iPhone Competitor Talking Points Revealed

[Peace]

These talking points are useless for a lot of people ( like me ) who are getting an iPhone regardless.And there are a lot of people out there that feel the same way.

 

[avah12]

Music Manager?

Even though Verizon makes a few good points, like the lack of voice activated calling, (which with a completely non tactile phone is very important), there is something I have an issue with. Their Music Manager. Do they not realize that a large chunk of the iPhone people are Mac users? How are they gonna use this program as a selling point if it only works with Windows XP?!

 

[Bartleby84]

- No "Song ID" feature on iPhone

Song ID is actually a Verizon feature where you can use your phone to send a snippet of a playing song to them and they'll tell you what it is (and let you buy it off of their music store). AT&T actually DOES have this feature as well, called MusicID although I suppose it's conceivable that iPhone won't support this.

 

[bigmc6000]

And I thought I wasn't gonna get a good laugh today!!

The real question is if you really want an iPhone are you going to stop by your local Sprint/Verizon store to ask them about it? Umm, uh, no...

What I find absolutely hilarious is that Verizon says stay near a plug - WTH?!?! iPhone has the longest battery life of any smart phone on the planet (from what I've read on cnet.com). I would assume they tell all their business customers to stay near a plug as well???

FUD is one thing but corporate sponsored FUD is just plane tacky... (see the sheep campaign put out by SanDisk that they quickly yanked).

But honestly tho - it is a terribly funny way to start the day 🙂

 

[antpod]

- Unprotected music can be transfered to their Verizon phone using Music Manager software.

What? Only bought songs on Itunes transfer to Iphone?

 

[nagromme]

Stay near a plug with 8 hour talk time? While their OWN smartphones claim only 2.5 to 4 hours? Now reduce all those from best-case to real-world and what do you have? A seller of a 2-hour phone telling you not to get a 7.5-hour phone (see recent reviews) because you'll need to stay near a plug? 😛 Maybe they figure since those other phones are so thick anyway, and sometimes (like Motorola Q) cost more over 2 years than an iPhone, that you may as well add cost and bulk by carrying spare batteries with you 🙂

What? Only bought songs on Itunes transfer to Iphone?

Fear not--it all transfers to iPhone.

This article is about what competitors are claiming or implying. Much of which is misleading.

 

[n00basaur]

I think yg17 will make this thread his homepage.

 

[TenaciousPZ]

stay near a plug? lol omg

That applies to every phone Verizon has sold me since 2000.

**** them.

 

[pmppk]

Song ID

AT&T DOES in fact offer a song ID service (and was the first US carrier to do so over two years ago).

http://www.wireless.att.com/source/music/musicid.aspx

 

[dartzorichalcos]

I think they are envious. Nothing beats the design and technology of the iPhone in mobile phones. Sure, the iPhone could be improved more but I think iPhone is the best mobile phone out there. I'll get it in a year or two.

 

[gregdig]

they should have mentioned the outrageous price tag for a freaking phone.😱

I believe that's what the "watch your wallet" meant.

 

[chabig]

Built in battery on the iPhone is really pushing it.

Why? I've never replaced a battery on any cell phone I've owned.

 

[nagromme]

Even though Verizon makes a few good points, like the lack of voice activated calling, (which with a completely non tactile phone is very important), there is something I have an issue with.

Voice rec would be a nice addition for totally blind dialing. I hope Apple adds it. However, it's generally quicker to tap than to speak.

Think of the 3 interfaces we have for computers: keyboard only (DOS), mouse (Mac), and voice commands. Keyboard users might have wished for voice command, but mouse users know that voice doesn't save them any time. Who here actually uses OS X's voice commands? They're cool, but most people can point to something faster than the words are out of their mouth. The iPhone touchscreen is like the mouse for phones. It leapfrogs voice dialing in many situations.

they should have mentioned the outrageous price tag for a freaking phone.😱

That would only work if many other phones didn't cost MORE than an iPhone, which some do unsubsidized. And with a plan, even a Motorola Q costs more than an iPhone over 2 years. iPhone's cheap data plans are a real benefit. (Not to mention how much more you spend if you buy a phone AND a music player to lug separately.)

Of course, if you don't want Internet, you can get MUCH cheaper phones and plans.

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

i love how stupid these phone companies have become when it comes to trying to trash the iPhone. Even though the hype is at at all time high fever pitch, there is no reason for those idiotic phone companies to blabber on about the iPhone and not cover their own phones. Have you guys ever used a treo700, moto Q or tmobile dash? i've owned the latter two, and i'll lump the treo in there, but the battery life is terrible for a smart fone, and each day i had to charge my phone because stupid verizon and tmobile didnt think that a high speed data service would kill the battery life. Also, try the UI on any verizon fone. Seeing how complicated it is to just send a text message on almost every vzn fone, im not surprised they never felt the need to mention this. The Q doesnt even have a very good keyboard. I'm always messing up on mine, and it just doesnt cut it when it comes to the internet, seeing that the wi-fi wasnt a feature when i bought mine. On top of that, the dash's interface is too cluttered and is rife with bugs to where i have to reboot the thing due to crashes every single day. There is no need for songID because att already has that, and who cares for a stupid feature like that, its not going to cover up for things like that. VZN, worry about the fact that in my college town, college station, me and my friends get no service indoors and are lucky to get service outdoors. Likewise in htown. T-mobile needs to also cover its service problem in NYC before it can start talking. I could barely get a call to go through, and i live in manhattan in the summers. iPhone will finally force them to have to change and be competitive again, and they are crappin their pants cuz they actually have to be innovative for the first time...

 

[SLiM620]

What is the "song id" feature they mention?

It's the feature where you hear a song hold your phone up to the speaker and it recognizes the song and you can buy it i've tried it and it does work but it only works on one Verizon phone and the phone is a piece

 

[JonasLondon]

I am sooo getting an iPhone when they come to the UK.

I fell for the Nokia "designed for business" yadda yadda when I bought an expensive E61 last year. What a nightmare. 😡 😱 😡 Yes, the E61 screen is not bad, nice even. Yes, I can view webpages on the E61 quite alright, they have *some* zoom/overview functionality. But OMG does the E61 phone suck when it comes to a) connecting to a WiFi network - this took AGES before it was half-way decent. and then the keyboard... My phone is now less than a year old, but on the second keypad repair (of course, you're without a decent phone whilst they repair it). Now the joystick on the E61 is "locked" in the up position - i.e. as soon as I touch it, it starts going up-up-up in every window/application, i.e. the E61 phone is utterly useless. A brick, which I am considering throwing into the Thames river any day. 🙁

Go - you have ONE button. I know this will be a superb thing. And I'll intend to use it for business, screw Exchange, that's not a mailserver anyway. We run XServe with the lot, and that works a gazillion times better for us. 🙂

 

[A Pittarelli]

same **** different pile

 

[gifford]

From the reports it looks like the iPhones battery is phenomenal. Not sure what their argument is there.

I agree.

I have never had to change the battery of ANY of my phones in the past, so I dont expect to have to change the iPhone battery anyway.

Also, I have never had a phone last more than 1 year. They get lost/stolen, fall down the toilet, fall in my pint of cider, the joystick breaks, or they just stop working altogether. If the iPhone lasts me till the end of the battery life, I'm a very happy man!

 

[hakala01]

Meebo for IM?

Edge and IM are real issues in my opinion. I live on IM. It's one of the main ways I chat with co-workers and friends. Edge on the other hand wont be as much of a pain. My home and vacation home both have wireless networks. Most coffee shops have wireless networks. I could see a problem when I'm on traveling, but I've lived without it for years, so who knows.

I haven't really used it this yet, but came across it this morning, but wouldn't something like www.meebo.com work for IM'ing on the iPhone? It's a web-based app, so I would think it would.

 

[riddick021]

This is great I hope the iPhone steals customers away from Verizon and knocks them off of their high horse. For too long they have been offering crippled devices with the saving grace of having a strong network. Maybe when they lose a bunch of customers they will realize that you can't remain top dog forever if you don't innovate. Personally I like sprint. There service might not be the strongest in some areas but the don't cripple their devices and they have great prices. I pay $50 a month after taxes for my Nextel Blackberry with 500 mins, unlimited data, free N & W, and free direct connect. I wont be buying an iPhone anytime soon since I already have a sweet deal but I hope it does well. I also hope that Apple doesn't get too big headed from its success and stop innovating.

 

[sminman]

What Does This Mean?

How long does it take to activate my new iPhone?
Activation times can vary, but if you’re setting up a new line, it may take as little as a few minutes. If you’re porting a number from another carrier, it could take longer. While you’re waiting, you can make calls but not receive them.

Do this mean you can make emergency calls with the iPhone while you don't have a sim card in it?

Or are they talking about making calls with your old service provider while waiting to get transfered to AT&T?

I didn't quite understand what they meant?😕

 

[MacinDoc]

Is that right? Doe the iPhone's phone functionality work in WiFi Hotspots where there's no GSM/EDGE AT&T signal, would that work in any WiFi hotspot or does AT&T have a WiFi hotspot network in the US?

I imagine the other carriers are talking phone reception right?

Since they are talking about EDGE, they are talking about data transfer. EDGE is irrelevant for simple phone functions.

 

[khurrram]

is it safe to presume that iPhone comes with a wall plugin charger? consider they stopped shipping them with 4G and 5G ipods .. haven't read anything about iPhone coming with a charger either? .. cheers

 

[Stella]

Some of the points are quite valid, such as no IM ( I've personally found IM very useful - my favourite client being IM+ ) and 4GB expansion cards are available too.

I'd also point out the non removal battery too.

However, there's no need for spouting inaccurate information, that doesn't do anyone good and make Sprint / Verizon etc less trust worthy.

 

[ocyrus]

Edge and IM are real issues in my opinion. I live on IM. It's one of the main ways I chat with co-workers and friends. Edge on the other hand wont be as much of a pain. My home and vacation home both have wireless networks. Most coffee shops have wireless networks. I could see a problem when I'm on traveling, but I've lived without it for years, so who knows.

http://www.meebo.com/