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zmcnulty posted:I'm not aware of any 1-year contracts either. I'm thinking of going Softbank when I go on JET and this is good to know.
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Jul 21, 2011 06:39
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NicelyNice posted:If I need service on my iPhone, do I contact Apple or SoftBank? if it still has Apple Care coverage then yeah, Apple.
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Jul 25, 2011 05:55
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zmcnulty posted:Realistically I would recommend renting/prepaid to hold you over, if the iPhone 5 is what you really want. I was thinking the same way about iPhones (I've had a 3GS in the US for almost two years) but in the past few weeks have thought I'll just get a 4 and call it good, but if there's a way to start with a cheaper pre-paid phone and jump to a full contract while keeping your number I'm all ears. What's MNP?
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Jul 25, 2011 16:40
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Original_Z posted:Any reports on Samsung Galaxy 2? detailed Engadget review, and they seem to be very happy with it. "It's the best Android smartphone yet, but more importantly, it might well be the best smartphone, period."
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Jul 25, 2011 16:50
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took the dive, bought an iPhone 4 and what's pretty much the standard Softbank plan (White Plan plus their data packages plus the iPhone voice mail)...holy poo poo that was an expensive phone to buy. they also said you can't MNP from Softbank pre-paid to post-paid because they use different phone numbers. Path of least resistance (meaning not having to tell my supervisor/Japanese contacts I got a new number in three months) led me to this decision. at least the monthly bill is a little cheaper than the equivalent would be in the U.S. Jeez.
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Aug 9, 2011 08:31
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tarepanda posted:Nobody's saying that Japanese people don't use it, but that it's the company of choice for foreigners. the JETs I've met around here fall into one of two camps: Softbank because of the iPhone, or au because it gets the best reception in Nagasaki. Haven't seen any foreigners using a non-Apple phone on Softbank yet.
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Aug 17, 2011 03:33
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Dmoz posted:Do want. Could you get a prepaid phone? I know they're much cheaper to buy and you pay as you need, the issue being the ability to buy one at all. You might need a gaijin card, though some places are lenient. If you're in Japan longer than three months you'll need a gaijin card, and the application stamp for that should allow you to get prepaid.
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Oct 5, 2011 02:59
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It says he updated the tables, so maybe you caught an early draft? Otherwise I really don't know and you're probably right. I also think he's wrong about the iPad thing, I still think it's Softbank going crazy and trying to get people onto another data plan (and a fresh 24-month contract) so they're giving away 16 gig iPad 2s instead of just giving you a free contract upgrade. That said I just got my iPhone 4 in August here and have no problem wheeling around and walking out empty-handed if Softbank isn't giving iPad 2s away, so I'm not exactly shopping for deals right now.
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Oct 11, 2011 14:55
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So I'm not sure if it's because my Apple account is tied to my phone or because I added my Japanese message mail address (the @softbank.ne.jp address) to my Apple ID, but I'm getting the new iMessage service working with iPhones in the U.S. as well as Japan. This is easily the best thing to come out of iOS 5 for me, since I have a lot of friends back home with iPhones...just need to convince them all to make sure to upgrade the OS.
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Oct 18, 2011 14:53
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Madd0g11 posted:4 vs 4s defeats the purpose of the 4s having its magic antennas and being twice as fast on GSM. Also I can't believe AU launched a half assed iOS device. SoftBank doesn't do visual voicemail unless you pay extra but everything else works fine. I added my @softbank.ne.jp address to my Apple ID and now people in the U.S. can send me iMessages. It might have worked without that step but still, brilliant.
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Oct 20, 2011 09:47
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[edit] ^^^^ I *think* it's a monthly payment to buy the 16 gig iPad, and the data charges start at free but go up quickly, and I *think* it requires you to re-up your Softbank contract for two more years. Original_Z posted:Does anyone have any good recommendations of Japan-specific iPhone applications? for the language, for getting around Tokyo, for trains, for staring at idol singers of questionable age? Gonna have to clarify the question a bit more. It'd be like asking for good British or American apps, it's a bit broad.
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Nov 2, 2011 14:40
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Original_Z posted:Just things that would be useful to people living in Japan. I've downloaded things like Tabelog, McDonalds, E-plus, Bookwalker, Nicovideo, etc. Can be any type of app that you like, things that have been useful to you while living in Japan. on iPhone, I use Kotoba all the time as a dictionary (and have learned looking up kanji by SKIP to make use of that for unfamiliar characters) and then added an iPhone Safari bookmark to Hyperdia's English site on to my front page to check train times. But I'm in the inaka and all we have is JR lines - Hyperdia went to hell for me when I was in Tokyo - so your mileage may vary. Really that's....it. The other fantastic thing is iMessage in the iOS 5 update since I can now message my friends with iPhones overseas. For free. It's awesome (at least for me, if your entire family has iPhones then you might like it as much).
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Nov 15, 2011 15:08
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Ganguro King posted:Speaking of iPhones, has anyone on Softbank had their SMS ringtones messed up lately? Mine sound like it is playing the ringtone a bunch of times in rapid succession and cutting itself off. Vibrator goes crazy too. yeah, I listen to music a lot of the time and mine (iPhone 4) sounds like it's trying to cut in and not interrupt what's going on too much. So then the message tone's beginning is choppy and screwing with whatever I'm listening to. Haven't noticed the vibration, but definitely the SMS/text/mail tone being screwy. Maybe it's an iOS software issue? There was an update recently and that might be about the time this started.
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Dec 28, 2011 03:52
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I only use wifi when I'm at home (brought my wireless router from the States, that turned out to be a brilliant idea). There's not enough wifi around down here to justify leaving it on, and having the iPhone always trying to sniff out wifi makes things slower - it spends time trying to find that before just latching on and loading things with 3G.
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Dec 28, 2011 08:10
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Madd0g11 posted:Just turn off wifi when you don't need it. Make it easy by jailbreaking and using SBSettings. Having used iPhones in America and Japan for the past two and a half years, keeping wifi on when you're not in one spot and connected both drains the battery a little faster and makes 3G connections slower because it's always trying to find wifi first. Just turn it off when not in use.
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Feb 21, 2012 03:25
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Uber Kosh posted:I'll be heading over to Japan in about 3 weeks to start working there. I've been looking at getting an iPhone as my mobile while I'm there. I'm just wondering that, after the end of my work contract, will my Japanese iPhone be able to be used in Australia? maybe? I think you can unlock them to use on different networks, but I'm not 100 percent sure.
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Mar 24, 2012 14:50
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1.8 man/month? Good lord. That's more than my cell phone, home phone line and home YahooBB combined most months. Actually, *all* months. Jeez. The only time I broke 5000 on my iPhone was when a friend visited from Australia, calls and texts to coordinate weren't cheap. Otherwise thank god for iMessage, it's brilliant.
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Apr 18, 2012 13:32
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Ganguro King posted:They do, but I don't know if I would call them an advantage. It gets annoying real quick when you are walking around town and the Softbank wifi login screen keeps popping up while you are trying to look at a map or type an email. And this is why I turn the wifi on my iPhone on and off (I have a wireless router at home).
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Aug 17, 2012 01:47
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I was trying to navigate through the city this weekend and I finally realized all the hatred for the new maps app. Try inserting my search terms (which worked on GMaps on the computer) and I get nothing in the Apple app; go to maps.google.com on the phone (iPhone 4) and it finds it there but on 3G in Tenjin with that processor it takes a while. It does find the location, but then doesn't retain the information if you switch apps or lock your phone. Hrm. I think that accounted for a good 10 percent of my phone battery alone. And I downloaded Mapion, the recommended Japanese app, and I have only played with it a little but it looks super Japanese so we'll see how that goes (my language ability is good but sometimes I just want to use stuff in the native tongue, ya know?) The (Apple) Maps app is such a joke it wouldn't even find "Apple store Tenjin" in ENGLISH. Granted they had an icon on the map but STILL. Also echoing the "use wifi when traveling" sentiment. Also that new Android/iPhone app LINE should come in handy for traveling, it lets you chat and make calls to contacts over data (and I think internationally too for free...? haven't tried that yet, just the messaging). iMessage, Facetime, and of course Skype are good for this too. I spent three weeks traveling all over Asia a couple years ago and my phone lived on airplane mode to avoid coming home to an enormous AT&T bill.
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Sep 30, 2012 15:38
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Sashimi posted:I'm moving to Japan in March, and while I've been educating myself about the mobile market over there I can't seem to find anything about how the cost of a phone factors into a monthly plan. The only info I've found so far is on Softbank's iPhone page, which of course only applies to one phone on one carrier. Does this system, where I either buy a phone outright or pay a monthly fee, also happen with other carriers? If so, how do I find out how much a phone would cost since prices aren't listed anywhere obvious? Paying for part of it month-to-month seems to be done equally over the term of the contract. I'm not sure if you can it half the money down, or if its just all or nothing...but I paid out of pocket for my iPhone a couple years ago and thanks to some kind of magic my bill is always just 5000 per month. The prices and information are mostly in-stores. AU have a pretty good info packet in English I could track down if you want. Also if you're going to be here more than a year just get a smartphone over here. Simplifies EVERYTHING versus trying to unlock a foreign phone.
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Jan 16, 2013 08:05
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Sashimi posted:Thanks for the info! Now I figure getting a phone over there is the most straightforward thing to do, makes no sense to give myself more things to deal with. yep. if you're getting a smartphone (Android, iOS, whatever) life is super simple. Docomo is the rarest brand among the foreigners I know, partially because Softbank had the iPhone exclusively for a while, partially because they have the least English support to my knowledge. They used to have the best network by far, but now, pretty much everybody has the same 3G coverage -- if you're way in the boonies you might have trouble, but I only seem to way up in the hills near where I live. No clue about who's 4G/LTE is better or what have you. For the record I think I signed up with Softbank when they had some really good deal going, another friend is paying much more since he switched from that contract to a new one for the iPhone 5, and others who got new phones when they arrived this past summer all pay a bit more (like 6000-8000 per month, including a little bit to pay off purchase of the phone like mentioned before). avoid the hassle, turn your smartphone of choice into English, add Japanese keyboards to
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Jan 28, 2013 14:08
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moflika posted:So, looking around online unlocked dual band GSM phones won't work at all in Japan, right? If so, I'm definitely not renting some poo poo, since I don't need a phone that often. Are public pay phones common at all in Japan? Sounds dumb to ask in 2013, but you never know... get somebody to vouch for you to get a pre-paid Softbank cell phone, recharge it with cards from conbinis. get a real (Japanese) phone once you've got more settled if you're gonna be here a while. problem solved.
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Feb 24, 2013 06:49
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NeilPerry posted:I'm going to Japan in September for a year and I'm looking for the most Japan friendly smartphone I can get in Belgium. Any ideas? What are the things I should ask the shopkeeper if I want to know if it will work on Japanese networks? just buy a Japanese phone in Japan. If you have an iPhone now, get one here and use your apps; ditto for Android. Jumping through all those hurdles listed above may be okay for some but you're still then not getting the full capability out of your phone. And once you get here, you can find some phones cheap (especially used) to lower the cost a bit. Or you can get the cheapest phone possible on contract and use a tablet or something with wifi, or just sign up for a 3G portable wifi hotspot thing and use your phone of choice on wifi only (I have a friend who did this for a while). One of my teachers has a large Android hand unit she has a data-only plan for, and then has a cheap flip phone for actual calling. Turned out that was cheaper for her than voice + data for a smartphone. Keep it as simple as possible.
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May 20, 2013 23:44
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NeilPerry posted:I'm going to stay in Japan for a year. Should I get a decent smartphone here and do all that sim card poo poo(cutting them out of a cheap cell and inserting it into the smartphone that I brought) someone described to me in this thread some months ago, or should I just get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 or iPod Touch and use Wi-Fi(and possibly supplement with a cheap rear end phone)? The latter seems cheaper if done in Japan, the former is a lot cheaper if I buy one here and bring it along. just get a cheap smartphone, it's the simplest way to solve the problem. Instead of dealing with poo poo like cutting sim cards, unlocking handsets, missing features on whatever network you're on, etc. Having real map access, LINE and Facebook on top of features you'd get otherwise from other options (e-mail, Internet, etc) makes the most sense. I know somebody who used to use a wifi hotspot and an iPod Touch, but then the wifi hotpsot battery isn't the same as a real phone's so charging it can become a pain.
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Jul 22, 2013 00:58
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Just get on a contract here and then sell it on once you're done. It's the simplest way to get a (new) iPhone.
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Oct 4, 2013 08:27
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Rogue 7 posted:My work's encouraging me to get a smartphone, since I won't immediately have internet access in my apartment, apparently, and my trainer seems to indicate that getting internet coverage through my cell provider is the sensible way to go. This makes some degree of sense to me. I bought my phone outright from SoftBank (new 5s) so that means my flat-rate data plan is about 6,000 a month. However, the phone alone was like 60,000. The price of the phone is figured in so much for most plans that 7,000 is a relatively good ballpark. That said, it's a necessity, so you do what you have to. A smartphone is basically a requirement since it allows you to keep in touch, use a dictionary, have Internet access, etc.
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Dec 16, 2013 01:01
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Pegnose Pete posted:I've skimmed this thread, and I have a question. I'm going to be moving to Japan on the JET program in a few months, probably long term. Your life will be infinitely easier if you just go on a plan from the get-go. First, you don't know right now what providers work the best in the area since you still haven't heard where you're going; it's gotten better, but there are rare AU or SoftBank dead spots from time to time. Secondly, getting them to give you a sim gets difficult if they're not also charging you for the handset. And of course you don't know what providers will have shops nearby; if you're in a city you're golden, but you might also be like me and stuck in a town of less than 10,000 people, and choices get much more limited. Plus if you happen to do something to your phone, you're poo poo outta luck. My girlfriend and other friends have gotten replacements very cheap recently (4500 yen/$45 for a replacement iPhone 5) because it's part of their monthly payment. I know "just join the herd and worry about other things" may not be the most popular advice, but it's the easiest way to remove a headache from your life. Adjusting to life in Japan and teaching on JET will provide plenty of hurdles as it is. Also, I'd recommend AU over the other providers. SoftBank is more insistent on making you buy handsets up-front, and Docomo doesn't have as much English support or help.
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May 9, 2014 05:46
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Mr. Fix It posted:Softbank won't let you contract with an unlocked phone that they didn't sell you (or at least they didn't when I tried two years ago with an iPhone 4s) and au is CDMA, so it's docomo or one of its MVNO's (like bmobile) if you want to use a factory unlocked phone. Just contract with au or Softbank, imo. Bonus for iPhones on Softbank, chronicunlocks claims to be able to get your phone unlocked for $150USD. I wouldn't bet on it actually working, but if you're in the mood to gamble SoftBank makes you pay up-front if you don't have your gaijin card or if your contract would be longer than your visa; AU doesn't care (or at least doesn't require you to buy the phone up-front). On the other hand, at least it means my iPhone bill on SoftBank has rarely been more than 5000/month.
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May 9, 2014 08:35
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LimburgLimbo posted:I definitely didn't have a visa longer than a 2 year contract when I got my iPhone, but I dunno YMMV. I went to the store and it was gonna be all rosy and fine and pay for a little bit of the phone now, the rest on the monthly bill, then they copied my gaijin card and saw how long the visa was, so they had to re-work the entire deal and I had to pay for the whole iPhone 5s that day. That was last October, and others here and in the Japan thread reported having the same issues. that said, if I don't make any phone calls my bill is like 4500 yen so it's all in how you want to pay for it, I suppose.
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May 9, 2014 11:13
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Pegnose Pete posted:This is all very helpful, thanks guys. You're on JET, unless things changed then three-year visas are still the norm.
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May 10, 2014 15:48
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^^^^^ those are almost guaranteed going to require longer term data plans and more "for people who live here" versus "people visiting here." Maybe pairing a pocket wifi with a rented SIM, but I know absolutely nothing about those.basch posted:Help! I think there's a lot of that stuff out at Haneda, so it might be an option? I'm not sure how much is available without a reservation in advance. Are you staying at a hotel? What do you mean, "expecting it to be in the mail and it's not there"?
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Mar 26, 2015 16:03
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mango sentinel posted:I'm going with family to Japan in May and am trying to scout out my options. There are 5 of us, and we're gonna be there for 2 weeks travling around between Tokyo, Kyoto, and a few other spots. A hotspot is a problematic solution in case we decide to split up, and I don't know if those are things you can just take around between cities. We need to be able to call each other, as well use data for maps and translation. Verizon's website is poo poo for browsing international roaming options. Anyone have suggestions? Two pocket wifis?  Otherwise rental SIMs all around! And also do things like use Skype or other VOIP software for the calls instead (Japanese-centric app LINE is perfect for this).Also, if you have iOS and can afford a 700mb app on your phone, the app Imiwa is great as a dictionary, but honestly it's gonna be tough to use anything for translation. And in any case, there's plenty of English signage in the touristy places to get around, and most restaurants I've ever been in will have enough English to get by. harperdc fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Mar 26, 2015 |
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Mar 26, 2015 23:24
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