Comments on: Softbank to give 8GB iPhones away for free

Apple's iPhone partner in Japan is cutting prices for its monthly data plans, and will offer new subscribers a free 8GB iPhone 3G or a 16GB iPhone for $118.

[gbwells]

ok, i'd pay $118 for a 16gb phone and $46/mo for the plan. too bad i'm not in japan.

but $70-130/mo is why i'm not an iphone user.

[gbwells]

ok, i'd pay $118 for a 16gb phone and $46/mo for the plan. too bad i'm not in japan.

but $70-130/mo is why i'm not an iphone user.

[abcd9009]

trust me - if you were in japan... iPhone would be the last smartphone you would be thinking of. The world doesn't revolve around Blackberry or iPhone in Japan, unlike US. The worst phone in Japan is better or almost the same as the best phone in US.

[Peter Bonte]

@abcd9009

its indeed a extreme market but none of the other models have the appstore with 20.000 apps. Apple needs some time to add more localized apps but eventually the iPhone, Touch and the unavoidable Tablet will conquer that market.

[Trane Francks]

@abcd9009

"trust me - if you were in japan... iPhone would be the last smartphone you would be thinking of."

I wouldn't agree with that assertion. It is probably true for Japanese users, but Japanese operating systems are generally poorly designed for English speakers. It's rare to find predictive input in English on Japanese phones these days, which is frustrating. The iPhone offers English users an excellent counterpoint to the ubiquitous Nokia offerings.

I don't have an iPhone, as my SoftBank subscription started before the company had struck its deal with Apple. I suffer along with a Toshiba phone that works well enough, but has some irritating inconsistencies in its user interface. "Designed by committee" is frustratingly obvious.

[anhtney]

OMG, here in australia the plans are so much better. but the do have a little less in them. e.g free 8GB iPhone with about $600 included calls, sms plus 1 GB of data to use all for $69 a month.

[DontTread0nMe]

in the US i pay $100 a month and i have unlimited national calling, internet with no data limit, unlimited sms, vms, mms, and unlimited gps

AT&T plans= Shyt
SoftBank Mobile plans= apparent Shyt
1GB of data= Shyt

[tcsuliv]

Thing is that here in Japan, a mobile is so much more. With FeliCa and Suica "smartmoney" chips, a phone is also your debit card, train pass--even your passport/ticket, for domestic airlines/flights. Many of the newest Japanese phones are offering a touchscreen interface but with the enhanced functions as well. Also, while this goes more toward the interface, Apple didn't do enough work on the predictive text engine for Japanese text. Although English text entry works quite nicely on the iPhone, entry in Japanese is rather clumsy at best; often I find myself having to repeatedly delete and then re-enter text. Fortunately I have my non-iPhone.

I just hope that with the latest round of making its contracts, that SofBank allows people to pay considerably less for the phones (my friend, who had gotten one about 3 months ago, had to put down around $800 for the iPhone and associated fees. Amazing.). Actually, even though Japan has some of the best cell phone technology on the planet, most of the users here are complete unaware that most of the world pays significantly less in monthly fees...

[AlBallaa]

In Saudi Arabia the new iPhone carrier Mobily has announced a plan where you can get the iPhobe 8GB for free and the 16GB for SR350 (US$94). The plan is for 12 months and costs SR399 (US$107) a month and you get every month for free 500 call minutes, 300 SMS messages, and 2GB of data. Also all iPhones are sold unlocked according to Saudi law.

[animalani]

Interesting, but could this also be a sign that a new iPhone model is on it's way some time around May? It would make sense for Softbank and Apple to sell of their stock of current handsets before the new model arrives.

[Mark_Anderson]

No, it means that the iPhone 3G failed in Japan.

[reece_s]

well in the UK the iPhone is on the o2 network, the phone is free and for £42.50/ per month (US$59.76), you get 600 mins of calls to any number, unlimited text messages and unlimited data usage and also free access to the cloud & BT openzone (both national Wi-Fi networks, similar to T-Mobile Hotspots). Plus you get o2 treats! So I suppose us Brits get an OK deal, not as good as Japan though. But it seems the iPhone users in the US are getting their arses slapped, being tied in for 2 years and having to pay $200 for the smallest phone in the first place. Oh well what can one do?

[andrew6485]

http://4FreeiPhone.com?referral=9656