Comments on: SoftBank iPhone: other carriers’ customers more likely to buy

By: Ken Y-N

Ken Y-N — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:29:41 +0000

Musubi, I think the ultimate test of the interface is can you type one-thumbed while hanging off a strap in a moving train!

rbalfour, err, almost everyone who uses a mobile inputs in kana! Indeed, I’ve never heard of a non-smartphone keitai that converts romaji input to kanji, and if you look at the people who write short stories/books on keitai they say that they can write faster on a mobile than on a full-sized keyboard. And of course the iPhone has a minature soft keyboard, so I’d be surprised if even the average mobile-using person in the street could use the iPhone quicker in romaji than kana.

The Blackberry failed partially due to a lack of marketing and customisation, and partially due to the fact that there is little market for smartphones or PDAs, but that’s a whole different story.

By: rbalfour

rbalfour — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:56:44 +0000

This may be to advanced for the Japanese market, but who cares, I sure don’t.
I am getting one for the connectivity. The Japanese market is the worse place to adapt to new technologies. If it wasn’t made here by a team of “light-bulb” changers, it’s no good. There are way too many phones now in the market that are useless. TV is a option that is useless. There will be a whole generation of blind ppl or coke-bottle glasses. The last poster was going on about keyboards and blah blah blah. It’s a SOFTWARE phone…you can change the layout of the system (at least apple can via feedback) and this feeling thing…blah blah blah. People will get use to anything. There was a time when JP input was via kana. Now you will be hard pressed to find someone who types fast in kana vs romaji. The NUMBER ONE feature that apple will have to either a) make in the next version for Japan - b) say screw you…it’s just Japan..we have other markets , is the SUICA / Payment system. There are thousands of ppl who can’t live without it. I am going with option B here. Apple isn’t about to make a “special” version for Japan.

Let’s just look at the DoCoMo Biz Blackberry, it finally came, but it didn’t take over the market, explaining to the market about “email” on the phone, turns into “eh, keitai mail, oh yes i have that”, Let’s put it this way, the iphone is for who love cutting edge. period. The whole Tokai research asked 330 ppl, how many ppl are in Japan?
JR biz is another WHOLE different rant.

So come July 11 - You can find me either at the Shibuya store or Ginza store wearing a T-Shirt “IPHONE HACKER”

By: Musubi

Musubi — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:42:06 +0000

Surveys aside, I think many are going to want to see for themselves how the product is adapted to the Japanese market. Apple has been working on the input side for awhile now (for those who haven’t seen it, screenshots from back in May if you click on my user name) and that is probably one of the key areas that will come under scrutiny by consumers once they get a chance to try out an iPhone. Of course there are those who were burned by SoftBank in the past and won’t ever go back but thats a different story….

I know lot of people are exceptionally fast (using just their thumb) on a traditional keypad where I think physical feel of the keypad might be an issue (yes, I know about the ad nauseum arguments that went on about the standard keyboard). There is that rumor about Apple looking at licensing Haptic technology from Immersion but that is going to be in some future hardware revision down the road if the rumor is true.

What is going to be more interesting to watch is if Apple will put a hole somewhere on the phone to provide a way for consumers to add their favorite keitai strap/charms. Missing out on something as simple as that in the Japanese market would probably be bigger news than anything else.

By: SoftBank iPhone: other carriers’ customers more likely to buy

SoftBank iPhone: other carriers’ customers more likely to buy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:25:51 +0000

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