Japan Winter Phone Collection 2008 - Discussion Thread

[KBoardBox]

Ahhahahah!

[yangj08]

You can rotate the screen.... and if you hear that "snap" noise... just keep turning HAHAHAHAHAH!

Heaven help those who think you're serious and end up tossing hundreds of US$ into the toilet. (I know people dense enough to do that kind of thing)

[IonNuke]

Heaven help those who think you're serious and end up tossing hundreds of US$ into the toilet. (I know people dense enough to do that kind of thing)

I sure hope people can tell if I'm serious or not. Otherwise... humanity is certainly doomed.... and that would be living proof (=_=")

[BoardshortMafia]

just rotate it as fast as you can until is starts wiggling and gets loose then shrug shoulders and cry

[oogu]

At the start of each new season, it's always sensory overload!!!! New phones come out on average 4 times a year; The beginning of each season. The new winter line up looks great. I especially like the F-01A. I am very partial to the F Series from the 904i Series on up due to their durability. They always survive a drop to the ground during those heavy drinking episodes... （笑）
I do have a question: Why don't the Japanese manufacturers open the keitai market to the world? Why must it be limited to Japan only? Every time I go home to America on vacation, it irks me that Most of the functions cease....the i-mode stopping really gets to me. Is there a way to get i-Mode to work in the U.S.?

[eckell3]

I don’t think there is a current incentive for them to do so. As has been said before most Americans talk and text and don’t really use the high tech features on their phones. It also depends on the carriers buying the phone to offer customers. Because this makes the phone more visible more available to American buyers.

I read somewhere that the Japanese government wants to start exporting Japanese phone technology outside of Japan but as of right now not much is going on.

To be honest us keitai lovers are only a small fraction of phone buyers and those that want the phones somehow will get them if persistent. What we need is a quad band GSM phone with 3G in 2100, 850 and 1900 bands (so that 3G can be used in the USA also) that is put in the hands of some very visual folks (i.e. celebrities) and then the demand might take off same as that Rzar did (folks were willing to pay $600 for it when it first came out)

I would love to see Felica come out in the USA because that could be very useful and I believe that it would go over big in the USA as we already have smart pass for tolls and that keychain dongle for gas stations and a lot of the transit entities(such as Metro) use smart cards.

As for myself, since I only call and text on my phone I am not sad about not being able to use my media functions.

[oogu]

In my opinion, the reason why us keitai people are such a small fraction is because most people outside Japan have not been exposed to all the cool stuff here. If they were just given a chance, then the tide would change. The biggest barrier I believe would be the infrastructure costs incurred by the carriers in addition to the consumer paying a heck of a lot more money for a keitai. I'm on that pay monthly plan. It will take me 2 years to pay off this F906i.
On another note, I've always wondered why SMS/MMS is so popular outside Japan. After I moved here, I found that using real e-mail was sooooo much better. And with all the emoji and other multimedia functionality capabilities of keitais, it just makes me wonder why e-mail is not as popular outside Japan.....Any thoughts?????

[razrluvr]

In my opinion, the reason why us keitai people are such a small fraction is because most people outside Japan have not been exposed to all the cool stuff here. If they were just given a chance, then the tide would change. The biggest barrier I believe would be the infrastructure costs incurred by the carriers in addition to the consumer paying a heck of a lot more money for a keitai. I'm on that pay monthly plan. It will take me 2 years to pay off this F906i.
On another note, I've always wondered why SMS/MMS is so popular outside Japan. After I moved here, I found that using real e-mail was sooooo much better. And with all the emoji and other multimedia functionality capabilities of keitais, it just makes me wonder why e-mail is not as popular outside Japan.....Any thoughts?????

Yeah I noticed that too when I was in Japan 5 years ago... it's funny... America sucks... Japan rules... end of story...

[Chillyman]

+1 to that. oogu is right, the majority of Canadians and Americans hasn't been exposed to the keitai culture and others alike.

When someone takes out a Blackberry or a iPhone in the public, people don't really care since they see it everywhere, but when I take out my phone in the public, there will always be someone looking at me or at Docomodake hanging off my phone xD.

The main thing that has been exposed to some Americans and Canadians are Anime, Manga and Japanese Import Cars xD

But then again, keitai are very complex to other individuals because of it's unlocking methods and such.

[TomasuT]

it just makes me wonder why e-mail is not as popular outside Japan.....Any thoughts?????

Well for one outside of Japan you can send SMS between different carriers. If the only way to communicate with friends on different carriers was e-mail like in japan, then it would be just as big here.

Aside from that mobile e-mailing is picking up alot of steam, with all the blackberries and smartphones that more and more people are using. However I don't see emoji ever becoming nearly as popular as it is in Japan.

[IonNuke]

+1 to that. oogu is right, the majority of Canadians and Americans hasn't been exposed to the keitai culture and others alike.

When someone takes out a Blackberry or a iPhone in the public, people don't really care since they see it everywhere, but when I take out my phone in the public, there will always be someone looking at me or at Docomodake hanging off my phone xD.

The main thing that has been exposed to some Americans and Canadians are Anime, Manga and Japanese Import Cars xD

But then again, keitai are very complex to other individuals because of it's unlocking methods and such.

Do you have one of those giant plush docomodake hanging off your keitai???

I only have a small one. But I often read my SMS with the screen flipped horizontal on my keitai and those iphone lovers are like "hot damnnnnn~~~ that screen is amazing~~~". So I ask them "don't you feel like you got ripped off by having an iphone with a regular screen?"

[TomasuT]

Its better late than never but Sony-Ericsson just announced the w65s Walkman Xmini. It comes complete with a 1.8inch screen. (really) touch sensor front panel and 4gb of memory. I don't think it has a camera though.





Looks like they are going in a new direction.

[aw614]

it looks like those sony mp3 players

I see w880i style buttons heh

[stevetam]

Its better late than never but Sony-Ericsson just announced the w65s Walkman Xmini. It comes complete with a 1.8inch screen. (really) touch sensor front panel and 4gb of memory. I don't think it has a camera though.





Looks like they are going in a new direction.

Looks like a cheapo MP3 player... it would be a good second phone in japan, something you don't really have to worry about dropping or scratching it. Still, its better than most mid-end walkman phones

[deasine]

It's probably a really cheap phone for AU by KDDI. I mean there isn't even a camera or at least I didn't see in in the specs... here are a few better/cooler pictures: