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Apple's iPhone: it's for real!

itwire.com.au — Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that Softbank president, Masayoshi Son and Apple CEO, Steve Jobs had met and reached a basic agreement on the partnership, and that they would release a 3G iPhone for the Japanese market sometime in 2006.

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  • shrewd, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31yeah, but without a pretty picture this news story lacks potency....
    • SouthernDigger, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27too many words... we want pictures!
    • leftfield, on 10/12/2007, -1/+45Just give it a few hours. I'm sure someone will photochop one up.
    • chad78, on 10/12/2007, -33/+2nevermind
    • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9lol. Obviously J4cks0n has never owned anything Apple.
    • tmarc, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2old news. reported
    • Dabellah, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I don't know if anyone else saw an article referencing this, but I read something about Steve Jobs and how he doesn't own a cell phone willingly simply because he hates them all. Said something about they are rediculous and a waist of time and nothing new that he shows interest in. He's really picky about his hardware, we all know this, but I think one of the reasons Jobs is deciding to take this approach is somewhat of his ideas that were really shown in the article quoting his very words and ideas on teh cellphone market. He's looking to change the way cellphones are as he hates the current ones. I find it quite funny =D
    • tmarc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3please learn how to spell so I can read your comment (Dabellah)
    • jsg7, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11000 words are worth a picture...
  • neocitron, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6picture or not... the information in the article seems reasonable...
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2That's what makes it a fake that's not detectable by idiots.
  • Geterix, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8No. But I'm sure someone will make a photoshop one to keep the rumor-jerk going for another 5 months.

    How's that "True Video Ipod" going?
    • dkocolin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4last i heard it's gonna have a touch screen, and make julianne fries
  • PacoDG, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4I fear battery loss quick. I use my mp3 player and phone an equal amount of time, most of the time, at the same time, and definately on the go. Still, a cool idea for some.
  • mackathy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5This is a little bit old news.
    According to Reuters, today Softbank commented that they cannot confirm this rumor.
    http://today.reuters.co.jp/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-05-15T111756Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_JAPAN-213306-1.xml

    Well there is still possibility that they want to keep it for a surprise...
    • joeyjojo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Just because it is popular, doesn't mean it is innovative. It just means it is popular."

      True. But the iPod was innovative. It became popular BECAUSE it was innovative.

  • nawitus, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5Whatever Apple makes people will call innovative. MP3 phones have been around for ages.
    • JoeWall, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9when apple released iPod, mp3 players were around for ages
    • pierre, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12but they all suck
    • mpancha, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3Very true. Despite MP3 players being around for ages, Apple's iPod gained popularity. Just because it is popular, doesn't mean it is innovative. It just means it is popular. Same will be true for an iPhone,chances are it will be popular b/c it is an Apple product, but that does not make it innovative by any means. Hopefully Apple will continue their ways and make a phone that is a phone, not multiple products in one. They have an MP3 player, no need for them to make a phone that also plays MP3s. If anything, it should be a PDA phone, if and when it officially comes out.

      Also, I fail to see why anyone would have given nawitus negative diggs, what did he say that was so rude? All he did was state his opinion in a civilized manner. Then again, this site is pretty much a fanboy site, not a news site like it is intended to be thanks to overzealous members of the forum.
  • dwurx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Japan only release....no way, I smell something, and it ain't pretty.

    Apple would not make a Japan only version..
    • JoeWall, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8apple has very strong followers in japan and japaneese love gadgets
    • weiran, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Lots of phones start out in the Japanese market, before spreading to Europe and finally America.
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7And Apple has a bunch of American fans who would kill themselves after burning Apple to the ground if they made a Japan-only release. No way in hell, this is a joke, and you fools got suckered.
    • thewebguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9phone market in japan is completely different from here.
    • NJank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3makes complete business sense to release Japan only first. US has piddly infrastructure for a 3G phone, compared to small, population dense Japan. Probably release a S.Korea version soon after. Plan US version after negotiations with Providers, with the weight of huge Apple fanatic demand and overseas success. Could work. Let the jerk continue...
    • drakethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There is no reason they couldn't release in both markets since its obviously not that difficult. Regardless of the business decision to go into Japan, leaving out your home market is not good for PR in Apple's case. There are a lot more Apple Loyalists in the US then in Japan and they have been craving an Apple phone for years wondering when they could get one. To tell them that they are out of luck because Apple decided to just make one for the Japanese would really aggravate some of the loyalists.
  • thekronz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2So what's the difference between the Apple iPhone and having Verizon or whatever synched with iTunes? Is it basically a phone where you don't have to pay for ringers and ***** and you just use your own songs from iTunes?
    • n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2This phone will be white with titanium accents and an apple on the backside, other than that it will probably be the same...
    • rocjoe71, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13The Apple iPhone will be designed by the Apple mouse team and it will only have one button. It will be so innovative no one will know what the heck is going on.
  • Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Why does Japan get these things first all the time.


    oh wait.. our greedy corporations dont want anyone riding their revenue streams so they came up with their own music services that are crappy and expensive.

    More proof that America has lost it's technological edge.
    • n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9We (America) had a technological edge?
    • MrUnderbridge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Why don't you think this thing through? Apple's the company that broke through the RIAA stonewall for selling online music that doesn't expire. And this isn't a music service, it's a phone service. And I doubt that Apple would be so cowed by the cell phone cartel in America (having just defeated the music cartel) that they would cede defeat in America.

      That loine of reasoning should have convinced you that this, like the last 100 iPhone rumors, is just so much *****.
    • thegreyfox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ n8r0n

      Yup America creates. The world makes it better. America had the technological edge for a nano second.
  • Klarth, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Will it be made of shiny white plastic? I only buy products made of shiny white plastic.
  • brokerjoker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0This is nonsense. Read Softbank's official comment on this:

    http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.softbank.co.jp%2Fnews%2Frelease%2F2006%2F060515_0001.html&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
    • erll, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Google translator says softbank says:

      "It is not something which the agency it decides the contents which are reported, as this corporation and announces."

      Now what exactly does that mean?
    • Salvo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6eril:
      "We cannot make an official comment until Apple's agents say we can"
      Can't you read Engrish? ;)
    • Echnin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"On the 13th of May, there were reports in the media of a connection between Apple and our company. However, this is speculation on the part of the media. The reported information was not announced as a decision by our company." My translation. A bit uncertain about the last bit: 機関決定?
  • lepton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I think you guys are focusing too much on the MP3/iTunes part and not enough on the phone user interface part. The UI has been a weak spot for almost all smart phones, IMO, and Apple will probably make a breakout phone UI.
  • emostar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Quick translation I did... "There was a news report released about Softbank and Apple, but it is only a conjecture made by other news agencies. Softbank does not have anything to announce."
  • emostar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Reported as inaccurate... maybe in the future, but not now.
  • catastrophee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Here's an article i found on appleinsider, one more for the "unsure" category.
    http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1741
  • drgnmstrnik, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4If you actually read the article you will see they are talking about a cellphone with "iPod functionality". This is NOT an apple iPhone but something which we already have: the Motorolla phone with iTunes built in. This is just another company getting in the mix. RTFA!
  • aweber2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I wonder if the come out with the iPhone what service will it be? I hope either Cingular or Verizon Wireless
  • iFelix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1SoftBank denies Apple iPhone partnership
    http://digg.com/apple/SoftBank_denies_Apple_iPhone_partnership
  • antoniojvr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16The phone exists! Here is a pic a friend of mine that works in Apple took: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/antoniojvr/Misc/iPhone.jpg
    • Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I thought it was going to be innovative ;)
  • antoniojvr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Stupid double post grrrr Hey Digg, how about a Delete Post button, eh?
  • apolloae, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/05/20060512153306.shtml

    Seems as though Softbank thinks differently.
  • dickyducky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2TOTALLY INACCURATE!!

    Softbank press release: http://www.softbank.co.jp/news/release/2006/060515_0001.html
    • craptacuIar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'm not saying that the original story was true or not, but this sounds a lot like the "nVidia? We have never heard of this so-called nVidia company you speak of." statement Sony made last year when the first leaks came out about PS3 graphics.

      Doesn't Steve Jobs retaliate against companies that leak information (like when Toshiba leaked new iPod drive info)? If I was SoftBank I'd be denying the heck out of anything too.
  • brandonking, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7OMG IT IS FROM APPLE SO I WILL BUY IT BUT I HOPE IT RUNS A FULL VERSION OF OSX BUT IF NOT I WILL BUY IT REGARDLESS BECAUSE I WILL BUY ANYTHING APPLE MAKES. IF M$ WOULD MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS I WOULD CALL IT CRAP, BUT THIS WILL HAVE THE BEST INTERFACE. NOTICE THAT I AM NOT CONTRADICTING MYSELF SAYING I WOULD BUY ONE OF TWO PRODUCTS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT JUST BECASUE O TH EBRAND NAME AND THEN CLAIM PC USERS ARE ZOMBIES. OMG I AM ORIGINAL! I BET IT WILL BE 4NM THICK, DUAL BOOT OSX AND LINUX AND WILL HAVE A 4 BILLION PETAHERTZ CORE QUADO PROCESSOR. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE UNDER $50. HEY I WOULD BUY IT FOR $75 IF I HAD TO. OH I NEED TO POST A LINK TO ANOTHER VAGUE ARTICLE TO GET THIS COMMENT DUGG. HERE HTTP://WWW.IBUYCRAPBECASUEOFTHENAMEANDTHINKITMAKESMESMART.COM

    Wow, this is my second outright nonsense flame post, and I have to say, I do understand why the fanboys love this *****. Oh wait... is that an article with 'rootkit' in the title? Awesome.
    • haooken, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Oh, the number of times I've wanted to do exactly what you just did. I Tip my Hat to you..*tips hat* I couldn't have done it better myself. Yes, the 'fanboy' does get intolerably thick in here sometimes. And its always fun to flame them and see what stupid things they say in response, hehe.

      In short, I approve.
    • casper_3, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2dude... brandonking has hissy fits over ***** thats on digg.com. SOMEONE needs a girlfriend!

      "OMG IT IS FROM APPLE SO I WILL BUY IT BUT I HOPE IT RUNS A FULL VERSION OF OSX BUT IF NOT I WILL BUY IT REGARDLESS BECAUSE I WILL BUY ANYTHING APPLE MAKES. IF M$ WOULD MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS I WOULD CALL IT CRAP..."

      REALLY really needs an iSlut or something.
    • brandonking, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2LOL I'm having fun with it. I only really go off on IDers. To quote Oingo Boingo (how often does THAT happen): "Better dumb and happy than smart and without any friends. Better cute and better loud, better join up with the crowd."

      Kinda like the chap at the end of Dr Strangelove. The end is near. Have fun with it!
  • eldenno, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3If they did make it and it looked as good as these I'd want one:-
    http://melablog.it/uploads/iphone_02.jpg
    http://www.applele.com/pict_05iphone_r02.html
  • LargePete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Who is this person who is reporting about a meeting between Jobs and the president of this company. I can believe a leak by someone who is a peon who catches wind of a new product, but for somebody who was supposedly in the room with Jobs and this other Exec then just posting it to the internets is absurd.
  • 90nine, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3useless without pics
    • collywolly, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1.... so you Apple fans can jerk off over them....?
  • HypoLuxa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I checked some japanese sites and basically it says that Masayoshi Son and Steve Jobs did in fact meet for an informal meeting on the subject but nothing was formally agreed upon.
    http://www.asahi.com/business/update/0513/013.html
    its all in japanese but its the best i can give you guys.

    Just to let everyone know a little back ground on the situation; a buy out was agreed upon by vodafone and softbank a few months ago. It was the biggest buy out in japanese history. there is quit a bit of pressure on softbank to pull a profit their first quarter. I think this would be a great way to capture the market here in japan.
    and as was previously stated, the japanese market is totally different than any other cell phone market in the world. my average phone bill for one month is over ¥10,000. i hope softbank can turn a profit and create some competition in the market so my cell phone bill will go down!
  • Philbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've already got a decent MP3 player in my phone, it'd work even better if I felt like spending a fortune on a memory stick. Why is this big news? Actually I feel like any MP3 player with less than say... 10GB of storage is a waste of money. I didn't get my phone because of that feature I discovered it after I bought it.
  • gailwin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3do i hear motorola slvr anyone??
  • andyeb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Heh - not any more, now the news is out ;-)
  • ocbeta, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1http://gallery.ipodlounge.com/ipod/albums/userpics/ipod~1.jpg

    There is an image.
  • bbqribs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's probably an iDen phone (NTT DoCoMo) that will have the iTunes software on it, just like Motorola has here in the states.
    Remember before the ROKR came out? People were slobbering on themselves and yelling 'ooOOhh it's the iPhone!!" and when it came out, bleah. It was just a Moto phone with iTunes.
  • isilex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1NOT TRUE: http://digg.com/apple/iPod_cell_phone_report_is_not_true_
  • collywolly, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Thank god for that!
    An iPhone is what I have been crying out for!
    Current phones are either so difficult to use or ugly (usually both), I am at my turle necks end!
    And if it has a scrollwheel.... oh! The joy.

    (Not to metion the fact that an iPhone containing a hard drive would be a waste of time after a year or so, - phones generally get bashed about in pockets a lot more than ipod nano's in their socks. Then I suppose with the battery problems, Apple users will be used to paying a high price for a semi disposable item).
  • heydigital, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Didn't they do this already? (cough)Rockr(cough)
    • collywolly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Nah, the Rokr was a Motorola phone, that had an crippled version iTunes on it with an Apple imposed limit of 100 songs. It was funny seeing all the Apple fanboys dissapointment with it, as they expected something with a scrollwheel.

      (I personally thought it was an Ok phone. Not seen any other phones with built in speakers as good as that - isn't that a bit more usefull than a scrollwheel on a music phone that has a capacity limit of 100 songs?)
  • ulysseshead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Who cares about the MP3 player. I just bought a Razor, really wanted it because, well, it looks cool. It's a piece of crap. Worst interface ever. It's like doing your taxes everytime you try to add a contact. I just hope for something stripped down with just the features I want. In Europe, as I understand, cell phone makers and carriers are different. So you have better competition for just the phones, rather than getting stuck with whatever your carrier offers. Wouldn't it be nice?
  • jcmorgan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Here's an artist's impression on Engadget!

    http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/12/apple-said-to-be-working-with-softbank-on-co-branded-handset/
    • abenton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2woah! that looks so modern and sleek, i cannot wait.
  • atmospac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0saying that the japanese cell phone market is different is an understatement. as a european the cell´s in america seem a bit retarded to me but in japan the phones are quite futuristic. like in the states the carriers also provide the phones but the functions these phones have are amazing. it would much more logical for apple to start off with iphone in japan, a market that is used to have .mac like functions on their phone
  • SDE06, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1inaccurate article, should read 'Apple invents boom-box for NTT DoCoMo's handsets' :)
  • Dryggy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Have anybody here used a "LG Chocolate KG800"? IPhone is just a bluff, it will not be as popular as its brother IPod. IPod is very unique but IPhone is a breed or a clone, father's name N91 Nokia and mother's name IMate K-Jam. Steve Job should have waited a little bit and work more on the IPod, maybe give it a little new look. Mr. Job should give those phones out for test. I need one and after two months, he will know the difference.
  • danilo123, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0iphone and accesories here http://iphone.myblogmart.com/
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