Hello Kitty May Be Key to 3G Survival

wa4osh writes "It's scary to think that sophisticated 3G mobile systems may depend for their survival on Hello Kitty (a cutesy Japanese pink cat with whiskers but no mouth) according to the recent Commdesign article "Hello Kitty may be key to 3G success". The article suggests that 3G's main market is downloading ringtones and backgrounds. Reading between the lines, it also suggests that 3G did not find a killer application. For example, what happened to 3G Video phones, or using 3G to send video clips to each other? These are all things that can be done with today's 2.5G technologies - GPRS and 1XRTT. So what's 3G really for? Perhaps Wi-Fi / 802.11 is solving the real need for broadband data mobility." The Wall Street Journal has an article which suggests that cellular companies are turning to Wi-Fi to hedge their bets.

Comments

Hello Kitty the Future? I don't think so.

[toby360]

The article does have valid points, and yes Hello Kitty is (scarily) still quite a big thing in many parts of asia, much more of a thing than here. But the article is slanted in that it makes a much bigger deal about things then they really are.
Of the world's 70 million mobile-data users, 80 percent are in Japan, noted Kurt Hellstrom, president of troubled mobile-phone giant Ericsson.
This may be true, but you have to understand that they have a FAR superior infrastructure and are years ahead of most of the US and Canada, but remember tha once the rest of the world catches up that figure will change drastically - remember these are mobile data users and its a lot more common down there to do mobile data comm... for now until other places catch up. Singapore is also quite impressive. Going on a subway when I was in Singapore was almost like a video arcade with nearly 60-70% of everyone staring at their phones playing games or sending SMS's around to their friends.
Once data sending is more widley available in phones and our networks are built up a bit more things will change drastically. Reliant on Hello Kitty? I don't think so....

Re:Hello Kitty the Future? I don't think so.

[RollingThunder]

I honestly doubt that Canada and the US *can* change to the same kind of infrastructure that Japan has.

With Japan, there are no huge wide open spaces. No worries about long highways to provide expensive and infrequently used (but critical to getting customers) service to. Just slam home a cell tower every five blocks and bob's yer uncle.

They also have huge penetration because it's so ungodly cheap over there. My roomie just came back from Japan, and was virtually offended by how much the service here was going to cost him - AND they were making him pay for the phone! The nerve! In Japan he got better service, for a quarter the price, with a free phone included.

Re:Phone as a network portal

[joestump98]

I have the Sony Ericsson T68i that does pretty much what you are talking about. With my iBook I can use it as a wireless modem. If you got a Sony Clie with a BT adapter I would assume you could send/recieve data through that. The CommuniCam is a 1 megapixel camera attachment that you could send photos with, but it doesn't have a flash :(

--Joe

Re:I can see it now..

[GuyMannDude]

Hello Kitty cellphone/vibrator combo. Hey, it's definitely not out of the question when we're talking about all things Hello Kitty.

Actually, Helly Kitty vibrators already exist.

GMD

Re:Reminds me of....

[Animats]

The trouble with ISDN is that telcos treated it as a "premium product". In Switzerland, where ISDN costs the same as an analog line, a large percentage of voice phones are ISDN.

Voice over IDSN was what was supposed to happen to analog telephony. Voice over ISDN is actually quite nice. You get end-to-end digital quality (but still only 8Khz 8-bit mono), a path for caller ID and charging info, and a feature set comparable to typical office PBX systems.

For some wierd reason, US ISDN voice doesn't provide power to the subscriber, and you need a local power supply. European ISDN does provide power over the phone line, so the phone will still work even if local power goes out. This is another reason that voice ISDN never went anywhere in the US.

Re:I can see it now..

[Elwood P Dowd]

That's why his comment was funny. Hello Kitty vibrators are well known.

Hello Kitty site

[Midnight Thunder]

For those of you who have no idea of what 'Hello Kitty' is, you may want to check the web site.

Re:In the U.S., it is the providers' fault...

[rbrunner]

Sprint has indeed changed there plans, as of mid-October. You now get unlimited data for $40 a month. The terms of service suggest that abuse of the unlimited data as a modem/ISP is grounds for termination of service, but reasonable use is currently tolerated, and I was told it was permitted by the service rep. I'm sending this from my PowerBook with my Sanyo 4900 right now. Speed is better than dialup (I measured about 70kbps in one test), although occasionally the connection just seems to hang for several seconds, and the latency is pretty poor. But for occasional use, such as while travelling, it rocks.

Hands free kit doesn't help

[ChrisCampbell47]

People like cellphones because they can do other shit while they talk on them - I drive and use my cell all the time because I'm a BUSY fucking person (before I get flamed, I always use my handsfree set so I can devote most of my attention to the road).

BZZZT! Wrong!

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/08/16/cell.phone.drivin g/index.html

Probably nobody else will see this because the parent article is days old by now, and the mod wave has passed by, but maybe you'll come back and see if anyone replied to your comment, and then at least you'll be ONE person who's had their vision adjusted.

When you talk on the phone, your driving skills are compromised; using a hands-free kit doesn't help much. I'm also a busy fucking person, I carry a cell phone, and I don't talk on it while the car is moving (even stop-and-go traffic). You need to stop kidding yourself. Sorry.