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AT&T Sells Out of HTC First Inventory at $0.99, Compares Experience to Apple's Motorola ROKR Experiment
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brace yourselves, another flop facebook phone is coming
if facebook really wants their phone to do well, they should introduce a high end phone.
hahahaha...good one.
i agree with you, they should bring out a high end phone if they want to survive in the smartphone industry.
And Wall Street praises Android for such high sales numbers and high market share. C'mon. What would anyone expect if you're practically giving a product away. How's that anything to brag about? Wall Street believes these sort of tactics are going to put Apple out of the smartphone business. It's an unsustainable sales strategy at best. Moving lots of products doesn't mean very much at all, especially if its a product that's not even going to be used by the purchaser and if the purchaser has an unfavorable experience, it certainly isn't going to help the platform. So for every HTC First Inventory sold, Google rings up an activation and Wall Street starts drooling. How's that drool-worthy. We're talking about a buck and a huge financial loss on someone's part.
"We sold a bunch more when we lowered the price, (to $0.99)"
Ahh, the ol, "we're losing money on em, but we're making it up in volume" approach.
Ahh, the ol, "we're losing money on em, but we're making it up in volume" approach.
Apple supposedly had 1000 engineers on the iPhone project by 2004, so the direction of iTunes on mobile devices was determined before the release of Rokr. So why was it (the Rokr) released? Some suggest it was a 'headfake' to throw any possible attention off their phone project.
Can the same be said for Facebook? Was this a "chat-head fake" and there's another project on the side? IMO, no.
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GACK! I remember the ROKR. I almost bought one, until I discovered it blew huge chunks. It had a VERY low storage area. Like what, 40 songs or something.
The iPhone is far better. I wonder how Motorola hobbled the ROKR and why Apple let them... I'll bet that is a story worth telling, that likely won't be...
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And the majority of their users won't be able to afford it... They could price themselves out of the market, or start a crime wave among the teenagers and deadbeats that are hooked on the service.
The iPhone is far better. I wonder how Motorola hobbled the ROKR and why Apple let them... I'll bet that is a story worth telling, that likely won't be...
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brace yourselves, another flop facebook phone is coming
if facebook really wants their phone to do well, they should introduce a high end phone.
And the majority of their users won't be able to afford it... They could price themselves out of the market, or start a crime wave among the teenagers and deadbeats that are hooked on the service.
They got the name wrong. It will be know in smartphone history as:
- The HTC Facepalm, or
- The HTC Failbook
Take your pick
- The HTC Facepalm, or
- The HTC Failbook
Take your pick
In my opinion Apple should release an iTunes app for Windows and Android phones.
There are plenty of people out there who don't want an iPhone but want to be able to download their songs straight from iTunes to their phone. iTunes is one of the biggest digital media companies around, if not the biggest. They blow Google play out of the water and if the rumours about Apple tying up exclusive content deals are true then more people will want access to iTunes. If Apple did this I think they would pretty much put to bed any of competition they have or at least make their position insurmountable.
It's a shame really, this was a cheap phone, not cutting edge specs, but decent. All it took was a few taps to completely disable Facebook Home, and you had a cheap, decent phone with a 4.3 inch screen running Stock Jelly Bean.
Facebook Home was literally a Launcher they bundled with it.
Facebook Home was literally a Launcher they bundled with it.
I bought a used ROKR for $20 a few months before the iPhone was released because my flip phone broke. I still have it sitting in a box somewhere. Something to be said about that slim, small candybar phone and a phone bill a fraction what I pay now.
But they would have to fight the same issue as other app developers due to the various different form factors and components. It would probably be worth it in the long run, but could open a can of worms, and is there any way that a company like Nokia, etc, could work around their authentication and security and possibly reverse engineer it? Interesting idea... It would also level the playing field, and iTunes is the 'lure' that helps get people to want the iPhone...
Wow, can you imagine that? People are complaining about the font on iOS 7... well at least it's just ONE font they use... haha!
In the end, the HTC First failed for one reason: cellphone users didn't want the all the time Facebook experience of this phone.
Creating a phone which is centred around just one thing, a social network, is a recipe for total disaster. If Facebook is a selling point for a company's products, then that company is in trouble and I would think a new marketing strategy would be wise; think of something AMAZING to make your handsets the "must have" - Apple seem to have done it... just don't try and *copy* iOS or "topple" it, as you'll just topple yourself - USE YOUR IMAGINATIONS FOR GOODNESS SAKE!
Next we're gonna see Google bringing out a mobile platform where Google is at the core of everything... wait... nah, noone's that stupid