As you may (or may not) know, dear readers, GeekStuff4U deals almost exclusively in products that are intended – and manufactured – for the Japanese market. We position ourselves as a bridge between the Japanese consumer market and those fans of Japan overseas that otherwise can’t get their hands on the kawaii, hilarious, cool, and strange things one can find on an idle stroll through the colorful streets of Tokyo.

Of course, this means that cell phone chargers for Japanese dumbphones, for example, do not find their place on our catalogue. Japanese dumbphones have traditionally come with a connector that doesn’t exist outside Japan, and pre-smartphone era long-term visitors to Japan have always scratched their heads at this seemingly self-imposed Galapagoan technological exile that Japanese manufacturers seem to be willingly digging themselves into.

The smartphone era, however, has changed that. Many phones found overseas have made their way here with exactly identical specs; a prime example is Apple’s iPhone, which for three generations has been the exact same device – both hardware and software – found elsewhere in the world (save for SIM-lock and electronics certification marks). Every other non-Japanese smartphone, including Sony Ericsson’s Xperia series, has also had the same connectors and batteries and body shape compatible with third-party accessories in any number of cross-national combinations.

However, sometimes this identicalness is only skin deep. We at GeekStuff4U found out today, for example, that the contacts on the batteries for the Samsung Galaxy SII could be completely reversed depending on the market in which it is released:

Samsung Galaxy SII - International Differences

This is almost hilarious, and our asses would be rolling on the floor out loud if not for the fact that we have already received orders and shipped a few Galaxy SII extended battery packs from our store. We’ve already received complaints from customers who have helpfully sent in photos of their own batteries and phones for comparison, and we will be emailing everybody who has purchased this product from us shortly, including the ones who have yet to contact us.

Now, a word to our customers and fans: As we are located in Japan, we cannot have detailed technical specifications of every single product in the world. Japanese manufacturers usually do not have that information at hand, either, and usually just brush us off with “we do not officially support overseas electronics.” This means that it’s up to you, our dear Japan enthusiasts, to be our informants in case anything seems amiss. Cell phones, especially, could easily have different physical specs that may provide hours of endless hair-pulling for all involved: the Verizon iPhone is a good example. We’ve heard rumors that the CDMA iPhone 4 as released on Verizon may have slightly volume buttons, but since we do not have access to a Verizon iPhone 4, we’ve been unable to accurately respond to queries as to whether our iPhone cases will fit the CDMA version. The same will most likely go for the iPhone 4S out soon, as well. If you have any information at all about little quirks you’d like to let us know about, please feel free to drop us a line at info@geekstuff4u.com.

Thank you to all our fans for your loyal following, and see you around GS4U!

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