The original iPhone, launched by Apple Inc in 2007, raised the bar for global cell phone manufacturers and service providers, who were essentially producing and selling mobile telephones that offered a few other basic communication options and some primitive functionality. iPhone and the efforts of Google with their Android mobile software have truly transformed the cell phone into the portable computer the marketing men had long touted it as being and consumers are better off. In Japan, however, customers have long enjoyed the benefits of advanced technologies and the phone companies and their handset manufacturing partners continue to outdo themselves as they progress in leaps and bounds from generation to generation of device.
