Cellphones in Japan > Why can't we have cool stuff here?

Why can't we have cool stuff here?

said by mr2nut:

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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?

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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.

reply to NJBoricua75
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.

reply to mr2nut
Nice article!

Currently I'm working for a large TelCo in The Netherlands and I have had the chance to play around with a few phones..

They are really amazing and I can't wait for the moment they will be the first to have an European I-mode platform (in cooperation with NTT DoCoMo)..

It's amazing how much progress can still be made in this area

EDIT: I've used this model..
[text was edited by author 2002-01-29 14:10:13]

reply to NJBoricua75
Interesting I have a Kyocera with Sprint, love the phone. Pretty blue light and net access.