Editing Sha-Mail

{{Short description|Japanese 2G e-mail service}}
{{nihongo|'''Sha-Mail'''|写メール|Sha Mēru}} was a [[2G]] mailing and picture messaging service launched by [[J-Phone]] (now [[Softbank]]) in 2000 that allowed users to take a photo with their mobile phone and send it to another user on the service as an email attachment.<ref name="mms" /> A related service introduced in 2002, Video Sha-Mail, let users record and send videos as well.<ref name="kodama" /> Sha-Mail was widely successful upon its launch, became a [[brand awareness|household name]] in Japan,<ref name="softbank" /> and sparked a boom in camera phone services worldwide.<ref name="snaphappy" /> The term derives from ''sha'', the first part of the Japanese word {{nihongo3|'picture'|写真|shashin}}, and mail (from [[email]]).<ref name="ionica">{{cite book |last1=Ionica |first1=Oncioiu |title=Business Innovation, Development, and Advancement in the Digital Economy |date=28 February 2013 |publisher=IGI Global |isbn=978-1-4666-2935-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g8meBQAAQBAJ |access-date=3 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
Sha-Mail development was led by Keiji Takao, who previously worked for [[Mazda]]. Takao came up with the idea on a sight-seeing trip to [[Hakone]] with his parents, where he saw a woman on a cable car using her mobile phone, apparently struggling to operate the device and unable to send a photo of the view.<ref name="kodama"/> He recalled: "Here she was, a lady furiously typing into her handset and trying to relay her feelings and excitement to her children or husband. I said to myself, 'Gee, wouldn't it be easier if there was some sort of an image to send with?'"<ref name="iht">{{cite news |title='Cameras add to our communications' Q&A / A conversation with an insider |publisher=International Herald Tribune |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/318374880 |access-date=3 February 2024 |date=12 March 2003|id={{ProQuest|318374880}} }}</ref> Takao also reportedly took inspiration from a survey he had read about adolescent girls keeping disposable cameras alongside their phones in their purse.<ref name="magnier">{{cite news |last1=Magnier |first1=Mark |title=In Japan, Cell Phone-Cameras Click With the Public |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-dec-06-fg-pixphone6-story.html |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=6 December 2002}}</ref> J-Phone, meanwhile, was under pressure from competitors [[KDDI]], which had a faster network, and [[NTT Docomo]], which was preparing to move to [[3G]], and the company believed it could differentiate itself by focusing on email.<ref name="iht" />

J-Phone launched the Sha-Mail service in November 2000 with the help of electronics company [[Sharp Corporation]], who developed the [[J-SH04]] phone with a built-in, back-facing [[Charge-coupled device|CCD]] camera.<ref name="kodama" /> The J-SH04 was among the first phones in the world with a fully-integrated camera, and at the time, Sha-Mail was Japan's only service of its kind.<ref name="softbank">{{cite web |title=On This Day: World's First Mobile Phone with a Fully-integrated Camera Launched in Japan |url=https://www.softbank.jp/en/sbnews/entry/20211101_01 |website=Softbank.jp |date=November 2021 |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref> 

The service was quite successful on the market, particularly with young people. J-Phone had sold around 3 million handsets with Sha-Mail enabled by January 2022.<ref name="mms" /> Almost three years later, 10 million users were on the service,<ref name="kodama">{{cite book |last1=Kodama |first1=Mitsuru |title=Developing Boundaries Knowledge for Innovation |date=25 September 2020 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78990-193-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGv8DwAAQBAJ |access-date=3 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref> with around 5 million users using Movie Sha-Mail. In 2002 [[Vodafone]], which had by that point acquired J-Phone, launched [[Vodafone live!]] as a global service. By December 2002, the European launch of Vodafone live! brought in more than 380,000 users.<ref name="iht" /> 

This rapid growth helped J-Phone move from #3 to #2 in total wireless data subscribers. J-Phone's competitors followed suit. Market leader NTT Docomo introduced a similar service with Sharp called i-shot and another named Foma, KDDI's au introduced "Photo Mail" and "Movie Mail" services, and KDDI subsidiary TU-KA introduced "Picture Mail."<ref name="magnier" /> In the US, [[AT&T Mobility|AT&T]] (a NTT Docomo affiliate) launched the mMode Pix feature on Sony Ericsson T68i devices.<ref name="snaphappy">{{cite news |title=Operators Go Snap-Happy |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/221147695 |access-date=3 February 2024 |publisher=Mobile Communications International |date=Aug 2002| id={{ProQuest|221147695}} }}</ref> Sha-Mail's popularity also spawned tie-ins such as a magazine called "J-Phone Sha-mail Hearts"<ref name="magnier" /> and the [[TV Aichi]] series ''Syamekke'', which encouraged users to send in photos and text messages relating to weekly topics, later to be broadcast on the program.<ref name="mms">{{cite book |last1=Ralph |first1=Daniel |last2=Graham |first2=Paul |title=MMS: Technologies, Usage and Business Models |date=21 April 2004 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-86117-2 |pages=12–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSNXOcwznN0C |access-date=3 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref> 

In November 2002, Japan's fair trade commission raided Vodafone's headquarters upon an accusation that the company had prevented retailers from lowering the cost of Sha-Mail enabled handsets upon launch.<ref name="wray">{{cite news |last1=Wray |first1=Richard |title=Japanese authorities raid Vodafone division |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/245900751 |access-date=3 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=21 November 2002|id={{ProQuest|245900751}} }}</ref>

Though Vodafone planned to make Sha-Mail a centerpiece of its 3G service,<ref name="snaphappy" /> the company lagged well behind its competitors in moving to 3G and capturing users; as of 2004 fewer than 20% of Vodafone subscribers were subscribed to 3G.<ref name="su">{{cite news |last1=Su |first1=Ethan |title=Heating Up Again - The Japanese Mobile Communications Market & Operators' Strategies |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1701945800 |access-date=3 February 2024 |publisher=Mobile Handheld Devices Research Report |date=18 October 2006|id={{ProQuest|1701945800}} }}</ref> Thus the now-obsolete Sha-Mail never upgraded to 3G, effectively ending Sha-Mail once support for 2G networks ceased.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

The word Japanese word ''shamēru'', often abbreviated to ''shame'' ({{nihongo2|[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/写メ#Japanese 写メ]}}), now commonly refers to any text message with an image attached.<ref name="softbank" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mobile technology]]
[[Category:Japanese inventions]]