iPhone vs. Japanese cell phones: 15 Features that iPhone doesn’t have for the Japanese market

In Japan one of the things SoftBank make sure you understand when you buy an iPhone is the features that the iPhone doesn’t have or cannot use. Below is an image of that section from the paper work.

Explanation and translations corresponding to the numbers in the image are:

1. S! Addressbook Back-up – Basically it’s a service to back up and sync your contacts to a server. A nice feature included in the service is birthday notification via SMS. To learn more about this service, see here – it’s in English =)
   
   
2. S! Friend’s Status – It’s a service that lets you set your status and mood. You can also check up on your friends’ status. See here for more info.
   
   
3. S! Info Channel – News and weather info are delivered to your cell. What’s cool is that supporting cellphones well display the current weather conditions on your default home screen.
   
   
4. Remote lock – In the case you lose your cellphone, you can remotely lock your cell phone.
   
   
5. Yahoo! Kids – Basically this service blocks the kids from accessing inappropriate sites.
   
   
6. Web Access Restrictions – This blocks users from visiting sites such as matching sites for teenagers.
   
   
7. Ichi Navi – It’s basically a service for parents to know where their children are via GPS. See here for more info.
   
   
8. Voice Mail Plus – An upgraded voice mail service with more message capacity for other SoftBank cell phones.
   
   
9. S! Felica – Basically an e-wallet and electronic train pass. See here for more info.
   
   
10. E-Comics – Basically new phones can download a special comic viewer that lets them buy digital copies of comics.
    
    
11. Video services
    
    
12. Infrared functions
    
    
13. 1 seg – function for digital audio / video services
    
    
14. bar code reader
    
    
15. cell phone ring tones – Since iPhone users can only buy ring tones from iTunes, they won’t be able to buy anything from the mass selection of ring tones provided by the carrier. Bummer.

So there you have it. Features and services that the iPhone does not have in the Japanese market.  It's interesting that they didn't mention that you can't use emoticons on the iPhone.   Well, at least until the next version of iPhone OS as reported by MacRumors.  Maybe, SoftBank knew the feature was coming...