As the iPhone went to Softbank (owned by Yahoo Japan), I was wondering if the Google Android phone would ever come to Japan.
Well, the Google Android Phone Japan Version is here, and it went to Docomo.
Other Docomo phones have gradually been increasing its compatibility with Google products such as YouTube and Google Maps here in Japan, and has always been cooperative with Google. (obvious if you consider that their competition in the mobile industry is Softbank, you certainly wouldn’t want to send any love toward Yahoo).
The good news for anyone who is a fan of Google or just a fan of healthy competition breeding innovation, then the good news is how much Google is using ads for the Android phone to introduce users to Google’s various services and alternatives to Yahoo.
Let’s see if the iPhone steps up. Maybe we’ll see some improved features in Japanese, and a little more on the GTD side of things instead of the flash things.
Maybe we have a future in Japan when finally all this mobile technology will pay off. We’ll have board meetings full of people with their iPhones and Androids and whatever AU KDDI comes up with to meet the demand. They’ll by synchronizing calendars and doing on the spot search, sharing files, projecting graphs and presentations from their phones.
Maybe kids in schools will be able to put this mobile technology to use, these phones they stick their noses in every waking moment outside of class will become learning tools. The instant access to information will convince schools of the importance of analytical skills over rote memorization of facts. More emphasis on the big picture, on analogy, on synthesis.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but if people can dream of world peace, then can’t a guy dream of world access to knowledge, and motivation to learn… can’t a guy dream of evolution?
Anyway, here’s an ad for the android from Google Japan’s YouTube channel. It’s interesting to take a look at this short video and what Google chooses to showcase.
- First search
- then business news and stock reports
- then Google maps, showing route searches and STREETVIEW!
- next, Gmail and its functionality
- followed by YouTube (possibly Google’s most popular feature in Japan), also emphasizing the ease with which one can upload videos as well
The commercial I saw today (during the Gokusen Reunion show) went by fast, but I’ll try to get it or find it on YouTube soon.