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iPhone in Japan: Past, Present and Future

Plenty of news today considering the recent announcement from Apple, the iPhone 3GS will hit here June 26th, so we thought it would be worthwhile to review where things stand to-date for Steves Amazing Device in Japan. Since both Apple and SoftBank Mobile have always refused to disclose unit sales, even targets for that matter, it has naturally been an ongoing obsession for many – how is the iPhone doing in Japan? There are several angles to approach this on so for starters lets just say that, while there seems to be recent awakening and therefore increased adoption, expectation often leads to disappointment.

As the 1st year anniversary since launch here last July is fast approaching we have assembled our most candid and personal observations, for WWJ Subscribers, after the jump.

Pandemic Tracking via Mobile – Part 2

The Japan Times picked up on this thread, regarding the use of mobile phones to manage pandemics, with details of a funding proposal to the Ministry of Communications. Basically a disease-tracking system using GPS, the SoftBank subsidiary plans to run an initial pilot by outfitting 1,000 elementary school students with handsets to trial the program. This is one of several dozen approved funding proposals and, as we mentioned earlier, a natural attention grabber considering the combination of recent panics and predictable privacy issues.

NTT Com Offers Free Eye-Fi WLAN

NTT Communications just announced the launch of their new “HOTSPOT connect” service offering free connectivity to specific Internet services via their HOTSPOT WLAN network in Japan. The first offering – dubbed “HOTSPOT connect x Eye-Fi” – will allow users to upload photos and videos from cameras, camcorders and other portable devices that are equipped with an Eye-Fi SD memory card which has built-in Wi-Fi capability. The HOTSPOT connect platform is openly available to anyone, including non-subscribers to HOTSPOT, normally a paid service.

The Worlds Largest Cell Phone Strap!

SoftBank has introduced a summer campaign, targeted at attracting new users, offering coupons and gift certificates along with the largest keitai strap you’ve (n)ever seen! Their mascot, ‘Oto-san’ who is a hugely popular canine celebrity via the companies cheeky TV commercials, is available as a 30cm tall stuffed toy (see the video here) to the lucky few who can answer a set of skill-testing questions. As an added bonus if you squeeze his tail expect him to speak with one of ten – snarly albeit fatherly – different lines of advice. btw: this episode of the family dinner table discussion about going to Hawaii is just Classic! If you enjoy that, then see the entire TVCM video gallery Here.

Nico Nico Adds Live Mobile Video

The folks at Niwango have announced a beta trial for users to setup a live broadcast channel from and for their mobile handsets. According to the announcement [.PDF in Japanese] they will enable up to 500 concurrent viewers starting June 1st, with plans to scale up to support a total of 3,000 viewers per stream in July. They have positioned this as an experimantal service and for the initial launch it will only be available to premium members who also subscribe via i-mode. If you don’t know what NicoNico Douga (Smile Video) is, they presented to Mobile Monday Tokyo in July 2008 – details Here.

MCN Powers Smart Search

MCN-Inc. has announced they have enabled the launch of Smart Search for Philippine-based Smart Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT. Smart Search is an SMS triggered discovery service that will be targeting the companies 37M subscribers who can use a shortcode to text queries for their favorite downloadable music content. Smart Search will be available for free during an initial promotional period after which each successful search will cost P1.00 per transaction.

KDDI Introduces 8 New Mobile Phones

Rounding out the big three summer 2009 handset series launches, KDDI took the wraps off their new line-up here yesterday, announcing eight new models, with two devices coming from each Kyocera, Sharp and Toshiba while Hitachi and Casio each adding one more. There are a couple main attention grabbers at first blush; the Solar Phone from Sharp, which packs a 5 mega-pixel camera and boasts waterproofing for the beach too boot, and the Hitachi HD Wooo claims to be the world first mobile phone with high-definition video, shooting 1280×720 pixels at 30fps and built-in HDMI Mini Connector for easy viewing on the big screen!

The Run & Walk built-in fitness functions seem popular and the latest Casio G’zOne adds Beat Run along with improved compass and temperature sensors along with calorie counter and trip memory. Not be be outdone, the new Sharp Sportio can apparently play music even while submerged! The dedicated Flash Gallery is Here.

DoCoMo Summer Series Handset Launch

Stepping forward with a spring in their stride market leader NTT DoCoMo introduced 18 new handsets for their Summer series at a presser here in the Prince hotel this week. Along with these latest models, which included the rumored HTC Magic Android unit, big D also announced a few interesting service additions. Of course WWJ was on the scene, slightly foggy from our MoMo Tokyo event the night before, and will post our thoughts – including link to video – for the paid members after the jump. Meanwhile, you can get a peek at the new offerings via their new flash website and the basic specs in English from official .pdfs with the original press release Here.

SoftBank Mobile Announces Summer Models

Tuesday May 19th saw a double-shot of new handset series announcements with flashy press conferences held by both DoCoMo and SoftBank Mobile (KDDI will announce next week). Leading the pack with six new units from Sharp, including the Solar Hybrid and unique Mirumo models, the energetic third place operator introduced 15 new handsets in total. The rest of their new line-up, due to hit the street over the next few months, come from NEC (3), Panasonic (2), Toshiba (1) and Samsung with the final trio including their OMNIA smart phone – targeted at girls! – and a branded Armani device. You can watch the presentation – 90mins run time in English – online video Here.

Top 10 Japanese Mobile Phones

The folks at GfK have produced a Top-10 list for handsets sold in Japan for the calendar year of 2008. Apparently this list is referenced by using POS data compiled through their network of electronic re-sellers, so we have to take the ratings with a grain of salt in the absence of any other official stats provided elsewhere. Since the results are separated by both operator and device maker and then compiled into the overall list, there are a few interesting points to note. First off, apparently Sharp secured four of the top ten spots while Panasonic managed to snag two of the top three best sellers. Also, while DoCoMo showed the way with six of the best movers SoftBank Mobile only got one unit in the top 10, and it was not the iPhone. See the full breakdown after the jump.