j-phone

[Malice04]

nah uh

I don't think so buster. Japanese models are the best phones that you could ever have. I find them to be thinner than the american phones and way cooler.

 

[PopCulturePooka]

I don't think so buster. Japanese models are the best phones that you could ever have. I find them to be thinner than the american phones and way cooler.

You obvioulsy haven't used one.
Or an Aussie one.

The two that I've had have ahd some very annoying features, the signal strength isn't as strong, no SMS function, only forms of email, big and heavy (My Samsung back home thats three years old is much smaller and slimmer, with better features) and rather iffy learning curves.

 

[Malice04]

You obvioulsy haven't used one.
Or an Aussie one.

The two that I've had have ahd some very annoying features, the signal strength isn't as strong, no SMS function, only forms of email, big and heavy (My Samsung back home thats three years old is much smaller and slimmer, with better features) and rather iffy learning curves.

:sorry: I haven't, but my friend came over from japan, and then this kid stayed over my house, over the exchange program, and he had one. It was like super thin. Does aussie get the same technology as in japan?

 

[rakuten]

You obvioulsy haven't used one.
Or an Aussie one.

The two that I've had have ahd some very annoying features, the signal strength isn't as strong, no SMS function, only forms of email, big and heavy (My Samsung back home thats three years old is much smaller and slimmer, with better features) and rather iffy learning curves.

Well you obviously bought a cheap one (am I right?). SMS is not known in Japan, it is (or rather was) based on and limited to the GSM standard. SMS was merely a gadget at the time of release and not considered as a serious product. It developed into a big money machinery, although it was very expensive at the beginning, but the customers found it to be really useful and convenient.

Similarly I could complain that there's no i-Mode here in Europe (until recently). With MMS we finally caught up with the i-Mode system in Japan.
Why bugger with SMS (=limited short text messages with limited characterset) when you can have fully-fledged e-mail that's actually being pushed to your mobile? After POP became available for cellphones here in Switzerland, there were lots of cases when clients had huge monthly phone bills (thousands of dollars) because they "popped" their mail accounts every five minutes or so. Can't happen with a Japanese phone because the mails are pushed instead of being pulled.

My almost 2 year old phone is rather slim and lightweight, while in Europe we still had these bulky models (relatively seen). I'll post the pics I promised as soon as the issue with my account is fixed. The signal strength, yes that's a point, but I don't know whether we can blame the CDMA standard for that or the antennae (which is a problem of the radio network per se, not the phones).

But still I don't see the point in getting a Japanese (local) phone when living outside Japan.

 

[PopCulturePooka]

:sorry: I haven't, but my friend came over from japan, and then this kid stayed over my house, over the exchange program, and he had one. It was like super thin. Does aussie get the same technology as in japan?

No we use similar to Europe. America it seems has models that very closely match Japanese models.

 

[PopCulturePooka]

Well you obviously bought a cheap one (am I right?).

My first one, the J-phone, was a bit cheaper but a fairly standard'popular' type at the time. I was dismayed at the size of it, the camera adding to bulk.
The second phone I got wasn't cheap. It was a fairly new, expensive and popular at the time Doco SO505is http://505i.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/so505is/. It has an overly large but not very useful camera (to mail pics they must be cut down to size, or put on a Sony memory stick, which is a pain to get ontoyour PC as their isn't a USB cable it seems. Its also a BIG phone, pretty much the biggest phone I've owned. 51 wide x 110 long by 25 deep.
It also has a really weak alarm clock and scheduling system. Not very useful and a pain to set. This is a big issue for me as I use my phone as my alarm clock and have altering schedules.
And dont get me started on the barcode reader function. None of the Japanese I know can really explain this too me.
(I also have a BIG issue in a phone that started paint chipping at 5 months with normal use).

Similarly I could complain that there's no i-Mode here in Europe (until recently).

Beyond checking train times i-mode has left nothing but huge phone bills.

Why bugger with SMS (=limited short text messages with limited characterset) when you can have fully-fledged e-mail that's actually being pushed to your mobile?

Because a lot of email doesnt get through or is cut up.
And a biggy. If you only ahve a persons phone number you're screwed. You cant usually email a phone number, even if you add @....ne.jp at the end of it. You need the persons phone mail address. Sometimes its a pain in the behind to do that, especially with some of the big email addresses used here (try inputting one of them at a loud noisy club).
With SMS you only need the persons phone number to be able to snd them a message. Much smoother.
After POP became available for cellphones here in Switzerland, there were lots of cases when clients had huge monthly phone bills (thousands of dollars) because they "popped" their mail accounts every five minutes or so.

Can't happen with a Japanese phone because the mails are pushed instead of being pulled.

Docomo at least seems to have big problems with very delayed emails. I've recieved emails that were actaully sent 6 or 7 hours before, and I only recieved it because I did a pull.

My almost 2 year old phone is rather slim and lightweight, while in Europe we still had these bulky models (relatively seen). I'll post the pics I promised as soon as the issue with my account is fixed. The signal strength, yes that's a point, but I don't know whether we can blame the CDMA standard for that or the antennae (which is a problem of the radio network per se, not the phones).

see some stats for my Docomo above and compare with this baby which is my sexy little thing back home: Technology News, Analysis, Comments and Product Reviews for IT Professionals | ZDNet
which is small, feature packed and a lot more reliable. And with MSN you can use email just as well.

 

[GaijinPunch]

Okay, as being an avid fan of my J-phone for years, and moving back to the states:

Japanese phones are always going to have more bells and whistles, and in most cases, just flat out look better. I had an MP3 player w/ SD Memory card reader on my phone like 3 years ago, and it was only like $150 then. In the states, for $200 (now), you can get the model that was $200 in Japan 2-3 years ago.

Plain and simple -- US phones are just too far behind. From what I've seen from the Eurpean phones, they're not as bad as the states, but still nowhere near as advanced as the ones in Japan.

EDIT: It is, however, worth noting that mobile service hasn't gotten that much cheaper over the years, whereas my phone bill for TWO phones (mine and my wifes) never breaks $85. Competition = good.

 

[rakuten]

The second phone I got wasn't cheap. It was a fairly new, expensive and popular at the time Doco SO505is http://505i.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/so505is/.

Well that is an ugly one. Now I see why you're not at all enthusiastic for Japanese phones.

And a biggy. If you only ahve a persons phone number you're screwed. You cant usually email a phone number, even if you add @....ne.jp at the end of it. You need the persons phone mail address. Sometimes its a pain in the behind to do that, especially with some of the big email addresses used here (try inputting one of them at a loud noisy club).
With SMS you only need the persons phone number to be able to snd them a message. Much smoother.

Actually that's what I found so convenient, I could mail someone even if I had only the phone number. Supermail allowed up to 12kB (~12'000 characters) and the cheaper shortform Skymail was limited to 128 chars, similar to our SMS back then (max. 160 chars).

 

[rakuten]

If only I could get a DoCoMo phone.
So I hear that they are the ones that are really billingual.

eventually I'll drown in my tears

Don't find yourself drowning in tears when you realize that your new bilingual phones is, er.. may I say retarded?, compared to the other phones on the market.

Whatever, posting pics works again, so here as promised:
Pic1 L: comes with ~1kg manuals and leaflets :erm:
Pic1 R: charging station, included headphones - and just for decoration, some straps
Pic2 L: CCD lens, flashlight, configurable status display
Pic2 R: SD slot - load me up baby! ;-)
Pic3 L: Japanese only, no English menu
Pic3 R: application library (games, weather service etc.)
Pic4 L: Java
Pic4 R: yes it's her - an she's the preinstalled screensaver, zoomable and viewable from all sides (her slip is orange )
You can change her clothes and the way she walks and dances - yes she dances to the music when someone calls...

J-Phone SH-52, 8MB SD Memorycard (up to 256MB), CCD-Digicam with flash for normal and macro shots (photos and movies, but movies are quite crappy), MP3 Player, Voicerecorder, Java for applications and games - and comes in the flavours lychee, cherry, lemon, muscat, blueberry, grape, peppermint and tropical ;-)

 

[TwistedMac]

don't slip in the fanboy puddles o' drool.

 

[PopCulturePooka]

Well that is an ugly one. Now I see why you're not at all enthusiastic for Japanese phones.


Actually that's what I found so convenient, I could mail someone even if I had only the phone number. Supermail allowed up to 12kB (~12'000 characters) and the cheaper shortform Skymail was limited to 128 chars, similar to our SMS back then (max. 160 chars).

I've not been able to do that with my docomo phone and couldnt do it with my jphone if the person didnt have a jphone.

 

[Ardeo]

Ardeo:
That Sharp model is so freaking cool. .Thanx..this will have to do until I move to japan. Or until I figure out how to get a j-phone overhere. Do you know what company the Sharp GX30 with. (ie. Verizon, Sprint, Cingular etc..)

Yeah, I am going to get this model as well....I love the camera funcion on it....so much more convenient than carrying a digital camera around with you all the time. As for what carrier it will work on...it is a tri-band GSM phone (900,1800, and 1900). It will definitely work on T-Mobile, ATT (Cingular Blue), and it will also work on Cingular...only caveat is if you have Cingular and live in an area with the 850mhz band (as I do) then you will lost some functionality. If you live in a decent size city you will do just fine with the phone....I am going to get it for sure.....will post if I find any more cool phones that seem interesting.

 

[rakuten]

I've not been able to do that with my docomo phone and couldnt do it with my jphone if the person didnt have a jphone.

Problem was, each provider had his own standard of short mails and they couldn't (or didn't want to) agree on one standard. But that's solved now (and standard e-mail always worked). Was similar in Switzerland, the 3 telcos were not interested in enabling SMS exchange between their networks, because at that time (after the privatisation of the local telephone market) there was a heavy fight on who could win more customers. Of course they knew they couldn't do this forever (customers got really angry and mad), but "milk the cow as long as you can" is what we use to say. That's politics, technically it was not an issue (SMS is 1 standard). The telcos did and still do similar things with other services in order to make it cumbersome for customers when they wanna switch to a competitor.

The only "american" models I like are models done by Sanyo and by Sony Ericson.

Are you sure you want a Sony Ericsson?

 

[Malice04]

yummy

yay, so funny rakuten. I like sony ericson. They have some nice models.

 

[Malice04]

Damn

Oh well....Damn...Sh*t. I'm stuck with an american phone. Crap this totally suxz anus. Until I go to japan that is...Dum Dum Dummmmmmm