Sunday, April 1, 2012

日本携帯電話のレッスン一 (Japanese Mobile Phone Lesson 1)


日本携帯電話のレッスン一


Cell Phone Culture

Japan has long been a leader in mobile phone technology. This has led to a widespread adoption of the technology in Japan. As of 2008 31.3% of elementary school students and 57.6% of middle school students owned a cell phone. In Japan cell phones are called keitai denwa (携帯電話, literally portable telephone), but that word is often shortened to just keitai. Because of the widespread use of mobile phones, and the advanced technologies available, Japan has formed a subculture around cell phones.


Flip Phone

The most common type of keitai found in Japan is the flip phone or clam shell. While other types such as touch-based smart phones are becoming popular, the flip phone still reigns supreme. These phones are often decorated and will have a charm hanging from it, though this behavior is more common amongst young girls and women. Because respecting others is important to Japanese culture it is commonplace to not talk on a phone in public. Instead many will turn their phone to silent and text instead. Because of this heavy use of texting many phones in Japan have a higher character limit than those found elsewhere in the world.


1seg

One of the coolest technologies found in many Japanese mobile phones is a TV broadcasting system known as 1seg. Imagine being able to catch live news on your commute to work, or watch some TV on your phone while on break. With 1seg this is all possible and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The best part of 1seg is that there is no extra cost to the user. The TV broadcasts are being sent over the air to any 1seg enabled devices.


So if you find yourself lucky enough to be in Japan pick up a keitai and see for yourself just how nice they are. So until next time…

じゃね。

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