The Star: iPod, iPhone and soon iYonge St.

[AlvinofDiaspar]

He is actually quite friendly.

AoD

 

[egotrippin]

Well, phone wise for example in designs. In Korea I noticed they had slider phones since before 2003. But here I only noticed the slider phones in the past few years. Also, since 2 years ago or more, they've gone past just slider phones. They developed twist phones. I'm not sure if they have twist phones here yet. The Sony W61s and W62s was released early last year. I don't know if or when we will have similar types here.
http://www.multicellphone.com/sony-ericsson-w61s-and-w62s-for-japan/

As for the japanese cell phones being big. I didn't notice them big at all. They're pretty cute looking and so many designs. I think it's usually us envying Asian cell phones more than Asia envying our cell phones.

You know Japan got the Blackberry Bold AFTER we did? That is to say, Rogers released it before AT&T or NTT Docomo.

So, we got the Blackberry (Canadian) first, and Japan got the W61s and W62s (Japanese) first... Both these points are complete failures as proof for either country being ahead, seeing as it makes absolute sense that each country got its respective devices before the other. Though regardless, much of Asia is farther ahead than us in electronics technology. A far better example would be the fact that 3G networks were being implemented over six years earlier in Japan than Canada.

 

[wonderboy416]

So, we got the Blackberry (Canadian) first, and Japan got the W61s and W62s (Japanese) first... Both these points are complete failures as proof for either country being ahead, seeing as it makes absolute sense that each country got its respective devices before the other. Though regardless, much of Asia is farther ahead than us in electronics technology. A far better example would be the fact that 3G networks were being implemented over six years earlier in Japan than Canada.

Asia is a good 3-4 years ahead of North America in most respects (except for TV's and computer goods where things are pretty equal).
North America is still the best place to be a consumer by far though, electronics are by far the cheapest (quality electronics that is) in North America do to the immense retail buying power. I was amazed to see the high cost of LCD panels in South Korea and Taiwan despite both countries being world leaders in LCD design and production.

I don't know if the whole idea of staying ahead of the curve is how to win the war and make Toronto the electronics hot bed they so strongly desire it to be. Inferior quality products almost always win the war - VHS over Beta, Ipods over the zillions of other players with far better sound quality (Apple products still can't drive most high-end headphones to their potential), the NES over the Master System etc etc. Rarely does being bleeding edge pay-off, instead it comes down to who can make the most consumer friendly devices and that's where I think resources are best devoted to. Making existing technology more intuitive and accessible. Let someone else pour millions into the R&D of the technology. The Nintendo Wii is one of the world's hottest products, yet it's got 8 year old technology inside, Nintendo instead invested in the Wiimote functionality to make video games more intuitive and now they're one of the world's most successful companies despite the massive horsepower disadvantage to the Xbox360.

 

[AKS]

So, we got the Blackberry (Canadian) first, and Japan got the W61s and W62s (Japanese) first... Both these points are complete failures as proof for either country being ahead, seeing as it makes absolute sense that each country got its respective devices before the other. Though regardless, much of Asia is farther ahead than us in electronics technology. A far better example would be the fact that 3G networks were being implemented over six years earlier in Japan than Canada.

the sony cellphone model was just one of the example and not the only product I was talking about. But like wonderboy says, some electronics are expensive. I didn't say they're cheap. Especially ones that are imported. But I even notice local stuff like usb drives and such weren't cheap in Korea. I googled kakaku.com and did find some cheap ones (no specific famous brand). But when I was in Korea and HK back in 2006, I notice their thumbdrives designs were different than ours. I have the flip ones so you wouldn't lose the cap. I started noticing them here last year.

okay...sorry I'm wasting this post. I notice I'm harping the same thing as wonderboy --; yes it's not the technology, it's their intuitivity and design.

I'm waiting for those cool twist phone designs from Korea to come to North America. They look cool.