Gizmodo: Softbank

iPhone 3G to Sell Out in Japan Within Hours

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EDT

According to Softbank's founder, Masayoshi Son, the iPhone 3G will sell out completely within hours of its debut in Japan, despite its contract-binding $214 (8GB) and $316 (16GB) price. I wonder if it will be the same in the rest of the world. Apparently, the rumors are that the iPhone 3G will start selling first thing in the morning in the UK and the US, although there are no official times yet. [Impress via Tokyomango, BGR]

EMobile's Japanese Ad Equates Obama with a Monkey to Sell Phones

Adam Frucci — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:39:11 EDT

In this Japanese EMobile ad, a monkey politician stands before a crowd chanting and holding up signs calling for change. Yes, that's right, a fucking monkey standing in for Obama is selling phones in Japan. I guess it's to be expected coming from a country that thinks blackface is hilarious, but seriously — this is pretty ridiculous. [Animal NY via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Question of the Day: Will the iPhone Win Over Japan?

Mark Wilson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:40:00 EDT

It's official: the iPhone is heading to the land of the rising sun. But will it win the hearts of Japan? After all, Japan is pretty much the ultimate testing ground for phones. No one takes their cells more seriously than the Japanese. These are the people who not only text message with the best of them, but watch TV and even write novels on their mobiles. It's almost like they enjoy the restriction of accomplishing so much on a punishing, oversized handheld. Then again, the iPod is quite popular in Japan, the iPhone has a unique UI and brands carry a lot of weight in the country.

Interestingly enough, SoftBank, the telecom carrier offering the iPhone, is a second-tier brand in Japan. They don't have nearly the dominance of Docomo or au, and the company falls back on heavy celebrity endorsements (like Cameron Diaz) to interest the public in their service. Described to us as "the darkhorse" by Japan-native Gawker writer Brian Ashcraft, he added that landing the iPhone is "a major coup" for the company. Do you agree?

iPhone Finally Coming to Japan Courtesy of Softbank

AddyDugdale — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:45:00 EDT

Softbank is to bring the iPhone to the Japanese market later this year. With no release date, no price, and certainly no word on whether the deal is an exclusive one, or whether Japan's other carriers can get on the act, this is going to be a short post. [Impress]

Toshiba 815T PB: Transformers-Like Cellphone of Geeky dreams

Kit Eaton — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:22:20 EST

Toshiba's new Softbank 815T PB is the robot/cellphone hybrid I would've dreamed of if cellphones had been around when I was a kid. It's made for an upcoming Japanese TV drama called Ketai Sousakan 7 and it really does transform, Transformers-like, into a robot toy complete with tiny bunched fists. Even the display-face is part of the robot effect, and the phone comes with games with the same theme. It's in silver and black, has a QVGA screen, 3.2 megapixel camera and is a 3G phone, so it might venture outside Japanese shores. We don't know much else other than an April release date, but we'll keep you posted. [Gizmodo Japan]

Sharp's Full Face 2 Cellphone Brings iNevitable Comparisons

Haroon Malik — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:36:19 EST

The Full Face 2 reminds me of another phone but, in my humble opinion, Sharp's slim cell looks better from the front than the iPhone does. Beyond its appealing looks, however, it doesn't heat up the competition all that much. The display is a 3.2-inch multi-touch-less LCD (480 x 854), it has a 3.2MP camera, micro SDHC support, totes HSDPA, a 1Seg TV tuner that will be all but useless in the States, and will be available in either black, soft pink, champagne gold, white or ice blue. The Full Face 2 is a Japan-only release—I can't believe I got to put the words "full," "face" and "release" in the same sentence without making it naughty. Bravo, Sharp. [Akihabara News]

Disney Mobile Resurrected—In Japan

Matt Buchanan — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:30:54 EST

Almost two months after announcing that it'd be shutting down in the US at the end of the year, Disney Mobile's finding new life across the sea. Disney's latest MVNO—Japan's first, according to Reuters—will run off of Softbank's network and sell its phones at Softbank's stores. With two dead MVNOs under its belt, going for round three in one of the tightest markets in the world seems insane, but the level of Disney love in Japan might give them a shot at actually making money this time. [Reuters]

Japan Gets a Zaku 2-Style Helmet Phone from Sharp and Softbank

AddyDugdale — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:58:50 EDT

This must be the only cell phone I can think of whose charger is larger than the phone itself. Sharp and Softbank's charmingly-titled 913SH Full Face is a slider (closed, its looks give more than a nod to the iPhone, IMHO) which comes with an enormous Zaku 2 helmet that you stand the phone on to admire, charge, admire and charge. We thought you might like a gallery to brighten up your Monday.

The 913SH Full Face homepage takes a bit of time to launch, and there's only about seven seconds of explosive phone action, but it's worth a look. [Softbank via Gizmodo Japan]

Touching Dozens of Beautiful Japanese Cellphones

Brian Lam — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:39:11 EST

I'm in Tokyo, and I've been avoiding gadgets. After all, I'm supposed to be on vacation. But today Lisa took me to Akiba, and I ended up running through a dozen stores, groping over 50 handsets. I've written about some, like the incredibly simple Wilcom R9, glowing Sony Ericsson w43s and walkman-like w42s. But gripping the alien tech live was unexpectedly incredible. Here's a video of the most gorgeous handsets I could find. –Brian Lam

Japan [Gizmodo]

Hot Blond and Flat Rates Overload Cellphone Company's Computers

Brian Lam — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:11:01 EST

Whass happening, hotstuff?!

Japanese cellphone company Softbank simultaneously ran a lost-in-translation like commercial of Cameron Diaz strutting her blonde ambition, while dropping Japan's first flat rate calling plan. Since most bills are still per minute and the whole of Japan is perverted, the response was insane.

The new business from those horny for both unlimited rate minutes and foreign lady-friend overwhelmed their computer systems, and they had to shut down for the weekend.

America: We get crap cars, and cellphones. But we have cheap gas, cheap cellphone plans, and spirited women. Who wins?

Jump to see the commercial.

–Brian Lam

Softbank Commercial Causes System Crash [Tokyo Mango]

Softbank Denies iPhone Rumor, World Weeps

Travis Hudson — Mon, 15 May 2006 11:45:22 EDT

If you recall, last Friday we heard news about a collaboration between Softbank and Apple for the iPod Phone. Unfortunately, Softbank released a statement today more or less saying that the iPhone news was more rumor and speculation. Oh well, at least we still have Tang. Yummm, Tang.

Translated Press Release [SoftBank]

Japan to Get TV Via Internet

tgrumet — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:57:17 EST

If you've got it, flaunt it. That's one mantra that hasn't eluded the Japanese when it comes to technology. And because the country has the cheapest high-speed Internet in the world, as well as one of the best broadband markets, it's nice to see everyone working together to bring people streaming TV on their Internet connections. Softbank and Yahoo Japan are the two companies in charge of this new streaming video service and plan to form a company that will operate it. Called "Yahoo!Doga," it is aiming to be a portal site for about 100,000 different programs. Best of all, the companies plan to work with all the different broadcasters, rather than just a few. A trial is in the works as we speak and the service should be available by March 2006.

Softbank, Yahoo Japan start Internet TV service [Reuters]