Hey do you know if Japan has the iphone and if any of the carriers can support it?

We have 2 and just wondering if it'll work out if we bring it from the USA..

(Someone just sent me this in a PM..  Please help them with answers..) 

softbank, but you will need to unlock it first.

Thanks Elzey..

Per this article: http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2011/...-and-kddi/

the new iPhone 4S will be coming to both Softbank & AU/KDDI.

When we brought our iphone 4 to softbank they told us that the US ones wouldn't work with softbank because they are not softbank phones o.o Had I known about unlocking them I wouldnt have bought two new ones!

That's true. The US phones are CDMA; the Japanese ones are GSM. This isn't a Softbank issue, it's a technology issue due to the fact that US does not conform to the standard of the rest of the world. It had nothing to do with being locked or unlocked.

The new iPhone 4S incorporates both GSM & CDMA broadcast standard, so it is truly a world phone. I don't know the Softbank policy that if you bring in an unlocked GSM phone will they sell you a Softbank SIM card to activate it on their network. That is a marketing issue that each carrier decides their own policy.

Hey RoboCat, I just read the top of this thread. Are you the one who originally sent the question to Adam? In which case elzey gave you bad gouge. Sorry 'bout dat...

Just saw this in a recent story: "The iPhone 4S goes on sale throughout Japan on Oct. 14. It should be at Softbank stores at U.S. bases in Japan shortly afterward, said Ken Ritter, U.S. government sales representative for Softbank Mobile."

Again, usual incompetence. If the iPhone is being sold throughout Japan on Oct 14, then why will it not be at Japanese vendors for a Japanese cell provider on bases in Japan on the 14th? And what does "shortly afterward" mean? Aug 2012??

Has anyone gone to Softbank offbase to buy a phone? Can you get better or different plans than you get onbase?

So could I buy one of the new 4s phones here and then use it also in Japan with Softbank? Trying to decide if I should wait and get the new phone now or in 3 months when I get to Yokosuka.

Sorry, I meant here as in the US.

@Thai Guy:

Verizon and Sprint are CDMA-One. ATT and TMoblie are GSM. KDDI is on the narrow band J-CDMA standard which is not compatible with CDMA-ONE.

All of these standards ought to converge on to Long Term Evolution (LTE) over coming years. Verizon is already deploying LTE in the States. Sprint is currently in the beta stage in a few markets and will start rolling out LTE commercially next year. They are both using it strictly for wireless data initially.

Apple approached Sprint first regarding the iPhone 5 years or so ago. Sprint foolishly turned them down (and their stock is at $2 now) They then moved on to Verizon who also took a pass. ATT, which was in pretty dire straights at the time, agreed to pick it up and it lifted them up from the mat. Verizon got the iPhone about six months ago and Sprint will get it next week.

Carrier choice for handset deployments really isn't a matter of CDMA vs GSM. It is simply a swap of wireless modules for the most part.

@ Beccalyn: I don't think it is wise to purchase a phone from one carrier to use it with another. Too many "gotchas" in terms of communicating with the networks. Those issues are further compounded internationally as different frequency bands (the US is typically 850 and 1900 MHz) might be allocated for cell phones than those in the US. And you won't get any support on your device when and if you need it.

How much does the iPhone cost in Japan if purchased with a plan?

Posted By Groovie on 10-08-2011 9:06 AM
How much does the iPhone cost in Japan if purchased with a plan?

Groovie, Softbank (on base) hasn't announced their pricing plan yet for the iPhone 4s.  They are advertising it in their off base stores, but I can't read Japanese.

Generally, you can get the phone for zero down, and it's just paid for via a 2-year contract.  In some cases, the phone is truly free. That is, they add the cost to your monthly plan, maybe 2000 yen, but then give you a 2000 yen monthly discount, so in the end you pay only for your data plan and nothing for the phone.

I think from here forward, Apple will be selling the 3GS, 4 & 4S; certainly the older models will be free & the 4S will be pretty cheap, but not sure of the details.

I would NOT recommend buying one in the States & bringing it here, even if it's unlocked. Even though technically that might work, I get the impression that Softbank has a policy against selling their SIM card to put in a phone that you didn't buy from them.  I also think they have their generic SIM card for most phones, and a "special" one for iPhones since iPhones are so data-intensive.  The regular Softbank SIM won't work in an iPhone.  I'm not 100% sure of this but I think that's what they've done.

I can't address Docomo/KDDI/Au. 

Final note: The new Siri voice capability will NOT be installed in iPhones sold in Japan.  This is because the software doesn't work in Japanese, and apparently no one can conceive that there might be English-speakers in Japan so they've left it out. It could potentially be offered as a download later on, but no guarantees.  That really jacks me around; I was looking forward to the voice-dictation capabilities of Siri.

Just stopped by the Softbank vendor on base (Iwakuni) and they are taking sign-ups for the iPhone 4s. They said it will come "after the 14th" but they don't know when. (Note: Official roll-out date in Japan is the 14th, so vendors off base will have it then. They are not so efficient on base.) She said it might come in the 14th, but no promises.

Pricing is the same as for the iPhone 4. For the 16 GB model, the phone is zero down and they add ¥1920 to your monthly bill. But then you get a ¥1920 monthly discount on the data plan for 2 years, so it really does come down to a free phone. With all discounts, surcharges, etc. the monthly voice/data plan is ¥5705 For the 32 GB model, you'll pay an extra ¥480. For 64 GB, I'm not sure.

I'm stoked, but still I don't have Lion on my MacBook Pro. I started another discussion about this here:
http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/7231.aspx You can read about why I haven't installed Lion yet, and I'm also not sure if iCloud will work before I do so. I think it won't but I'm not 100% sure.

Another note on pricing... In the States, you'll still be able to get iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, or 4s. The 3GS will be free; the others are increasingly expensive.

Softbank has dropped the 3GS. As described above, the 4s is free and so is the 4. So.... the phones seem to be cheaper here in Japan than in the States, and I don't see why anyone would get the 4. I quizzed the sales staff about this and they could offer no pricing advantage of the 4 over the 4s, so pretty much they will sell from here forward is the iPhone 4s.

ThaiGuy - Thanks for your research on iPhone 4S, too. I'm waiting til I get there since a US iPhone does me no good. Got it on the Siri issue, too. Still has me on the ropes for really going to the 4S or just getting a Japan 4. The main tippers for me are the 1080p video and the 64GB memory. It does seem cheaper there than in the states to get one. We are getting ads here about a company buying back iPhones, too. Check out Gazelle.com if you need to sell back anything. Probably an iPhone 4 is the only thing worth selling back, but maybe they are still giving some back for a 3GS. Before 4 Oct, they were offering $284 for a 32GB iPhone 4. I don't know how much these days.
I am interested in the 64GB 4S, so if any news about pricing pops up, I'd be appreciative if you could post...
Thanks!

Hey, great news! The previous report said the Japanese iPhone 4S would not have Siri, but now the Apple rep has rerversed that & says it will. Not all functionality will work such as Japanese addresses, but as far as interacting with other iPhone apps, Siri should work just fine. :-)

Anyone hear when it will be available on base? It rolls out tomorrow in Japan, but our local Softbank vendor said today he doesn't know when they will get it on base.

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific...s-1.157688

Tips & tricks on the new iPhone 4S... (No, I don't have one yet. Maybe this weekend??) But I do have iOS 5 on my 3GS. You are supposed to be able to set location-based reminders such as "Remind me to go to the commissary when I leave work." The GPS detects when you leave work, and up pops a reminder to go to the commissary. What an awesome capability!

The problem is, I can't get it to work. There is no geographic setting in my new Reminders app; just a time setting.

Solution... Some smart iPhone guy posted that this only works if you have iCloud activated. I haven't activated iCloud cuz I'm waiting for some bug fixes for OSX Lion which will come out tomorrow. The reason for this limitation is that your Reminder lists are synched through iCloud so you need iCloud to get the full Reminders capability.

So... Location-based reminders WILL work IF you have iCloud; the Japanese phones WILL have a limited edition of Siri; they will also have Earthquake Early Warning capability. Lots of good things coming in a few days.

Who will be the first to get their paws on one of these? Supposedly iPhone is available today in Japan, at least at Softbank stores out in town.

subscribed for later reading

Got the 4s this morning. I had reserved it last week at Softbank but they didn't get it in until Saturday afternoon. Saturday I went in & did all the paperwork (took about 45 minutes), then they took my phone & said "You can get it in 2 hours!" That bummed me out; I want my toy NOW!! Of course, they neglected to mention that my old iPhone 3GS would immediately stop working since they were transferring my number. And since I live offbase & was going home, I waited overnight with no phone at all.

BTW, my wife inherits my old 3GS. I figure I can't sell it since they give away new 3GS's for free. Even without phone service, it makes a great iPod, wifi web surfer, camera, gaming platform, etc. Plus we'll all be on the same iCloud account. My wife works at home so she's on wifi all day; if I take a picture, it will immediately show up on her phone through PhotoStream. If she sets an appointment, it will show up on mine through shared calendars. Not a bad way to stay in touch.

The good news is that Siri IS installed on the Japanese iPhone (but not turned on. You have to turn on 2 settings to make it work, otherwise it defaults to the old Voice Control.) Siri is cool: I dictated a Facebook post, and up it popped without having to type. I trained it on my wife's name, so I just say "Send message to my wife that I'm coming home" and it sends her an SMS. It parses the spoken sentence, and the text simply reads "Coming home." It's very smart!

I'm still struggling with location-based reminders. At least it's turned on now (you have to activate iCloud for location-reminders.) BUT... the problem is, the locations are based on addresses, and I think it doesn't understand Japanese addresses. I guess I had assumed I could tie reminders to location bookmarks in my GPS map, but I haven't found a way to do it. For instance, I have a map bookmark of the main gate. I'd like to set a reminder of "Text my wife when I leave the main gate." But I need the physical address of the main gate to do this which I don't have. I don't think it will work with onbase locations. And work poorly, if at all, with off base locations. I hope in the future they allow reminders to reference map bookmarks and also that it will start to understand Japanese addresses. I'd bet Apple engineers are working on this right now.

The camera is very good. At 8 megapixels, you can zoom & still get good, bright photos. Angry Birds is smoother & brighter than ever (it used to hiccup in my 3GS.)

More later...

Progress on the location-reminders. In maps, if you hold your finger on a map location, it will drop a pin & tell you the address of that spot. You can save the address in your contact list. Once it's in your contact list, you can set a reminder to beep when you arrive at or depart that location.

I've been able to do this for the main gate & other gates around base. It also seems to work for other Japanese addresses. But it will not work for locations on base since they don't have a Japanese address. Press releases from Apple over the past few days warned of this limitation and it almost caused them to leave Siri off the iPhone in Japan. I'm glad they included it cuz it does so many other things, and I'm sure it will keep getting better over time.

Sharing a story I just posted on Facebook... the following is completely true...

How smart is Siri? (the new voice feature in the iPhone) Yesterday, I walked to the base instead of driving; it's a good 2-mile walk. In the middle of that, I figure it's time to try Siri. I tell it "Play some classic rock." The first song it chooses? "Walking Man" by James Taylor. Coincidence? You decide, but Siri ties into GPS which can easily calculate that I'm walking, not driving. :-)
------------------------------------
(update) On the way home, I try it again as i pass by the Minami-Iwakuni train station (a tiny little country railroad stop.) I say "Play music." The first words to emanate from my phone: "I'm sitting at the railway station, got a ticket for my destination."

Coincidence? Trend? Share your Siri stories here.

More new stuff... I'd heard that iOS 5 has a new Week View of your calendar, but when I tried it, it's the same old Day/Month/List view choices. Solution? Turn the phone sideways, and it automatically shifts to a Weekly view, which you can scroll side-to-side to see future weeks. There's a column for each day, showing your hour-by-hour appointments like the weekly view in Outlook.

On my Mac, I added an appointment, and looking at the weekly view on my iPhone, up it popped about 20 seconds later. No more USB sync; it just works!

Here's a link to a blogpost for more Siri commands - similar to commands used in Dragon dictation:
http://blog.crushapps.com/2011/10/m...dictation/

The wifi synching is nice. Just have iTunes open on your computer and when you plug your i(whatever) to a wall plug/powersource, synching kicks in.

Thanks for the link on Siri commands; I'll start practicing this stuff. I've never used Dragon.

Re: Synching... You don't need iTunes open on your Mac. As long as your computer is online, it's pushing stuff to the cloud. For the iPhone, if it's on wifi & plugged it, it will automatically sync. BUT... you can force it to sync when not plugged in by clicking "Back Up Now." This is in Settings/iCloud/Storage & Backup. I wish this button were more accessible by not going 3 deep in the settings menu. Some things will sync via cellular (3G) like documents, so you don't always even need wifi. I'm trying to figure out what will go from the phone to the cloud without wifi, since my iPhone is not generally on a wifi network.

Update on location-based reminders in Japan... THEY WORK!! Yesterday, I set a reminder to beep when I passed through the back gate. I drove through the gate today, and bingo! Up pops the reminder. Keep in mind, I had to tag a Japanese address, so I marked the home that is right outside the gate. Still, it worked & should work with all Japanese addresses. Hopefully someday they'll allow reminders pinned to map locations because you can't always get an address for places you visit.

Just saw this: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/17/tech/...?hpt=hp_c2

The new 4s is tempting me to switch over to it, but I don't know that I want to pay for the reaminder of my phone (HTC Desire) and then sign up for the new one.

Decisions, decisions.

That's old news about the law suit. Apple has prevailed in each case, and Samsung has been blocked from selling their Galaxy in several countries.

Hey, SB will let you out of your iPhone 3GS contract to upgrade to a 4s. Maybe you can talk them into doing the same with your HTC contract. It would requiring accepting a new 2-year contract.

Continuing to unravel the mysteries of iCloud... although the documentation often makes it sound like the iPhone must be on a wifi network to connect to iCloud, this apparently isn't true. I added an appt on my Macbook, my iPhone has wifi turned off but the appt popped up a few seconds later on the phone. Lovin' it!

More feedback on iPhone 4s, or rather about iOS 5 -- The map/GPS navigation system is WAAAY better for 2 reasons.

1) I see a lot more landmarks on my map labeled in English. ALL train stations are now in English (a HUGE help). They were kanji on my old 3GS/iOS 4.

2) Secondly, when I plot driving directions, it gives several possible driving routes; I can pick the one I like best. Under the old OS, you got one route whether you liked it or not. The one I used yesterday, it offered 2 routes by toll roads, and another one by surface street (no tolls). A huge improvement.

I'm a huge promoter of Linux and Andriod but..

The iPhone 4s just sounds frikin cool so I'm going to switch over iPhone on the AU network when I'm in Iwakuni.

Thai, keep the discoveries coming!

Is there a web site for the softbank on the base? It would be helpful if we could look over the plans before we get there. Any other thoughts on cell phones and communicating back and forth to the states would be greatly appreciated - we arrive in Jan. and will be leaving our oldest here[US] at school and i need to figure out a cost effective way for her to call me for those panic moments - chem lab issues, bad race, i'm sick but don't want to go visit health services....all those fun things only 'mom' can answer for you : )

Your best route for calls back to the states would be Vonage with a local number where your child is attending college so it doesn't cost them anything...of course this means you would have to be home as well...I also use skype...I never use the cell phone to make international calls unless you want a small heart attack when you get the bill...lol

Your other choices are MagicJack and Google Talk.

Also, keep in mind cell phone companies here are not like the ones back in the states (from what I seen and been explained) in that you have a certain amount of minutes you can use. Here, you get charged for every call you make.

Softbank has 2 different plans, one that is cheaper in the month but the per minute talk time is more compared to the other plan which is more expensive per month, but is cheaper per minute when calling. Then you also have to pay for the data portion (if you get a smart phone).

They'll explain this to you when you go talk to them.

One thing I like about Vonage is it will email you every voice message you receive. So if you're out of the house when your kids calls, you can receive your Vonage messages right on your cell phone. This works great on the iPhone. You receive both the audio file so you can actually listen to the message, plus a written transcript so you can read the message. Although usually a little garbled, the transcribed message is generally good enough to see who called & why.

On top of that, I added the Skype app to my iPhone so if I receive a message from Vonage, I can use Skype to return the call. All told (since my Vonage is a San Diego number) my son can call me for free. If I'm home, we talk for free. If I'm out & call him back on Skype, it's very very cheap (almost free). I agree with the other post... don't use your cell phone to call the States; you'll need to take out a 2nd mortgage on your house to pay the bill.

Exception: Sometimes Softbank has a special deal which you can call the States for flat monthly rate on your cell. I don't do this since I have so many other ways to call, but a lot of single sailors & Marines have that deal which saves them a lot of money.

I stopped by softbank today and really want to reserve an iphone 4s but the additional cost of calling non-softbank phones scare me a bit on the monthly bill. I am not a big phone person, and really only want it for data but there will be times I will need it to call base or possibly call people who don't have softbank. Is that like the big company here- can I count on it that most people would have softbak phones?

Does anyone know of any other cell phone companies near Yokosuka and where they are located who are willing to service military?

From what the MLCs have told me, all the Japanese cell carriers work this way.

I would image that to stay competitive in the market, Softbank's per minute rate is comparable to Docomo and AU.

I'm not a big talker and my bills have never surprised me

Therre's an AU store in Mikasa and I'm told there's a Docomo near base but I've never seen it.

Yukon, To add a little to the Vonage deal...we just got it as well. You can establish a local phone number almost anywhere in the CONUS you wish. I live in Eastlake/Chula Vista, CA and we now have a Coronado, CA number (North Island where the carriers are based in San Diego). Japan and quite a few countries in the pacific are included in the flat rate of Vonage. Also, I've extended the Vonage coverage to my mobile phone. Now, from my mobile phone, I dial a Vonage access number and have PIN - from there, I can dial any international number I want. So, I only burn minutes of air time and do not pay for international calls. Eventually, there is supposed to be a Vonage Extension app for iPhone that you can just use, like Skype, right off the phone. My sponsor said they reap the benefits of Vonage too, and they have been to Japan on two separate tours.  If you do get Vonage, you need to get it sent to a CONUS address - they do not send to FPO. Once you are in though, and attach the billing to a credit card, you can just change the address on your credit card's account and everything stays current. Good luck!

Julito, there is Vonage Extension right now for smart phone... and you can "gift" to anyone for free. So, my son is back in San Diego, I would assign him my Vonage account to use for free on his iPhone, it would cost him nothing, and since I have Vonage World this would let him call 60+ countries for free from his iPhone. I haven't done it, cuz I know he would find that 61st country, and end up calling Romania on my nickel.

Another thing... for business purposes, I needed to get a Japanese phone installed in my apartment. I really didn't want it, but my boss wants our clients in Japan to be able to easily call me. I found out that Vonage has virtual phone numbers not just for U.S. numbers but Japanese & other countries, too. It costs me $10 monthly plus tax, I have a Tokyo number (for incoming calls only; it doesn't work outbound as a Japanese phone.) Calls come in to the same Vonage phone that has the U.S. number, and voicemail goes to my cell phone just like the U.S. number. When I travel to Thailand or elsewhere, I still get messages from both numbers, to it's very easy to stay in touch while traveling.

Siri stories...

http://www.maindevice.com/2011/10/2...assistant/

I thought it just did weather & appointments; apparently it does a whole lot more including Love and the Secret of Life.

I reserved two iphone 4s today at Softbank! I can't wait to get them but it looks like it will be 2-3 weeks before they come in

wow, I feel fortunate. I reserved mine the week before they came out and got it last weekend. Now there is a waiting list.

Today, I asked my iPhone: "Do you love me?" The reply? "I respect you." I guess it let me down easy. :-)

thanks everyone for the input - i have not had a smart phone yet - just regular old boring phones....but it seems like an iphone might make life easier in japan - working on the vonage thing - they can't take my house phone number which would have made life so much easier. now trying to decide if giving my daughter the vonage mobile [i trust her not to call romania : )] or if her keeping her reg. us cell phone and calling us on the vonage with that message service you just descibed might fit the bill. normally i always let her call me - her schedule is always different and i want her to be able to call me when she needs me.......but the distance and time change will be something to over come.

thank all!

This was weird... I just got a call from Softbank (on Sunday.) They want me to convert the plan on my iPhone 4s to a 2-year contract so I can get my cash back. She was from some central office in N.E. Japan, not the local vendor. I said, I got no problem, I'm already on a 2-year contract. She said no, that's a 2-year purchase contract on the phone (it basically gives me a free phone.) We want to give you a 2-year contract on the White Plan (basic voice plan) which will give you 6000 yen cash back. (1000 yen refund off the bill for 6 months.)

Since I'm already signed up for a 2-year contract on the phone anyway, I say go ahead. I guess it's a done deal; hope I didn't do anything stupid. So all told, the phone is not only free but I get about $80 back on the voice plan.

TG, that's cool to know that some companies aren't out to get you. We're happy as well with the phones and service so far. It's still a little confusing on how many minutes we really need on our voice plan. We haven't found an AU plan that gives free AU to AU mobile calls. On the flip side, I see that your white plan requires you to pay any calls outside of SB with no free minutes. We have 62 free minutes on our AU S plan and calls in our family to family are free. Do you think we should get more minutes added to our plan? I don't have a good feel for how fast we'll burn those 62 minutes. Also, not sure about this Y315 charge by AU called IS net, but I think it is unlimited text. I know yu have SB, but maybe to you or any other readers that have additional experience, your advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Julito

No, I don't know anything about IS Net. Sounds like an unnecessary add-on; maybe you can get them to remove the fee. There are free text apps for iPhone allowing you to text worldwide.

I find I don't talk much on the phone; more & more people text now. With Siri, now I often dictate my text & send it. It seems weird but it works good. As a result, my text messages on the 4s are longer than they were on the 3GS since I don't have to type anymore.

The great thing about Iwakuni is the vast majority of us use SB, so calls are free to just about everyone I know. That doesn't seem to be the case in Yokosuka, so you're always racking up voice minutes to people on other providers.

Julito or TG,

Anyone update?

I still haven't decided between Softbank or AU. The 'free iphone' from Softbank is tempting. I basically want a strong data plan as I'll use FB, G+, Pandora, and the net while I'm on the move.

We can't get Pandora to work in Japan. If anyone has a trick I have a 16yo daughter who would greatly appriciate it.

No, Pandora is blocked due to rights limitations on the music. LaCrimson... no update here. Are you looking for any particular info?