Just today I’ve seen a commercial for “Google ‘ippatsu kensaku'” on Fujitsu cell phones about three times. Basically it’s the kind of search that automatically takes users to the top rated result for whatever they searched. The latest phone (the F906i) also features Google x Yoko-motion. Here’s a picture.
Currently, most people in Japan have some kind of “packet” plan on their cell phones which means an “all you can eat” type of plan. If they had a pay by the minute plan, this wouldn’t work because obviously you’re often going to get results you weren’t necessarily looking for and you’ll have to do another search.
Another significant thing about this is that Google is slowly and steadily entering the market and establishing its brand in Japan. Right now Yahoo owns Japan. Regardless of the numbers yolu hear in the US, I know very few people with gmail addresses, the Yahoo! Japan auction site is the largest in Japan. Yahoo search has been the standard for a long time. Now slowly and steadily Google is taking over the show, starting with mobile search. Once people get used to Google services on their cell phone, then they’ll start using them more on computers as well.
My personal opinion is that Google can pick up the pace if it wanted to, especially on services that cross over between personal computers and cell phones.
One more Fujitsu phone I actually didn’t know about but am happy to see on the market is the Fujitsu Foma F1100 which is fitted out with Windows Mobile. I don’t know if it’s the first, but it’s definitely one of the first I’ve seen here.
That is where Japanese cell phones lag behind cell phones in the United States… programming and function.