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Interchangable Japanese cell phones? 2007/8/21 09:33
Hopefully someone can help me out in case if this question has been answered or not! ^^

I'm planning teach in Japan for a year, and thinking of signing up a contract with a cellphone company for that time period.

The question, is there's any type of cellphones that's unlocked so that when the contract ends, I'll be able to use the SIM card I have in the US so I'll be able to keep the phone but use my US service? It would be such a waste that I couldn't use such an advanced phone!
by HN  

... 2007/8/22 13:48
look into companies that are analogous to those in America. Like Samsung... maybe LG... Sony Ericsson.. it could be possible.
by Miko rate this post as useful

Search ebay/web for phones... 2007/8/30 16:15
1) You can bring in an import (eg. Any Nokia/Sony/Samsung from Europe with 3G 2100Mhz WCDMA/UDMA support) and it'll work in Japan on any SIM. (eg. you can bring in a Nokia 6233 from Europe, rent a Vodafone JP SIM card, and it'll work fine.)
However, while WAP/MMS/SMS will work, they typically don't have Japanese font support! (So browsing Japanese WAP pages = gibberish! browsing USA wap pages is still fine.)

2) Otherwise, buying a Japanese fone, search ebay.com and the web for unlocked Japanese models.
eg. "at the moment units from japan that is available here and not "chismiss" solution for unlock is currently working 100% is straight sharp models 703SHF,903SH 3.2megapixel, 902SH,802SH, 801sh 703SH . "
eg. latest Samsung 706/709/etc. models on Softbank can be unlocked.

Keep in mind that unlocking may be simply it'll take phone calls and SMS only outside Japan (partial unlock - many Samsungs are only partial unlocks), or a full unlock (eg. you can reprogram the MMS/WAP settings to work with the USA provider - this allows for full functionality).

Also, some providers can sell you phones that are unlocked that'll work abroad - ask to see which models they've got - usually for Japanese roaming abroad wanting to make sure they've got foreign SIM support.

3) Windows PDA phones such as the X01HT can be unlocked if it's the right version:
eg. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1068245
http://pof.eslack.org/hermes-unlocker/

But it's pretty technical and may not work depending on the phone's release version.

by A rate this post as useful

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