14 DAY TRIAL // Japan's SoftBank, the only mobile carrier empowered by Apple to sell the new iPhone 3G in the "The Land of the Rising Sun," issued a report mentioning it would start selling the new device at 7:00 a.m. on Friday.
SoftBank, situated at the heart of the Harajuku district, will be opening its doors on Friday morning to customers eager to get their hands on Apple's new iPhone 3G. The device is a highly anticipated one in Japan, since the first generation iPhone worked on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile networks. This standard has never been used in Japan, therefore original iPhones don't work in this territory, according to Macworld. Luckily, 3G is now popular.
"I am delighted at this opportunity to partner with Apple," said Masayoshi Son, SBM chairman and CEO, at the time SoftBank and Apple were announcing they would bring iPhone 3G to Japan on July 11. "SBM's and Apple's [sic] shared vision of promoting the innovative integration of the Internet and mobile phone through the distribution of iPhone is exciting. iPhone has been enthusiastically received around the world, and we think it will be popular in Japan as well."
Tim Cook, COO at Apple, noted that "Japan is one of the world's most advanced mobile markets" and that they were "thrilled to partner with SoftBank to launch iPhone 3G there" the following month. "iPhone 3G is an amazing product and we think customers in Japan will love it as much as we do," Cook added.
According to a recent report, other SoftBank stores and major retailers will start offering the new phone at noon. The SoftBank outlet located in the Harajuku district is the first to open its doors this early, namely at 7:00 a.m.
Japanese iPhone 3G fans should be glad to know that Apple also has a little extra for them, particularly a handwriting recognition feature that will allow them to write text messages and e-mails more intuitively using the iPhone 3G's touchscreen.