Apple, Motorola, Cingular, and iTunes Phone... Ready?

[ibook30]

device that does one thing really well

Ha ! Yeah it's frusterating that phones are carrier specific. reminds me of a littel computer company - makes an amazing OS, but only works on their stinking machines!!! sound familiar ???

I have the limited pocket space problem too, but would rather have 3 devices that do one thing really well , than having one device that does 3 things poorly.

Battery life on these phones will probably preven tme and several others from considering.

 

[biohazard6969]

FINALLY, its about time they got this wrapped up

 

[mkrishnan]

And I'm not sure the RAZR can be counted as a low-end phone...

Yeah, there's a big difference in the cost model of replacing a cell phone in the US (where handsets are heavily subsidized by carriers) and other countries (where this is not true). If you are slightly patient, the RAZR can be had for free here (after rebates). Probably not true in Norway?

I'm kind of interested in seeing what this phone looks like. I am down to three options:

- RAZR + Cingular
- A630 and stay with T-Mo -- but only if calling and saying that a new phone is keeping me from staying with T-Mo results in me getting a huge discount -- it would have to be close to free....
- The iTunes phone + Cingular

 

[mac-er]

I say these carriers that rejected Steve's overtures need to be shown just how loyal Mac users are...

I heard Sprint rejected the iTunes phone, so I will be cancelling Sprint if this Cingular phone comes out..and I will let them know.

 

[haganah]

Yeah, there's a big difference in the cost model of replacing a cell phone in the US (where handsets are heavily subsidized by carriers) and other countries (where this is not true). If you are slightly patient, the RAZR can be had for free here (after rebates). Probably not true in Norway?

I'm kind of interested in seeing what this phone looks like. I am down to three options:

- RAZR + Cingular
- A630 and stay with T-Mo -- but only if calling and saying that a new phone is keeping me from staying with T-Mo results in me getting a huge discount -- it would have to be close to free....
- The iTunes phone + Cingular

It's free in the US..

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...-8836951-1088118?v=glance&s=wireless&n=301185

-Rudey

 

[andiwm2003]

attention rant (don't read if you don't like rants):

the north american cell phone system really sucks! in europe you pay for a carrier and you buy a phone whereever you want. often the carrier offers you phones as well but you don't have to buy them there. it's essentially a free market.

here in the us you are forced to pay for the carrier, the minutes and the phone in one package. on top of that you get charged when someone calls you and when you call from a different location. are this people nuts? a cell phone is there to get calls whereveer I am. it's about mobility and they charge extra for that!

and if this wasn't bad enough now they want to charge for downloading itunes music. they are essentially parasitising on itunes business. it's none of their business if i use my phone for data, talk or music. they can charge for time and thats it.

the only business model of the carriers here in the us is to lock in the customer into their expensive service, their ****** phones and the strange minutes deal. and then they milk the customer with roaming fees, data fees and what not.

it's really time for some antitrust lawsuits to open up this market and allow for real progress.
i can't believe why americans accept this knowing that it is much better and cheaper in europe. usually things are more customer friendly, more modern, more dynamic here in the US. but the cell phone carriers are a shame.

rant over.



i really hope for the itunes phone to come up soon. not so much for the itunes part of it. but i guess apple makes sure that this phone allows for thight integration with isync. and that with apple like ease of use and simplicity.

andi

 

[ketha]

Does anyone think they have europe in their sights??? I hope so, don't want to have to 'import' this at full prices.

 

[mkrishnan]

It's free in the US..

Thank you, Rudey, but how is that not exactly what I said in my earlier post, that you quoted?

 

[bretm]

If they come out with a low-end phone, capable of making calls and sending text-messages which I can sync with iCal and Address Book I will be very happy...

Don't really care for camera, MMS, Java games, etc. but the ability to use iTunes melodies for ring tones might be fun (for a while).

My motorola V300 does all that. I think I paid $50-100 bucks for it being a long term T-Mobile customer.

 

[24C]

I don't know why there is such a wait for this, you could have an Apple iTunes phone, that did all the Apple specific integration stuff and had an iPod like interface/navigation...would be easier on a flip phone like a Razor.
The licensing stuff or iTunes store could follow later.

I'd quite like an iPod shuffle mobile phone mix, that when I hooked it up to my Mac (or Windows) computer it activated iTunes just like an iPod and you could do any Autofill or such like from your iTunes library.
I would never want to download music via the phone carrier, because it's too slow & expensive and I'd always use the computer via Bluetooth or a dock or USB cable.
I don't need a phone with a low res camera, just something that takes up one space in my pocket, and if somebody rung my phone when I was using it as an iPod, I wouldn't have to pull out the earbuds and juggle the kit to take a call, which incidentally is a bit of a scream with your head in a full face helmet.

 

[jared_kipe]

I hate this carrier specific BS. I have Verizon. I guess I can get an iTunes enabled phone when my contract runs out in, what, 2013?

Verizon is behind the times, they still use the old networks instead of GSM which is what Spring/Cingular/ everyone else use. Thats why there is no RAZR for Verizon. And they don't have Rollover or anything else that makes me want to use their service. I think I'll change to Cingular when my Verizon contract is up.

 

[avkills]

attention rant (don't read if you don't like rants):

the north american cell phone system really sucks! in europe you pay for a carrier and you buy a phone whereever you want. often the carrier offers you phones as well but you don't have to buy them there. it's essentially a free market.

here in the us you are forced to pay for the carrier, the minutes and the phone in one package. on top of that you get charged when someone calls you and when you call from a different location. are this people nuts? a cell phone is there to get calls whereveer I am. it's about mobility and they charge extra for that!

and if this wasn't bad enough now they want to charge for downloading itunes music. they are essentially parasitising on itunes business. it's none of their business if i use my phone for data, talk or music. they can charge for time and thats it.

the only business model of the carriers here in the us is to lock in the customer into their expensive service, their ****** phones and the strange minutes deal. and then they milk the customer with roaming fees, data fees and what not.

it's really time for some antitrust lawsuits to open up this market and allow for real progress.
i can't believe why americans accept this knowing that it is much better and cheaper in europe. usually things are more customer friendly, more modern, more dynamic here in the US. but the cell phone carriers are a shame.

rant over.



i really hope for the itunes phone to come up soon. not so much for the itunes part of it. but i guess apple makes sure that this phone allows for thight integration with isync. and that with apple like ease of use and simplicity.

andi

Nice try, but my AT&T (Cingular) service lets me receive and make calls anywhere in the US and Canada with no extra service charges unless I am not logged into a Cingular network. I basically get 1000 minutes a month and it costs $45/month for the service. All other crap costs extra like text messaging and web access, etc etc, which I don't use anyway.

Also, I am not locked into buying a phone at a Cingular store. All I need to do is pop my SIM card out and put it into another phone.

-mark

 

[bretm]

attention rant (don't read if you don't like rants):

the north american cell phone system really sucks! in europe you pay for a carrier and you buy a phone whereever you want. often the carrier offers you phones as well but you don't have to buy them there. it's essentially a free market.

here in the us you are forced to pay for the carrier, the minutes and the phone in one package. on top of that you get charged when someone calls you and when you call from a different location. are this people nuts? a cell phone is there to get calls whereveer I am. it's about mobility and they charge extra for that!

and if this wasn't bad enough now they want to charge for downloading itunes music. they are essentially parasitising on itunes business. it's none of their business if i use my phone for data, talk or music. they can charge for time and thats it.

the only business model of the carriers here in the us is to lock in the customer into their expensive service, their ****** phones and the strange minutes deal. and then they milk the customer with roaming fees, data fees and what not.

it's really time for some antitrust lawsuits to open up this market and allow for real progress.
i can't believe why americans accept this knowing that it is much better and cheaper in europe. usually things are more customer friendly, more modern, more dynamic here in the US. but the cell phone carriers are a shame.

rant over.



i really hope for the itunes phone to come up soon. not so much for the itunes part of it. but i guess apple makes sure that this phone allows for thight integration with isync. and that with apple like ease of use and simplicity.

andi

I'm gonna guess that a continent that small has a lot of competition. We've got states much larger than many of your countires combined. So in this arena it's easy for them to provide broad multi country coverage, forcing competition to sweep in. Plus, for all I know the phone companies over there are subsidized by tax payer dollars or something creepy like that.

We'll get there. So are they still charging licensing fees to own a television? Talk about weird! That's freakin' nuts.

 

[mkrishnan]

Verizon is behind the times, they still use the old networks instead of GSM which is what Spring/Cingular/ everyone else use. Thats why there is no RAZR for Verizon. And they don't have Rollover or anything else that makes me want to use their service. I think I'll change to Cingular when my Verizon contract is up.

Ummm...when did Sprint stop using CDMA?

 

[bretm]

Nice try, but my AT&T (Cingular) service lets me receive and make calls anywhere in the US and Canada with no extra service charges unless I am not logged into a Cingular network. I basically get 1000 minutes a month and it costs $45/month for the service. All other crap costs extra like text messaging and web access, etc etc, which I don't use anyway.

Also, I am not locked into buying a phone at a Cingular store. All I need to do is pop my SIM card out and put it into another phone.

-mark

I don't get it. You didn't debunk one single thing he said. Not even the phone issue. Try using your phone on another carrier. Over there they can because they're all the same GSM. Not here.

He's talking unliminted phone conversations across europe. You're talking about 1000 minutes for $45 with late fees.

He's talking about unlimited calls across europe and you're talking about minutes, but only when you're on Cingular's network.

They have it much better over there, but it's because of competition and user base. Because it's less area to cover, it was quick to cover more highly densely populated areas. Imagine a continent like the northeast here, with few holes in coverage. Everyone buys a phone. So the number of users per tower is very high. Less cost, more revenue, more competition and basically they just want your business. It's not about plans, minutes, rollovers, etc. Probably more about service.

 

[cheekyspanky]

Any rumours as to when this phone will be coming out in the UK? My V3 is three months from being replaced when my contract ends so hopefully it will be out by then and live up to expectations.

Otherwise I'll get one of those Nokia N Series ones if they are Mac compatible and out by then.

There's one thing for certain, I'm not paying any more for this iTunes phone than I would for a Shuffle!

 

[mozmac]

I don't know if I'm drooling over the iTunes part of this phone. To be honest, I am not a fan of Motorola phones to begin with. I love my Nokia. However, I would love to have a phone that was more Apple-ish. Sync up iCal and Address Book natively. Listen to MP3s through normal headphones in iTunes and have it do a play count on the files. You know, basically a cell phone and iPod shuffle combined into one. Of course bluetooth is a necessity for this phone.

It could be promising. I wish Apple was working with Nokia on this phone instead. They seem more like an Apple type of company in the way that they innovate and don't give a crap about what the industry is doing at the time...they create the industry.

 

[bretm]

Ummm...when did Sprint stop using CDMA?

They didn't. And T-Mobile and Cingular use different varieties of GSM. Verizon is still the king. They may not technically have the most coverage anymore, but cingular's coverage doesn't actually work very well most of the time. Verizon has the largest, most functional system, and they know it and charge for it. But they may fall hard if they can't get their tech updates smoothly.

 

[~Shard~]

There's one thing for certain, I'm not paying any more for this iTunes phone than I would for a Shuffle!

Very good point - in the end, how much are these things going to cost? Is an "Apple premium" going to be built into the cost?

 

[mkrishnan]

Very good point - in the end, how much are these things going to cost? Is an "Apple premium" going to be built into the cost?

Well, considering most ballyhooed phones, like the RAZR (but not, notably, to my knowledge, the really high-end S-E phones like the P800), become free fairly quickly through rebates....

I totally agree, though. I have a hard time seeing paying more than $50-100 in final cost after rebates for this. But that's probably $50-100 more than I'd pay for another phone at the moment.

And bretm, thank you. I don't know how much I agree about the superiority of the Verizon network to the other ones, and I *do* like GSM, but it's a fallacy to think that CDMA is a useless technology or that GSM is a panacea.

 

[Warbrain]

They didn't. And T-Mobile and Cingular use different varieties of GSM. Verizon is still the king. They may not technically have the most coverage anymore, but cingular's coverage doesn't actually work very well most of the time. Verizon has the largest, most functional system, and they know it and charge for it. But they may fall hard if they can't get their tech updates smoothly.

Verizon isn't much of a king. At least not in my area (Chicago). The best service here is Cingular or U.S. Cellular, but even then, Cingular has the best service, signal, and overall quality.

And almost all carriers still run the old networks because there are still people who don't have new phones such as my parents who have been using the same Nokia phones since 1994(!).

 

[Prez1082]

Verizon is behind the times, they still use the old networks instead of GSM which is what Spring/Cingular/ everyone else use. Thats why there is no RAZR for Verizon. And they don't have Rollover or anything else that makes me want to use their service. I think I'll change to Cingular when my Verizon contract is up.

Actually Sprint uses CDMA (the same as Verizon) and there is a CDMA version of the RAZR coming out.

The big thing I don't really understand is why would apple support such a product? Are people going to abandon their iPods in favor of this phone? Won't this phone act like a shuffle, thus cannabolizing (sp) that product as well...

 

[Dahl]

So it going to be an "iTune Phone" and not an "iTunes Phone" ?
Not that it matters greatly.

 

[technocoy]

the reason apple is doing this...

is because they see that, as much as they don't like it, that the mobile phone IS becoming the be all convergeance device... it's becoming what the PDA wanted to be. If they don't get in on these early product experiments young hipsters will start to purchse the sony ericsson walkman phone and the likes and the iPod itself will start to slip in marketshare. I could definitely see apple eventually creating some type of iPod/smartphone device. they are biding their time just like they did with MP3 players so they can see what this new "convergeance" craze brings, and then slap it with a beautiful product that instantly "get's it right" and own another product segment. Apple is essentially becoming a daytrader of sorts in the media device realm, as they realize that trends change and that those same trends are also tied to the latest technnology. It could work out quite nice for them.

 

[jrober]

We'll get there. So are they still charging licensing fees to own a television? Talk about weird! That's freakin' nuts.

mmm off topic I know but I would rather pay the modest licence fee and enjoy ad free high quality interactive digital television, digital radio and excellent web services (BBC) than the "This programme is brought to you by x, y," & "After these messages" commercial broadcasting in the US.

Looking forward to the phone, just need to find a way to get my co to buy me a new one. Oh dear my old phone has stopped working