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+--- Thread: Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) (/thread-1672.html)
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - mentat_kgs - 2008-07-25
What about study apps like SRS. I see I'm buying a palm or a windows mobile device soon enough.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Jarvik7 - 2008-07-25
Serge Wrote:To stop spam.dilandau23 Wrote:some Japanese users apparently block email sent from computers and not mobiles. .Why?
The iPhone is so unbelievably out of place in the Japanese marketplace. I'm disappointed with Apple
It seems like all they did to accommodate Japan was add the IME.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - ew8049 - 2008-07-25
iphone anki update: http://inzania.com/2008/07/anki-for-iphone-cross-platform-syncd.html
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - raseru - 2008-08-14
Does anyone know for a fact if it will work in America and Japan? Somebody told me that a clerk in America told them it wouldnt work in Japan, but they might not know the second version was released in Japan as well. I know some phones support both regions so Id expect this one to do as well.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Serge - 2008-08-15
I actually got an iPhone in Tokyo about 2 weeks ago and am loving it. But then again, I have never owned a proper Japanese phone before so I can only compare it against my first-generation UK iPhone.
By the way, some smileys are available, you have to type かおも or えもじ to get a list of them.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - raseru - 2008-08-17
Did you get a 2 year contract or something?
Also if this phone wont work in America, does anyone know any other Japanese phones that will? I heard about some but no idea what type they were
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Jarvik7 - 2008-08-17
raseru Wrote:Did you get a 2 year contract or something?None will work out of the box. Some models will work with non-Japanese cell network infrastructure (I believe all of Docomo's do), but you need to get one that has enough demand outside of Japan to have sim lock hacks for it. The 3G iphone/2.0 firmware can be jailbroken, but it can't be unlocked from the provider due to updated radio firmware afaik.
Also if this phone wont work in America, does anyone know any other Japanese phones that will? I heard about some but no idea what type they were
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Serge - 2008-08-18
raseru Wrote:Did you get a 2 year contract or something?Yup. That's how they sell'em.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - wahnfrieden - 2008-08-20
Anyone know how the Japanese input is on the latest iPhone firmware, for U.S. iPhones?
I'm thinking of getting an old iPhone (not 3G, to save money on data) and using it to study Japanese, but in America.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - rich_f - 2008-08-20
It's of 2 main flavors-- regular keyboard input, and a modified keitai-style input. It's fine for what it does... even if it lacks a lot of the cooler stuff you'd get from a real Japanese keitai.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - annabel398 - 2008-08-20
I have a 1st gen iPhone, and when the 2.0 software was released, I jumped on the "international keyboards" option (screenshots below).
Japanese entry is a kana keypad (arranged like a 10-key phone pad: a is 1, ka is 2, sa 3, and so on, with wa, wo, n, and [dash] at 0). Touching ka (2) will pop up a four-way choice: ka in the middle, ki to the west, ku to the north, ke to the east, and ko to the south. Typing wa-ta-shi will pop up a bar with the kanji and several other choices. After converting kana to kanji, often some suggested particles will pop up. It's about like the Windows IME in responsiveness, I guess.
However, if you also install the Chinese (traditional) keyboard, you can write kanji with your fingertip. This is fun, works with about 99% of the kanji I've tried so far, and also really reinforces stroke order. With left-right kanji, you can also draw the left half, accept its guess, then draw the right half, and usually it will pop up a choice that shows them combined. This is useful for very complicated kanji, since a fingertip is not a super precise writing tool...
I've bookmarked a couple of J-E/E-J online dictionaries and when I have a spare moment, I entertain myself with trying to recall and write random kanji and then looking them up.
I really can't speak to the suitability of the iPhone to the Japanese market, but here in Austin, it's my portable study toy. :-)
![[Image: iPhoneKana.jpg]](https://webspace.utexas.edu/strongkl/www/img/nihongo/iPhoneKana.jpg)
Japanese keyboard![[Image: iPhoneKanji.jpg]](https://webspace.utexas.edu/strongkl/www/img/nihongo/iPhoneKanji.jpg)
Chinese (traditional) keyboard (Notice that it has corrected my slightly misdrawn kanji)
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - dilandau23 - 2008-08-20
Japanese input is still painfully slow. The issue has yet to be addressed after two firmware updates.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - annabel398 - 2008-08-20
Hmm, dilandau23, could you elaborate? Are you saying that the responsiveness of the phone is sub-par, or that the method of entry is too cumbersome? I ask because, to me, the response speed seems very good. Characters pop up instantaneously as I touch. (Never having used a Japanese keitai, I have no benchmark for comparing the entry method...)
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - dilandau23 - 2008-08-20
I have to run out the door but for a quick reply just look at my posts on the first page and in the other thread with iphone in the title. I will try to get a video up later today (assuming I can get access to a video camera).
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - kerosan41 - 2008-08-20
annabel398 Wrote:I have a 1st gen iPhone, and when the 2.0 software was released, I jumped on the "international keyboards" option (screenshots below).Hmm thats odd. I'm living in Japan and also have an iPhone. I have that keitai style input method as well, but the default japanese input is just the regular romanji keyboard. Just like on a PC you type out ka for か and it automatically changes it to kana for me.
Japanese entry is a kana keypad (arranged like a 10-key phone pad: a is 1, ka is 2, sa 3, and so on, with wa, wo, n, and [dash] at 0). Touching ka (2) will pop up a four-way choice: ka in the middle, ki to the west, ku to the north, ke to the east, and ko to the south. Typing wa-ta-shi will pop up a bar with the kanji and several other choices. After converting kana to kanji, often some suggested particles will pop up. It's about like the Windows IME in responsiveness, I guess.
However, if you also install the Chinese (traditional) keyboard, you can write kanji with your fingertip. This is fun, works with about 99% of the kanji I've tried so far, and also really reinforces stroke order. With left-right kanji, you can also draw the left half, accept its guess, then draw the right half, and usually it will pop up a choice that shows them combined. This is useful for very complicated kanji, since a fingertip is not a super precise writing tool...
I've bookmarked a couple of J-E/E-J online dictionaries and when I have a spare moment, I entertain myself with trying to recall and write random kanji and then looking them up.
I really can't speak to the suitability of the iPhone to the Japanese market, but here in Austin, it's my portable study toy. :-)
https://webspace.utexas.edu/strongkl/www/img/nihongo/iPhoneKana.jpg Japanese keyboard
https://webspace.utexas.edu/strongkl/www/img/nihongo/iPhoneKanji.jpg Chinese (traditional) keyboard (Notice that it has corrected my slightly misdrawn kanji)
I find the ketai style input to be too slow.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - annabel398 - 2008-08-20
Ack, yes, kerosan--my bad. I should have said that there are actually two options for Japanese input and taken pictures of them both. "QWERTY" will let you type romaji and convert to kana/kanji; "Kana" is the keyboard in the first screenshot above. I activated only the kana one on my phone, even though I agree that I could go faster on a QWERTY keyboard, because I'm trying to increase my proficiency (reading speed as well as typing speed) in hiragana. That's probably doing it the hard way, but oh well, it's not like I'm writing reports in Japanese every day on my phone! When I get to that point, I may reconsider my keyboard choice. I do notice that I've gotten considerably faster on the keitai entry just in the week or two I've been using it.
(Keep in mind that I'm definitely a beginner... if you're more proficient than I, YMMV.)
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - wahnfrieden - 2008-08-21
Just as a side note, desktop PCs in Japan use QWERTY for Japanese input. There is a kana input option on the keyboards, but nobody uses it.
I think I'll get an iPhone after seeing that you can draw kanji too.
One issue I read is that you have to select which conversion you want for EVERY word you type right after you type it, rather than being able to type out a whole sentence and then choose kanji conversions for the entire thing, like you do on a desktop. That's annoying.
Do those input methods work in the mail application too?
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - annabel398 - 2008-08-21
Yes, as far as I can tell they work anywhere you can input text (email, contacts, notepad, etc.)
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Jarvik7 - 2008-08-21
Becoming proficient at iPhone kana input is a useless skill since only iPhone uses that daft system.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Sevenhelmets - 2008-08-23
raseru Wrote:To the person who said damien MIGHT make the anki version, Im pretty sure now hes said a few times hes been working on the version as we speak on his forums.He's making a version that will work with jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches, but not one that could be downloaded straight off itunes Appstore onto a "non jailbroken" one. Mores the pity really, seeing as he'd probably be able to make a tidy penny out of it to compensate him for all the time he spent on Anki in the first place, and I'd definitely shell out a reasonable amount to buy the app.
And no, I'm not going to jailbrake my iPhone.
Here's the thread
http://groups.google.com/group/ankisrs/browse_thread/thread/39a42343197e0123#
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - wahnfrieden - 2008-08-24
How is the Anki web interface on the iphone then?
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - rich_f - 2008-08-24
It's fine. I use it in the basic keitai mode, and the buttons are plenty big enough. It's a little slow on 2G, but it's fine on 3G and WiFi. As long as you have a signal, I don't see the need for a separate Anki app.
And the reason he isn't going to write one for the iTunes store is twofold--
1.) Anki is written in Python, and he'd have to recode the whole thing in Apple's version of C for the iPhone. (Python interpreters aren't allowed.)
2.) The iTunes store agreement violates the GPL, which Anki is published under.
A version for jailbroken iPhones/touches isn't as hard, because all you have to do is plop in a python interpreter, and tweak the code/UI. But even then, it's a lot of work just keeping the current versions up to date. I don't blame him for not wanting to rewrite the whole thing in C, either.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - Jarvik7 - 2008-08-24
rich_f Wrote:2.) The iTunes store agreement violates the GPL, which Anki is published under.Is that really an issue? resolve owns the code so he could just release the iPhone version under a different license (unless he uses other GPL code he doesn't own).
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - rich_f - 2008-08-24
That's the sticky bit. He doesn't own the code that auto-converts kanji to kana. There may be other code in there that's GPL'd. I remember hearing someone on the Anki board mention that it would violate the GPL, but I can't remember if it was resolve or not.
Buying iphone in Japan? (for studying) - raseru - 2008-08-27
So I bought a Iphone with a 1 year contract with Softbank. Apparently using the internet will cost me a little over 1000 yen a month, but if I use it more the price will jump to 5000 yen, I asked the guy how much kbps I can stay at to be safe and he didn't even know himself and didn't have the information... Does anyone happen to know that information? even if it's not exact like 1GB~ is good enough. A little ridiculous that the clerks don't even know this stuff though..