast. But Japanese text entry on the touch at least is a little laggy as it checks for kanji matches, and I'm not sure how fast you could really get. Then again, I suppose no one could guess how fast people would get at texting with regular phones.

Be very interesting to see.

On the positive side, people seem to looooove the touch here. Everyone who sees the touch interface is totally blown away.

Agreed.

I think that it's going to be tough to break into Japan, but really interesting. It's writing that's the interesting part. I am much, much quicker at writing English on my iPhone than any other phone I have used. I have Japanese on my 1.1.1 iPhone, but the input needs to be worked on heavily.

I think the Japanese can input かな　(kana) much quicker in their current input methods.