AFP: Japan to get cellphone 'sommeliers': official

Japan is to start licensing cellphone "sommeliers" to guide consumers through complicated functions as mobile telephones become ever more advanced, an official said Monday.

The communications ministry said it was planning to support a private-sector plan to launch an exam to license specialists who sell cellphones.

"We hope they would be able to explain complicated functions and charge systems to consumers, much like wine sommeliers guiding you," a ministry official said.

The ministry also hopes the cellphone experts would remind parents of the risks of letting their children use Internet-capable cellphones and recommend installing filters to block access to harmful websites, he said.

If Japan has already mobile sommeliers, we here in Europe should at least start with catalogues similar to the ones offered in Japan - especially the kind that Softbank offers.