Got Macworld Expo 2009 Badge?

Steve Jobs is not giving the keynote at Macworld this year and will also be the last year Apple would be participating. Yes, this is official. Less exciting? Well, I'm sure still going:

Badge pick-up started today. Saves time; not a single person in line when I went to Moscone Center today.

No matter who gives the keynote, it really doesn't matter. I'm a "Expo Only" attendee anyways!

BTW, I do hope Macworld continues to live with a nice and cozy community character.

Japanese iPhone Users Get Battery/TV Tuner Pack

October 30th, SoftBank, the Japanese iPhone carrier made some announcements on improvements in hope of boosting iPhone sales. The announcement took place at SoftBank's press release event of their 2009 mobile phone lineup. 

The CEO admitted that there are three flaws with the iPhone:

1. Short battery life
2. Lack of 1-seg (digital TV broadcast)
3. Lack of "Emoji"; Japanese emoticons

It may seem hard to believe this in the U.S., but as I predicted, these are huge drawbacks for the Japanese market.

"TV & Battery" Pack

One of the big announcement was the "TV & Battery" pack for the iPhone.

Press release: 1-seg Viewable on the iPhone 3G!

This is a SoftBank genuine iPhone 3G accessory only for the Japanese market. Expected to be around $100 USD, this external miniature iPhone-looking device will weigh 80g and can provide one full battery charge.

And of course as the name implies, it is also a digital TV tuner. The iPhone will connect to this tuner via Wi-Fi and is viewable with a dedicated app yet to be released. It was mentioned that eventually TV shows will be recordable.

Emoji

And as we already know, "Emoji" emoticons are expected to be supported by the end of the year. Interestingly, this announcement made the Emoji rumors now official and 2.2 software very likely to be release by the end of this year.

Free Wi-Fi

As just happened in the U.S., Japanese iPhone owners will also be provided with free Wi-Fi access nationwide.

Press release: Free "Unlimited Wireless LAN Access" for iPhone 3G Users

Beginning November 4th, the service will be provided through SoftBank's "BB Mobile Point" hotspots;  approximately 3,500 locations, mainly at McDonald's. Better yet, after December 1st, access will be granted without entering username and password as credentials.

Now, is this really going to boost iPhone sales in Japan? I don't think so. Apple designs are industrial and cool but not cute; Japanese people like cute stuff. Maybe targeting business users or SMB would be a good idea. Enterprise, probably not. Apple will need to bring NTT DoCoMo on board for that market.

I am starting to wonder if Apple will eventually release variations for better lineup. And how much influence the Japanese market will have on Apple.

Also see: MyCom Journal article on this event ; CNET Japan photo report (Japanese)

Free Wi-Fi for iPhone Users — For real

AT&T finally provides free Wi-Fi for iPhone users. iPhone owners should have received a free SMS text message on this announcement. Check out http://www.att.com/attwifi

How does this work? Go to an AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot; the network name is "attwifi". Once you are connected, you will enter your mobile number and you will receive a SMS text message with the information to enable access for 24 hours.

I don't know if this was a good timing for this move since the hype kind have died out. Personally, I've been using the Starbucks Rewards Program's free Wi-Fi so it's not really a big deal anymore. Although, if AT&T pulls out the service again, probably it will create some news again...

Expect "Die Hard 2" Scenario to Come True

In the "Die Hard 2" movie (Wikipedia), the terrorists takes over an airport control tower and crashes a plane. Well, not exactly the same, but scientists has just proved that a similar thing may happen.

TechRadar.com: Scientists succeed in spoofing GPS signals

Nowadays, we are so dependent on GPS; so is the aviation world. You may be annoyed if your car gets misled and get lost on your way to an important meeting, but that doesn't compare to your plane being misled and crashing in to a mountain.

Pilots: please learn astronomical navigation techniques. Thanks.

Yahoo! Japan for the iPhone

So, Yahoo! Japan website came out with an iPhone edition. Not sure why they didn't announce it before the iPhone launch, but it is available now. This may be good for Japanese speaking iPhone users in other countries too as there were hardly any contents in Japanese intended to be accessed by this mobile phone.

The URL (website address) is not described on their website. I guess they expect you to access http://yahoo.co.jp/ from your iPhone or maybe there is a preset on the Japanese edition. If you want to try it from your Safari browser, go to http://ipn.yahoo.co.jp/.

First iPhone 3G Selling at 3PM Thursday, PDT

The first iPhone that will be sold to public should happen at 3pm Thursday, Pacific Time. This will be in Japan which is actually 7am Friday, Tokyo local time.

Reports state that by early afternoon here in California, there were more than 50 people in line at the SoftBank Omotesando store, the only location starting iPhone sales at 7am in Japan. Other stores are scheduled for noon on the same day.

Interestingly, the iPhone is expected to be available at virtually all stores that sell cell phones, according to SoftBank's announcement. In Japan, cell phones are usually sold through "channel stores", most of them being an electric appliance store, which exists in every city throughout the country.

Here are some links to iPhone websites or sites that may potentially report the initial launch in Japan:

• Official SoftBank iPhone 3G website
• http://www.ustream.tv/channel/17495
  Claims to be reporting live...
• http://www.iphone13.com/
  A blog about iPhone
• GIGAZINE
  Online IT magazine
• TBS News
  One of the major broadcast stations. Video rich compared to other broadcast stations in Japan.
• NHK News
  "Government property" national broadcast station.
• Yahoo! News - iPhone
  Yahoo! Japan's largest share holder is SoftBank; 40.16%. However, iPhone is treated no special on their site. Rather seems to be totally unrelated or ignored.

"Why the iPhone will not have a big hit in Japan"

Few reasons why iPhone 3G will not be a hit in Japan:

• Lack of "1seg"
  The digital TV transition is not an issue only in the U.S. but also in Japan. However, in Japan, the transition is near completion and a service called "one-segment" allows digital broadcasts viewable on mobile devices. Did you think AQUOS was all about huge flat-panel TVs? See the AQUOS mobile phone. BTW, SoftBank is the main carrier for this phone which also is for the iPhone.
  
  
• Lack of physical keypad
  Japanese is among the many other language groups forced to use the typical QWERTY keyboard on computers. There are thousands of unique characters compared to the relatively simple 26-alphabet English; although many are stuck with it, QWERTY never makes sense as an input method. Now, many, especially young ones, in Japan are finding that the 10-key pads on the phones are actually easy to use combined with technologies such as T9. It's unbelievable but true.
  
  
• Lack of "Emoji" (A set of emoticons on Japanese mobile phones)
  This is just an assumption, but I don't think the iPhone will include these characters. Although these are just emoticons, for the young Japanese, it is part of their language culture and they use intensely. I mean really intensely. A sample from SoftBank.
  Left-double-quote + Paper Emoji (part of the rock-scissors-paper collection) =  is supposed to look like a waving hand meaning good-bye.
  
  
• Lack of "Osaifu-Keitai"
  Until a few years ago, Japan seemed to be behind in payment system infrastructure. The use of credit cards were just not part of Japanese people's life. But they did make a big leap and went way ahead. With a mobile phone, you can buy a soda from a vending machine as well as use it as a boarding pass for your flight to Tokyo. You think that's crazy? Well, they are!
  
  
• Total lack of "cuteness"
  Japanese females are all about cute stuff. The iPhone just won't appeal to them. It's not cute...

The mobile phone market in Japan is very unique. You won't see Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, models seen in the U.S., but see NEC, Sanyo, Panasonic, Sony, everything only released in Japan. The expectations are different, so obviously the available features are too along with the culture entirely. Apple is targeting consumers first which is smart, but that has been the case in Japan and the iPhone is just not appealing. "It just won't work."

Disclaimer:
I am saying that the iPhone 3G July 11th edition won't be a hit in Japan. It may still have a small sales. Furthermore, this is just my opinion. So don't complain if you don't like it.