Well, the video part of that already exists- on NTT DoCoMo it's called "Chara-den" (Character phone). Good for making a videocall when you've just stepped out of the shower (unless you're...the kind of person who likes to show it all).
Maybe Japanese, but not Asians in general. Here in China, people really like to use videochat on MSN and such, and those who are too clueless to use a computer buy fixed-line videophones. Probably with the introduction of 3G into China (yes, we'll have WCDMA too) mobile videocalling will be popular too (unless the mobile company raises prices too high, but that's nigh-impossible; I can direct-dial to the US for less than $.10/min on my cellphone.
QR codes- I love 'em because I can encode lots of things on them, such as pre-addressed text messages/MMSes to send later if I don't feel like sending it now (internationally roaming, for example), vCards, even small ringtones and pictures sometimes.
I'll believe it when I don't have to go through Customs to go to Taiwan from China, when I don't need to add another entry to my Chinese visa (US citizen here) to cross over to Taiwan, and don't have to pay international rates to call there.
I'll believe it when the mainland gets 3G and Sharp/Toshiba phones. They sell phones to Taiwan, not to China. Likewise, Taiwan is still counted as *inter*national roaming by China Mobile and China Unicom (with crap rates too; more expensive than roaming to America, even).
It must really suck to have a bunch of ACs after you yelling after such an inspiring statement. I support you. If I get modded down, so what? Go right ahead.
Oh, you must be one of those rare EU people that are patient enough to wait for games to come out in your region. Not everyone is as patient; they want to play US/JP versions of games, and modchips allow them to do just that.
One word- OSx86. It's prepatched for Intel PCs and also comes with all the common drivers. And on the legality of it- to quote myself "if the MPAA and RIAA couldn't stop pirated CDs in China how will Apple stop the use of pirated OSx86 here in China?" (Yes, I live in China).
On the plus side, I have no trouble getting free music from eMule. Every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case it's the fact that I can't be sued while here in China downloading music (yeah, like China ever responds to any complaints from the US entertainment industry- pirated discs anyone?).
Your post reminds me why I should enjoy my time in China to the fullest (as full as my hard drive will get, that is). Looks like there's a plus side to the Chinese internet.
Those are nice and everything, but is there a Discover one? Sounds weird, but Discover/UnionPay (essentially the same thing when you get down to it) is what most of China (where I currently live) uses, and not the big-name cards (well, big stores in places frequented by non-Chinese have support for Visa/Mastercard/AmEx, but I don't go there because they rip off the foreigners; so sad).
Thanks. You should really try visiting sometime. BTW- I definitely do NOT recommend a non-stop flight if you decide to come to China sometime. I prefer flying a Japanese airline and transferring through Tokyo- the experience is much better given the condition of current US airlines.
...You're right. Pre-paid is the norm here (I am a US citizen in China) as opposed to the US. It kind of pissed me off that I was stuck with a crap service plan in America because I wasn't staying long enough to be on a contract (although T-Mobile's FlexPay will certainly be something I will consider on my next visit- college). Oh, and I suppose I didn't notice the prices of phones because I usually buy my own unlocked phones. Here in China I *can* get a phone with 1.3MP camera, movie viewer, MP3 player, internet, streaming media, all that jazz for less than $100 without a contract. I hate being locked down to one carrier, so I always make sure to buy off contract.
That was a relatively new habit that sprouted after I moved to China, though. In the States I was fine with being on contract, because, hey, I'm going to be in the same place for high school, I won't be going anywhere for that year of the contract (T-Mobile). Nope- in the 1st semester of 9th grade I was up and moved to China. My phone didn't work with a local SIM, I was unhappy.
On an unrelated note- China's nice... I can find a lot of stuff, including cellphones, for cheaper than in the US. Of course, sometimes you want to pay more for imported stuff just to be on the safe side.
That's odd- that's exactly how the Chinese wireless market is (2 providers, apparently Virgin Mobile was at one time scheduled to enter the market too but it never happened) but you don't see sky-high prices like in America, and prepaid users are treated essentially the same as postpaid users.
For example, China Mobile charges $.02/minute voice, $.01/text, and $.01/3KB. They also have package plans that work by deducting a set amount monthly from your prepaid account. I have one that gives me 20 minutes and 60 texts for $1.30, and another that gives me 50MB of data (tethered or WAP) for $2.30. Compare to AT&T Mobility which charges $.25/minute, $.10-20/text, and $.01/KB for data. Oh, and they had that wonderful (sarcasm here) $10 for 5MB package. The kicker- for text and data it's cheaper to roam in from China Mobile ($.10/text and $.01/2KB) than to get a prepaid SIM from AT&T. And don't give me any of that "apples and oranges" stuff- AT&T certainly doesn't cover all of the US, just like China Mobile doesn't cover the far reaches of China (China Unicom, however, does a great job of that- and they charge essentially the same rates, except that their data package plan gives 100MB for the price that China Mobile charges for 50MB- I don't go with them because they only have GPRS, while China Mobile has EDGE).
YES, that's exactly what we need. If people would only actually give a damn about their security, there would be no such incidents. Support the use of OS X on PCs if you're not into the Linux thing, because Windows is proven to be insecure (I only use XP because I haven't installed my patched copy of OS X on it yet).
And they don't have existing DSL infrastructure either? Let's see- according to my hi-ho (Japanese ISP run by Panasonic; info sheet came with my Japanese Toughbook) information sheet, their ADSL (notice it's asymmetric too?) runs at 40M/?M (didn't say and can't find info) for $50/month, 12M/1M ($35/month), 3M/1M (about $30/month), and 1M/512k ($25/month). This is Japan, though- I mean, who's going to go for the 3M/1M, or the 1M/512k? But their upstream speeds definitely beat what exists in America. I don't think you can find any DSL provider in America that provides 1M up for $30/month.
But my point is, just because Japan is more advanced than America doesn't mean that they don't face the same challenges. They have existing infrastructure too that they'd have to tear down if they didn't use backwards-compatible equipment, don't they? Or did it all happen to be compatible with the technology they chose?
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I believe you're looking for the MOTOFONE. In Japan, you'd be looking for something like this.
Well, the video part of that already exists- on NTT DoCoMo it's called "Chara-den" (Character phone). Good for making a videocall when you've just stepped out of the shower (unless you're...the kind of person who likes to show it all).
Maybe Japanese, but not Asians in general. Here in China, people really like to use videochat on MSN and such, and those who are too clueless to use a computer buy fixed-line videophones. Probably with the introduction of 3G into China (yes, we'll have WCDMA too) mobile videocalling will be popular too (unless the mobile company raises prices too high, but that's nigh-impossible; I can direct-dial to the US for less than $.10/min on my cellphone.
QR codes- I love 'em because I can encode lots of things on them, such as pre-addressed text messages/MMSes to send later if I don't feel like sending it now (internationally roaming, for example), vCards, even small ringtones and pictures sometimes.
I'll believe it when I don't have to go through Customs to go to Taiwan from China, when I don't need to add another entry to my Chinese visa (US citizen here) to cross over to Taiwan, and don't have to pay international rates to call there.
I'll believe it when the mainland gets 3G and Sharp/Toshiba phones. They sell phones to Taiwan, not to China. Likewise, Taiwan is still counted as *inter*national roaming by China Mobile and China Unicom (with crap rates too; more expensive than roaming to America, even).
Yes- in the US worker protection laws don't cover the workers quite that well. Why does Europe (mostly Northern Europe) sound so attractive...?
It must really suck to have a bunch of ACs after you yelling after such an inspiring statement. I support you. If I get modded down, so what? Go right ahead.
I think you missed the part where the artist approves of this "stealing" and is not an asshat.
Oh, you must be one of those rare EU people that are patient enough to wait for games to come out in your region. Not everyone is as patient; they want to play US/JP versions of games, and modchips allow them to do just that.
this is copy*left*- non-profit use only, unlike copy*right* material.
One word- OSx86. It's prepatched for Intel PCs and also comes with all the common drivers. And on the legality of it- to quote myself "if the MPAA and RIAA couldn't stop pirated CDs in China how will Apple stop the use of pirated OSx86 here in China?" (Yes, I live in China).
On the plus side, I have no trouble getting free music from eMule. Every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case it's the fact that I can't be sued while here in China downloading music (yeah, like China ever responds to any complaints from the US entertainment industry- pirated discs anyone?).
Yep- Wikipedia was unblocked earlier. It just got blocked again.
Your post reminds me why I should enjoy my time in China to the fullest (as full as my hard drive will get, that is). Looks like there's a plus side to the Chinese internet.
Those are nice and everything, but is there a Discover one? Sounds weird, but Discover/UnionPay (essentially the same thing when you get down to it) is what most of China (where I currently live) uses, and not the big-name cards (well, big stores in places frequented by non-Chinese have support for Visa/Mastercard/AmEx, but I don't go there because they rip off the foreigners; so sad).
That English-Japanese-English one was hilarious!
Thanks. You should really try visiting sometime. BTW- I definitely do NOT recommend a non-stop flight if you decide to come to China sometime. I prefer flying a Japanese airline and transferring through Tokyo- the experience is much better given the condition of current US airlines.
...You're right. Pre-paid is the norm here (I am a US citizen in China) as opposed to the US. It kind of pissed me off that I was stuck with a crap service plan in America because I wasn't staying long enough to be on a contract (although T-Mobile's FlexPay will certainly be something I will consider on my next visit- college). Oh, and I suppose I didn't notice the prices of phones because I usually buy my own unlocked phones. Here in China I *can* get a phone with 1.3MP camera, movie viewer, MP3 player, internet, streaming media, all that jazz for less than $100 without a contract. I hate being locked down to one carrier, so I always make sure to buy off contract.
That was a relatively new habit that sprouted after I moved to China, though. In the States I was fine with being on contract, because, hey, I'm going to be in the same place for high school, I won't be going anywhere for that year of the contract (T-Mobile). Nope- in the 1st semester of 9th grade I was up and moved to China. My phone didn't work with a local SIM, I was unhappy.
On an unrelated note- China's nice... I can find a lot of stuff, including cellphones, for cheaper than in the US. Of course, sometimes you want to pay more for imported stuff just to be on the safe side.
And if you bring your own?
That's odd- that's exactly how the Chinese wireless market is (2 providers, apparently Virgin Mobile was at one time scheduled to enter the market too but it never happened) but you don't see sky-high prices like in America, and prepaid users are treated essentially the same as postpaid users.
For example, China Mobile charges $.02/minute voice, $.01/text, and $.01/3KB. They also have package plans that work by deducting a set amount monthly from your prepaid account. I have one that gives me 20 minutes and 60 texts for $1.30, and another that gives me 50MB of data (tethered or WAP) for $2.30. Compare to AT&T Mobility which charges $.25/minute, $.10-20/text, and $.01/KB for data. Oh, and they had that wonderful (sarcasm here) $10 for 5MB package. The kicker- for text and data it's cheaper to roam in from China Mobile ($.10/text and $.01/2KB) than to get a prepaid SIM from AT&T. And don't give me any of that "apples and oranges" stuff- AT&T certainly doesn't cover all of the US, just like China Mobile doesn't cover the far reaches of China (China Unicom, however, does a great job of that- and they charge essentially the same rates, except that their data package plan gives 100MB for the price that China Mobile charges for 50MB- I don't go with them because they only have GPRS, while China Mobile has EDGE).
YES, that's exactly what we need. If people would only actually give a damn about their security, there would be no such incidents. Support the use of OS X on PCs if you're not into the Linux thing, because Windows is proven to be insecure (I only use XP because I haven't installed my patched copy of OS X on it yet).
For future reference, United Airlines 747 jets do have exit row seats that recline.
You do know how hard it is to change citizenship, right?
And they don't have existing DSL infrastructure either? Let's see- according to my hi-ho (Japanese ISP run by Panasonic; info sheet came with my Japanese Toughbook) information sheet, their ADSL (notice it's asymmetric too?) runs at 40M/?M (didn't say and can't find info) for $50/month, 12M/1M ($35/month), 3M/1M (about $30/month), and 1M/512k ($25/month). This is Japan, though- I mean, who's going to go for the 3M/1M, or the 1M/512k? But their upstream speeds definitely beat what exists in America. I don't think you can find any DSL provider in America that provides 1M up for $30/month.
But my point is, just because Japan is more advanced than America doesn't mean that they don't face the same challenges. They have existing infrastructure too that they'd have to tear down if they didn't use backwards-compatible equipment, don't they? Or did it all happen to be compatible with the technology they chose?