Apple is in talks with Japan’s top cell-phone company, NTT DoCoMo and with Softbank, the No. 3 carrier in the market. Reuters spoke to a source inside DoCoMo who said “the negotiations are not going smoothly, as Apple’s conditions are extremely hard to meet.” No surprise there. Apple likely wants similar terms to ones that AT&T and Deutsche Telekom agreed to: a cut of the subscription fees and a hefty markup on the iPhone itself. Apple had similar negotiations in other countries, in which Jobs infamously referred to prospective partners as “girlfriends.” One of these companies will end up married to the iPhone, likely for the price that Apple quotes. When it comes to for-richer-or-for-poorer, Apple usually picks “for richer.” (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)