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SoftBank Announces iPhone for Japan

This is great news. Softbank is definitely the perfect fit for Apple out of the big three. Considering it is the only one that is on the rise in terms of new customers, they are in a similar position as Apple is in their respective markets.

And, personally, I've been a J-Phone->Vodafone->Softbank customer for years so I will feel right at home. 🙂


irmongoose
 
Yay Softbank!!!
I still think it will be a bit of a downgrade from some of the current phones out there. Plus I still have another year with my current phone. 🙁 Of course, after a year, we should have the 2nd version of the 3G iPhone and I'll be needing a new iPod touch. So it may work out after all!

With DoCoMo getting two touch phones recently I wondered if the iPhone was going to either AU or Softbank.
 
umijin said:
No they don't have the best phones - not overall. It has grown lots because they offered very cheap switching and setup fees, but people tell me they pay more in monthly costs with SoftBank. New subscribers aren't necessarily staying with Softbank as a result.

Softbank has changed its name several times in the 7 years I've lived here and nearly went bankrupt. This is a risky move by Apple, but a win-win move by Softbank. Let's hope they don't screw it up.
Click to expand...

It's been J-Phone, Vodafone, and now softbank. But it's got nothing to do with changing names. Each time a new company came in and bought the rights to the frequency and customer base. They all failed. But but now with softbank's genius of a chairman involved, they've been on the ascendancy.
They just have to freaking well increase the coverage. That's all it'll take for me to switch.
 
Small Correcti

>SoftBank Mobile is a 3G only carrier which, of course, further confirms the existence of a 3G iPhone.


SoftBank Mobile is not a 3G only carrier but also it provides phone service with PDC standard, which is only used in Japan, and will finish its life latest by the end of 2010.

In the end, Apple DO NOT support PDC anyway, the implication of 3G iPhone is right.

FYI, KDDI, NTT Docomo also use PDC. EMobile, a market entrant in 2007, is a 3G only carrier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Digital_Cellular
 
dicklacara said:
*To help a female friend with long fingernails you could stand close behind her, looking over her shoulder, then wrap your arms around her to help...

...Oops I forgot what i was trying to do... something about a phone?
Click to expand...

That might just be the best functionality of iPhone yet 😛
 
who cares?

How is it that such an obscure, totally insignificant, meaningless bit of news has managed to net over 80 replies?? Who gives a flip!!

Moving on to more important matters: Come Monday if the updated iPhone doesn't look EXACTLY like the one depicted by mockup extraordinaire Isamu Sanada...then I'm not buying it! How cool-looking is that!

C'mon, people, you gotta agree with me on this one: it's almost as if Apple MUST introduce a structural change in addition to the firmware updates to justify a new purchase by current owners.

If this "new phone" looks identical to v.1 but only thicker/thinner it's gonna be yet another pimp slap in the face by Apple to its customers by enticing us to buy s&$! that we really don't need and that really doesnt offer anything groundbreaking after we've already dished out hundreds of dollars the first time around.

It's classic Apple A$$hole-ology.

So screw it, man. I'll just holdout for the Garmin Nuvifone until Apple stops playing romper room games 'n sh*t with peoples' freakin' wallets.
 
Dude, chill!

thaitillidie said:
How is it that such an obscure, totally insignificant, meaningless bit of news has managed to net over 80 replies?? Who gives a flip!!

Moving on to more important matters: Come Monday if the updated iPhone doesn't look EXACTLY like the one depicted by mockup extraordinaire Isamu Sanada...then I'm not buying it! How cool-looking is that!

C'mon, people, you gotta agree with me on this one: it's almost as if Apple MUST introduce a structural change in addition to the firmware updates to justify a new purchase by current owners.

If this "new phone" looks identical to v.1 but only thicker/thinner it's gonna be yet another pimp slap in the face by Apple to its customers by enticing us to buy s&$! that we really don't need and that really doesnt offer anything groundbreaking after we've already dished out hundreds of dollars the first time around.

It's classic Apple A$$hole-ology.

So screw it, man. I'll just holdout for the Garmin Nuvifone until Apple stops playing romper room games 'n sh*t with peoples' freakin' wallets.
Click to expand...

What's with the nasty attitude?
 
Features

I've got to admit that having had a one-seg feature on my current cell phone for the past six months, I have only used it twice. I know of more people who watch one-seg to watch TVs on their car navigation systems these days than on their cell phones. (When they are parked) The reception is much more consistent than analog in general, but I just never saw it as a something very useful. However, it seems to be used more as a marketing tool rather than a useful everyday feature.

The Felica/Suica feature on the other hand is something I use everyday. I commute using two train systems: Keio line and JR Line, and occasionally the Tokyo metro subway lines. My monthly pass that has been incorporated into my mobile Suica allows me virtually seemless entries and exits even between two systems by simply putting my cell phone over the card reader. This is definitely a feature thats going to be hard to give up.

Of course, I can just use a Suica or PASMO card, I've found that having that feature on a cell phone is more convenient. According to recent articles in Japan, little over 1 million people have signed up to use the Suica features (not the number of people who have cell phones with Suica features)
 
iphone in japan hu? thatd be cool cept for the fact that they have so many phones better than it already anyways. iphone is cool here because well, there isnt anything that can even compare to it. Japan has always had major tech, iphone will be nothing new there.
 
Bye, bye... enjoy your Garmin Nuvifone.

thaitillidie said:
How is it that such an obscure, totally insignificant, meaningless bit of news has managed to net over 80 replies?? Who gives a flip!!

If this "new phone" looks identical to v.1 but only thicker/thinner it's gonna be yet another pimp slap in the face by Apple to its customers by enticing us to buy s&$!

It's classic Apple A$$hole-ology.

So screw it, man. I'll just holdout for the Garmin Nuvifone until Apple stops playing romper room games 'n sh*t with peoples' freakin' wallets.
Click to expand...

Bye, bye... good knowing you for 2 minutes.

Already we have the moaners throwing their gadgets out of their buggies and it is not even released yet! Anyway, unfortunately for you, it would seem Apple will be more inclined to focus on new subscribers in new territories to reach their targets (10 million was it?) rather than massaging the egos of existing owners who don’t seem to be grateful that they already have an iPhone to use for the past year or so. So, ‘who gives a flip?’ New customers in other countries do. And, most certainly, Apple do as well if they are to reach their targets.

So it seems you have cleverly outwitted Apple’s marketing strategy and how it rips people off. Bye, bye then... why are you still hangin’ around?
 
You can’t ‘touch’ this...

Iroganai said:
iPhone's software is superb. See this iPhone clone made by Sharp. It's horrible !
Click to expand...

Just seeing all these clones and promoting of touch abilities reveals companies are scared of the iPhone.

But no matter how much it looks like the iPhone or matches it with touch functionality, they will always be substandard due to Apple being a leader in intuitive GUI design and implementation. Plus the added bonus of creative developers making apps for it and you have a killer combination which no other phone can ‘touch’! Hahaha... sorry for the very bad pun! 😀
 
mavis said:
Actually, there are a number of guides online for setting up American iTMS accounts without a US-issued CC. I have both an American account and a Japanese ... 😉
Click to expand...

As do I (thus the * mark in my original post) I just didn't want to flaunt the fact. At 99c vs 150 yen (or higher) for songs and $9.99 vs 1,500 yen (or higher) for Albums, then a US account is the way to go, but I have a Japan iTunes account as well (on my Japanese credit card) as there is some great content only available from the Japan store.

That being said, the average iTunes Store user may not know how to get an account on other stores.

riwanami said:
According to recent articles in Japan, little over 1 million people have signed up to use the Suica features (not the number of people who have cell phones with Suica features)
Click to expand...

Not sure what that means? You cannot get a new rail pass here other than the 'Suica' or equivalents for other lines. Nearly everyone I see using the same stations I use on my subway just touch there wallet/card case/phone to the gate sensor. Maybe the 1 million figure is the number of users with the function activated in their phones with other phone users who have this feature not actually using it. But anyway just 1 million people signed up for JR's 'Suica' sees low. I could be wrong, but my daily observations seems to say otherwize
 
Iroganai said:
Um, as a Japanese, I can testify that Japanese mobile phones have more features but they are not particularly well implemented. iPhone's software is superb. See this iPhone clone made by Sharp. It's horrible !
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8l9JY0h_EZQ
Click to expand...
Exactly. As much as everyone seems to think Japanese cell phones are so fantastic, they're really not (at least when compared to the iPhone) ... Compared to other American phones, then yes - light years ahead. But the iPhone puts them all to shame (which is why all the Japanese manufacturers are scrambling to copy it, and doing a laughable job of it, I might add) 😀
 
Iroganai said:
Um, as a Japanese, I can testify that Japanese mobile phones have more features but they are not particularly well implemented. iPhone's software is superb. See this iPhone clone made by Sharp. It's horrible !
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8l9JY0h_EZQ
Click to expand...
OMG, I just watched that video - it was almost painful to watch. I'd chuck that phone out the damn window within the first hour or two - I don't care if it DOES cost $1000 - what a slow, ill-conceived UI ... Using that thing on a daily basis would drive me nuts!!! 😱
 
Softbank, ugh! 🙁

As has been mentioned before their coverage is third rate and service is crap. The staff in the stores are so surly. Perhaps because for years the only customers they had were foreigners who only joined up because they recognized the Vodafone name. Then when Mobile Number Portability came in in October 2006 and they offered 4 month free service (which wasn't really 4 months) they actually had to do some work instead of sitting painting their nails all day. How many times did their network crash?

I suppose I have nobody to blame but myself but I got stuck with a crappy 2 year contract with one of the crappiest phones ever, bundled with an iPod Nano. The damn thing doesn't even have a flash for the camera! No wonder they had to "give" away (at 700 dollars over 2 years) the iPod to get them out the door. Oh, and I've had to take it in for repairs 4 times already.

Phew! glad to get that off my chest.

So I still have the Softbank phone (don't use it though, AU is heaps more reliable), sitting around somewhere waiting out it's contract. So I'll be happy to finally get some use out of my Softbank contract.

I wonder if it will be locked and only usable in Japan like every other phone available here? I'm off to Thailand next year and would like to use it there.

Maybe I won't be able to use it there, perhaps that's why Thaitilidie is so angry
 
Why it matters...

I can understand why this move to japan may not matter to some people, but it is actually very important.

For those have family in other countries and do business overseas this is very important. Imagine the possibilities if we were all connected with compatible hardware and software. Not to mention if ichat is actually integrated.

Talk about Apple monopolizing the market in the future...

-cfs
 
oh

hell

yes

i knew it would be softbank. the SECOND the iphone was announced for the US, i said, "i guess it'll be softbank in japan".

my general reasoning back then: softbank is the only phone carrier whose board of directors has a median age under 96.

now, it just makes sense. they were the first carrier to offer any customers any free minutes of any kind, et cetera.

i knew it wouldn't be docomo.

man.

i've been looking for a reason to switch to softbank forever.

excellent!
 
mavis said:
OMG, I just watched that video - it was almost painful to watch. I'd chuck that phone out the damn window within the first hour or two - I don't care if it DOES cost $1000 - what a slow, ill-conceived UI ... Using that thing on a daily basis would drive me nuts!!! 😱
Click to expand...

Please, learn how to speak Japanese: I will buy you a megaphone and tell you where to stand. (I'd do it myself, though, you know, shame.)

The "Big Secret" needs to be uprooted: people the world over need to know that "Japanese cellular phones", contrary to popular belief, are not AWESOME. They just look nice, and have shockingly terrible UIs.

Except the Sony-Ericsson ones. Which, I guess, makes sense.

I was really interested, lately, in Sharp's full-size-keyboard Softbank phone, with a gorgeous LED screen. Then I tried it out in a store, and the interface was just . . . ughhh. It's seemingly designed to appeal to people who went to medical school because they want to sound really cool screaming the names of medicines and dosage amounts, like doctors oN "ER".
 
Possibly another GREAT move for apple

Apple makes a deal with the lowest ranking mobile service in japan means exactly the opposite of here. I'm guessing they were able to dictate everything and have complete control of how the iphone will be implemented in japan.

Who knows, they probably even bought part of the company or have some sort of percentage deal in place.

Could Apple be testing the waters of running a mobile phone service?

BTW, japan is about as high-tech as a cardboard box. Pretty much SOME of their phones and robots are the only things more advanced than the U.S. I think we confuse the AMOUNT of tech they have with actual "high" tech(most don't even have simple conveniences like central heating and air, and we've all seen pics of their toilets...)

Our perception of Japan is the same as their perception of the magical "Silicon Valley". Totally wrong. I've had too many friends ask me to take them to Silicon Valley!!! Silicon Valley!!! imagining flying cars and buildings made of transparent steel and robots ready to service their every whim, when in reality it's just a bunch of 1980's warehouses with weeds and dirty water all around them..

The one advantage though is they are very eager to try new tech. I think the iphone will do great there.
 
108 said:
my general reasoning back then: softbank is the only phone carrier whose board of directors has a median age under 96.
Click to expand...
HAHA. That was pretty funny mate - made me laugh out loud. 😀

You're absolutely right though - it's amazing what can happen when you don't have fossils running your company.
 
Lot's of people saying Softbank has poor coverage - I guess it depends which region you are in. In Okinawa, Softbank seem to have the best coverage, I've never been without signal.

Anyway, my wife was discussing the 3G iPhone with a Softbank manager at an izakaya last night - he said it won't be out in June, but will be available in July.
Bear in mind this is a bar discussion, so not official - just what we heard.
 
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