With the release of the iPhone 3G, Apple will be in a completely new cell phone market in Japan. Apple recently posted a new iPhone 3G Guided Tour on the Japanese Apple website, undoubtedly to get the Japanese warmed up to the iPhone. While there are no new apparent features shown, Apple does show off the character recognition (which is really slick when you see it in action).
It is still neat to watch, even if you don't understand Japnese. You can view this video on the Japanese iPhone website.
[via MacRumors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-05-2008 @ 7:52PM
Brian said...
lmfao. I love how the guy says iPhone 3G. iPhone freegee!
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7-06-2008 @ 2:19PM
fil said...
you know the japanese people really like english/western words even though most of them won't understand half of the "imported words" used... if you look at apple's site for example, if it's not in kanji, it's in katakana!
this iphone guided tour guy says stuff like "aaifhohn suri jii" (iPhone 3G), "meiru" (mail), "sohfudo kiibohdoh" (soft keyboard) and not forgetting "taapu" (tap)...
and lastly... why didn't they record the audio with a bit more curtain/sound wave absorbing material??? sounds slightly low budget.
7-05-2008 @ 8:01PM
aphex said...
Here is a working link:
http://www.apple.com/jp/iphone/guidedtour/
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7-05-2008 @ 8:08PM
mcg said...
The Japanese keyboard entry system is wicked. There are two different ways to use the Japanese keyboard, or you can type roomaji on the English keyboard. In any case you get an automatic Kanji dictionary. Sweet. I wonder what Japanese folks will use the most.
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7-05-2008 @ 8:18PM
George said...
It's actually a little funny they actually mention SMS. In Japan, they don't really use SMS for short messaging. People send short messages to each other via email.
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7-06-2008 @ 6:38AM
Tony said...
It's not email, it's a mixture of SMS and MMS that gets sent using a special 'email' application.
The iphone in Japan even comes with a warning that SMS over 90 characters may not be received by the recipient!
7-05-2008 @ 8:46PM
Andrew said...
This is *kinda* off topic, but on the Japanese Apple home page, it says "minna ga mottei ta iPhone". Everybody has iPhone? Or am I translating it wrong?
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7-05-2008 @ 9:06PM
mente said...
Yeah, you're translating it wrong. It says 待っていた not 持っていた. The first kanji is indeed quite similar.
7-05-2008 @ 9:02PM
imunderpressure said...
I find it interesting that he's using the iTunes Music Store on the 3G network....Previously this could only be done on wi-fi, has this been a publicized change?
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7-06-2008 @ 3:04PM
Stace said...
Yes, this is one of the new publicized features. You can also use the App store over 3G.
7-05-2008 @ 9:05PM
autoy said...
Spanish version also published:
http://www.apple.com/es/iphone/guidedtour/
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7-06-2008 @ 1:57AM
Jacques Lema said...
Oh my god, they are creating younger clones of Jobs for every language. It looks like they are going to divide the empire into smaller territories when the time comes.
7-06-2008 @ 9:57AM
Josh said...
The spanish version sucks big time. The guy is not even an actor. He speaks weird and uses posh spanish, and pronounces 3G, WiFi, IPSec in English, while those terms are normally pronounced in plain spanish (tres-jé instead of three-g, wee-fee instead of why-fy and the like).
A couple of friends and I all agree - it's a pathetic adaptation. And if you check at the iPhone screen, you actually see static; like the took the american version, re-sampled it and put the spanish guy's hand on top. So they went digital-analogue-add hand-digital, with the quality loss it introduces. Not very Apple-ish if you ask me.
7-05-2008 @ 11:54PM
jake Moore said...
I think it's fun to listen for english words and chuckle at the way they're pronounced.
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7-06-2008 @ 12:06AM
niclet said...
A great first: iPhone guided tour for french Quebecers, and you know what? Our John Appleseed is called "Patrick Tremblay".
http://www.apple.com/ca/fr/iphone/guidedtour/
This is a top shot for Apple Canada. Merci !
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7-06-2008 @ 2:27PM
fil said...
haha, this guy is quite good. he's french is perfect until you hear "iPhone 3G" which totally sounds "american" -- I wasn't expecting that - something more french -- like how he pronounces "microsoft". oh well... I dunno how french-speaking canadians speak english...
7-06-2008 @ 10:37AM
Zeromaru said...
Well this is sufficiently hilarious...
After watching the video, partway through I began to notice a certain odd familiarity... with the English guided tour video (http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/). After comparing the two videos side by side, I realized what it was.
The man in the Japanese video is not what he seems to be. It's just a Japanese man's head plastered over the American guy's body, with more editing to clean the American guy's ridiculously hairy arms. I confirmed that the arms are one and the same by noticing the unique bone structure on the wrists.
Which brings up a very good question... Why? Why would they do such editing? Why not just record the Japanese man doing it? Was his hand motions not fruitful enough?
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7-06-2008 @ 11:23AM
Serge said...
I hope your're joking. Or maybe, you need a better pair of glasses. John Appleseed opens his arms widely when he speaks, while the japanese guy frequently close his left hand. There is no comparison.
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7-06-2008 @ 11:48AM
Serge said...
I hope your're joking. Or maybe, you need a better pair of glasses. John Appleseed opens his arms widely when he speaks, while the japanese guy frequently close his left hand. There is no comparison.
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7-06-2008 @ 11:55AM
Serge said...
#12
None of those guys are actors. Our guy, here in Québec, is a "Creative" and he works at the Apple Store Carrefour Laval.
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