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Verizon's Challenge To the iPhone Confirmed
misnohmer writes "Verizon has just launched a new set of ads confirming the rumors of its upcoming iPhone competitor: 'Unlike previous Android phones, the Droid is rumored to be powered by the TI OMAP3430, the same core that the iPhone and Palm Pre use, and which significantly outperforms Qualcomm 528MHz ARM11-based Android phones that exist today. Droid will also be running v.2.0 of Android, with a significantly upgraded user interface. The Droid poses a different and more significant challenge to the iPhone than any other phone to date. The Palm Pre could have been that challenger, but it lacked the Verizon network, and users were unimpressed with the hardware. According to people who've handled the device, the Droid is the most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint. When you combine that with the Verizon network, you've got something that is most definitely a challenger to the Jesus phone.'"
The iPhone is only popular because it's from Apple. For years the IPhone didn't have:
IM
MMS
Cut/Paste
MP3/AAC ringtones
Video recording
Bluetooth A2DP
There's many other great phones and carriers that easily surpass the IPhone and AT&T's shit network by a long-shot (Blackberry Tour, Palm Pre, HTC Pro)
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
Just like all the companies that came out with "the iPod Killer", companies (like Verizon here) just don't get it. It's not about coming out with the "most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint." The iPhone wasn't the most sophisticated mobile device from a hardware standpoint when it came out. It's not about the hardware. Yes, the hardware can make several things really stand out but it's about the user experience. Companies continually ignore and overlook that aspect of it and that is why this phone will be cool and mobile geeks will sing its praises but it will not be a serious threat to the iPhone - it's not focusing on the right things.
Sorry, but we've heard "this is the iPod killer" too often and it's the exact same song and dance as this new round of "this is the iPhone killer."
The Palm Pre could have been that challenger, but it lacked the Verizon network, and users were unimpressed with the hardware.
From a hardware standpoint, the Pre is pretty impressive, although I can't comment on the software not having used one. But it failed because 'it lacked the Verizon network'? What is this supposed to mean? Every other network in the USA is so bad that a device has to be on Verizon to succeed?
And people wonder why all of the major handset manufacturers except Apple consider the US market a waste of their time...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
The best way to challenge the iPhone is to not bill your phone as "the iPhone killer". Just let the phone do what it does best and people will eventually notice.
The problem I had with Verizon was never with their network or their phones but the management decisions that were made to cripple those phones to charge customers more money.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
What's funny is Sprint phones can and do roam on Verizon. Since I switched to Sprint (from AT&T), I've been able to surf the web on my phone on the DC metro by roaming on Verizon towers - for free. (Of course, now GSM towers for AT&T/T-Mobile are going up in the DC metro too.)
I like how at first the OP mentions that the Droid has the same hardware as the Pre and later in the post says that users aren't impressed with the Pre's hardware.
Also, the Samsung Moment coming out in 2 weeks for Sprint has an 800MHz ARM-based CPU, where the one powering the Droid is apparently only 600MHz (I'm assuming that since the design is similar, the clock speed is a valid way to compare the performance of the CPUs; could be wrong on this).
As far as running Android 2.0, anyone with an Android phone can upgrade to that. That's one of the great things about Android in the first place.
In the end, though, I wish Motorola and Verizon good fortune launching this phone, because anything that increases Android (or Linux in general - Maemo is nice) adoption on consumer phones is cool with me. IMO Apple is so control freakish that they are firmly in "evil" territory, much more so than Microsoft.
I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
Specially from the hardware standpoint? Would be interesting to compare it with i.e. the Nokia N900 that is about to hit the market... with the extra advantage of not being tied to Verizon or anyone else afaik.
No, the iPhone was/is popular because it enables me to do useful things that I could not (and cannot) do as well with any other phone currently available. That simple.
Cut and paste? It's been out for months now, never used it. MMS? Never used it. MP3/AAC ringtones? Always supported, (you have to change the file extension is all), but actually never used them. Video recording? Never used it (and yes I have a 3gs.) I could go on, but literally all the features you bitch about are things that I don't want/never would use. Maybe you really do need them, but frankly I could give a crap less.
What I do use is an application for tracking my blood sugar. And another application for tracking my weight-training log. And another app that functions as a pedometer when I go walking/running. And another app that tracks my weight. Oh yeah, and an app that lets me do Go problems on my phone. And Kindle for iPhone. And... the list could go on ad infinitem, but the point is that your little checklist doesn't begin to encapsulate what makes this the best possible device for me.
Before iPhone, I had a Treo, I had a Blackberry, I had Windows Mobile. I hated them and never used even the features that came with them. With iPhone I use everything that comes with it and then some because the iPhone makes it easy. Could I figure out how to do this stuff on, say, my Blackberry? Yes. Was it fun? Hell no. Was it easy to find apps? No. Did the apps cost $1.99 each? No.
So, sorry, but the iPhone is not popular just because it's from Apple. It's popular because it works.
"He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
Why aren't they using the new TI OMAP3530 @720MHz? That should give them an advantage over the older OMAP3430 @600MHz.
The problem with Windows Mobile is there has been no. And I mean no innovation in the last few years. Yes we have 7 which will be coming out... eventually. But seriously, 6.1 and 6.5 other than having a Zune-like UI are essentially the same as the Pocket PC 2000 OSes. There are UI inconsistencies, in general manufacturers find that its so ugly having the default UI so they switch to a different UI, etc. About the only benefit of Windows Mobile is that there are a lot of applications, but when you compare it to Android and the iPhone there really aren't that more real apps. To put it nicely, Windows Mobile sucks. If it was rock-solid stable, that would be one thing, but when everything is pretty much crap on it and it freezes all the time, why not just get an iPhone, Pre or Android device that is going to actually get better with time?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
he kind of did with the list of things that he does do with his iPhone.
BTW... what defines a market leader is the company that everyone looks to to beat or the company that everyone looks to for the trendy new blah blah blah.
Apple is a leader in the market. If you define market leader to be the company that sells the most, then there are a lot of markets who's leader is a generic brand.
For years only few phones had good email and browsing. The iPhone was great because it did, and was also integrated, from day one, to the then emerging cloud via google and .mac. It was also integrated to iTunes, and not dependent on cell company music services. For some this is a plus, as it makes it easy to rip tracks and put it on the phone.
But you are correct. There are many phones that some thinks surpass the iPhone, and those people should absolutely buy those phones. No one says that everyone should have an iPhone. All that happens is that people complain that the iPhone does not do everything. But we live in a competitive market place and the iPhone can do it's thing, and the others can do their thing. What is to be seen is whether Verizon, with the clearly superior network in the US, can put out a better integrated product than Apple.
What also remains to be seen is if data integrity can be assured with these other services. I have never lost data because Apple servers went bust. True, I pay extra for the service, but I think that others are going to consider the data retention service as part of the monthly fees, especially if using Android or MS Windows Mobile.Both MS and Google has recently caused data loss for at least some customer. Not a very good start for their cloud computing strategy.Perhaps they don't care about data retention, since these devices are mostly considered toys, and that is why they include such critial features such as MP3 ringtones and A2DP. That will leave Blackberry and iPhone for those that just need to get work done, so we can go and play in the real world.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I went another way with that quote: Oh, it could have been a challenger except that it wasn't on a good network and the hardware wasn't great? Really? Well, my old Nokia could have been a challenger, except for that part about not being a smartphone and having no data capabilities. I also made a phone out of cardboard, and it could have been a challenger except for the fact that it didn't work at all.
Sounds like astroturfing to me. I've never heard of ANYONE complaining about the Pre due to its network.
And, you are completely correct. You can hate the phone; you can hate the network. But, you can't hate the phone because of the network.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
From a hardware standpoint, the Pre is pretty impressive
Except that it is made out of plastic and it flexes, so it feels flexy and looks cheap next to the aluminum and glass iPhone. Not knocking it, that is just a lot of peoples' complaints.
But it failed because 'it lacked the Verizon network'? What is this supposed to mean?
Verizon and AT&T are the largest US mobile carriers in the US in terms of numbers of subscribers (around 60 million). Sprint is a few million people behind and some of their former customers are still annoyed with their customer service. Verizon is also owned by Vodaphone, which has a much larger international market presence.
That's a pretty rash conclusion. Maybe they didn't implement copy and paste with a "yank board" for the same reason they didn't use Dylan as its primary language, not because of NIH but because it's obscure and unusual and does not meet market expectations.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.