Verizon Offered To Install Marketers' Apps Directly On Subscribers' Phones (adage.com)

According to a report on AdAge, Verizon Wireless is trying to add more bloatware to Android phones by installing apps from other companies in exchange for payment. From the report: The wireless carrier has offered to install big brands' apps on its subscribers' home screens, potentially delivering millions of downloads, according to agency executives who have considered making such deals for their clients. But that reach would come at a cost: Verizon was seeking between $1 and $2 for each device affected, executives said. Verizon started courting advertisers with app installations late last year, pitching retail and finance brands among others, agency executives said. It has only offered the installations on Android phones, because Google's software is open for carriers to customize. Apple controls its platform more tightly. The proposed deals with brands ensure that their apps download to only new devices when consumers activate the phones and their software for the first time.

Comments

Carrier Phones - RIP

[Carcass666]

There doesn't appear to be much of a reason to buy a carrier-bound phone anymore, especially Android.

• Security updates are few and far between
• Major OS updates are almost non-existent
• Blocking of OS functionality (ex. expandable storage on SD), WI-FI calling
• Vendor bloatware
• And now, third-party bloatware
• Little financial benefit (what little there ever was) in subsidization

Basically, if you want an Android phone that will remain supported, you almost have to go non-carrier Nexus

Re:Apple Fanboy Here

[ZiakII]

How's escaping the tyranny of Apple's walled garden working out for you? Meet the new boss, worse than the old boss.

Fine because I just buy a Google Nexus Phone and can do whatever the hell I want with it? Unlocked boot-loader, root access, because its my own piece of hardware.