James Blog

iPhone 5 Rumours Ramping Up

    There are more rumours doing the rounds again about the imminent release of the iPhone 5. At least that is what we all think it may be called, but given Apple's latest label for the iPad 3, actually referring to it as "The New iPad" it is a little more difficult to know what they might name the new iPhone.

    The latest talk is around Apple placing substantial orders for 4" displays with their suppliers of screens. Naturally this indicates the new iPhone will offer a larger 4" display, up from the 3.5" used since the iPhone was first introduced back in 2007.

    Given end users are using their mobile phones for more than making calls and SMS, and are taking advantage of the "Apps" available for social media and games, watching videos and photography with the higher specced cameras included in todays smart phones.... it only seems right that the next iPhone boasts a larger display. Especially to stay current with the latest crop of large screen displays from manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, Sony and even the chinese brands

    Who knows? The iPhone may even sport a Retina display like the new iPad, to help Apple push their Smart Phone ahead of the pack again. This could well be a smart ploy by Apple, given that Samsung Smart Phones now outsell the Apple iPhone.

    Whatever Apple does with the new iPhone, we can be sure this next device will be the step up Apple fans have been waiting for, after being some-what disappointed with the minor upgrades of the iPhone 4S.

    Maybe the iPhone 4 will move to Pre-paid as well with the release of a new iPhone later this year. Although I am sure the price will be high for Pre-Paid, there is a market out there willing to pay a premium for Apple products.

Time will tell.      Are you an Apple fan? Do you have an iPhone?

It's not all about the iPhone!

    I was lucky enough to spend 10 days in Japan recently. In fact this was my second trip to Japan. The first time was a skiing holiday, and I have to say, the powder skiing in Japan is as good as they say.

    So, this time in Japan was for my Nephews wedding. He and his fiance are both Australian and live here in Australia but have had the opportunity to work in Japan for a few months and obviously love it. That's why about 40 family and friends made the trek to Japan for their tradional Japanese style wedding. What an experience!

    Naturally, I couldn't help myself and had to check out the mobile phone scene in Japan. The first thing that struck me whilst travelling on the excellent Japanese rail system was that just about all the younger generation are glued to their mobile phones, staring at the screen sending text, surfing the web, watching film clips, or something. The next thing I noticed was the considerable lack of the Apple iPhone. Honestly, I think I saw about 4, and I saw thousands of Mobiles whilst on the train, bus or even on the street.

    So I decided that this needed further investigation. I went to the 2 main Mobile Carriers in Japan, JP DoCoMo and Softbank to check out their range and offers. This was no easy task, as I have next to no Japanese language skills and the very polite and attentive sales staff at these shops had about as much English. The above photos are taken from a very comprehensive catalogue I picked up and show typical handsets on offer. Flip and slide phones are very popular, as is Android based Smart Phones. No iPhone in the catalogue, although one store had a sign out the front stating the iPhone was available on a 24 month contract for 6000 YEN per month (about AU$85). Smart phones are the rage, and Android leads in Japan. There are many brands available, including the popular ones we know like Motorola, HTC, LG and Samsung, but there are also plenty of very good looking smart phones from Sharp, Pantech, Toshiba, and Casio.  

    What about Prepaid? Well, this is interesting. Unlike Australia, or Hong Kong, Canada, USA, UK, etc, Japan has a distinct lack of Prepaid. Softbank offers one handset for 1050 YEN (AU$150) outright with no credit, and credit is another 600 YEN (AU$85). That was about the only Prepaid Mobile I could find. Only available in a phone shop and credit could only be bought there as well from what I could gather. There was certainly no convenience shops, or the equivalent of a newsagency, etc selling any type of Prepaid Mobile.

    When I arrived in Japan I thought I would do the same thing I did in Hong Kong recently, and pick up a Prepaid WiFi to allow me internet access whilst there. Guess what? There is no Prepaid Wifi in Japan! They do offer a Pocket WiFi on 4G. This is very fast at 42 Mps (6 x times our current speed) but is only available on a 24 month contract for 6000 YEN per month (AU$85)

    Seems to me there could be a great opportunity for Prepaid Mobile in Japan, but I am sure many others have considered this and there must be a reason that Prepaid is not popular. Maybe the carriers have more than they need on contracts and with 2 major carriers and some 127 million people, I am sure they are doing just fine.

    On a good note, the mobile service in Japan proved to be very good whilst roaming, and data speeds were excellent. There are a number of Free WiFi spots to be found and the mobile carriers offer their customers WiFi access just about everywhere, including on public transport.

    If you have been to another country and would like to share your expereince, then please do so. I would love to hear about other countries Mobile carriers, service and offers.

iPhone 5 release is the best - worst kept secret

The release date of the next incarnation of the Apple iPhone has got to be the best, worst kept secret in the world today.

Rumour after rumour flows in the press and online, with people claiming to "be in the know" informing the world of the precise time and date the iPhone 5 will be released.

There is no doubt that Apple have done a fantastic job of creating a brilliant Mobile phone, but even more impressive is the hype they manage to create for their flagship device. Anticipation builds for months and months and we have all heard or seen the stories of Apple "must haves" camping outside of shops waiting to be amongst the first to spend their hard earned on the latest creation from Apple.

I remember hearing an Australian journalist interviewed on the radio during the release date of the Apple iPhone 4 last year. During the interview his brand new iPhone 4 dropped the call 3 times, but he did not care and called the radio station back each time. What really caught my attention during the release report from this journalist was his statement : "Steve Jobs could take a dump in a brown paper bag and put an Apple logo on it, and I would buy that"

Talk about brand loyalty !

We would all love to have a following like that, with millions of people hanging on every breath waiting for the latest and greatest from a company that has managed to dominate the Smart Phone and Tablet market in recent years.

What is their secret? It can't all be about one man, can it? Or is Apple the king at giving people what they want? I guess we could debate this forever. Either way, it works.

Back to the release date of the upcoming iPhone 5. The best guess so far is early to mid October. I have seen some reports claiming an international release of 5th October. Your guess is as good as mine. There are also rumours of a low specced cheaper (than iPhone5) iPhone 4S. This is possible due to the fact that Apple released the specced up 3GS some 12 months after the 3G version.  

Interestingly, maybe some of the Apple sting is fading as Google powered Android devices are now outselling the iPhone world wide.

Time will tell.