What’s SIM CARD
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, What is?
A SIM card, also known as a subscriber identity module, is a smart card that stores data for GSM cellular telephone subscribers. Such data includes user identity, location and phone number, network authorization data, personal security keys, contact lists and stored text messages. Security features include authentication and encryption to protect data and prevent eavesdropping.
A SIM card and can be switched easily from one phone set to another. The portability of data offers a number of benefits. For example, a user that buys a new phone can install the current SIM card to associate the new phone with the same number and user preferences as the old one. In another common situation, if a phone’s battery runs out of power, the user can easily install the card to another subscriber’s phone to borrow it without running up that user’s minutes. Some vendors offer prepaid SIM cards that can provide travelers with local numbers, as long as their cell phones are not locked to a specific carrier.
A device called a SIM card reader can be used to upload data from a SIM card to a computer or other device.
What’s EDGE
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, News
EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment) is a faster version the Global System for Mobile (GSM) wireless service designed to deliver data at rates up to 384 Kbps and enable the delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to mobile phone and computer users. The EDGE standard is built on the existing GSM standard, using the same time-division multiple access (TDMA) frame structure and existing cell arrangements. Ericsson notes that its base stations can be updated with software.
EDGE became commercially available in 2001. It is regarded as an evolutionary standard on the way to Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS).
What’s CDMA
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, What is?
CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) refers to any of several protocols used in so-called second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) wireless communications. As the term implies, CDMA is a form of multiplexing, which allows numerous signals to occupy a single transmission channel, optimizing the use of available bandwidth. The technology is used in ultra-high-frequency (UHF) cellular telephone systems in the 800-MHz and 1.9-GHz bands.
CDMA employs analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) in combination with spread spectrum technology. Audio input is first digitized into binary elements. The frequency of the transmitted signal is then made to vary according to a defined pattern (code), so it can be intercepted only by a receiver whose frequency response is programmed with the same code, so it follows exactly along with the transmitter frequency. There are trillions of possible frequency-sequencing codes, which enhances privacy and makes cloning difficult.
The CDMA channel is nominally 1.23 MHz wide. CDMA networks use a scheme called soft handoff, which minimizes signal breakup as a handset passes from one cell to another. The combination of digital and spread-spectrum modes supports several times as many signals per unit bandwidth as analog modes. CDMA is compatible with other cellular technologies; this allows for nationwide roaming.
The original CDMA standard, also known as CDMA One and still common in cellular telephones in the U.S., offers a transmission speed of only up to 14.4 Kbps in its single channel form and up to 115 Kbps in an eight-channel form. CDMA2000 and wideband CDMA deliver data many times faster.
What’s D-AMPS
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, What is?
D-AMPS is now called time division multiple access/IS-136.
D-AMPS (Digital-Advanced Mobile Phone Service), sometimes spelled DAMPS, is a digital version of AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service), the original analog standard for cellular telephone phone service in the United States. Both D-AMPS and AMPS are now used in many countries. D-AMPS adds time division multiple access (TDMA) to AMPS to get three channels for each AMPS channel, tripling the number of calls that can be handled on a channel. D-AMPS is Interim Standard-136 from the Electronics Industries Assocation/Telecommunication Industries Assocation (EIA/TIA).
Like AMPS, D-AMPS uses frequency ranges within the 800 and 900 Megahertz (MHz) electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Each service provider can use half of the 824-849 MHz range for receiving signals from cellular phones and half the 869-894 MHz range for transmitting to cellular phones. The bands are divided into 30 kHz sub-bands, called channels. The receiving channels are called reverse channels and the sending channels are called forward channels. The division of the spectrum into sub-band channels is achieved by using frequency division multiple access (FDMA). The time division multiple access processing (TDMA) is added to each sub-band channel created with FDMA to triple the number of channels available.
Although AMPS and D-AMPS originated for the North American cellular telephone market, they are now used worldwide with over 74 million subscribers, according to Ericsson, one of the major cellular phone manufacturers. D-AMPS is one of three digital wireless technologies that use TDMA. The other two are GSM and PDC. Each of these technologies interprets TDMA differently so they are not compatible. An advantage of D-AMPS is that it is easier to upgrade to from an existing analog AMPS network. An alternative to D-AMPS and the other two TDMA technologies is direct sequence code division multiple access (CDMA).
What’s GSM
Posted by Hostan in Uncategorized
TDMA (time division multiple access) is a technology used in digital cellular telephone communication that divides each cellular channel into three time slots in order to increase the amount of data that can be carried.
TDMA is used by Digital-American Mobile Phone Service (D-AMPS), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC). Each of these systems implements TDMA in somewhat different and potentially incompatible ways. An alternative multiplexing scheme to FDMA with TDMA is CDMA (code division multiple access), which takes the entire allocated frequency range for a given service and multiplexes information for all users across the spectrum range at the same time.
TDMA was first specified as a standard in EIA/TIA Interim Standard 54 (IS-54). IS-136, an evolved version of IS-54, is the United States standard for TDMA for both the cellular (850 MHz) and personal communications services (1.9 GHz) spectrums. TDMA is also used for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT).
Whats’s GSM
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, Tech articles, What is?
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) is a digital mobile telephony system that is widely used in Europe and other parts of the world. GSM uses a variation of time division multiple access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephony technologies (TDMA, GSM, and CDMA). GSM digitizes and compresses data, then sends it down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. It operates at either the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz frequency band.
Mobile services based on GSM technology were first launched in Finland in 1991. Today, more than 690 mobile networks provide GSM services across 213 countries and GSM represents 82.4% of all global mobile connections. According to GSM World, there are now more than 2 billion GSM mobile phone users worldwide. GSM World references China as “the largest single GSM market, with more than 370 million users, followed by Russia with 145 million, India with 83 million and the USA with 78 million users.”
Since many GSM network operators have roaming agreements with foreign operators, users can often continue to use their mobile phones when they travel to other countries. SIM cards (Subscriber Identity Module) holding home network access configurations may be switched to those will metered local access, significantly reducing roaming costs while experiencing no reductions in service.
GSM, together with other technologies, is part of the evolution of wireless mobile telemmunications that includes High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HCSD), General Packet Radio System (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS).
What’s GRPS
Posted by Hostan in Intelligence, Tech articles, What is?
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) is a packet-based wireless communication service that promises data rates from 56 up to 114 Kbps and continuous connection to the Internet for mobile phone and computer users. The higher data rates allow users to take part in video conferences and interact with multimedia Web sites and similar applications using mobile handheld devices as well as notebook computers. GPRS is based on Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication and complements existing services such circuit-switched cellular phone connections and the Short Message Service (SMS).
In theory, GPRS packet-based services cost users less than circuit-switched services since communication channels are being used on a shared-use, as-packets-are-needed basis rather than dedicated to only one user at a time. It is also easier to make applications available to mobile users because the faster data rate means that middleware currently needed to adapt applications to the slower speed of wireless systems are no longer be needed. As GPRS has become more widely available, along with other 2.5G and 3G services, mobile users of virtual private networks (VPNs) have been able to access the private network continuously over wireless rather than through a rooted dial-up connection.
GPRS also complements Bluetooth, a standard for replacing wired connections between devices with wireless radio connections. In addition to the Internet Protocol (IP), GPRS supports X.25, a packet-based protocol that is used mainly in Europe. GPRS is an evolutionary step toward Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE) and Universal Mobile Telephone Service (UMTS).
USA’S TOP; T-MOBILE is there!
Posted by Hostan in News
| J.D. Power and Associates surveys over 22,000 users for the second volume of its 2007 U.S. Wireless Contract Regional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) study. Carriers are rated across six regions in the United States in key areas including call quality, brand image, cost of service, service plan options, billing and customer service. T-Mobile performs particularly well in the study, ranking highest in five out of six regions (including four ties). Strengths include customer service, cost of service and billing. Verizon Wireless ranks highest in four regions (including three ties). Verizon’s strengths are call quality and brand image. Alltel earns a tie for best in the Southeast region, while U.S. Cellular ties for best in the North Central region. J.D. Power and Associates also publishes the results of its surveys of call quality, customer care and wireless retail sales satisfaction. Verizon fares best overall in call quality and retail sales satisfaction, while T-Mobile provides the best customer care experience, according to the reports. |
Cell Phone Plans Ratings
Comments on Reviews
Kent German, CNet.com’s cell-phone “guru,” says that finding the best carrier means considering a host of factors. Those include the comprehensiveness of the network, but also aspects like customer service, costs, plan options, phone selection and more. Though CNet.com does not evaluate cell-phone plans, it invites readers to do so. Reader feedback is summarized here. T-Mobile rates highest among readers for its customer service and plan selection. Other carriers have strong points as well: Verizon is liked for its network, Sprint for its features and AT&T for its phone selection. Though helpful, the ratings here are based on hundreds of reports, while the surveys we rate higher are based on feedback from thousands of subscribers.
Eric Taub provides a well-rounded basics course on avoiding the headaches of using a cell phone abroad by factoring in the carrier you use, the length of your trip and your destination. Taub points out that 82 percent of the world’s cell-phone subscribers use the GSM network available with AT&T and T-Mobile phones. Thus, phones that use CDMA networks — offered by Verizon and Sprint — are much more limited. Taub advocates that if you have a GSM phone, get a temporary SIM card and unlock your phone before you travel. No particular services are rated or recommended, however.
Brain Cell (Phone) Tumor??????????????
Posted by Hostan in Health, Intelligence, News
10 Cell Phone Radiation Protection Tips
by Taraka Serrano
“The voluntary exposure of the brain to microwaves from hand-held mobile phones… [is] the largest human biological experiment ever.”
~ Professor Leif Salford, Head of Research at Lund University, Sweden
| Watch Sydney TV report: “Brain Tumors and Cell Phones: Are They Linked?”  Watch BBC report:“EMF Damages Blood Cells, Test Shows”  |
There are now estimated to be 208 million cell phone users in the U.S. alone, 1.9 billion worldwide. Scientists fear we may be on the verge of a health crisis of epidemic proportions. Dr. George Carlo, former chief scientist of the cell phone industry’s $28 million safety research project, predicts 500,000 new cases of brain and eye cancer each year by 2010 attributable to cell phone use (there are currently 30-50,000 cases each year).
Studies have linked cell phone radiation to health problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, brain tumors, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more. There is a latency period for most diseases and it may take years and more studies before the required weight of evidence is established. But the effects are cumulative and precautions should be taken now before it is too late.
Here are some steps you can take to minimize the effects of cell phone radiation exposure:
1. Limit use to essential calls and keep calls short. Even a two-minute call has been found to alter the natural electrical activity of the brain for up to an hour afterwards.
2. Children should be allowed to use the cell phone in cases of emergency only. Because of their developing skulls, the radiation can penetrate much more deeply.
3. Wear an airtube headset (not regular wired headset). The regular wired headset has been found to intensify radiation into the ear canal. The wire transmits not only the radiation from the cell phone but also serves as an antenna attracting EMFs (electromagnetic fields) from the surroundings
4. Don’t put the cell phone in your pocket or belt while in use or while it is on. The body tissue in the lower body area has good conductivity and absorbs radiation more quickly than the head. One study shows that men who wear cell phones near their groin could have their sperm count dropped by as much as 30 percent.
5. If using the phone without a headset, wait for the call to connect before placing the phone next to the ear.
6. Do not use the cell phone in enclosed metal spaces such as vehicles or elevators, where devices may use more power to establish connection. The metal enclosure also acts as a Faraday cage that traps the radiation and reflects it back onto the occupants.
7. Do not make a call when the signal strength is one bar or less, which means the phone must work harder to establish a connection.
8. Purchase a phone with a low SAR (Specific Absorption Rate). Most phones have a SAR level listed in its instruction manual. The SAR level is a way of measuring the quantity of radiofrequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body. The lower the number the better. (Be aware, however, that studies with RF hundreds of times lower than current SAR limits still show biological effects.)
9. Use a scientifically validated EMF protection device. There are advanced technologies available nowadays that strengthen your bioenergy field and immune system against the effects of EMF. The EMF radiation causes a problem only when the cumulative effects due to repeated exposure weaken the body’s ability to repair itself. Even when you don’t use the cell phone, ’second-hand’ radiation and EMFs from other devices can also cause biological stress, so these types of devices are increasingly becoming essential.
10. Take nutritional supplements, particularly anti-oxidants SOD, catalase, glutathione, and Coq10. Microwave radiation has been shown to decrease levels of these anti-oxidants in the body. These are substances the body produces to protect itself, and their levels are sensitive indicators in stress, aging, infections and various other disease states. Other supplements you may need are:
- Melatonin: a powerful anti-oxidant noted to prevent DNA breaks in brain cells. Also effective in preventing kidney damage from cell phones;
- Zinc: protects the eye from oxidative damage and helps preserve the levels of anti-oxidants in the blood;
- Gingko Biloba: an herb considered a powerful anti-oxidant which prevents oxidative damage in the brain, eye and kidney. Also helps support the production of SOD, catalase and glutathione;
- Bilberry extract: preserves vision and reduces oxidative damage to the eyes.
This list is not exhaustive but represents different layers of intervention you can do right away to protect yourself and your family. Cell phone radiation (and wireless radiation in general) poses an extreme public health risk that may take years to become fully realized. Some experts go on to say that if estimates are correct, then we are on the verge of a health crisis that could cripple our current health infrastructure. Let’s not wait and find out if this proves true.
(Note: This article is shared for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. If you believe that you have a health problem, see your doctor or health professional immediately.)
© 2006 Taraka Serrano
Taraka Serrano is a writer and health advocate. Watch video reports on the dangers of cell phone and EMF radiation, and learn more about the right protective solutions for you. Visit EMF-Health.com EMF Protection
Japan leads the way!!!
Posted by Hostan in ASIA, News
A recent trip to Japan exposed me to all sorts of neat cellular phones and gadgets that North Americans only dream about. This article discusses the Japanese cell phone market and some of the goodies that service providers and phone manufacturers are putting into their handsets to make them more attractive to the public.
Original publication date: September 2002.
Preamble and Introduction
——————————————————————————–
I’ve always been amazed at how far “behind” the North American cell phone market has been compared to other places in the world. We are still using AMPS analog cellular, whereas remote countries in Africa are fully digital GSM. Only recently has the thought of custom ringtones been introduced to our cell phones, whereas phones in Europe have been able to download them for years. In this past year, Canadian service providers finally agreed to allow cross-provider SMS messages, something that Europeans have been doing for years, but even to this date, the US service providers still don’t allow cross-provider SMS messages!
Ask someone from Europe about places where their cellular, or more correctly, “mobile” phone doesn’t work and they will look at you funny. Ask someone on the street in North America and they will be able to rattle off a dozen places where coverage is questionable or non-existent. North Americans have to deal with all sorts of technologies (AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, iDEN, GSM) and each of these may come in one or two different frequencies. Phones with different technologies are virtually incompatible with each other. Fortunately, both AMPS and TDMA will be dropped in the next few years, reducing some of the confusion.
A combination of very cheap and available landlines has restricted the development of the cellular market in North America. In Canada you can go to a pay phone and plunk in 25¢ for an unlimited duration landline call. That same money might get you a couple of minutes at most anywhere else in the world. Want a landline in your house or business? The process might take a couple of weeks of waiting. Places in Europe, Central or South America might wait years for a landline installation and the cost would be prohibitive.
Most North Americans turn their cell phones on when they are out of the house and office, when they cannot be reached on a landline. This keeps their wireless minutes down and service providers don’t make a lot on causal users of cell phones (<150 min/month). If cell phone providers allowed alternative long distance services on their lines, people might be more persuaded to drop their landlines and go completely to their cell phones. But only one service provider in Canada offers long distance rates that are even close to what you can get on a land line. The rest of them charge 2.5X or more than you would pay on a landline AND you still have to watch your airtime minutes.
This article takes a closer look into how demand and consumerism drive the Japanese cell phone market. Many people turn to the Japanese market to see what features and services might appear in North America in the near future. Read on to see what you might expect your future cell phone to offer.
The Japanese Market
——————————————————————————–
Walk down the streets of any urban centre in Japan and you’ll see the same picture over and over again. People with cell phones either glued to their hand or to their ear. Cell phones play a very important part of many lives, and especially so if you are female and between the ages of 12 and 40. Jump on any train or subway line in Tokyo and discreetly watch what people are up to. They are not reading the ads, they are usually not reading a book or a newspaper, they are either looking at their cell phone screen or they have their eyes shut. A quick glance to their screen will reveal that they are checking their call logs, sending messages, or playing games.
Jump off the train at the Akihabara neighbourhood of Tokyo. This is a very famous electronics district, filled with computer shops, camera stores, film wholesalers, and more. Looking for that replacement part? You are guaranteed to find it somewhere here.
Almost every single store has booths outside with dozens of phone models. Go to one of the street corners pick up some silver FOMA (Freedom Of Mobile multimedia Access) kleenex from a cute girl — free advertising for NTT DoMoCo’s new high-speed data services. Go inside some of the larger electronics stores and there might be a half floor devoted just to cell phones and the other half of the floor will be cell phone accessories. Sure, there will be a few car chargers and replacement batteries, but most of the accessories are things that make the phone unique — faceplates, holograms, interchangeable LED covers, fuzzy cases, stick-on antenna characters, and things to hang off your antenna.
It’s not just the electronics district, but everywhere you go there are cell phone stores with dozens of cell phone models for sale. And why not, seeing that almost everyone owns one and everyone likes to have the latest phone out there. New phones might sell upwards of ¥60000 (US$300), but a phone that is a few months out of date can be had for about ¥1200 (US$7).
Akihabara is one of the biggest electronics shopping districts in the world.
The Players
——————————————————————————–
Japan is dominated by three service providers. There’s KDDI who provides a service called “AU”, NTT’s “DoMoCo”, and Vodafone’s “J-Phone”. Each provider offers various different services and rate plans and different coverage areas outside the urban centres.
Phones used by all providers are virtually incompatible with any other cellular service in the world. A combination of CDMA and unusual frequencies makes almost all phones sold in Japan useless to the outside world. Don’t expect your overseas phone to work in Japan either. Some of the Japanese service providers do offer international roaming services, such as AU’s “World Passport” that does allow limited CDMA roaming in Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (on Telus Mobility only) and a few service providers in the U.S.
There’s dozens of phones to choose from with each service provider. You’ll regularly see phones made by Sharp, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Kenwood, Toshiba, NEC, Denso, Pioneer, Sanyo, Kyocera, Hitachi, Casio, and Sony Ericsson. Phones made by big-name companies, such as Nokia, seem to have very little market share.
Coverage is very important. Microcells are very common and fill in small coverage holes.
Typical Handsets
——————————————————————————–
Recently I reviewed the new LG TM520 being sold by Telus Mobility in Canada and a very similar model, the LG VX1, is being sold in the US by Verizon. This particular model is about as close in design to the typical handset on the Japanese market. Most phones currently sold in Japan are of the flip or clamshell variety, with an exterior small display screen showing signal strength, date and time, and incoming message icons or phone numbers. Open the clamshell up and you’ll find a huge TFT colour screen capable of displaying 65 536 colours on the top and a regular keypad on the bottom. There might be an external CCD camera lens on the hinge or outside and likely lots of accessory ports.
Only recently have colour screens been introduced to the North American market. Sprint PCS ran a series of commercials in the summer of 2002 bragging about their all new colour screen phone. Telus Mobility offered a coloured handset to the public in late 2001. But as of today almost all phones in North America still have monochrome screens. Ironically only a handful of phones sold on the Japanese market are monochrome, and these are often for use outside Japan on either CDMA or GSM networks.
There’s also a few regular, non-clamshell, phones on the Japanese market. These also feature full colour screens, but they are not as popular due to the size of the phone to accommodate both the screen and the keypad. Small phones are definitely not common, the idea behind Japanese phones is to make the screen as big and colourful as possible and have an easy-to-navigate keypad for messages, games, and more.
Messages
——————————————————————————–
Messages between friends in Japan is big. You can do regular SMS or email on your phone. Email is of course limited to small file sizes, but many of the phones allow for both English and Japanese characters to be sent. Each provider also allows special characters to be sent, such as an array of happy and sad faces, small animated images, animals, people, hearts, etc. When special characters are not available, people often use a specialized set of faces to show emotion:
Email can also be sent between between different provider phones, but many of the special characters are lost, hence to try and keep your circle of friends on the same provider to receive the special characters. Email, of course, may be sent from computers as well, but files are often stripped of headers and attachments.
ASCII faces
Games and Entertainment
——————————————————————————–
Most North American phones come with a few games to keep people entertained for a limited duration. Japanese phones come with two different types of games: built-in ones and Java application ones. The built-in ones are simple, but again the graphics are very important to the game value. The two images on either side of this paragraph show a couple of the built-in games, including a SIM game and a Egg Catch game. Not exactly on the same level as the traditional Nokia Snake game.
Java application games are delivered via the network to your phone and there is a charge for this service. These games are much more complex and require streaming data to access. You can play Role Playing Games (RPG’s), fashion design, complex Tetris and more. New games come out monthly. You can even buy joysticks and navigation consoles that plug into your phone.
If that’s not enough, how about downloading a short video starring Winne the Pooh? A little karaoke perhaps? How about that boring screen on the phone? You can even download beautiful animated colour screensavers from commercial services to place on your phone. Surf a few web sites in full colour and with animations. Pop in a 64 Meg compact flash card and listen to a few hours of MP3 on your cell phone. Pay your parking fees online. The fun just doesn’t stop.
Built-in Cameras
——————————————————————————–
One of the recent popular additions to many of the Japanese phone models is a CCD Camera that is mounted either on the outside of the clamshell or on the clamshell hinge. The camera lens is slightly smaller than a dime and takes 4×4 cm pictures to display on the phone’s screen or to send to others. Not only can you take pictures, but you can take video clips. Most phones take between 5-15 seconds of footage due to memory limitations, but you can send streaming video over your phone. Many of the advertisements for camera phones show people taking to each other and watching each other on the screen (both holding the phone and camera at arms length and using a hands-free microphone and earpiece). This might be cute at the beginning, but most people end up focusing the camera on a tree or street scenes and talking normally with the phone next to their head. Otherwise a very neat feature, and excellent at showing someone what is going on where you are.
The camera also has a couple of neat accessories that you can get, including an external flash that pops into an accessory port. You can even buy a miniature printer that will print out your pictures.
Camera pictures
GPS-Enabled Phones
——————————————————————————–
For regular visitors to this site, you have likely seen mention of GPS before. GPS, or Global Positioning System, is a network of satellites that orbit the earth. Using a GPS unit, one can determine their position anywhere on the planet down to a few metres. GPS’s are commonly used by people with boats, hikers, hunters, geocachers, or anyone else that has a need to know their exact position on the planet. GPS is also used with CDMA base stations, but not for position, but rather for the precise time signal that it delivers.
To incorporate yet another gadget into cell phones, many of the phone manufactures are now including a built-in GPS unit. The user can put the phone into GPS mode and determine their position. Base maps can be either downloaded or loaded with streaming data to give a background of streets, terrain, or just about anything else. GPS does have its limitations, with the big one being that you need to be able to receive good signals from at least three satellites to determine a position. This is easy in an open environment, but not inside buildings or along narrow streets with little opening to the sky above. Regardless, service providers promote that GPS-enabled cell phones can help you find your friends by sending your current position to them. On the screen a basemap will appear and customized icons, such as a little Hello Kitty, will appear where your friend’s cell phone is or of a building that you need to go to. It’s a neat idea, but it is a very basic GPS unit with limited waypoints and functions.
Conclusions
——————————————————————————–
Market demand drives cell phone manufactures and service provides to offer new and improved services and functions in their cell phones. The demand for more visual interaction and entertainment with cell phones in the Japanese market is great and as such, their phones are many years ahead of what we will ever see in North America. Phones have definitely become an important part of people’s lives in Japan, whereas North Americans still many view the cell phone as a tool and not as a entertainment device. The average phone in North America lasts 3-5 years before being replaced, in Japan it is a fraction of this time.
All the services offered on Japanese phones cost money, either up front for the feature or as a airtime or data charge. Owning a basic cell phone in Japan costs about US$40 a month, but costs can quickly rise with additional features, more airtime, streaming data, email and messages. Users of cell phones in Tokyo especially have to watch out for their phone ringing once with a unknown number — dial that number back out of curiosity and you’ll reach the equivalent of a 1-900 number in North America with high per minute costs for adult entertainment.
What will we see in the near future in North America? Colour screens are on the way, maybe video cameras and streaming java games. Likely GPS-enabled phones and streaming movies would not be a big hit if they were introduced to the North American market, simply because there are better devices currently available if you want to determine your position on earth or watch a movie. Who knows what else will show up on your next cell phone? Stay tuned…
Phone accessories for ¥100.
Credits
——————————————————————————–
Many thanks to Wayne d’Eon, who provided some of the material and pictures used in this article, plus allowing me to test out his J-Phone while visiting Victoria. Thanks as well to Maia Tsurumi, who provided translation of some of the documents used for this article.
Further Reading
——————————————————————————–
Check out Wireless Watch Japan for all the latest development with cell phones in Japan.