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1. NTT DoMoCo supports a GSM network within Japan.
2. The CECT p168 is a close clone of the iPhone, close enough that if you looked at it across a larger table you may think it's an iPhone. And many of the CECT clones have tethering ability.
3. See number 2 - a clone that supports 3G.
4. See number 1 - DoMoCo apparently supports 3G services in Japan.
5. He may be just nationalizing the cost into money units he normally uses, like most Americans are apt to do (rather than state it's 4500 Yen, just say 30 Euros and be done with it - most people are more familiar with the exchange rates between their own currencies and Euros or Dollars).

Every geek at one time or another should visit Metro City in Xujiahui, Shanghai, China once in their life. Six floors of a large shopping mall loaded with small 10 square meter stalls, all selling every conceivable electronics product you could imagine. Clones of anything ever made. We're talking thousands of linear meters of shelf-space for cell phones alone. Every make, model, feature, color, and style you can think of.

And if you don't see what you want - ASK. The stall vendor will jump on a radio or cell phone, quickly confer with other vendors, run off, and come back in a minute with exactly what you wanted. Truly an amazing sight to see, once in your life!

The only problem with this tactic is that iPhone is only sold in two places: Apple Stores and AT&T Stores.

I am sure Steve wont say that for a real lawsuit filed in New York on Sep 24th.

Two words:
Riverside, California.

And the obligatory link:
http://www.intomobile.com/2007/07/08/att-hooks-up-riverside-ca-with-free-municipal-wifi.html

And the disclaimer:
They say it's working but I haven't tried it yet. I've got my own wireless and I've got a Sprint card. And I'm close to the University of California at Riverside, with thousands of students with open connections.

Oh wow, looky there... crippled phones on networks outside the United States.

Let me pause for a moment of on-topic punditry... No phone is perfect. US providers offer much less capable phones for higher prices with more conditional contracts and more expensive service. That is what I have yet to get behind.

Alright, you've sold me on the interface advantages, but the focus of my question is on the price/satisfaction ratio gap between the US and JP, not on the iPhone-W41CA comparison. Still, your arguments are noted. I will pray that iPhone results in better interfaces across the board. As for features, no, iPhone is only a quantum leap compared to the crap I'm faced with now.

Sorry I ended up making a really weak comparison, but that wasn't the purpose. However, there are a few assessments I don't agree with. Most notably, I don't consider touchscreen to be pure progress. I can type in Japanese on my keitai without looking at it. I walk around with it at my side and continue punching out an email. Japanese or English. I'm not convinced I would ever be as useful with a virtual keypad as a real keypad. The buttons on the 41CA have a very nice rooftop design that make it extremely easy to feel the keys. The Keypad on the 41CA is all I would ask for. I will admit that the Apple's touchscreen will end up being more versatile. What I'd really pay attention to is a model I saw in Akiba. It was much like the DS with a touchscreen on one side and a regular screen on the other side. It's a clamshell design, so it's probably a bit more pocket-garbage proof.

I checked out the Q-phone, and I would bet that it's actually a bit more versatile than the 41CA on the software side. Buying through AU almost guaranteed that I was locked to AU's interface. Their music player was also a bit of a pain, being DRM infested. Quickest way around that was CD rental/internet cafe's. Q-phone is a far cry south on sexiness. Spin-chassis phones are really nice. It's very good as a phone and then very good as a camera or music player.

I have to point out that my Casio cost me about $15, activation charges aside, and I can't, for love or money, come up with a comperable model in Oklahoma. Simply put, the W41CA was far from the pinnacle of keitais but trumps far more expensive models in the US. The service from AU was incredibly cheap compared to what I would pay for similar services in Japan. For what I paid, the W41CA and service from AU were amazing compared to what's getting pitched at me from kiosks in the states.

Another thing that stands out in the comparison is that we're comparing a W41CA to an iPhone. These are two models. If I want a cool phone in the states, I get an iPhone. If I want a cool phone in Japan, I have about fourty models to choose from and all come with multiple colors. Compare that to the Samsung Hue which is marketed for its changeable faceplates. Give me a break. Aftermarket faceplate swaps have been around forever. (I must admit I wouldn't have seen any ad gimmicks in Japan simply because I don't bother reading anything in Japanese unless I'm convinced I'll be more informed after reading it.)

Finally, the W41CA was cool, but it's over a year old now. There probably isn't a worn iPhone in existence yet. You really should compare it to the W53CA.

http://www.intomobile.com/2007/05/23/casio-w53ca-e xilim-mobile-phone-launched-look-out-sony-ericsson -cybershot.html

This is possibly the most insightful comment in this entire thread. Everyone is so busy considering why American telcos "suck" that they're not stopping to actually carry through on the comparison made. For those of you in the dark, this is a Casio W41CA:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-devices/news/ 2006/01/20/Casio-Mobile-Rocks-For-Movies/p1

An impressive phone? Certainly. It's on the order of something like the Motorola Q phone, but with a better form factor. At the end of the day, though, the Casio is still just a phone. The iPhone, however, is a complete hand computer and digital assistant that hits a sweet spot in the market's needs. The iPhone may appear to have a similar feature list, until you actually get down to the nitty gritty of it:

iPhone - Casio
128MB - 70MB
4-8 GB Hard Drive - 2GB SD Slot
Visual Voicemail - ???
Auto-Landscape Mode - Manual Swivel
Phone Numbers from Webpages - No
Integration with Movie/Music Service - No
Easy "Pinch" and "Spin" Navigation - Phone Keypad
Auto-Threading of SMS Conversations - Standard SMS Mailbox
On-Screen Conferencing options - Play on-hold games with the phone
Safari Browser with "Zoom on Element" Features - Opera Mini with imprecise Zooming
Rich email client - ???
Smooth Integration with Google Maps, Youtube, and Mac Widgets - Some functionality through Opera. No Flash

Basically, it comes down to usability. The iPhone is a modest step from a pure technology and feature-set perspective, but it's a quantum leap from a usability perspective. While the iPhone's design does not meet everyone's needs, it meets the largest cross-section of users on the market. i.e. The people who are not technophiles and have little to no idea how to use all the bizarre and excessive features of a smart-phone. For the most part, people just want a phone. The iPhone gives them a phone + a comprehensive feature set that easily performs other daily tasks that people do (e.g. check whether, look up maps, etc.) and handily replaces several other devices that they might carry around.

Folks around here tend to laugh at Taco's initial assessment of the iPod. ("No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.") Yet they turn around and make the exact same mistake with the iPhone. It's an interesting trend to behold.

http://www.intomobile.com/2007/06/05/htc-launches- apple-iphone-killer-htc-touch/

Be the first to comment XD

Given he doesnt even have that 60+% marketshare he makes Microsoft sound like a right bunch of idiots.

http://www.intomobile.com/2007/03/23/abi-research- findings-indicate-sa-declining-market-share-for-sy mbian-os.html

Once the iPhone is released in June, there will be a big discrepancy in the number of people who currently say they will buy the $500 iPhone from those who actually do. There will also be a big discrepancy in purchasing numers between different demographic age groups. Young people will care less about the actual functionalities of the product and more about the hype and "coolness" of it. Older business users are the exact opposite. Because of this, I think it would be a waste of AT&T's resources to market towards business users (for the first generation iPhone anyways). There have been quite a few polls from different research firms showing a wide range of interest in the iPhone. Change Wave Research: "9% of the population that is somewhat to very interested in getting the iPhone" http://www.intomobile.com/2007/03/23/most-people-d o-not-want-an-apple-iphone.html Lets Talk: "52% of the surveyed users answering that they will NOT buy an iPhone" http://www.intomobile.com/2007/03/18/current-music -phone-users-dont-want-an-iphone.html PiperJaffray: "85 percent of high school students said they were already familiar with the multi-function Apple gadget, and of those students, 25 percent said they'd be willing to buy one at the previously announced $500 entry point." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/04/09/high _school_teens_say_theyll_plunk_down_500_for_iphone .html

Once the iPhone is released in June, there will be a big discrepancy in the number of people who currently say they will buy the $500 iPhone from those who actually do. There will also be a big discrepancy in purchasing numers between different demographic age groups. Young people will care less about the actual functionalities of the product and more about the hype and "coolness" of it. Older business users are the exact opposite. Because of this, I think it would be a waste of AT&T's resources to market towards business users (for the first generation iPhone anyways). There have been quite a few polls from different research firms showing a wide range of interest in the iPhone. Change Wave Research: "9% of the population that is somewhat to very interested in getting the iPhone" http://www.intomobile.com/2007/03/23/most-people-d o-not-want-an-apple-iphone.html Lets Talk: "52% of the surveyed users answering that they will NOT buy an iPhone" http://www.intomobile.com/2007/03/18/current-music -phone-users-dont-want-an-iphone.html PiperJaffray: "85 percent of high school students said they were already familiar with the multi-function Apple gadget, and of those students, 25 percent said they'd be willing to buy one at the previously announced $500 entry point." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/04/09/high _school_teens_say_theyll_plunk_down_500_for_iphone .html