Japan cautious on iPhone offering for global dominance
Kentaro Tohyama is proud of its new iPhone. He stood in line overnight to get if the device was in Japan for the first time. But the 29-year-old computer engineer is not about to part with its Made-in-Japan mobile phone either.
This kind of cautious reaction to 11 July arrival of Apple Computer, Inc. 's mobile in Japan. The iPhone was here with long lines of gadget fans. But it is also frightening as quirky alien to this nation and closed mobile world, something like the 19th Century "black ships" of the U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry that forced an isolationist Japan to open in the west. Japan's cloistered mobile system has its own icons for e-mail and other unique tools. That means many fans as self iPhone Tohyama are likely to stick their old phones lest they be left out of trusted communications circles. "I do not want my friends think I'm this uncool, cold-hearted person," said Tohyama. For example, young people in Japan for granted the ability to share phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact information from a beaming it from one phone to another via infrared connections. Because without the current exchange would be the death knell for the Japanese dating circuit. While the iPhone has Bluetooth wireless connections, it has no infrared connection. The iPhone long as no other technology in Japanese mobile phones, such as digital TV broadcasts, a built-in digital camcorder, voice recognition and an "electronic wallet" feature. Japanese mobile phone customers will also struggle with the fact that the iPhone will require both hands. The Japanese style of texts is based mainly on a thumb - so much so that experienced users are synchronised "oyayubi zoku, or thumb tribe." Also missing from Steve Jobs' much-vaunted design: a hole in the handset to hang jewels. Westerners May to mock them as childish, but with them is a common social practice in Japan. For all these reasons, analysts say it is unclear whether the iPhone will start with the masses in Japan or at the end of a fad with the computer-savvy niche. Sales so far in Japan are difficult to recognize. Apple said it sold 1 million iPhones in the first three days of its latest model on the market, but the company offered no breakdown by region. Softbank Corp, the Japanese carriers of the iPhone, said he sold out the equipment on the first day. But it did not reveal how many were available. A clue comes from GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd., said the Softbank sells half of all mobile phones in Japan on this day, from a typical 19 percent. Many Japanese buyers were curious about the iPhone-slim design. And some acknowledged that the device could show the Japanese market a few new tricks. Tohyama eyes were opened by the iPhone's quick access to the Internet, similar to a personal computer. Some Japanese demonstrate mobile Web pages, but also to gain access to the latest models is slower than on the iPhone. Most Japanese phones are not as colorful a picture as the iPhone does. Instead, they often show black and white text outside the areas tailor-made for mobile phones. And generally you can not see YouTube clips on Japanese mobile phones, that is possible on the iPhone. "Until I owned an iPhone, I saw not so clear how Japanese content has been closed," said Tohyama. "It was not a worldwide standard for all others." But he was just as quickly that he needs to tapping into his old Japanese mobile phone, because he needs his special smiley icons and other images for e-mail. Other new iPhone owners had more basic concerns. Shunji Hagii, 37, crafts, entertainment and film figures, said he does not need emoticons the e-mail, based on Tohyama. Instead, he says about his iPhone: "I wish the battery life was better." |
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