The iPhone 3G goes live tomorrow and, while the flagship Apple Store in New York is currently playing host to media-seeking agricultural awareness groups and bizarre individuals looking to set a Guinness World Record for the longest time in a pre-launch queue, Japanese consumers are choosing to camp outside retail stores in order to secure a unit of Apple’s revamped smartphone. Crazy.
Apple\'s new iPhone 3G officially launches tomorrow. Expectation is high. Image: JeffWilcox/Flickr.
Specifically, holding their focus to what actually matters (i.e. being cold and miserable in the hopes of eventually cutting a sexy figure as an Apple-branded trendsetter), it would appear that not even the weather, work, or school can keep Japanese Apple fans from manifesting their iPhone hopes via a static human chain of mounting expectation.
The Reuters news agency reports that Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student from Nagoya, has skipped class to head the throng presently gathering outside Softbank Corp’s flagship store in Omotesando, which is a 250 kilometre journey from Sano’s school. And, what’s more, Sano’s professor -- who’s also a huge Apple fan -- actually approved the gadget-buying excursion.
Since setting up camp outside the store early on Tuesday morning, Sano has since been joined by a gradually expanding crowd of iPhone 3G customers excited to finally get their hands on Apple’s iconic touch-screen wonder.
Tomorrow’s unveiling of the iPhone 3G by regional carrier Softbank will be the first time the handset has been made officially available within Japan.
According to Softbank spokesman Naoki Nakayama, its nationwide outlets will begin selling the new iPhone at noon on Friday, while its flagship store in Omotesando will open its doors at 7:00am and spend the entire weekend focused on nothing more than appeasing consumer demand for the speedy 3G device.
However, while Japanese demand is likely to be high for an already popular handset making its official entrance into one of the most influential and forward-looking markets in the world, it remains to be seen whether the iPhone will gain traction considering its lack of features otherwise considered as standard in Japan.
For example, although the iPhone now comes with high-speed 3G data speeds (its prior EDGE network status was not compatible with Japan), Apple’s second-generation effort does not come with regionally popular elements such as an onboard mobile terrestrial digital television service or the capacity to conduct e-money transactions.
And what of early critical reception for the iPhone 3G back in its home nation?
Respected Wall Street Journal technology writer and reviewer Walt Mossberg has been putting Apple’s latest offering through its paces ahead of its retail release and seems somewhat nonplussed about the overall improvements.
While noting that Internet data performance is now “between three and fives times” faster when using AT&T’s 3G network access, Mossberg concluded that:
“If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life. The same goes for those with existing iPhones who love the device but crave faster cellular data speeds.
“But if you already own an iPhone, and can usually use Wi-Fi for data, you probably should hold off and get the free software upgrade before deciding whether it’s worth getting the new hardware.”
And yet, despite the apparent wisdom of Mossberg’s respected evaluation, it’s difficult to visualise Hiroyuki Sano and the rest of those global pre-launch consumers packing up camp and heading back to school, home or work until the iPhone 3G is firmly within their grasp.
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