Slashdot Mirror
Japanese Cell Phones Offer a Glimpse of the Future
Dynamoo writes "Vodafone K.K. have announced a new range of phones, available exclusively in Japan which easily beat everything else in terms of features. In particular, two phones from Sharp, the V402SH and V602SH between them boast a TV tuner, camera with optical zoom, virtual karaoke machine and dog bark translater (woof woof), according to this review. Perhaps some features are more useful than others, but with a bit of luck we'll see these features in worldwide mobiles sometime in 2005. In the meantime I guess I'll just have to learn to speak dog by myself."
They actually want to make a regular computer inside the cell phone.. I actually want a cell phone that can be heard everywhere, with a nice battery and perhaps send pictures and such (which can already be done).
Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
...that I don't want a phone with any of those features. I want a phone that
a) doesn't sound like crap
b) lasts a few days on a charge
c) functions as a bluetooth access point for my PDA/Laptop
d) doesn't cost more than $150
Keep your eyes to the sky.
Hold on, we're almost half-way through 2004 already, they're not even out in Japan yet; the USA still hasn't managed to convert to GSM let alone UMTS or any other 3G standard, there's probably a tonne of localisation to do, and you're expecting to see these things worldwide in 2005?
You must be joking, right?
I know this is off topic, but if you haven't spent enough time with your dog to know what he/she is thinking, feeling, and expressing without a fscking dog bark translator, then you're probably a crappy 'parent'.
Right now my dog (Jenny) is laying on the chair next to my computer desk with her head propped up on the arm, staring at me with one ear perked straight up. That clearly says "You're supposed to be petting me instead of browsing Slashdot, you moron." Just learn how to speak dog, it's cheaper and more rewarding.
They actually want to make a regular computer inside the cell phone.. I actually want a cell phone that can be heard everywhere, with a nice battery and perhaps send pictures and such (which can already be done).
I don't even want that much. Was with you until you said pictures. All I want is a phone with a good battery life and a decent address book. I don't mind a few other features (such as a calculator or a few simple games like Tetris to pass the time if I am stuck at the airport) but they had better not murder my battery life or distract me from the main features of the phone.
My Kyocera 2325 suits me quite nicely. The address book is superb (I love the auto-dial feature where it matches letters that I type to the contacts book -- can call my GF by typing in "788" or my boss by typing in "726" -- that's the coolest speed-dial feature I've ever seen -- much nicer then a list of speed-dial numbers that need to be remembered), the SMS interface is sleek enough and it has the calculator mode that I desire. The battery will last about three days even with fairly heavy usage (I am landline free so I make all my calls on the cell) -- what more could you ask for? Sometimes less is better.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
My only question: does it actually make usable phone calls?
Profanity - The sign of a small mind trying to express itself.
in japan, for some kids the phone is their pc. they don't email they send text messages, they browse the web on their phone.
it's not obvious in the U.S. with our backwards cell phones, but in other parts of the world people are buying phones instead of PCs
Phone manufacturers (and software developers) are keeping the price of these silly things artificially high.
Back in the late 90s I heard from a developer that Nokia told them at a conference that they *could* make cell phones that updated themselves over the network; they don't because they want cell phone turnover on the rate of about one a year.
The service still sucks at times, and the stuff they add on just simply doesn't justify the insane prices you pay. Think about it - $150 for a good new phone, and (average) $60 a month for a decent plan.
That's $870 a year for a PHONE.
Price for a regular home phone, $150 a year, maybe $200 if you add on a good long distance plan. And unlike your cell, the home phone is good for life (we just threw away my grandfather's phone that he got from AT&T in the early 60s).
Perhaps I'm the anomoly, but I want quality service, long battery life, and a decent menu system (are you listening, Motorola?) over every other feature they come up with.
Just my 2 cents.
"Japanese Cell Phones Offer a Glimpse of the Future"
Um, the Japanese cell phone market has been providing glimpses into the future for quite a while now. They are regularly on the bleeding edge of industry technology. Freakin' duh, man.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
What "US scumbag" company manufactures cell phones? Nokia is European, Sony Ericsson is a Japanese-European hybrid, LG is Korean I think... Motorola is American but that's the only one I can think of. You think these companies only want US customers to break their phones? Please. US phones feel fragile because US customers don't care, so manufacturers don't need to spend more on a phone's ruggedness. It's not some evil corporate conspiracy against the US. If fragile cell phones were a major customer complaint, design changes would happen, but as of right now it doesn't factor in when an American goes to pick out a cell phone.
Let it replace all the other electronic devices you have on you. Like:
1) A LED flashlight. So handy, so simple.
2) Built-in usb plug letting it operate as a combination modem and flash drive. Of the generic variety, so you don't need to install special software to use it as such.
3) AM/FM/Weather radio. Keep up with news and sports.
4) Civilian band walkie talkie. Generic analog or smarter digital, with encryption. If it can use bluetooth, it is already capable of using the right frequencies.
Please add your own ideas...
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
I've noticed it a few times before, and others may have pointed it out. But anyhow...
:) (Or perhaps it's because the later are often targeted at us, whilst the prior is not.)
I can easily see someone like my dad subscribing to the "it's just a phone, all it should do is let me send and recieve calls" opinion, which is, of course a perfectly valid one.
But geeks? Slashdot Geeks!? I mean, features like dog translators are obviously useless crap, but don't geeks (like myself) normally like their tech things to get bigger (smaller), better and faster? Even I use an old Ericsson T39m (calls, address book, bluetooth/IrDA, WAP, email, SMS) and I don't feel the need to upgrade.
Perhaps there's some kind of inbuilt geek mechanism that doesn't trigger for mobile phones but does for PDAs, notebooks, MP3 players, PVRs, etc.
So fucking buy one. They exist.
Why do you OMG I DONT WANT THAT ITS TOO MUCH types have to post on every bloated product release, christ.