July 14 - 10:20am EDT   Japanese interest in the iPhone 3G surged to where more than one in seven Japanese phone customers has been considering an iPhone, according to a survey published today by iSHARE and conducted at the end of June. The researchers note that while a pre-announcement study showed just 8.9 percent of buyers considering an iPhone, that number has since climbed to 14.5 percent, a jump of about 63 percent in just a few weeks. Existing subscribers with official iPhone carrier SoftBank are disproportionately more likely to want the device, with exactly one in five (20 percent) likely to buy while just 10 percent of those with other providers mulling a switch of carriers to get ... [full story]

July 9 - 3:05am EDT   While the first iPhone 3G lineup began at Apple's flagship NYC store, people are already lining up in Japan at the Softbank flagship store in “Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue”, Omotesandou street where the iPhone will be "available extra-early in this particular store on July 11th, 7 am (July 10th, 6pm EST)," CrunchGear notes. "And the man you can see in the video, Hiroyuki Sano, will be the first person in Asia to lay his hands on the 3G iPhone (assuming stores in Hong Kong will open later in the day). I shot the video and the pictures just now, in the middle of the night (July 8th, 2pm EST). This means Hiroyuki and the 15 people waiting with him must suffer for another 52 hours ... [full story]

July 8 - 10:05am EDT   Japan's Softbank has announced launch-day plans for the country's first iPhone, according to IDG News. The carrier says that it will be one of the first in the world to sell the iPhone 3G, opening the doors of its Harajuku store at 7AM Friday JST, a time equivalent to 10PM Thursday in GMT, or 2PM Thursday in PST. The only country to launch before Japan should be New Zealand, where the 3G is being carried by Vodafone. [full story]

July 7 - 10:30am EDT   In the face of reports suggesting ambivalence to the iPhone 3G in the Japanese market, Kakaku.com has released survey results indicating that these accounts may be significantly off the mark. The Japanese iPhone is currently set to be carried exclusively by Softbank on July 11th; in the Kakaku survey, early 8,000 people (90 percent male) were questioned in June through a price comparison portal for electronics. Extrapolating from the respondents' answers, Kakaku says that over 50 percent "will definitely purchase one," or at least intend to. Of this group, over 45 percent are not current Softbank subscribers. [full story]

June 23 - 9:20am EDT   Japanese carrier Softbank has announced its planned prices for the iPhone 3G, Reuters writes. Launching with the initial wave of 22 countries on July 11th, Softbank will sell the 8GB iPhone for 23,040 yen, or approximately $215; the 16GB iPhone should cost 34,560 yen ($322). It is expecting most subscribers to sign up for a 7,280 yen ($68) per month plan, which will guarantee unlimited data use and free calls to other Softbank users. [full story]

June 20 - 10:05am EDT   NTT DoCoMo is defending its inability to secure an iPhone deal, writes Japan's Impress Watch. Speaking at a shareholder meeting, DoCoMo CEO Masao Nakamura has stated that while the iPhone is attractive and has an appealing fanbase, many of its features are already present on the likes of LG's Prada touchscreen phone, or the Sharp SH906i. The first iPhone was also unusually heavy, says Nakamura, although he appreciates that the 3G model weighs only 4.7 ounces. [full story]

June 18 - 12:20pm EDT   Despite the relative success of the iPod in Japan, the iPhone 3G isn't likely to get an immediate footing in the country, according to a new iSHARE study. Of the Japanese adults polled, 91 percent say they have no plans to buy the device when it becomes available on July 11th. Of the remaining nine percent, nearly all (8.9 percent of the total) said they planned to purchase the device. Slightly under half of these are users already signed up for SoftBank, the carrier picked for the initial Japanese launch. [full story]

June 4 - 7:10am EDT   SoftBank today said it has an agreement carry the iPhone, making it the first provider in Japan to offer the device. The company follows in step with past carrier announcements and doesn't reveal launch information, saying only that the Apple phone will be available "later this year." SoftBank's announcement confirms the imminent announcement of a 3G-capable iPhone, as all Japanese networks use 3G technology (WCDMA and faster) exclusively for calling as well as data. [full story]

February 27 - 12:30pm EST   Japanese carrier Softbank is preparing an unusual addition to its lineup. Toshiba is developing an exclusive phone for the carrier called the 815T PB, meant to help promote a TV drama called Ketai Sousakan 7, directed by Takashi Miike. Owners can attach a set of flexible robot limbs to the phone, enabling various poses; for full effect, the phone also comes installed with an AI personality called "Buddy Talk," which makes various expressions and responds to voice conversation, gradually improving its answers. [full story]

February 25 - 2:40pm EST   Planning to disrupt what it believes is a static phone industry, startup carrier EMobile today announced its first service plans for its home country of Japan. Instead of requiring a monthly fee or having customers buy prepaid blocks of time, the new service will operate largely on a metered system. Customers pay roughly 17 cents for every 30 seconds of call time; they can also buy unlimited local calls for slightly more than $9 per month if they are regular users, EMobile adds. In exchange, the carrier asks customers to use 3G Internet access over HSPA up to 7.2Mbps for between $19 and $55 per month depending on the level of access. [full story]

February 8 - 11:00am EST   Yahoo will make its ultimate decision as to whether or not it will accept a takeover by Microsoft today, sources have reportedly told TechCrunch. With potential suitors including Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank having so far declined to offer a deal of their own, Yahoo is now believed to be on the verge of a board meeting which will either accept the Microsoft deal with little negotiating room or else turn to Google for a deal that might bring the latter's advertising and even search functions to Yahoo's pages. [full story]

January 29 - 12:25pm EST   Japanese carriers KDDI and Softbank are adding a unique Hitachi phone to their lineups, according to multiple reports. The W61H uses a regular, 2.7-inch LCD on the inside of its clamshell design, but this is mirrored by a similarly-sized e-ink display on the back, where most phones would place an OLED screen. This screen is not intended to be practical, however, but instead display one of 95 decorative patterns, matched to the available black, silver or cyan colors. [full story]

December 18 - 9:20am EST   Apple is already in negotiations to release the iPhone in Japan, reports indicate. Sources say that Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently met with Masao Nakamura, the president of Japan's largest wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo. Jobs has also supposedly met with people from Japan's third-largest carrier, Softbank, and executives from both carriers are said to have flown multiple times to Apple's Cupertino headquarters. Notably excluded from reports is Japan's second-rated carrier, KDDI. [full story]

December 5 - 1:35pm EST   Japanese carrier Softbank has begun carrying two new 3G phones by Sharp, the 820SH and 821SH. Both are extremely flat, stainless-steel clamshells, and come in an unusual assortment of colors: the 820 can be had in blue, black, red, white, gold and green, while the 821 has deeper hues of red, green, purple, silver, cyan and brown. The phones also have Bluetooth, GPS and two-megapixel cameras, but the primary attraction is 1Seg TV recording, saved to microSD cards up to 2GB in size. [full story]