Softbank - the lucky Japanese mobile carrier that landed the iPhone gig over there - has announced a new peripheral designed to make up for one of the iPhone’s perceived shortcomings in the Japanese market.
In Japan, it seems, integrated TV tuners are de rigueur at the moment and the iPhone has taken a fair amount of stick for leaving out such a crucial feature.
To help boost the handset’s chances, Softbank are rolling out a portable TV tuner that can be used with the iPhone. Interestingly, the tuner is an entirely seprate unit that uses a local wifi network to communicate with the iPhone.
Users install a TV app which displays streamed video sent from the tuner which can be kept in a pocket or handbag so as not to impact the sleek lines of Apple’s design classic.
Japan has traditionally been the most advanced mobile market in the world, but right now it’s lagging behind the US, UK, Germany and France in terms of getting the iPhone. You can’t buy Apple’s handset in Japan yet, although that could soon change.
