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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.
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
watch this
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.