nice and scorching hot in Sait…
nice and scorching hot in Saitama today... lovely time to work in 熊谷 the hottest city in the whole of Japan http://yfrog.com/nbs9vfj
I booked an iPhone 4 for the w…
I booked an iPhone 4 for the wife this weekend, they told me there's a 1-2 months waiting list (T_T)
so sad to leave the hotel in a…
so sad to leave the hotel in a couple hours, everyone is so nice, Alila Villas Uluwatu is the best place to stay in Bali
this is the most awesome place…
this is the most awesome place i've ever stayed at! wedding this afternoon, getting a bit nervous... http://yfrog.com/bh1pnj
short film — shot and edited …
short film -- shot and edited all on the new iPhone 4 http://youtu.be/6amrKRmI1bI
seems i’m getting married :) (…
seems i'm getting married :) (if we didn't forget a paper) (@ 豊島区役所) http://4sq.com/c5S0Es
asked fiancee to buy iPhone4 o…
asked fiancee to buy iPhone4 on 25th so we become SoftBank family, gimme the new 4 and i give her my old 3GS -- she said "no way i keep it!"
they’re filming a drama in my …
they're filming a drama in my mansion's lobby with Abe-chan (阿部 寛) -- he really is tall, looks pretty cool in real life too
i’m now officially certified a…
i'm now officially certified as suitable for marriage by the French embassy
high-five anyone?
time to turn off twitter, i ca…
time to turn off twitter, i can't take the risk of seeing any #lostfinale spoilers until tonight
really impatient to see this G…
really impatient to see this Google I/O session about push-to-browser support on App Engine http://bit.ly/8XlEHN
iPad 3G and Pocket WiFi alternatives in Japan
So the pricing for the iPad in Japan are out. It seems even devices sold at the Apple Stores will be SIM-locked to Softbank, breaking many hopes of seeing DoCoMo come into the picture and shaking things up a little.
This has definitely not changed my thoughts on the device, it would very much piss me off to pay twice for 2 iPhone and iPad data plans.
This morning, my buddy @kuriburi who is more enthusiastic than I am, called me from the line at the Softbank shop to discuss the situation. Interestingly enough, people were fleeing in droves after receiving the pamphlet describing the full pricing... We entertained the thought that it might be more interesting to buy a WiFi version and get a Pocket WiFi device from data plan specialist eMobile.
@kuriburi left the Softbank line and we started gathering data from the web:
- Softbank's iPad device prices and data plan pages
- Softbank's Pocket WiFi page
- eMobile's Pocket WiFi page
And after crunching numbers here are the results, first for the iPad 64GB version:
And for the iPad 32GB version:
It still seems the Softbank's default option with integrated 3G is very aggressively priced compared to the competition. But if you can limit yourself to less than 300MB of 3G data per month, you can save up to ¥9.000 on the 32GB iPad over the 2 years contract period. Not much for sure, but some people might be interested...
Note: we have not taken into account the eMobile Super Light data plan because a 3MB/month data plan will not let you do anything but access email (and then without pictures) which does not count as a full usage of the device.
Note 2: here's a link to the spreadsheet, if you see anything wrong with the data please notify me in the comments.
