A different perspective...

joerules

Hey,

Well today I just bought my new mobile - the A5503SA. http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/kinobetsu/seihin/a5503sa/index.html

As you can guess from the cryptic name it's not available in Ireland. In fact, it's a nice little Japanese phone. So I thought I'd let you all see what the situation is like in other countries:

Pros:
- It looks great. Mine's metallic blue in colour.
- I like the icon-based Interface.
- Satellite navigation rules. When I'm out I can select an option on one of the menu screens called "Return Home". The phone gets it's location (from both GPS satellites and the network) and then gives me voice directions, as well as a visual map, to my home. Accuracy is really great, even indoors.
- It has a radio built-in. "Well, my nokia.... has that too". The A5503SA (crap name I know) links to the network and displays the radio station's name aswell as the song title etc.. on the screen. It's a brilliant idea IMHO.
- It does all the usual things like picture messaging and video-messaging.
- MP3 ringtones sound really great.

Cons
- Well, since it was an upgrade it cost me about 300 quid. Normal price is about 130 though (boo hoo).
- The network(s) here really know how to make money. There is no talk about WAP, even though that's the underlying technology. Instead, they talk about sites which you subscribe to. These usually cost around 1 to 2 quid a month. You can then download games, ring tones etc.. Ringtones and games are cheap though. From a couple of cent to maybe 2 quid (for the mp3 ringtones). However, all these subscriptions add up. As do packet fees (a little over 0.5c per KB in my case). Eg: mp3 ringtones are about 120kb in size.
- Tying in with the above - satellite navigation costs about 2 quid a month. Radio info costs about 1.50.
- To use data (ie: email, etc...) you have to pay a service charge of about 2 quid a month. The phone is pretty useless if you don't pay this. Only calls work, nothing else.
- You don't send txt messages but emails from your phone (max limit - 10,000 characters per email). However, you get charged packet fees to receive as well as send. These add up too.
- Basic service charge per month is over 30 quid with less than 10 quid of that free call value. That's the cheapest option.
- As you can see, it's quite expensive to have a phone here. No wonder Japan (probably along with S.Korea) have the largest ARPU levels in the world.

Overall though, I love my phone. When I was home at Christmas people were really jealous of my old phone. Unfortunately, it didn't work in Ireland (no CDMA provider) so I couldn't show them most of the features. Sometimes though, I wish I was back with O2 coz I spent far less money with them than I currently spend :-(

Joe

flywheel

thanks for the post - hope you are enjoying your time there - what an amazing country it is

if i was over i'd be saving up for one of the FOMA 900i handsets due in the next few weeks - it never ceases to amaze me what they can squeeze into a mobile!

enjoy your new keitai denwa - hope you don't have too many things dangling from it

BrianG

BrianD

mmmm...linking to a network so you can see "what's playing now" is bit of a costly experience. Not only does the radio station have to have software in place to send the information but you also have to make a data call to retrieve the info. Effectively it's like paying to listen to the radio...no thanks...not on Irish rates anyway!

TCP/IP

Is there anywere to buy these Sim free this is what I am looking for

flywheel

Originally posted by BrianD
mmmm...linking to a network so you can see "what's playing now" is bit of a costly experience.

Japan's network and handsets can handle this kind of infrastructure, and cost it appropriately.

Could see it here some day when we catch up, it's a concept being chased at the moment: Nokia's new media device opens up prospect of interactive visual radio

BrianG

joerules

Hi,

Well the phone is going great. The GPS thing is working out really useful. After a near brush with death, I recorded my position in the moutains and took a photo. When I talk about the incident to people I can show them the picture and a map of where I was in the mountain. If it wasn't so easy to get home, I could have used the "return home" function to give me directions home.

As for the whole cost of using the radio thing, that is entirely up to you. For example, with the radio, you can listen to the radio without connecting to the network. To get channel information you have to press a button. So, you only pay if you want to (it is free by default). Also, for games and apps that need network access, they ask you if you want to connect to the network or not. To pay for content (eg: subscriptions), you get a warning of how much it will cost and you have to enter a PIN. So, there is cost-control built-in.

As for the new FOMA phones, they are really nice. Unlike Au, I'd say that all the phones will be bilingual. I think they will be competitvily priced aswell. Amazingly, I have FOMA coverage where I am but DoCoMO aren't so good at updating their coverage situation for areas outside Kanto (Tokyo and all...). I find that bizare, especially if they want people to move over from their overburdened mova (2.? G) service.

So I'm a happy camper here (well till my next phone bill that is!).
Joe

btw: People keep giving me those dangling things for the phone. I hate them and never use 'em.