note to self: if you live in 東京, however close to the border of 埼玉, you cannot go to the Saitama immigration center to renew your visa
system upgrade and server migr…
system upgrade and server migration started fri. 3pm, completed mon. 4:45am as the sun came up… I PREVAILED!! now 3h of sleep back to work
what’s worse than working on s…
what’s worse than working on saturday… working on sunday too! YAY! (@ Valeo Thermal Systems Japan) http://4sq.com/cnuK0E
what a lovely day to come to w…
what a lovely day to come to work on saturday… not! (@ Valeo Thermal Systems Japan) http://4sq.com/cnuK0E
[SELLING] Xacti DMX-CA9 RED ca…
[SELLING] Xacti DMX-CA9 RED camera — 720p waterproof video camera http://bit.ly/aeQjID — only ¥15.000
short film — shot and edited …
short film — shot and edited all on the new iPhone 4 http://youtu.be/6amrKRmI1bI
cutest dog EVER! http://pbh2.b…
cutest dog EVER! http://pbh2.blogspot.com/2009/09/depressed-pug.html
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
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.
in other news, if Softbank 3G …
in other news, if Softbank 3G network sucks at your home/office, you can now order a femtocell for free http://bit.ly/cncnPN
RT @sandbaggerone SIM Locked. …
RT @sandbaggerone SIM Locked. <– on iPad 3G sold in Apple Stores… NOT cool…
just tried krispy kreme doughn…
just tried krispy kreme doughnuts for the 1st time – NOT good… I wish there was a Mister Donuts in 西池袋, it is much more palatable
went to see the Manet exhibiti…
went to see the Manet exhibition (@ 三菱一号館美術館) http://4sq.com/8QHMnd