S60 Open to new features

Yeah, what about batteries? I'm pretty sure that Japanese really do have shitty batteries and no battery life at all.
Luckily, us "westerners", we have Nokia N95 that maybe doesn't have all these nice features, but Nokia N95 can stay alive up to ten (yes, TEN) hours without ever touching the phone! Poor little Japs...

I'm (almost) speechless..

Carol: Your concern about the phone not working as a key at the end of the day because of dead battery is mute as the the embedded chip pulls power from the reader. Other points about losing it (Omakase Lock) are important parts of the service and have been documented, in English, on WWJ many times since DoCoMo launched beta trials in late 2003.

Hole: The N95 battery power issue:
http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2007/04/10/how-to-shoot-your-world-beating-mobile-phone-in-the-foot/

I won't address your racist comment other than to say it speaks volumes about your understanding of the subject.

I'm sorry Lars, but can you be a bit more specific on the "racist" comment... because I'm not seeing an ounce of racsim in anything Carol said. Then again I do need to have my prescription in my glasses checked.

I might be mistaken but I think Lars was saying that commenter Holes made a racist comment (in the last sentence) about Japanese people.

As for the use of mobile phones in Japan, most people in Japan own a mobile phone. Also as you mentioned there are many features integrated with the mobiles.
- Mobile TV is available (DVB-H is not used, a different protocol is used).
- You can use your mobile to pay for your train tickets, buy food (at certain stores), buy clothes (at certain stores), shop at convenience stores, and it is billed to your credit card or the money is transferred from your bank account, this is all done through the same service provider that makes deals with the stores to allow their service to pay for goods.
- There is a phone that releases certain smells but it isn't popular and is more of a gimmick than a standard feature.
- Fast 3G networks are widely available.

While it might sound great to have these advanced features the largest operator (Docomo) is very conservative about many of the basic mobile services (SMS, MMS, phones are locked, packet data prices are pricey).
Also the mobile phones market in Japan is similar to the US market where most customers buy a phone from their operator because it is subsidized. For example, you can get an N73 for 1 Yen, that is less than One US cent(!), when you sign up for a contract with the provider. Unfortunately the stores that sell the mobile phones and service plans usually do not have the actual phones on display, instead there are walls covered with plastic models that can only show the visual look of the mobile. So you do not get the chance to try out the applications or features on the actual device until you buy one. As for buying a mobile phone from somewhere other than an operator that is almost unheard of, basically customers in Japan always buy their mobiles along with a service plan.

You might ask with these integrated services built into one device what if I lose it? Fortunately in Japan you usually don't have to worry about that because Japan has one of the lowest crime levels in the world. In fact, when you lose something often somebody brings it to a lost and found or the police where you can call and claim it. Personally I have forgotten my work bag in taxis more than once, and also forgotten belongings on the train, but in all cases I have been able to retrieve them without losing any valuables.

Sorry this comment is a bit long .. I could write a blog entry on these things and may do so sometime in the future.

Ah thanks Kevin, my apologies Lars... yeah that comment by Hole wasn't even necessary.

Hi Kevin,

A few extra points on your info about the market here.

- Mobile TV is digital, ISDB-T or 1Seg, and does not stream over the 3G network but is terrestial broadcast. Approx. 12 channels 'exactley the same as on your home tv' have been freely available, to anyone who has a 1Seg enabled handset, for just over 1 year now.

- The m-commerce (NFC) applications can run as 'either' tied to your credit card, or added to your monthly phone bill, or prepay re-charge the same way as an Oyster card for Londen metro.

There are several brands; EDY, Suica, iD and Pasamo. It's not very simple to describe other than to say we are def. seeing mass adoption in that space over the last year as well.

- Official TCA stats for month ending April 2007 shows 71mln 3G subscribers out of approx. 100mln user base.

- Of course the handsets are, always have been, locked to the operator. Beyond that, DoCoMo (et all) actually spec. the phones and purchase them bulk from the OEM's.. therefore taking the sales risk and cost for B2C channel distribution.

So, this means they have complete power to plan service roadmaps - think music, tv and commerce mentioned above - in order to provide end users with unified offering across their device range, that's why it actually works!

- My billing plan (base-rate) costs about $35 per month with un-limited voice within the same operator and (est.?) .10 per minute for calls I make to people on other operators. Basically no such thing as SMS here and my outbound MMS cost is literally 1/10 of a penny per pop. As for web data surfing - all you can eat - costs between $20 and $40 per month depending on the operator and price package you have. Total ARPU in Japan is just below 7,000JPY or about $55 per month.

- As for the plastic mock-ups on display; the operators own retail stores have always had real models to test drive, but yes, a few years ago it was un-usual to see a live device in at a 3rd party vendors shop. However, especially with TV models, we've seen most major electronic stores (Yodabashi, Bic etc.) with live models on display for some time now. Also, the KDDI Designing Studio - opened in March 2005 - has all their models and services ready to rock for anyone who cares to swing by Harajuku.. 8-)

- The concern about losing ones phone is predictable, and as you've stated it's amazing how often people get their belongings back here!

What I would say about that topic is two-fold; First, people tend to be pretty careful not to lose their 'analog' wallet, so why should the phone be any different and second IF you do lose the phone (which you're most likely to notice quite soon) at least you can lock all functions remotely..!!

Darla..

Indeed my 're: racist comment' was intended for Hole. It's difficut to tell from the text if it was intended to be sarcastic or not. But at any rate the J-word, like the N-word, is not nec.

On a related note (battery power), increased services on handsets are clearly driving usage and therefore demand for juice. We are seeing that reality "really pushing Moores law" here, sooner and to a larger degree than overseas.

My understanding is that legacy Lithium batteries produced in Japan actually bench-test among the best MIPS performers globally. At the same time we have started to see trials for the next-gen. solutions such as micro-fuel cells etc.

Hope that helps shed some light on things, we'll have a Viewpoint article about this Symbian BHFY campaign coming online sometime soon.

Cheers.

No, that wasn't racist comment, it was rather sarcastic, as we "westerners" may not have all the advanced features on our phones like Japanese do, and one of the Carol's arguments was that all this stuff isn't really all that helpfull if your phone runs out of the juice at the end of the day. My comment was strictly based on that, because N95, Nokia's flagship model, can't even stay on till midday, let alone end of the day.

That's all there is to it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Hole, do you actually use a N95?

I own a Japanese phone I bought before roaming was widely available to Japan since I travel there quite a bit. Japanese phones have INCREDIBLE battery life. Standby easily reaches two weeks for most phones in urban areas and I've used my phone for a whole week with scattered conversations without needing to charge it.

Nice news on N95.

I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.co.uk