mattman
join:1999-10-25
Lafayette Hill, PA
|  Wow.
Nice article Justin! Only thing is I can't see people using their phones here in the U.S. in the same way that they use it in Japan. O well, prove me wrong guys.
Interesting that you say that phones cost 0-100$ (and that would be a top of the line model). How can this be. The phones obviously contain advanced technology, and they do cost a lot more than that. How can they go about selling these phones for such a loss, since you say that most new phones are purchased by people who already have ones.
Those phones look pretty cool however. Puts my Samsung SCH-6100 to shame, then again its 2 years old. I have a friend who is from Korea, and he tells me that the phones we have hear are phones that he saw there a few years ago, which I can believe!
And of course they are already moving past sms, yet i know of maybe one or two people that have even used sms here. i just don't see the point here of using sms, might as well call them  . Those net speeds sure do look nice, and I could see that being useful if you brought the labtop in the park and hooked it up into your phone and was able to relax and use the computer at the park. however, i bet the companies here won't price it low enough for most people to use it for leisure.
-Matt
[text was edited by author 2002-01-28 22:14:37] |
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Tom
Premium
join:2000-09-10
Wheaton, IL | Ahh, I get it now..
THAT's where Justin was on vacation when DSLR was down.. .. just joking  . Great article. |
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clyde_
It's A Chrysalis, Not A Cocoon
Premium
join:2001-05-02
Easley, SC
| No big surprise
It's no big surprise that Japan smokes the US when it comes to cellular technology and service. They probably don't have providers whose sole interests are controlling their own monopolies like the ones here. US providers don't seem to be able to work together very well. This leads to different types of standards, equipment, and service for each company. When several companies can't even agree on how to operate current technology, there's no chance of them agreeing on what future technology should be. I'm no expert on Japanese business practices, but they seem to be a lot better at working together to make standards and push technology forward.
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"You cannot pass!" -- Gandalf "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" |
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IAmTheEvilest
There Is Nothing Like A Restart
join:2001-01-03
Santa Barbara, CA
clubs:
| Actually, all of the Japanese cellular providers use different technologies that do not work together at all, just like all of the American companies. All of the providers all trying to get more market share, and NTT DoCoMo has the greatest market share right now. None of the providers phones work with one another. Even China has better cellular phones in the larger cities! In America, all of the providers are talking about transitioning to a 2.5G system, while they already have it in China. In terms of personal electronic devices, America is far behind. Lets face it, even if those devices were available in the US today, we wouldn't keep on upgrading to the latest technology, even if it was cheap. As long as the demand isn't there, we won't be seeing any improvements. |
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Kangaroo8
join:2000-08-11
Peoria, AZ
clubs:
| Imagine the this in America...
...with drivers ranging from unable to barely able to handle a voice conversation having the ability to stare at God knows what on a pretty colorful screen. Widespread death and destruction as vehicles careen out of control as Tom-The-Idiot-Salesman clicks through his email, or Sally-Soccer-Mom runs down the team watching DSLReports for news. Cats and dogs living together...real Wrath of God stuff.
The Japanese men are probably all just looking at Manga downloads. |
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ravenink
join:2000-10-29
Atlanta, GA
| reply to IAmTheEvilest
Re: No big surprise
actually I think the demand is pretty much there, especially with the new generation of .com kids like me. personally I upgrade my cell phone once every 6 months or so. Usually something will come along that is just well...NEAT and I want it If the technology was available and not extraordinarily expensive I think it would be huge if introduced in america. sadly I doubt we'll be seeing anything like that for the next 50 years. On another note is all japanese consumer technology that far advanced of american?? If it is I would seriously consider japan as one of my living choices in the next ten years.
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::grin:: it's funny how leaving earthlink can double your salary. |
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xxx8
join:2000-10-15
Falls Church, VA | The good ol' days
I remember the days when we would all stand around the Fax machine and OOHHH and AAAhhh when a letter would spit out.
Reading that article makes me feel as if we are that far behind the curve. |
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ultraman80
join:2001-07-26
Saint Paul, MN
| reply to mattman
Re: Wow.
said by mattman:
And of course they are already moving past sms, yet i know of maybe one or two people that have even used sms here. i just don't see the point here of using sms, might as well call them .
Exactly what I thought before I started using them.
Using the phone to read email is actually very handy. A lot of people use it to receive email rather than send one. It beats having to boot up a PC or laptop and having to hook it up to phone jack or cell phone. By the time you get to your office you'll be done reading all email that came in during the night.
As for sending SMS, it depends on how you use it. Most kids do it to pass funny messages between friends or set up a date as well as talk. You can put frequently used messages (like "I'll meet you in front of Parco at 6:00 pm" in memory (actually some phones come with a default set of messages) and have it sent tapping only 3 keys.
To the kids who grew up with this stuff, its just another communication tool and its natural to them as TV.
And if you've every commuted in Tokyo, you'll know that reading a cell phone is much easier than trying to read a newspaper or book while being sardined into a train running at 150% capacity. |
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mr2nut
join:2001-01-08
Fair Oaks, CA
|  Why can't we have cool stuff here?
First, EXCELLENT article and pictures!!
I have always been jealous of the cool electronics and communication available in Japan. They are always ahead of us and most of the stuff we see never seems to make it to the USA. Why is that?
Those phones make my Audiovox CDM9000 look like a Speak-n-Spell in comparison. All I'd really like to see in my lifetime is an all-in-one device that fits in my pocket and I could take anywhere that:
Plays music, movies, accesses the Net/email, has a contact manager/organizer, and makes phone calls. Is that too much to ask for? And what's up with our bandwidth here? If I want to connect to the internet from my notebook using my cell phone, I'd be lucky to get a 14.4k connection - if any at all. They're getting 56k+? 
Sorry.. bad mood. |
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NJBoricua75
Born And Raised
join:2000-09-13
North Bergen, NJ
| said by mr2nut:
First, EXCELLENT article and pictures!!
I have always been jealous of the cool electronics and communication available in Japan. They are always ahead of us and most of the stuff we see never seems to make it to the USA. Why is that?
Sad isn't it? I'm lucky I own a Sanyo 5150. I think thats as close as I'm going to get for now. Sprint doesn't even have 3G yet. Supposedly Verizon started it today but they only have phone that works with it! The Kyocera. Oh well. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Home/Office setup ..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
| reply to mr2nut
If you pick one of the recent docomo 3G handsets, they're apparently getting 384k .. and whatever comes as a handset, comes as a data card for a PC as well, and/or comes with a link cable to join your laptop to the net.
What really irritates me is the insane battery life and weight advantages over there vs over here, and the price advantages of handsets. The only explanation I can think of is that Sanyo, Panasonic, Sony, National etc have been so obsessed with their home market that they compete on PCS and US Analog against Nokia and Motorola with their spare parts bins, and trainee designers..
I was told by a guy who works for Ericcson that the GSM conglomerate locked out the Japanese handset makers with obscene license fees for GSM chips, hence the domination so far of Nokia and Ericsson, and the high prices for handsets vs Japan .. but now we have Sanyo trying the PCS market with handsets like this 2.2oz model .. which although roughly equivalent to Japanese models of about 3 years ago still look modern here, but pricey from Sprint at $230..
And the SonyEriccson joint venture promises new better smaller phones (the Sony influence) for example the first color screen world GSM phone with bluetooth, only available retail in Europe now, but can already be bought on ebay, and works on VoiceStream, (but for the obscene price of $500):
But the basic problem still remains .. they get the cool stuff, and we get the hand-me-downs. |
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ultraman80
join:2001-07-26
Saint Paul, MN
|  Battery Life
Battery life is something that really irritates me about the phones over here.
I used to use a Nokia NM502i from DoCoMo and its battery would last a week without re-charging. The motorola I'm using right now won't go beyond 2 days without re-charging.
Considering the size of the StarTac, I would expect it to last much longer. |
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Jacob
join:2000-11-28
Los Gatos, CA
| Cool!
Nice article, Justin! We could use some more "pictorial reports" .
Yeah, it's weird how we get the 'hand-me-downs,' which they are loafing away with pure bliss.
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Dude, you're gettin' a Beowulf cluster! Cluck! |
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nekote
join:2000-12-16
Hopkinton, MA
| The battle for the eyeballs
Justin,
Pretty straightforward and elegant report.
Especially the enhancements to the photos
pointing out Intel's former CEO Andy Groves quote:
"It's the battle for the eyeballs".
Hand held audio and video.
Anybody remember Dick Tracy and his wrist phone?
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Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all other forms of government. - Winston Churchill |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | I don't have a cellphone
And I think their use should be banned in public, just like public smoking. |
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Dubon
join:2000-12-04 | Yeah, just carry a pound of quarters in your pocket, right? Duh...
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Life's a bitch. And it's got puppies. |
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kaila
join:2000-10-11
Lincolnshire, IL
clubs: | About battery life.
What battery technology do they use to get those unbelievable battery life times without the weight while powering color screens? Incorporating that technology alone into our current phones would be a good first step. |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | reply to Dubon
Re: I don't have a cellphone
Duh, quarters for what? If you're referring to pay phones, you don't need coins to use them. |
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highjinx
join:2000-10-12
Alturas, CA | reply to kaila
Re: About battery life.
Japan's insane battery life has to do with the density of the network.
HJ |
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timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
 ·AT&T Southeast
| reply to NJBoricua75
Re: Why can't we have cool stuff here?
If you read the articles describing the US rollout of 3G services, you should have noticed that they are not really 3G, at all. I have seen the term "2.5G" used by the tech writers. The newest US networks (including the Verizon one you mentioned) give speeds of up to about 150 kbps, but the writers say that you will see effective speeds of only 40 to 64 kbps. Certainly not "broadband wireless". True 3G should give speeds of about 384 kbps.
I know that, in my area, Cingular is planning to build out its 2.5G network (that they will call 3G) by the end of 2004. Where will Japan be by then?
We will never catch up and we aren't even trying to. The big question, to me, is, "Why don't the US companies want all that business?". Don't they see that consumers see them building networks for two years in the future that were obsolete a year ago? We don't buy much of it because we know they aren't providing the latest or even reasonably current technology. |
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