feature phones?

[Brian Watson]

I'm working on a press release for a company that does targeted advertising to cell phone users, 

and they differentiate between smartphones and what they are calling:

フィーチャーフォン

Is 'feature phone' the best term for this in English? Since they are not smartphones, I assume they

mean a type of cell phone that is still web-capable, but doesn't have all the capabilities of a smart phone.

I found one English reference for 'feature phone' through the Japanese wikipedia entry on it, but I

wonder if anyone else thinks it is in common enough use...

 

Brian Watson
http://www.google.com/profiles/brian.watson
+1.604.395.4202 (home office), +1.425.246.7888 (cell), +1.425.341.FOTO (messages), brian-momotaro (skype)

[Nora Stevens Heath]

Brian Watson asks about フィーチャーフォン:

> Is 'feature phone' the best term for this in English?

That's what they're called here in the US (and by cellphone carriers, no
less).

Hope that helps--
Nora

--
Nora Stevens Heath <no...@fumizuki.com>
J-E translations: http://www.fumizuki.com/

[Brian Watson]

2011/9/22 Nora Stevens Heath <fumi...@gmail.com>

Brian Watson asks about フィーチャーフォン:

> Is 'feature phone' the best term for this in English?

That's what they're called here in the US (and by cellphone carriers, no
less).

Thanks, Nora.

[Spencer Walle]

As a native speaker, this term ("feature phone") is meaningless to me. The same is true of my sister, who speaks only English. However, having read the Wiki article, I understand the distinction. That said, the only parallel language pages are CJK languages, so approach with caution. I wonder if something like "lower-end phones" or the like might be better in this context.

Spencer Walle

[Nora Stevens Heath]

Spencer Walle wrote:

> As a native speaker, this term ("feature phone") is meaningless to me.

I admit I may not have been familiar with the term if I hadn't been in
the market for a new phone (an upgrade from my feature phone) not that
long ago. A simple Google search for the term produces hits on sites
that should know, including Wired, CNET, ZDNet, TechCrunch, the
PhoneScoop glossary, BGR ("a leading online destination for news and
commentary focused on the mobile and general consumer electronics
markets", CNN, Verizon Wireless...the list goes on and on. Even the
Oxford World Dictionary gets in on the act:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/feature+phone

> That said, the only parallel language pages are CJK languages, so
> approach with caution.

CJK- and English-speaking countries are the biggest producers and
consumers of feature phones, aren't they?

[Rika Taniguchi]

あまり関係ありませんが、フィーチャーフォンは日本語ではガラケー（ガラパゴ
ス携帯：日本独自の進化を遂げた日本製の携帯電話）とも呼ばれます。ただこの
用語は、「スマートフォン」という用語に比べ、日本でも一般の人の中の認知度
はかなり低いと思います。英語でも同じような事情ではないでしょうか。

Rika Taniguchi

On Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:41:02 -0700 (PDT)
Spencer Walle <swa...@princeton.edu> wrote:

> As a native speaker, this term ("feature phone") is meaningless to me. The
> same is true of my sister, who speaks only English. However, having read the

> Wiki article, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_phone> I understand the

> distinction. That said, the only parallel language pages are CJK languages,
> so approach with caution. I wonder if something like "lower-end phones" or
> the like might be better in this context.
>
> Spencer Walle
>

> --
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☆--------------------------☆
Rika Taniguchi（谷口　里佳）
rk-whit...@jcom.home.ne.jp
Saitama, Japan
☆--------------------------☆

[Scott Mason]

Hi,

A feature phone is for practical purposes a non-smartphone.

It's industry-standard jargon, and most people who are not into mobile
will not have heard it. OTOH, if you are an Engadget reader it's de
rigueur.

Scott

2011/9/23 Brian Watson <brian....@gmail.com>:

[Spencer Walle]

2011年9月22日木曜日19時08分54秒 UTC-4 Nora:

A simple Google search for the term produces hits on sites
that should know, including Wired, CNET, ZDNet, TechCrunch, the
PhoneScoop glossary, BGR ("a leading online destination for news and
commentary focused on the mobile and general consumer electronics
markets", CNN, Verizon Wireless...the list goes on and on.

I cannot profess to be an expert in this field - not by a long shot. The evidence you cite is overwhelming. I suppose here you, as a translator, must make a judgment call. As suggested by other contributors, perhaps the term "feature phone" is a part of an industry-standard distinction that people on the outside, such as myself, are unaware of. 

I can state with a certain degree of confidence that my peers (being myself among the youngest people on this listserv, probably) would not understand this term, or may perhaps even scoff at it as a clear marketing ploy - it sounds much nicer to say "feature phone" than "non-smartphone." In my understanding, even a RAZR could be called a feature phone, which speaks to how this term allows telecom companies to apply a euphemism to what might otherwise be considered a sub-par piece of technology.

Given the context you cite, what you are looking for is not a term of art ("feature phone" indeed appears to be the term of art) but rather an appropriate marketing term ... that makes this more of a subjective decision, I suppose.

Spencer Walle

[Jean-Christophe Helary]

On Sep 23, 2011, at 6:43 AM, Brian Watson wrote:

> I found one English reference for 'feature phone' through the Japanese
> wikipedia entry on it, but I
> wonder if anyone else thinks it is in common enough use...

Anyone familiar with the industry uses the term. It has its own entry in the English Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_phone

I think the commonly understood difference is that smartphones come with "branded" OS. Like Windows Phone, iOS, Android, WebOS etc. They are basically small computers that _also_ have a phone function.

The best example is the iPod Touch vs the iPhone: the iPhone is a smartphone because it is a small computer (iPod Touch) plus a phone.

Jean-Christophe Helary
----------------------------------------
fun: http://mac4translators.blogspot.com
work: http://www.doublet.jp (ja/en > fr)
tweets: http://twitter.com/brandelune

[Minoru Mochizuki]

In response to Rika Taniguchi's opinion shown below:

『あまり関係ありませんが、フィーチャーフォンは日本語ではガラケー（ガラパゴ
ス携帯：日本独自の進化を遂げた日本製の携帯電話）とも呼ばれます。』

日本の携帯電話が「ガラパゴス化」した理由は、日本の業界が日本の基準が
国際規格になることを望んで、敢えて独自の路線を貫こうとして失敗した
結果であるとされています。カメラやGPS機能の内蔵などにおいて日本の
携帯電話は国際的に一時期リードしていました。現在のスマートホンは、
それらの機能にtouch screen displayなど、パソコンで進化した
表示機能を組み合わせたものです。

同じように国際基準を狙った日本の試みは、VHS方式のカセット録画方式
やＮＨＫが開発したhigh definition(HD)テレビでは成功しました。
（VHS方式はその後ビデオディスクにとって代わられましたが）

従って、「ガラパゴス化」は自虐的な言葉です。一見「ガラパゴス化」した
ように言われる日本の携帯電話は、輸出適応製品ではないものの、日本国内
では健全に流通しており、特に機能が少ない製品ではありません。

Minoru Mochizuki

[Herman]

（電子アーカイブが）180名のノーベル賞受賞者の江音文を含む

Any ideas what 江音文 means or is supposed to be?

Herman Kahn

[Masako Sato]

講演文？

[Alan Siegrist]

Herman writes:

> （電子アーカイブが）180名のノーベル賞受賞者

> の江音文を含む
>
> Any ideas what 江音文 means or is supposed to be?

I assume it is a mistake (typo). How about 公演文?

Regards,

Alan Siegrist
Carmel, CA, USA

[Christopher Girsch]

>
>> （電子アーカイブが）180名のノーベル賞受賞者の江音文を含む
>>
>> Any ideas what 江音文 means or is supposed to be?

It looks like a Chinese name: Jiang Yinwen.
Have no idea who that would be though.

Chris Girsch

[Alan Siegrist]

I wrote:

> > Any ideas what 江音文 means or is supposed to be?
>
> I assume it is a mistake (typo). How about 公演文?

Or better yet, 講演文.

(Figures I would make a mistake when correcting a mistake.)

[Herman]

On 9/23/2011 15:14, Herman wrote:
> （電子アーカイブが）180名のノーベル賞受賞者の江音文を含む
>
> Any ideas what 江音文 means or is supposed to be?
>

I just figured it out. If you mistype eonbun instead of ronbun under the
Windows IME, it gets converted to the above.

Herman Kahn