Japan iPhone from July 11, EMOBILE releases old device, Sharp Softbank WM Rumors

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeEMOBILE today announced (Japanese only) that they will be selling the EMONSTER Lite or S12HT from the end of July.

It's maybe not surprising that the news of this old generation device (the HTC Touch) already announced for the Japanese market by DoCoMo, went pretty much unnoticed given that it was also announced today that the much blogged 3G iPhone (with GPS, Camera, MS Exchange and www.me.com support) will go on sale from 11th July here. I know which device I'll be lusting after! In fact, if you are planning to get an iPhone head over to www.iphoneinjapan.com for a newly established comunity site.

It's a shame that HTC and EMOBILE didn't go to the extra effort to get us the latest generation HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro here. That would have been newsworthy and exciting and good for their brand. I don't see them selling many of the old Touch devices though.



We still don't have details of the pricing plans for the iPhone. That's the news I'll be waiting for before deciding whether to line up outside BIC Camera or the Apple Store on the night of the 10th.

In other news I heard rumors that Sharp will be releasing a Windows Mobile device on Softbank later this year. That's great news for Windows Mobile, but is it too late?

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Understanding the New Emobile Pricing Plans

EMobile have done quite well to make their pricing plans relatively simple, but there are still quite a few different options to consider and things to catch you out. Luckily I've had enough hours study of phone pricing plans service options to have a Phd. in the field. Here's the shortest summary I could produce that should help most people make a decision. (I haven't explained the 'whys' as that would take much longer. Here goes ...

If want voice services or want the the S11HT (Emonster) or H11T you pay a minimum of 2000 yen a month (unless you pay an extra 24,000 for the phone from day 1 in which case you'll pay 1000 yen). When you exceed 23,825 packets the cost will increase, topping off at 4,980 for data. Voice calls will cost you 18.9 yen/30 seconds. (If you pay an extra 980 yen/month calls to emobile are free, to other mobiles 9.45 and 5.25 to land lines for 30 seconds). The only reason to go for this plan is if you want one of the above devices or if you also want to use voice in addition to data. Note you can use both above devices as wired modems with the same flat rate. The S11HT can also be used as a Bluetooth modem.

If you don't want voice and don't want one of the above devices you have about 3 data plan options, but if you plan to use a lot of data, just for the the 5,980 yen a month (which is reduced to 4,980) if you sign a one year contract. You have a choice of the EM-ONE PDA, a PC card/CF card/Express card or USB modem. Only the USB and PC card support 7.2Mbps.

The above services only work when you are in an EMobile service area. You will be able to roam onto the DoCoMo network, but there's two catches. 1) The S11HT doesn't roam onto the DoCoMo network. 2) Even when you do roam with the H11T (which will be anytime - even in areas of Tokyo - when you are not covered by eMobile) you don't get flat rate data and the voice calls are more expensive.

As an aside, note you can also get 10Mbps eAccess ADSL broadband for 1,500 yen a month. If you are on the second option above it is 0 yen. So if you are already paying for broadband and can live with a meagre 10Mbps you can wipe out your home broadband costs.

For myself, I currently have two devices - DoCoMo for voice and Willcom for data. I think I'll drop Willcom and move to EMobile. I'm happy to take questions in the comments.

Announcing E-MOBILE Voice Plans & HTC EMONSTER (Live from the Press Conference)

E-MOBILE has announced voice and data plans aimed at shaking up the mobile phone industry in Japan.

Focusing on easy to understand pricing, plans starting at 0 yen, and convenient plans for those who want both phone and data connections.

The Windows Mobile HTC TyTn II - to be called the EMON (or S11HT) and the H11T from Toshiba will be their first two phones. Full report to follow later.

www.emobile.jp

Lot's of photos on Windows Keitai Fan (Japanese)

Another blog entry about the announcement here.

Windows Mobile in Ikebukuro

Today, I walked to Ikebukuro to look at the Windows Mobile devices in Bic Camera. I looked through the Willcom's booth, and looked at the Advanced W-ZERO 3 [es] on display. The cool thing was that as I was looking at the flyers, I noticed the HTC P3600 on it. I didn't know they sell HTC unlocked smartphones in Bic Camera, and I went to the display case that contained the HTC P3600 and the HTC X7501.

For me, however, neither devices really impressed me because the HTC P3600, although it has a GPS, does not have a slide-in keyboard, and was a big downer for me. I was surprised, however, that the device was not too expensive, being 69,800yen. The HTC X7501 was 119,800yen.

I think the HTC Athena will be a good replacement for older Handheld PCs, but I still think the Sigmarion 3 is better because it has many accessories and has a SDIO and CF slot for expansion.

I also went over to the Softbank booth to take a look at the X01T, but there wasn't any one on display except for the mock up. I guess if I had asked, they would have put it out for me to play with. I think the best smartphone to get at the moment is the Softbank's X02HT because it has Wifi (IEEE802.11b/g). By adding the latest add-on, the X02HT supports the Office 2007 format. I also thing the good part is that the X02HT supports charging by USB.

After I finished looking at the Bic Camera's smartphone booths, I headed over to the Yamada Denki's Emobile booth. I got a pamphlet from the EMobile booth, and in the pamphlet, I noticed something very interesting called 3D Box. 3D box is a 3D browser software in which you can view News, Weather, Movies, Music, and Variety Programs. The interesting feature of this program is that it shows the bookmarks in the Internet Explorer and Opera Browser in a 3D cabinet format. You can see the details here .


The new D02HW supports the latest 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connection,which I find it cool. The only negative part of this modem is that it doesn't support any Windows Mobile devices, let alone Windows CE.

The EMobile subscription rates are quite cheap, being 5980yen for basic data plan and 4980yen when you get a two year "Shin ninen " plan. ADSL service can be added for only 1,500yen per month, which I think is quite good.

Before I switched over to Yahoo ADSL and current FTTH, I was using EAccess' ADSL service, but I found their service pretty satisfying, and I am sure they improved it even more since then.

EMobile boosts HSDPA to 7.2Mbps

EMobile will be boosting the speed of their HSDPA service to 7.2Mbps (down) from December 12th. The upload traffic maximum is 384kbps. The USB adapter D02HW for connecting to 7.2Mbps HSDPA is going to be available, but only supports Windows and MacOS. I really want the adapter to support Windows Mobile, and I heard somebody else say that too. The initial cost to get this service will be 39800 for Basic plan, one year contract 9980yen and 2year (new) 9980yen. The D02HW is planning to be available without contract also, for 39800yen.

Pre-order is going to be available from December first in shops selling EMobile products.

I'm hoping Softbank and NTT Docomo is going to put out similar products soon.

via Windows CE FAN