據(jù)美聯(lián)社4月1日報道，由于市場上這種安裝了特別的信號接收器的新型手機數(shù)量不多，加之消費者提前搶購，如今各處商店的柜臺里已難見其蹤影。盡管日本幾大手機運營商均表示新型手機頗受消費者歡迎，但都未透露具體的銷售業(yè)績。
在此之前，韓國、英國以及其他一些國家已經(jīng)推出了類似的手機電視業(yè)務(wù)。美國一些地區(qū)的手機用戶也已經(jīng)享受到通過手機看電視的方便。1日正式推出的此項新型免費業(yè)務(wù)將通過電視轉(zhuǎn)播站（而不是衛(wèi)星）來傳輸圖像，借助地面數(shù)字廣播系統(tǒng)打入市場。它還將通過空中電波（而不是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)）傳輸流式視頻信號。
目前，日本的9000萬手機用戶已能通過手機玩游戲、下載音樂、發(fā)送電子郵件、瀏覽新聞、炒股、存儲照片和上網(wǎng)沖浪。
Digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers began in Japan's major urban areas Saturday, following several months of test broadcasts.
But finding new phones in stores proved hard as eager consumers have already snapped up the limited number of handsets on the market. Japan's major mobile carriers say sales are good, but have not disclosed numbers.
Japan's mobile TV service is not the world's first — South Korea, Britain and several other nations offer a similar service, although with different technologies. Mobile users in some parts of the United States can also tap into digital broadcasts.
But the new service in Japan, which is free, will potentially reach the broadest market yet through the country's terrestrial digital broadcast system, which relays images through the air via TV towers, not satellites.
It also uses broadcasting air waves, rather than an Internet connection, to relay streaming video.
Japan's 90 million mobile phone users already play video games, download music files, exchange e-mail, read news, trade stocks, store digital photos and surf the Web — all on tiny handset screens half the size of a business card.
