The iPhone (if that is what is going to be called on its release date) has taken over all headlines…but the Japanese don’t seem to share our excitement…

From behind his busy counter, Kurita giggles when asked about the excitement in America over the arrival of Apple’s iPhone, which can also be used to download music and surf the Internet.

“Sounds like business as usual,” he says.

On the day when stock markets swooned and techies buzzed over Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs’ long-awaited entry into the mobile-phone market, Japanese consumers could be excused for wondering: Why the fuss?

Yes, the Japanese are unimpressed with the newest addition of tech heads wet dreams (along side Alienware water cooled computers, PS3s, and Hermione Granger becoming legal). I can somewhat agree with them to a point…but being the red-blooded American that I am, I beginning to buy into the hype. My question is can Apple keep up the hype until the release in June or will something new come along and take the wind from their sails?

• LA Times - Japanese Unimpressed w/ iPhone
• Article from Time
• Samsung’s Competition for the iPhone
• LG’s Competition for the iPhone