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Just seen that one. Gets annoying after about 1 minute!

I want this! I want this!  

Fashionably over a barrel at least.....  

Looks like that if you want a 3G ipad, you gotta go with Softbank then. It's not Sim lock free.

 

 

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan’s largest mobile-phone operator, said it abandoned plans to offer wireless service for Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer in the country after rival Softbank Corp. entered an exclusive deal.

 

DoCoMo spokesman Shinjiro Minami confirmed the decision by telephone today. The Tokyo-based carrier’s President Ryuji Yamada last month said the company is interested in selling iPad users a Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, a chip that allows them to connect to DoCoMo’s network.

 

Softbank, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in Japan, will sell the iPad in the country from May 28, the company said on May 8. The device can access only Softbank’s 3G wireless network, excluding larger rivals DoCoMo and KDDI Corp.

 

Shares of Softbank rose 4.5 percent to close at 2,163 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today, while DoCoMo declined 0.2 percent to 142,200 yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.6 percent.

 

 

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Apple appears to have reversed course in Japan on a key feature of its iPad 3G: It won't offer a version capable of being used with different cellular carriers there.

 

All Japanese models will be SIM-locked to Softbank Mobile, Apple's iPhone partner in Japan, Apple said late Monday. The company confirmed the presence of a SIM lock but couldn't immediately explain why it was enforcing the restriction in Japan.

 

The decision flies in the face of a pledge made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in January when the iPad was first announced.

 

"All the iPad 3G models are unlocked," he said of the international models.

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That's disapponting.

 

Originally Posted By: loaf of bread
I might have been tempted if it was Docomo.

Not on Softbank though.

 

Same here.

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Coverage is poor, thursday.

The worst of the three.

Docomo is by far the best.

That part of the equation is quite simple.

 

I really hope this = fail. I'm not hopping onto a Softbank contract.

 

Apple's growth in Japan will surely, surely, be stunted considerably by these decisions.

It would be interesting to know how and why this has happened.

 

 

Quote:
Apple's strategy for dominating the computing market starts by identifying what the customer wants, making sure the customer can't have it, and doubling the cost of the device. Then they go out and radiate mind-control fields, located in the magneto-gravitic spectrum, which they have secretly developed in their labs in East Timor and which cause otherwise normal and rational human beings to donate all of their money to the Buy Steve Jobs A New Adam's Apple fund in exchange for a Apple-logo'd plastic bag and whatever leftover PCBs and recycled LCD monitors they can cram into a laptop-sized enclosure. It's amazing how many people not only buy these things, but how many of them pretend to be happy with them so that their neighbors don't mock them.

 

lol

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What's with all these "open letters" that chairmen and top dudes are posting. Adobe's turn:

 

"The genius of the Internet is its almost infinite openness to innovation. New hardware. New software. New applications. New ideas. They all get their chance.

 

As the founders of Adobe, we believe open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners, and consumers. Freedom of choice on the web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves.

 

If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive — but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force.

 

We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

 

When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end — and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

 

That, certainly, was what we learned as we launched PostScript® and PDF, two early and powerful software solutions that work across platforms. We openly published the specifications for both, thus inviting both use and competition. In the early days, PostScript attracted 72 clone makers, but we held onto our market leadership by out-innovating the pack. More recently, we've done the same thing with Adobe® Flash® technology. We publish the specifications for Flash — meaning anyone can make their own Flash player. Yet, Adobe Flash technology remains the market leader because of the constant creativity and technical innovation of our employees.

 

We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.

 

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody — and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

 

Chuck Geschke, John Warnock

Cofounders

Chairmen, Adobe Board of Directors"

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you sure you don't want one of these?

 

c1main.goldipadfrontback.stuarthughes.jp

 

Quote:

Got an extra $190,000?

 

Then you could have an Apple product that you REALLY don't want to leave behind at a California beer hall.

 

Stuart Hughes, a British company that bills itself as a purveyor of "ultimate luxury," is offering a 22-carat gold iPad encrusted with more than 25 carats of flawless diamonds (including a diamond Apple logo).

 

The company has made 10 copies of their Gold iPad Supreme.

 

"This most luxurious iPad's appearance is outstanding even down to the precise polishing to reveal its most beautiful harmonious appearance," the company's website says in a curiously worded sales pitch.

 

The tablet computer costs 129,995 British pounds - roughly $190,000, depending on the exchange rate at the moment. No word on whether that price include personal hand delivery by Steve Jobs.

 

And, for the record, Stuart Hughes shelled out the extra $300 or so to get the top-of-the-line 3G, 64GB version. You know ... ultimate luxury and all.

 

 

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In Japan at least we are getting confirmation that all iPads sold in Japan will be SIM locked to only work on Softbank’s mobile network.

To make matters worse, more news is emerging showing even more draconian controls. Impress Watch goes on to explain that you will not be able to get an iPad compatible micro-SIM from Softbank if you do not purchase an iPad from them. You will not be able to use the Softbank network if you bring an imported iPad sold in another market. They explain this is due to the fact that imported models are not certified wireless devices.

No SIM Free iPads will be sold in Japan
3G models will not be sold without a contract
Even using micro-SIM from another network will not work on SIM locked iPads
You can not make a contract for an imported iPad

What I’d like to know is when did Softbank kidnap Steve Jobs’s dog? Apple is getting nothing from this deal. Softbank is not subsidizing the iPad, except to waive interest fees for people who want to pay for their iPad on a two year payment plan and who sign up to a two year unlimited data contract. iPad customers will not be able to get local pre-paid data SIMs when they travel, and people coming to Japan will also not be able to use their 3G iPads in Japan without paying insane roaming fees. Japanese customers are getting a hobbled product and are not getting anything in return.

To add insult to injury, Apple seems to be pretending that nothing is wrong here. As of the writing of this article, the iPad Pre-order page on Apple Japan’s website still indicates that the iPad wi-fi+3G in not SIM locked.


In conclusion. Gits.

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