Gshocker's Toys

Cell phones everywhere...

So we all know that most people in the US have cell phones. And most have finally figured out how to use more than the calling feature but still calling seems to be the primary way most of us in the US use our cell phones. Here in Japan it is much different...

Over the years I have seen people all over in japan using their cell phones. This trip it seems that everyone no matter how old has their face burried in their phone. They are using email, web surfing and text messaging back and forth to others. It has been so much a part of the society now that even at meals many leave their phones open while they eat so that they do not miss anything.

Calling seems to be much less used than in the US. Email messaging and the web are big over here.. Even posting on social sites like Mixi (the big social site over here) have become selling features for the various phones out there.

Having seen this I am very curious to see how well the iPhone does over here. Most of the providers over here release new model phones like the fashion industries release new fashions. Currently they are all touting the Spring models but soon the Summer models will be here and with them the iPhone. I am sure the Shibuya and Ginza apple stores are ready..

Internet Speed !!!! and a new watch

I did grab the above watch last week on launch day. Nice watch.. but enough of that...

Internet speed in Japan is amazing. My connection in Tokyo was about 10 down and 7 up. I am now in a small town in Nagano prefecture and the speed here is again 10 down and 8 up. I know for a fact that the connection here in Komoro is the base service so that is pretty impressive. I know you can get faster downstream in the US from some providers but that upstream is amazing. This seems to have been the case for many years here in Japan which is a bit depressing since I was just able to get an upload speed that was more than a crawl (2 megs up).

Wandering around Tokyo I also notice that people here seem to not only change the SSID of their wireless devices but they also lock them down. No free surfing around the neighborhoods like in the US ( I would of course never do such a thing). As I have more time here in Komoro I will try and post some images and thoughts on all the new trends I have seen in Tokyo since my last trip.

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Tags: Japan, Internet, Tokyo

Fixed Gears in Japan

I am looking at lots of fixed gear bicycles in Japan this trip. It seems that this is all the rage over here. I have seen this one in a local shop and it seems changing the parts to trick them out and make them look unique is a bit deal. Lots of people seem to have cut down rider bars on them that are quite narrow. All in all this is a very cool thing to see and there seem to be a few less scooters around town (Tokyo).

I have not had a fixed gear bike in a long time but I am thinking that this would make a great commuter and around town bike for home. I may check this out a bit more once I return to the US.

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Tags: Bikes, Japan

Gshock GW-9200J-1JF

Could this be my next watch? For those that know me I am a big Gshock watch person. I usually go for the models that are not sold outside Japan but this one has caught my eye. It will be launching while I am in Tokyo so the temptation is there.. World time sync and a ton of features stuffed in there. This one will be released in the US but only at select Macy stores so who knows how many will be able to find this one. Also Macys is not a store that discounts much so it could actually be cheaper for me to grab this one in Japan.

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Tags: GShock, watch, Japan

Buying gas is painful

Renting Cell Service in Japan

Well as I prepare for my trip to Japan one of the things I am getting set for is cell phone service over there. There are lots of companies that offer rental phones in Japan and most can be booked ahead and picked up at the airport when you land. If you are lucky enough to have an unlocked phone with WCDMA 2100 then you are in luck and will only have to rent a SIM card to get your phone working in Japan.

Softbank offers SIM card rental at very good rates in Japan. I have never used this personally but my wife has used the service twice now and had a good experience both times. Basically we take our SIM unlocked cell phone that we use over in the U.S. and pop in the Softbank SIM and we are off and running. The service costs 105 yen per day which is about $1 at the current exchange rate. Services are -

• All incoming calls are FREE.
• FREE itemized call statement.
• Use your own 3G WCDMA handset (GSM phones will not work in Japan.)
• Use a local Japanese number.
• SMS available within SoftBank network.
• Text messaging (*3 Int’l SMS, Int’l S!Mail) available to overseas phones.
• SIM rental telephone number allocation in advance is available upon request.

If you are looking to have phone service in Japan this is a good solution. Just check the 3G band that you phone has. Standard for AT&T is not the 2100 but some of their phones offer that band.

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Tags: Japan, Cell Phone, SIM card

Take that Macbook Air :-)

The VooDoo Envy is going to be just that.. then envy of all who see it. This VooDoo laptop is all of .7 inches think at it s thickest point which is pretty impressive. It has some cool unique features like something they call VooDoo Aura PowerConnect. This allows you to roam away from the power supply which houses the ethernet port and still be connected to the network. Kind of like your own private wi-fi connection.

Check out the VooDoo site for more info on this cool machine. It is sweet but does start at 2K so coolness doesn't come cheap.

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Tags: VooDoo, PC

iPhone 3G.. Will it fly off the shelf?

Well unless you have been living under a rock you heard that the 3G iPhone was announced today for the July 11th release. The major plus with this phone is really the 3G connectivity and the build in GPS. Are these things that should have been in the original iPhone? of course they are.. I would go over all the interesting things that are out there but that info is all over the internet already.. I want to ask some questions about things that were not mentioned..

1. Where is the MMS ? This is something that was missing from the orginal iPhone and still seems to be MIA in this version. Getting that SMS message with that crazy unclickable link with that long code to retrieve the MMS is not my idea of a solution.

2. Tasks? Where is my task list (to do list). I know that many phones do not come with this but to compete with Windows Mobile it seems that this is something that you need to have. On phone with sync is going to be the best solution but will some third party have to develop this or will apple step up and make the app that so many people want.

3. Activation will be required in store. No more grabbing the phone and running home to activate it. In and out of the Apple store quick and easy. I don't know about all the Apple stores but the ones near me require appointments for just about anything that takes more than 5 seconds. Even buying a computer they put me on some sales waiting list.. All I wanted to do was give them money and I had to wait to talk to someone. With the activation being required will we see appointments needed to buy an iPhone from Apple? This will make for some long lines as we all know how long some of those activations can take.

4. Unlocking? I thought the government told providers they had to offer unlocking after the subscriber had been with them for X amount of time. Will this be available for the iPhone? The new 3G does have the 2100 bandwidth that Europe and most of asia use so this would let you use the phone in places like Japan if you could get it unlocked. Apple seems to have avoided this one with the first generation.

Well all in all the new phone looks cool and the features that they have added were ones that I thought should have been there in the first place. EDGE was just not up to the task and no matter how much they tried to convince you that it was going to be OK we all know that it wasn't.

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Tags: iPhone, 3G, Cell Phone, EDGE

HTC Touch Pro.. Sweet Phone

Well I have been a fan of the HTC phones for some time. I am glad to see that they have finally stopped waiting for Microsoft to make a better interface for their Windows Mobile OS. HTC has announced a TyTn II replacement with the new Touch interface. This phone will features 3G networking (HSDPA) and Wi-Fi for connectivity. Basically simular spec to the Diamond which is starting to ship in Europe but with remoavable media slot and a keyboard.

HTC has really taken a hard long look at the style of their phones and the user experiance. From what I have seen of the interface it looks very user friendly. Still a bit more complex than the iPhone but then this phone does a ton more than the iPhone.

Look for this one in Europe in the summer and the US sometime after that.

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Tags: HTC, Phone

iPhone in Japan.. Finally!

Well it looks like the iPhone will finally be making its way to Japan. Now that fact that this has taken so long is not a big surprise for me since the GSM/GPRS/EDGE current model will not run on any network in Japan so that certainly held things up. Now that the 3G iPhone's release is a few days away it seems only natural to see the iPhone announced in Japan. This is afterall a giant market for cell phone cells.

It is a surprise that SoftBank is the provider that will be getting this phone. Most would have thought that a more high profile provider would have landed this phone. Someone like NTT DoCoMo or Au would have been a less surprising choice. For me SoftBank makes sense a bit since they use the UMTS 3G network that most assume that the new 3G phone will be using. Maybe we will see the new 3G phone have all the 3G frequencies and allow ATT users from the US to use their phones in Japan (that would be cool).

On a side note I think the phone will sell well but Japanes users will be giving up quite a bit to use this phone. It will be interesting to see if the status of having an iPhone will make some people change their phone expectations to be able to fall in love with the phone

For me I am hoping that this means the Japanese text entry that the iPod Touch has had for a while will finally make its way to the iPhone so my wife will be happy.

Well a few days and we will all know what iPhone 2 will look like and what specs have been changed. Also the app store should be going live monday if some of the developers can be beleived. Let's keep our fingers crossed (though I have since retired my iphone).

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Tags: iphone, Apple, SoftBank, Japan