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If you’re an iPhone app developer or know someone who is, then stay tuned for some exciting news…

Although it’s not exactly our remit on Digital World Tokyo to cover iPhone cases, the latest high-end protector from Europe is so exceptional, it’s clearly worth a quick rundown.

It’s been described as the ‘must-have’’ accessory for your iPod or iPhone and - although it’s not on direct sale here in Japan - SendStation’s PocketDock adapter packs so much at such a low cost, it’s hard not to crave one.

If we ever needed proof that the iPhone is becoming a serious gaming platform, then look no further than Namco Bandai and its introduction of the classic Dr Kawashima mental-agility games for the Apple hardware.

Sony‘s new Bravia Postcard service for cellphones pretty much does what it says on the pack - sends virtual message cards from compatible phones to net-connected Bravia TV sets.

In spite of general ill-informed nay-saying about the hardware’s prospects in Japan, the Tokyo-specific iPhone apps keep rolling in thick, fast and creamy, with the latest being a gem from Enfour and Gmap.

This one flew well under the radar when it was launched a few weeks ago, but the news that Japanese-speaking residents of the UK can finally get their phones speaking fluent kanji, hiragana and katakana is worth revisiting.

Anyone traveling in Tokyo knows how confusing the subway can be even if you can read Japanese, which is why we’re eternally grateful for Presselite’s new Tokyo Metro iPhone or iPod touch app. Best of all, we’ve got ten copies to give away.

When I visited NTT last October for a private demo of its new cellphone RFID loyalty-card system, it was still in its early stages of development, so there wasn’t a great deal to write home about at the time.

NTT DoCoMo’s corporate videos have long been a Big Deal for the 800lb gorilla of a phone company, so it’s always worth checking out the latest to see the public face it wants to present to the world.

The iPhone is many things to many people, but we bet few of them ever imagined it becoming a web server all by itself.

Samsung has more phones in its roster that there are stars in the heavens, whereas Apple – for example – has just one. Quite why, therefore, the Korean firm’s latest smartphone is being touted as an iPhone killer is neither here nor there.

Believe what you will, but our tipster in Europe just wrote to tell us about a pretty poor teaser website for an as-yet-unknown Samsung phone called the Loches.

Knowing when the quake will arrive keeps getting easier in Japan. Official earthquake warnings that pop up in a window on your computer screen is the latest alert method. Already earthquake warnings are broadcast on TV. Cable TV providers and telecoms offer…

It’s not the first time we’ve seen phones that purport to translate between languages, but NEC’s claims for its new mobile travel interpreter are certainly among the grandest.

Kids carrying an RFID contactless transit smartcard can also use it to automatically notify parents of their whereabouts.

I’m not sure if turning the plain-Jane old mobile site into a fancy new version using Winksite counts as a facelift, but I can say that it looks absolutely splendid now.

A Tokyo area bank has begun installing devices that jam cell phone signals in order to prevent elderly citizens from becoming victims of phone fraud. Swindlers have been targeting seniors, telling them to go to the bank and all the while stay…

A new fixed-line phone from Sanyo uses an internet connection to receive and announce earthquake warnings.

From today Japanese TV drama fans get a new way to sample the pabulum churned out by big media here in the form of something called ‘Pair Movies.’

We’ve known about it for a while now, but it’s always good to hear when yet another ‘iPhone killer’ looks like turning up in stores a little early, like Nokia’s new N97 handset, which could hit early next year.

The current rebranding attempt DoCoMo is making to push its phones to some pretty jaded customers here in Japan is clearly a big deal for the company.

Continuing our updates for UK phone fans (aren’t we kind?), here’s news that Nokia’s mail-centric E63 is ready to roll.

UK search guru Patrick Altoft just dropped us a line about the Blackberry Storm pre-order post we did the other day to add a little intriguing info cherry on top.

Like anyone who’s easily put off by ridiculous levels of gadgetry, I’m not very impressed by most Japanese cellphones, so I’ll just point you in the direction of DoCoMo’s newly revealed fleet of 22 new handsets.

We’ve been getting a lot of info about new phones hitting the UK far earlier than expected so, in deference to our vast army of readers over there in the land of bad food and even worse prices, here’s the latest.

October 31 isn’t just the one day a year when the dead walk the Earth – it’s also the launch date for Nokia’s newest uber handset, the sparkly new N85.

Although the megapixel race has long since hit cellphones, it’s always been pretty much a moot point due to phones being, well, phones. Not so Samsung’s latest, which arrives in stores this week.

If you’ve got little to do this weekend and are interested in incredible tedium, then you could always download what its maker claims is the world’s longest cellphone ringtone.

Although it was announced in the US a while back, it’s only this fall that other territories will get their hands on Chumby, the so-called alarm clock of the future.

Adding external speakers to portable music players like iPods or even cellphones is a dubious prospect at the best of times (an accessory too far?), but at least the new set from Logicool has a little extra to offer.

As fish supplies dwindle and competition among commercial fishing boats intensifies, a group of Japanese trawlermen have turned to the internet to give themselves an edge.

Last month, one look at the work Japanese company Eitarosoft is doing with Android made it pretty obvious a closer inspection was in order before the fledgling big player hits the inaccessible heights of some of its current customers.

In yet another one of those tech surveys that says close to nothing while appearing to contain something of substance, a Japanese probe has found that – shock! – some people here are interested in buying an iPhone.

Earlier this month, when we looked at the future of mobile technologies from an academic’s perspective, one of the predictions that stood out was that phone companies looking to encourage mobile micropayments using their handsets would be well advised to team up with a solid financial institution first.

Japan’s legions of small northwest coastal towns are famed for their patchworks of rice paddies and garlands of snow-capped mountains that offer some of the region’s best skiing, but only one is home to a research lab devoted to understanding how we interact with our mobile phones.

Everybody knows the 3G iPhone will hit Japan later this year on the crap-tastic Softbank network, but I don’t believe anyone else was able to get NTT DoCoMo to admit it had been in the race too.

We recently lifted the lid on just how useful – not to mention pervasive – RFID technology is in Japan, so it’s with a glad heart that we bring you news of a move that’s sure to help it spread more quickly in the West.

Over the last few years, residents of busy metropolises like London and Hong Kong have grown used to the convenience – not to mention lower prices in London’s case – of transport networks that accept electronic payments. Handy pieces of plastic, like the Oyster Card, with chips onboard are clearly a part of life for many people, but the same RFID technology has a far greater reach in Japan, where it has taken the next step and migrated to mobile phones as well.

Like many Far-Eastern technologies, Japan’s QR Code gets attention in the West more for being exotic than for any real benefit it brings, so we fully expect the latest all-singing version of the 2D barcode to follow suit.