Gadget Ad: Docomo cell phones round up!

Docomo's phones in this ad:

• P906i
  
• SO906i
  
• SH906i
  
• F906i
  
• N906iu
  
• N906i
  
• N906iL
  
• SH906i (for previous coverage, click here)
  

Unboxing of Band Brothers DX for Nintendo DS

Here are the contents of the DS game - Daigasso! Band Brothers DX.

The top row from the left:

• Case of the game
  
• Instructions
  
• The game itself 
  
• Info about Wii's Band Brothers DX Speaker Channel, on the back of this sheet is a code to redeem it from your Wii
  

The bottom row from the left:

• Serial number to enter for points in Club Nintendo
  
• Notice about the recent recall of AC adapters for DS Lite
  
• Booklet about Nintendo wi-fi connection
  

A music game, songwriting tool, and karaoke all in one Nintendo DS Game: Daigasso! Band Brothers DX

Band Brothers DX, the latest in the Band Brothers series from Nintendo, was released last week in Japan. The latest installment has some new and significant features that the last game didn’t have.

New Modes
The are two new modes to the game:

Sing:

• This time the game utilizes the mic to let you karaoke.  It doesn't seem like you will be able to record your singing probably due to the memory. 
• The game comes with 30 songs, and you can download up to 100 more songs from the Internet using a wi-fi connection. 
  

Songwriting:

• Tools to let you create a melody 
  
• Auto arrangement / accompaniment features 
  
• You can also “give” songs to other people that have the game. The interesting thing is that you literally give the song away meaning you cannot keep a copy. It doesn’t really make sense and is limiting, but I guess it’s probably for copyright reasons. For example, if you replicated a copyrighted song, this stops the song from being copied and passed on. 
  
• If you did an arrangement for an existing copyrighted song, Nintendo allows you to submit it. If Nintendo likes it, the submitted version of the song will be available for others users to download. 
  

Connectivity with the Wii
As for the performance mode, the coolest enhancement has to be the ability to connect to the Wii. Band Brothers DX comes with a special code that lets you download a piece of software called “Daigasso! Band Brothers DX Speaker Channel” on your Wii. By using this software, the sound will be played through the speakers of your TV or stereo system connected to the Wii. In other words, it’s like the DS is channeling its sounds through the Wii. Up to 8 players can play together and have the performance be played back from your Wii’s sound set up. That’s pretty neat.

Stay tuned from unboxing pictures and videos when I get a copy of the game. 

Gadget Ad: Mobile Phones and Wireless Speakers

Here is an ad from KDDI promoting their line up of Bluetooth phones that can let you listen to music wirelessly.  

In the ad, you can find five gadgets (see picture below for a close up)

• Sanyo's W61SA (click here for previous coverage on this phone)
  
• Sony Ericsson W61S
  
• Toshiba's W61T
  
• Yamaha's NX-B02 Wireless Speaker
  
• Sony's SRS-BT100 Wireless Speaker
  

Does your TV have a memo function?

Last night when I was switching some cables on my Japanese Sony Wega TV, I accidentally pressed a button and stumbled upon a handy feature called the memo function. I also found the function on the TV remote as well.

When the memo function button is pushed, the current frame of the TV is paused, and a small picture-in-picture screen shows up in the lower left corner continuing to stream what’s on TV at that time (see picture below). By pressing the button again, the picture-in-picture goes away leaving the frozen frame on your TV. This is handy when there’s something to jot down from the TV show like an address, URL, or recipe.  

It’s a neat little feature. Maybe you have it on your TV as well =)

White USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader from Muji

Here’s a multi-card reader from Muji of Japan for white gadget lovers. Even the USB cord is white.

The card reader supports SD cards and Memory Stick Pro, and costs 2,100 yen (around 20 dollars).

I saw the item on Muji’s Japanese online store, but couldn’t find it again.   I couldn’t find it on its international site either, so you might have to hunt for it in at Muji stores.

Read magazines on your iPhone and iPod Touch for free

Zinio is letting you browse its top-selling magazine titles for free on your iPhone and iPod Touch in “super high resolution.” Simply point your iPhone Safari Browser to this address: http://www.zinio.com/iphone

The page will only load on a iPhone and iPod Touch. If you attempt to load it on your computer, most likely you will see this page.

When I checked yesterday, here were some of the magazines you can browse through:

• U.S. News & World Report
  
• Playboy 
  
• Popular Mechanics
  
• PC Magazine
  
• Men’s Health
  
• Penthouse
  
• MacWorld UK
  
• Reader’s Digest
  

A pretty good selection, don’t you think? I tested it out on wi-fi, and it takes a bit of time to load each pages. But hey, it’s free, so I shouldn’t complain.

The service is called the Zinio Mobile Newsstand, and it’s under the Zinio Labs section. It looks like they’re testing the service, and I really hope they keep it.

SoftBank reveals pricing and plans for iPhone 3G

Just about three weeks before the iPhone 3G will hit Japan, yesterday SoftBank released more details on pricing and the rate plans. (Japanese press release here)

iPhone 3G Pricing in Japan
SoftBank allows you to spread the iPhone cost into 24 monthly payments. The pricing is as follows:

• 8GB model: 23,040 yen / 960 yen per month (about 215 dollars / 9 dollars per month)
  
• 16GB model: 34,560 yen / 1,440 yen per month (about 320 dollars / 13 dollars per month)
  

If I’m not mistaken, these are tax-included prices.

Rate Plans
And the most important deciding factor for me – the rate plan.
In a nutshell, the cheapest rate plan for the iPhone is going to set you back 7,280 yen (close to 70 dollars) every month. The breakdown is as follows:

• Calling Plan (unlimited calls with other Softbank phone owners) 980 yen (9 dollars)
  
• Unlimited Data 5,985 yen (55 dollars)
  
• Miscellaneous Fee of 315 yen (3 dollars)
  

So it looks like the data plan is mandatory, and that really looks like I won’t be getting one when it launches. Bummer.  I guess I shall get the software update for my iPod Touch…

Gadget Ad: Sanyo W61SA

Cardboard Speakers from Muji

Not exactly white and new, but it’s worth a mention.

Muji of Japan sells these speakers made from cardboard. The speakers can be collapsed and re-folded back into cubes, which are great for traveling.   Batteries and external power source are not required.

You can pick a pair up for 2,100 yen (around 20 dollars) in Japan. If you are outside Japan, you can buy one from Muji Online for 19.95 pounds (around 40 dollars).

You might also find it at Muji store near you. You can find a list of international locations for Muji stores here.

Gadget Ad: Docomo N906i with Hiroshi Tamaki (Japanese actor)

iPhone 3G: To Buy or Not to Buy

UPDATE:  A follow up post about my five reasons not to buy an iPhone 3G can be found here.  

It’s almost one week since the announcement of the iPhone 3G. With the excitement leveling off and being able to think straight, I am taking a deeper look to see if I really should buy the iPhone 3G.

My reasons to not buy an iPhone 3G
So I first came up with reasons for not getting an iPhone 3G:

• No stereo Bluetooth (yet) – It doesn’t look like the iPhone 3G will let you listen to music or watch your videos in stereo with a stereo Bluetooth headphones. However, that could change with a software upgrade in the future. 
  
• No front camera – Not only will you have a hard time of taking pictures of yourself, you can’t make a video call considering you are on a 3G network. Having a front camera also opens up the possibilities of using iChat to make video calls to other iChat users on their Macs. That would be really cool, and I’m sure this front camera will be in a future version of the iPhone. 
  
• The data plan – Right now, I only have a voice plan that costs me 1,000 yen (around 10 bucks) every month in Japan. The plans and rates in Japan aren’t announced yet, but if I’m forced to have a data plan that will set me back more every month, that’s a very big reason for me not to go for an iPhone now. 
  

How will the iPhone improve my life?

• Go online with iPhone apps anywhere – Being able to connect to the Internet everywhere with iPhone apps, that sounds really appealing. 
  
  Workaround: I configure my Sharp EM-One as a wi-fi router, and connect my iPod Touch to it. It hiccups sometimes, and the process isn’t all that smooth, but if I really needed to get online with my iPod Touch, I can.
  
  
• Built-in camera of the iPhone –The iPhone would be great for taking casual photos, and it would be a breeze to manage them with iPhoto and the upcoming MobileMe service over the air. 
  
  Workaround: I use my Nokia 6680 to take casual photos. Since the Nokia 6680 can’t use wi-fi, I would have to email pictures to online photo services (i.e., Flickr or .Mac Web Gallery) using my cell phone plan, which will cost me. So to save, I take out the memory card and export it to iPhoto. 
  
  
• Contacts Integration – I usually add a lot of new contacts through my cell phone, so being able to easily sync my contacts between my phone and Address Book is a big plus. I can’t do that now because my Nokia 6680 doesn’t sync up very well with my Address Book. 
  
  Workaround: I force myself to add all contacts to my iPod Touch. Then I sync it back with Address Book, and export that to my Nokia 6680. What a hassle!
  
  
• iPhone’s input interface – Having to get accustomed to typing using the iPod Touch, I just can’t go back to using the phone pads of my Nokia. I’m eager to use the iPhone input interface to text. Unlike the above points, this one doesn’t have a workaround. Either I stick to the clumsy phone pads, or I go with the iPhone. 
  

Conclusion (for now…)
The low price point is very tempting, but the extra data plan costs is pulling me back. For Internet, email, wireless syncing, and managing photos over the air, I’m perfectly happy to use it with wi-fi when I am at home or at the office.

I won’t get an iPhone 3G in the States, and for Japan, it all comes down to the rates and plans, which should be announced in the coming weeks.  If I can get away with using the iPhone without a data plan, then I might get it.  If not, I'm going to hold off this time.

So there’s a probability of me not getting an iPhone 3G. In that case, I wouldn’t mind picking up an old iPhone from my friends and use it as an iPod Touch with a camera.

Gadget Ad: Sony Blu-ray Disk Recorder BDZ - A70 with Walkman NW - A820

The Walkman inside the ad is NW-A829 and comes with a Bluetooth connection to let you listen to your music wirelessly, something the iPhone and iPod needs too.  And of course, it comes in white as can be seen from here.

Mac: Save on .Mac (soon to be MobileMe) Family Pack

Update: It seems Amazon is sold out as the availability status is changed to "Ships usually in 1 to 2 months."  .Mac Family Pack price has also been lowered to $150 to reflect the future MobileMe pricing.

With my .Mac subscription expiring in a few more days, it’s time for me to decide whether to renew or not. I decided to go ahead and renew since I didn’t want to deal with changing my email address. On top of that, .Mac is going to be re-branded as MobileMe, and upgraded with new features and more storage.

Just before renewing online, I learned on TUAW that Amazon is selling .Mac for 30 dollars less. So I headed to Amazon and also found that the Family Pack is sold at a discount.

Another thing I found out is that the .Mac Family Pack retails for $179.95, but the MobileMe Family Pack will be offered at $149. I looked around further, and it seems that if you want to get the Family Pack, you should wait till MobileMe is released in July. However, on Amazon you can find the Family Pack for $124.49.  

Upon further searching, you can find the Family Pack for $97.99 at Beach Audio. As I post this, there are still 82 copies in stock.

Here is a summary of the pricing (click to enlarge):

Here are the links to the products at Amazon:

Source:

• Get a $30 discount on MobileMe - TUAW
  
• Apple MobileMe
  

Mac Tip: Using Bluetooth Headphones with Mac OS X Leopard

If you ever tried to listen to music with Bluetooth headphones on the previous version of Mac OS X (Tiger), you would get low non-stereo sound quality. This is because Tiger doesn’t support Bluetooth headphones (to be more specific, Tiger doesn’t support A2DP).

On the other hand, the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard does support Bluetooth headphones, which means you can listen to your music in good stereo quality. In addition, if the Bluetooth headphones come with remote controls, chances are you can use them to control iTunes as well. (To make sure your headphones do work, make sure they’re compatible with A2DP and AVRCP.)

As for me, I use the mLink R (MPX3000R) from Mobilecast, a Japanese maker.  When compared to the latest iPod Shuffle, it’s a little bit bulky. In addition to being white and clippable, what’s good with mLink R is that it has a 3.5mm stereo jack allowing you hook it up to your favorite earphones or home / car stereo.

Although I could use this as a headset for voice chatting, I actually prefer my MacBook’s internal mic, so I use mLink R as headphones even when I am video or voice chatting.

Links:

• TUAW
  
• MacApper
  
• mLink R
  

Shiny White iPhone 3G

The 16GB model of iPhone 3G comes in black, and, more importantly, white - that makes the iPhone 3G qualify as a shiny white gadget = )

Noticeable differences and improvements from the previous iPhone are:

• 3G speed (Apple claims that it's twice as fast as the previous iPhone)
  
• Built-in GPS so you can now track your position along a route
• The earphone jack is no longer recessed, which means you don’t need an adapter to use the earphone of your choice.
  
• Better battery performance

The new iPhones will include iPhone 2.0 software, which will also be available to the old iPhones.  The new software includes the following features:

• Addition input methods including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (traditional and simplified).
  
  
  
• Ability to view PowerPoint and iWork files
• Compatibility with Microsoft Exchange

Head on over to Apple’s site for more details and picture.

The iPhone 3G comes in 8GB and 16GB and starts at $199. It will be available in selected countries on July 11.

I held out on getting an iPhone, but now with 3G and the price is simply too tempting. I will probably get mine from Tokyo, so stay tuned for iPhone news in Tokyo and impressions.

Source:

• TUAW
  
• Apple

WWDC 2008 + iPhone 3G

It’s really hard to be focused and get any work done on a day when Steve Jobs gives a keynote speech. Anyway, lots of exciting announcements at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference today including the iPhone 3G.

Here are a list of pages and stories I have followed for the WWDC and the new iPhone:

Coverage of the event:

• Video: You can watch the video here on Apple's site
  
• You can also find it at iTunes.
  
• TUAW coverage
  
• CrunchGear Coverage
  

iPhone 3G – it’s finally here!

• iPhone 3G announced - TUAW
  
• 3G iPhone: What it means – a look at the hardware - TUAW
  
• New ad @ Apple’s website
  
• Power adapter @ CrunchGear
  
• iPhone 3G hands-on @ Engadget
  
• Countries getting the iPhone 3G @ Engadget
  

MobileMe – new version of syncing and web services from Apple

• MobileMe announced - TUAW
  
• About MobileMe @ Apple's website
• .Mac to MobileMe: what’s the deal? - TUAW
  
• Guided tour @ Apple’s website
  

iPhone 2.0 software + 3rd Party Applications

• iPhone 2.0 firmware will ship in early July, touch users pay $9.95 - TUAW
  
• Here come the new iphone apps @ Techcrunch
  

For me personally, I am very excited about the 3G iPhone of course, and very glad it will finally land in Japan in July. (And with the time difference, those in Japan will get their iPhones a few hours ahead of most other countries.)  It's time to say goodbye to my Nokia 6680.

I am also very excited about MobileMe, which allows me to sync data on my iPod Touch and my future iPhone without wires. The web 2.0 applications of MobileMe seems good as well. I often use Boot Camp to run Windows XP, and it's going to be handy that I can make changes to my calendar with the web browser. In fact, Apple should just port the entire OS X onto the web =)

Anyhow, the web apps look great, and surely will get non-Mac users acquainted with the Mac OS X feel, and it'll probably help them switch more smoothly in the future.

Gadget Ad: Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot W61S

Apple TV on Steroids

The aTV Flash from Apple Core is a flash drive that you plug into your Apple TV to install extra features. Some of the features listed on their website are:

• Play video formats that the Apple TV cannot play (for example, DivX, AVI, WMV, and etc.)
  
• Play DVD files without converting them
  
• Browse the web with a Safari based web browser
  

For $49.95 you will get a download that you use with a flash drive to create the aTV Flash (currently it only supports Macs). You will also get free updates for 1 year.

If you want a simple way of hacking your Apple TV, the aTV Flash is perhaps a good option. However, Apple TV will most likely get software upgrades down the road, and every time that happens it’ll be necessary to wait for an update from the folks at Apple Core.  And if the software upgrade happens after the aTV Flash 1 year updates period and aTV Flash isn't working, you're out of luck...

So same as the iPhone, to hack or not to hack, that’s the dilemma…

Source:

• aTV Flash
  
• TUAW
  
• Apple TV @ Amazon
  

Mac: Apple Keynotes Podcast

All eyes are on Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2008. The eagerly anticipated keynote will begin at 10:00 AM in California on Monday June 9. What exactly will get announced?!

To keep you company till then, Apple has a podcast that “offers video of the company’s most important announcements, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ annual keynotes from Macworld.” Currently you can find keynotes from Macworld 2007 and 2008 as well as the iPhone Software Roadmap announcement.  

You can subscribe through iTunes using this link.  

Source:
TUAW

Nintendo Spot: Bring your DS to McDonalds in Japan and Download Free Demos and Contents

Nintendo is running a trial service for DS owners at selected McDonalds in Tokyo.   With your DS, you can download the Nintendo Spot Viewer, which lets you download game demos and view contents related to McDonalds such as campaigns and menu info.  You can find more details at IGN.  

The service is available in 21 McDonalds stores in Tokyo and will run from May 27 to June 30.  I plan to test out the service next week and will come back with impressions.

Here are images from the brochure I got at McDonalds. 

Source:

• IT Media (Japanese)
  
• IGN
  

BREAKING: SoftBank to Sell iPhone in Japan within this Year

SoftBank announced today that it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan within this year.  

There is no word on exclusivity yet, which means there is still a chance for Docomo or KDDI to also sell the iPhone. Docomo's PR responded to the announcement, "It is unfortunate, but we will consider and investigate the possibility of selling iPhone."

This is great news for Apple fans in the land of the rising sun!

Source:

• Yahoo Japan - Softbank's Announcement
• Yahoo Japan - Docomo's response
• SoftBank's Press Release

Multi-task with Sanyo’s New Cell Phone - W61SA

Sanyo’s W61SA is a new sliding cell phone in Japan. It sports a 3-inch OLED display and comes with Bluetooth, a FM transmitter, and the usual cell phone functions.

What’s cool? Two apps on one screen!
What’s really cool about this phone is that you can display two applications at once letting you multi-task (or to be more specific, double-task). The cell phone screen is divided into two halves with each displaying a different application. For example, in the following image, the upper area is TV while the bottom area is a mail application.

Some of the possible and useful combinations of applications to use together would be:

• E-mail and calendar
  
• E-mail and task list
  
• TV and notes
  
• TV and E-mail
  
• GPS / maps and E-mail
  
• Web browser and E-mail

Scroll, tap, and write stuff with a touchpad integrated with the number pad
The other cool feature this phone comes with is a technology called “Smooth Touch”. You can scroll up and down and tap on the number pad as if you were using a laptop’s touchpad. There are also gestures to zoom in and out. It’s too bad it does not support multi-touch so you can pinch in and pinch out. 

As it also comes with handwriting recognition for alphabets, numbers, and Japanese characters, you can also write on the number pad. Below is a video I found demonstrating this technology (the phone in the video is the previous model, which is why it looks different from the images above).  

Pricing and Stuff
W61SA comes in black, white, and pink, and is available in Japan now for around 30,000 to 60,000 yen ($300 to $600) depending on your cell phone plan.

Thoughts
The ability to display two applications at once is a really neat idea. Though in actual use, the screen might be too small for two applications, and there might be performance issues running two applications simultaneously. It also adds more complexity to the interface. However, it might be a neat advanced feature for iPhones or PDAs. For example, it would be nice to be able to watch a video and write an email at the same time. Hmm… wait... You can do that if you have two iPhones…

Links

• KDDI's W61SA Site (Japanese)
  
• Sanyo / Kyocera W61SA Site (Japanese)

Say Hello to the Nano iMac!

Yesterday RockridgeSound Japan announced iClooly, an aluminum stand that will make your iPod Touch look like a miniature iMac.

What’s cool?

• It makes your iPod Touch look like a miniature iMac
  
• While on the stand, you can rotate your iPod 90 degrees to view in landscape or portrait mode
  
• You can tilt and adjust the viewing angle as well
  

While on the stand, you can also connect your iPod with the dock connector. The iClooly will go on sale on June 7 in Japan and will retail for an estimate price of 4,980 yen (about 47 dollars) according to Impress Watch (Japanese).

I would love to buy this stand except I use Griffin’s iClear hard-shell casewith my Touch. It would be troublesome to frequently take the case off just to put it on the stand. So I think I am going to pass on this one (that is, until I get my iPhone and my iPod Touch would stay home).


Sources and Links:

• iClooly product home page 
  
• Impress Watch (Japanese)
  
• Engadget
  
• tuaw.com

Gadget Ad: Sony Bravia M1

I will be showing some magazine ads of gadgets from Japan on a regular basis.  If it seems that there are enough shiny white gadget ads out there, maybe I can make this into a weekly feature.  

Anyway, for the first ad, I present you Sony's Bravia M1 ad from Japan.  

Mac: Web Version of Mac OS X?!

Well, not exactly, but you can find a Flash application that mimics the OS X on the Sex and the City Movie website. Not only can you get a feel of OS X, you can also look at photos, emails, and schedules of Carrie (a character from the movie).

Here’s a video:

But having an OS X on the web could happen one day. Until then, be sure to check out the following web operation systems (note: neither support Safari):

• YouOS
  
• Online Operating System 
  

Source:

• Loaded: Sex and the City MacBook
  
• Web Desktop @ Wikipedia
  
• Carrie Bradshaw's MacBook Pro
  

Mac: Real Life Example Using Time Machine

Time Machine is the automatic backup feature in the latest version of Mac OS X (Leopard).

Ever since spending 300 bucks on recovering data from a broken hard disk, I am a firm believer in backing everything up. I've been backing up with Time Machine for a few months now, but today I actually used it to recover a file. It really made me appreciate Time Machine even more.

I remembered that my boss sent me an email attached with an article called the “Momentum Effect.” So I searched for the email, and I found it, except the mail was broken. Nothing was in the email. I messed around with the Mail application a few months ago, and maybe that caused it.

I tried searching using Spotlight, and I still couldn’t find the document. So I entered Time Machine and went back to March this year. Lo and behold, I found the email message! Incredible!  Video of recovering files with Time Machine below.

I think Time Machine is a breakthrough in that it lets you easily search for information at specific points in the past.  However, it does not yet let you search instantaneously "across" time.  Imagine if you can search for a file and bring up every version at different points in time for the past three months.  Nevertheless, Time Machine is impressive as it is, and it is definitely a step in the right direction.  

SH906i: Sharp’s Answer to iPhone?

UPDATE: A follow-up post with comments from Japanese users of SH906i can be found here.

The commercial of Sharp’s new mobile phone SH906i caught my eyes yesterday. The commercial showed a Japanese girl swiping through photos and browsing the Internet with the SH906i. You can find the commercial on their Japanese website.

And here are the stills from the commercial:

With some googling, here’s what I found.

Sharp’s Foma SH906i will be available on June 3rd (tomorrow) here in the land of the rising sun. It will be available in four different colors: blue, white, pink, and black.

The Touch Screen
The most prominent feature of the SH906i is its touch screen for use with a finger. It doesn’t seem to have multi-touch though. Here are the features for the touch screen:

• As in the commercial, you can swipe through photos and move around in a web browser.
  
• You can use gestures to initiate actions such as zooming in/out and controlling volume.
  
• The touch screen interacts with the vibration function so that when you press buttons on the touch screen, it gives you tactile feedback. 
  
• It allows you to write on the screen with your finger. It also comes with handwriting recognition. 
  

Basic Functions

In addition to the usual mail application and music player, the basic functions include:

• Built-in 5.2 megapixel camera
  
• Bluetooth connectivity
  
• Supports Dolby Mobile
  
• Built-in 1seg TV tuner to let you watch digital TV on-the-go in Japan
  

Worth Noting
It also comes with a piece of software called “Avatar Maker” that lets you make an original character similar to Nintendo’s Mii.

Links:

• Sharp's SH906i Website
  
• SH906i on Docomo's website