Upskirt iPhone

Maybe they were right about the iPhone not doing well in Japan...

The iPhone 3G in Japan has a special feature unique to that country: The camera always makes a conspicuous “shutter” sound when a picture is taken, even when the phone is set to “silent” mode.

The loud shutter sound is supposed to deter voyeurs from taking sneaky pictures up women’s’ skirts — or down their tops.

In Japan, upskirt and downblouse shots have become increasingly popular with the advent of high-resolution camera phones.

As a result, all cell phones sold in Japan make a conspicuous shutter sound, or say the word “cheese” when a snap is taken, according to Nobuyuki Hayashi, a tech reporter based in Tokyo. On almost all new cell phones, the camera shutter sound can not be muted, Hayashi says.

“Some manufacturers have even put louder shutter sound,” he reports.

The shutter on the first iPhone sold in Japan could be muted in silent mode; an anomaly that many wondered whether Apple would correct in the iPhone 3G, Hayashi says.

Apple did: The shutter sound cannot be turned off, even in silent mode, Hayashi says.

The real price of the iPhone in Japan really turns out to be 80,000 yen. They advertise something like 30,000 yen but you need to take out a two year contract and pay the rest of the 50,000 yen over the months. Not worth it for 16GB. I will wait until the 32GB comes out in a few months time ^^;

iPhone news: Cult of Mac via Mike Abundo's twitter feed.