Once again we're being reminded that, when it comes to gadgets, the Japanese just can't be competed with. While there's still lots of great stuff that gets released over here and only later finds its way to Japan, more often than not the inverse seems true. We can't even keep track of the many great-looking mobile phones, laptops, and media players that you just can't buy in the west. The latest news from Japan that's got us jealous is the announcement that iPhones are being given away free, fully subsidized by their carrier plans.

Japanese mobile provider SoftBank is now offering a free 8 GB iPhone with a two-year service contract. This isn't some second-hand first-generation iPhone, either, but a new 3G model. Here in the U.S. you'd be stuck paying around $200 for one of these, and you'd still be bound by that two-year contract. SoftBank also has a plan to help subsidize the cost of a 16 GB iPhone, partially billing you for the phone each month in a lease-like arrangement, with the phone's final cost coming out to under $120.

Of course, this being an Apple product, any change in a retail partner's behavior like this starts getting interpreted as rumor fodder. To that end, there's speculation that this move is similar to the reduced student pricing on iMacs, attempting to unload old hardware before a new model is released. SoftBank's free iPhone promotion runs through the end of May, supporting suggestions that once again Apple will debut a new iPhone in June. If that's true, at least it will be one gadget we'll get before Japan does.

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