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Softbank Confirms Emoji and Digital TV for iPhone in Japan

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Nikkei Trendy reports that SoftBank's president has confirmed that emoji (Japanese emoticons) are coming to the iPhone in Japan:
"This was made possible by us telling Apple that emoji is essential for Japanese users. And this is Japan specific service."
Click to expand...
He also mentions that they will also introduced a 3rd party accessory which provides mobile television service and an extended battery pack for the iPhone. SetteB.IT provides a photo of the device:


092538-05038b_softbanktvbattery_500.jpg



The device will act as a TV tuner which will transmit video to the iPhone via Wi-Fi but can also act as an extended battery pack when connected directly to the phone. An App Store application is required to support the device and will be made available for free through the Japanese App Store. Price has not yet been announced.

[Thanks coelacanth]

Article Link: Softbank Confirms Emoji and Digital TV for iPhone in Japan
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/31/softbank-confirms-emoji-and-digital-tv-for-iphone-in-japan/
I want both!!

But emoji I guess I can live without. Bummed we don't have a U.S. equivalent for the TV tuner, though... 🙁
 
It would be cool if the TV thing could clasp onto the back of the phone. I don't mind the cable. I'd also like to see this on the States-side. It's just a digital TV tuner, I'm assuming, so there would be no cause for AT&T to whine about bandwidth.
 
Ummm I worte about this first

Here's the thread with some more information...

and I cant even spell wrote properly !!! thats what i get for living in Japan for too long - !!!!!
 
Emoji - great. As for the TV tuner, perhaps it detracts a bit from the "all-in-one device"? I'm interested to see how this will be received.
 
I hate TV. I always feel like I waste time whenever there's one nearby, even if I'm doing nothing more than sitting in a bar. I blame Philo Farnsworth.
 
Unfortunately for those of you thinking this attachment might work in the US - that's pretty much a no. Although it is simply a digital tuner, the "One-Seg" signal it is made to receive is one that is specific to Japan. One-Seg is a special segment of the digital broadcast (hence one-seg) that is a scaled down version of the normal signal, made specifically for mobile devices such as phones and in-car GPS systems. So the add-on device probably neither has the ability nor the computing power to take a full-blown digital signal and scale/compress it down for viewing on the iPhone.

That being said, it's sort of a funky way of going about things - with phones getting smaller and smaller, and with the whole idea of an all-in-one device, this seems to be the wrong way of going about things. Though, I guess, SoftBank saw no alternative as they probably tried their best and failed to convince Apple to implement the TV functionality...


irmongoose
 
There always has to be that one guy who says "I hate tv." Whatever, you know you're secretly watching American Idol and voting!
 
Even though the iPhone is a US device the Japanese manage to make it infinitely more awesome. I'd love both emoji and that TV thingy to make its way to the UK. Granted we already get the iPlayer but live TV would also be extremely awesome. Even though I dislike 99% of TV shows and only try to watch BBC to avoid adverts.

Could be smart if they add an SD card slot or something to that brick so you could also carry TV recordings (since the iPhone is limited at 16gb).
 
This technique (separate TV tuner with WiFi server) was shown off back at the start of the year by PacketVideo:

PacketVideo demonstrates wifi TV

They sell such devices to carriers to sublease to their customers, for use with phones that don't have tuners built-in.

Its main advantage to carriers (besides most likely having a monthly rental fee) is that it doesn't use up any network bandwidth, since you're simply receiving TV signals over the air.
 
i seriously dont understand why japan somehow manage to make things better. they did it on car and tv... and now iphone 🙁
i want my extra battery and hd tv!!!
 
Hmmm ... are there any ways right now to get [live/streaming] TV on the
iPhone for those that do not live in Japan? (provided I have a good connection)

Perhaps, Apple can allow an App for TV when we are on WiFi only?
 
This is a really clunky, bad solution.

Every time you want to use it you'll need to turn it on, turn wifi on on your phone, connect, open the app etc. OneSeg reception is absolutely crap so there's no way you'll be able to leave the receiver in your bag like in the photo.

I can just imagine juggling the receiver and the phone on a packed train. What a mess.

But seriously this is kind of Apple's fault. They should have realised before releasing the iPhone in Japan that the "one-size-fits-all" approach doesn't always work. I doubt that a OneSeg receiver would have taken up much room and it would have improved adoption rates, nor would an IC-card for micropayments. As it is now the phone is barely selling and Softbank have heavily reduced the plan prices.
 
Softbank and iPhone

While I don't use OneSeg (tv), many of my friends have said they wanted this feature before they purchase a iPhone like mine.

And emoji (emoticons) are absolutely essential. Though I don't use them myself, inability to see them makes it very difficult to receive email from anyone in Japan under 40 years old... 🙂

But where is copy-n-paste?!? 😕
 
Note that in US there ATSC terrestrial digital tv standard and japan have ISDB-T :> so this box won't work in US or even europe that uses DVB-T.
 
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