Usability Emergency: Japan Needs Better Phones
Usability specialists take note: Japan is in dire need of an easy-to-use phone with features they are accustomed to (mobile TV, credit card payment, GPS). It’s an interesting problem, since cellphones are radically different between the US and Japan. Japan is on the cutting edge, and mobile phones in the US are relatively outdated before they’re even released.
Apple faces an incredible challenge of getting the world to adopt one phone. With iPhone 2.0 and third-party application support being released on Monday, June 9th, they may be able to win some points. Great applications can be written by local developers instead of through the eyes of Cupertino. This is going to cost Apple a lot less money, and may make the phone more popular in mature cellphone markets. It may also be the only solution to pushing a single phone worldwide.
(Picture from subkernel).
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