possible bad news for the iPhone? the LG Dare

[surferfromuk]

It's certainly remarkable that it took Apple to wake all these companies up out of their stagnation.

All these so called incredible tech orientated phone companies, who have been making phones for decades, have been caught napping and have demonstrated that they lacked ANY kind of real vision to take the phone platform forward. They had the entire phone racket to themselves for years and did nothing with it...

Case in point - there is essentially nothing significantly different from a 2008 RAZR than there is from a 1997 StarTac...

Suddenly Apple turns up and has shown them all how to make the UI work on a phone - and what happens - they all try to copy it - shamelessly - and naturally fall short...

Still plenty of people will buy it..

competition ? Copytition more like...

 

[matthutch]

Not to start a fight or anything I think the introduction of the Dare, along with any new phone (smart phone, touch or otherwise) that comes out is a good thing.

The more competition with the iPhone the better, it will only push Apple to try harder and to make their offerings better

Personally I don't like the interface of the Dare, and am not the biggest fan of LG after having some of their previous phones (not Smart phones), but if there are people out there who think this is better than the iPhone for whatever reason and choose to buy one I say good on them, hopefully Apple will get the feedback and improve their product to suit.

 

[kdarling]

It's certainly remarkable that it took Apple to wake all these companies up out of their stagnation. ...

Apple is a newcomer, and didn't have to support years of keypad devices with tiny memory and small cpus. Certainly makes it easier when the hardware has been developed by and for other companies.

Yes, things were not moving as fast before, but the movement to touch and better browsers was certainly there before Apple came along.

For one thing, almost all PDAs for ten years had been mostly touchscreens, with keyboards coming along just lately, and integration into phones almost as recent.

For another, concept phones like the Synaptics Onyx and the Benq existed before the iPhone was shown. Other concepts that were in works at the time or long before include these.

What Apple did, more than anything, was twofold: first, they forced every company to push their R&D out of the lab and into consumer hands a little faster. Second, they raised the public awareness of smartphones. Both these things have been good for us, and for all phone makers.

But the majority of consumers still buy simple candybar or flip phones as always. The world hasn't changed overnight.

 

[QCassidy352]

the biggest draw for the iphone is the fact that it's an ipod. Plan and simple.

That's certainly true for me. Unless there's another phone out there that can sync perfectly with itunes, I'd end up carrying both a phone and an ipod. Having experienced carrying just an iphone, I'm not going back to multiple devices, no matter what else another phone can do.

 

[newyorksole]

I agree that no matter what another phone can do, I think I'll stick with my iPhone. The UI+Design+Apps Store+Awesome Features is enough reason for me to stick with AT&T/Apple through this iPhone era.

 

[lonnielove]

exactly...i haven't seen ANYONE with it

I have one its better than the att vu, but the one from hoerizion. looks a little better.

 

[kdarling]

2. Other companies trying to offer the other carriers (non AT&T) a competing product to use is great since Apple won't.

Heck, other companies are offering competing products to AT&T... and AT&T is taking them... because Apple can't give their own product everything people want.

AT&T didn't stop with selling just the iPhone, not by a long shot. They continue to add as many hot smartphones as they can, from Tilts to Blackberries to the LG Vu... and possibly the HTC Diamond before long.

As a consumer, you just have to love it.

 

[savanahrose]

I looked on the computer at the phones with the Microsoft OS. It actually made my skin crawl. You say that this is not a real os and just a mobile one? My niece worked at Verizon before she went into the Air Force and she was saying that it was an actual OS and it was better than an iphone. I kept telling her it wasn't an actual OS and it wasn't better than an iphone.
When I looked at the pics of it, I just kept thinking viruses and windows freezing up.
Haven't had any problems with my iphone since I have had it. Thank you Apple and Steve Jobs.

 

[MacFly123]

You know the LG Prada came out before the iPhone was even unveiled, don't you.

Would you get over yourself? This debate has happened about a trillion times and anyone in here could tell you that the iPhone was being designed, conceived, prototyped, and produced 2 years before that stupid phone came out. Just because they happened to announce it first doesn't mean Apple ripped them off!

 

[Archie-]

Would you get over yourself? This debate has happened about a trillion times and anyone in here could tell you that the iPhone was being designed, conceived, prototyped, and produced 2 years before that stupid phone came out. Just because they happened to announce it first doesn't mean Apple ripped them off!

Did I say Apple ripped LG off? Its the opposite accusation thats being flung around all the time. How about people who keep accusing LG of ripping of the iPhone just shut up, for the same reason you stated above - If jobs started working on the iPhone in 2005, then LG started working on the Prada in 2004.

And for the people who ask where the Prada is now, its gone on to develop into other products like the LG Viewty and of course the Dare, causing LG to increase their market share and sell 23.6 million phones in Q1 2008 (vs Apple's measly 1.7 million)

 

[mattrobs]

...causing LG to increase their market share and sell 23.6 million phones in Q1 2008 (vs Apple's measly 1.7 million)

Measly? Tell that to Apple's shareholders rolling in profit. Sales numbers is no way to measure the success of a company.

 

[drchipinski]

It's certainly remarkable that it took Apple to wake all these companies up out of their stagnation.


competition ? Copytition more like...

You can not be that biased.... Did Apple create everything first?

 

[brian250]

LG DARE? - The thing is the way this phone will feel in your hand, they way the screen will flex when touched, the seemingly cheap materials it is made from. These phones are not nice things to hold in your hand, IMHO.

The interface and OS are another separate debate. Apple has created an incredibly simple and intuitive way to operate a phone. Nothing I have seen comes anywhere near as good. Jobs reckoned the iPhone was 5 (10?) years ahead of the game. Looking at what LG and Samsung are now producing, he is right.

The screen - the iPhone has an incredibly clear, colorful screen. Watch a video or look at your pictures on the screen. There is nothing like it on the market. Other manufacturers use grey/black/white interfaces - there is a reason for this and its not style.

Internet, iPod and e-mail all in my pocket, in a tiny device, with great call quality which is incredibly stylish and functional. The thing about the iPhone is that some of its technical specs are not great. It makes sense that the competition would attack these aspects. Right now they just cant do the overall package as well.

iPhone 2G was a first attempt. Im sure the guys at apple are continually bashing their heads together for future ideas.

Brian.

 

[BongoBanger]

I think we have to be careful here when we use the word 'stagnation'. A lot of these companies are market led rather than innovative - they let the innovators take the risks of early implementation and then mobilise very quickly on providing competitors for the successful products. That's a business practice rather than stagnating - which is not to say some of them aren't out of ideas because they are.

To me all these new touchscreen phones are a brilliant, brilliant thing for everyone because they put pressure on the carriers to offer better and better deals to the end customer (i.e you and me) and that can't be a bad thing.

 

[Roller]

You can not be that biased.... Did Apple create everything first?

No, but historically they've done a much better job than everyone at taking existing ideas and melding them with new ones to produce compelling products. That was true of the original Mac, it was true of the iPod, and it's true of the iPhone.

If other vendors such as LG release phones that push Apple to add features to the iPhone more quickly, that's great. But none of the other smartphones that I've seen so far offer the level of integration with OS X that the iPhone does.

It's also worth noting that all we can do now is compare iPhone competitors to the existing iPhone. Although we know a lot about the iPhone's new software and the iPhone 3G, the real comparison will have to wait until July 11, when we'll be able to tell how and if third-party apps add to the iPhone experience.

 

[MacFly123]

Did I say Apple ripped LG off? Its the opposite accusation thats being flung around all the time. How about people who keep accusing LG of ripping of the iPhone just shut up, for the same reason you stated above - If jobs started working on the iPhone in 2005, then LG started working on the Prada in 2004.

And for the people who ask where the Prada is now, its gone on to develop into other products like the LG Viewty and of course the Dare, causing LG to increase their market share and sell 23.6 million phones in Q1 2008 (vs Apple's measly 1.7 million)

I understand what you are saying and I agree. But there is no denying that basically every phone manufacturer is hustling to try and compete/imitate the iPhone.

There is also no denying the massive impact the iPhone has had on the entire industry. I will be laughing at you in the next few years when as many people that have iPods right now have iPhones instead, maybe then you will understand the magnitude of future mobile computing and the foundation that Apple is laying right now! Then maybe you will also realize why the entire industry is scared $@&%less right now and doing everything they can to imitate.

 

[Archie-]

I understand what you are saying and I agree. But there is no denying that basically every phone manufacturer is hustling to try and compete/imitate the iPhone.

There is also no denying the massive impact the iPhone has had on the entire industry. I will be laughing at you in the next few years when as many people that have iPods right now have iPhones instead, maybe then you will understand the magnitude of future mobile computing and the foundation that Apple is laying right now! Then maybe you will also realize why the entire industry is scared $@&%less right now and doing everything they can to imitate.

I dont think you understand the scale of the industry. There must be about 150 million ipods sold in total, with an installed base of probably around 70 million.

If Apple sold iPhones as fast as it sold iPod's it would still make it a bit player. Its like if Bill Gates woke up with Steve Jobs's net worth he would kill himself. The cellphone indistry is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to the cellphone industry.

In one quarter Nokia would have outshipped the whole iPod installed base, and in 2 quarters they would have outshipped the whole ipod cumulative sales since 2002.

Apple's iPod sales would only qualify it as "other" in the cellphone market.

 

[benzslrpee]

screw the LG/iPhone argument, http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=547 this was around in 2003.

i have no idea why LG/Samsung is so touted here when in Asia they are just looked upon as what they really are: tech wannabes that are best at copying successful designs. doesn't mean what they are making is bad but just never really original. oh and i guess when there are no oustanding designs to be copied they just make their own stuff which generally isn't all that bad.

all the LG Dare can do is to chase The Cool (any William Gibson fans here?) known as the iPhone and i'm sure most people here know better than others that a company can't be chasing...it must be The Cool.

 

[Csmitte]

great
this phone has a better CAMERA than my iPhone
well my CAMERA has a better CAMERA than this phone. And a bigger screen too. 3 inches? go big or go home LG

I dont care if they release a touchscreen phone with a cinema quality video camera in it

they can't ever compare to the iPhone because of 2 things
1. Mac OSX. Not OSX mobile, the REAL OSX
2. AppStore. 'Nuff said

Could not have said it better, I was sad to give my iPhone up for a Blackberry due to lack of service , but i swear it had to be done!

cheers

 

[drchipinski]

Could not have said it better, I was sad to give my iPhone up for a Blackberry due to lack of service , but i swear it had to be done!

cheers

Care to expand....?

 

[atl27426]

Care to expand....?

I will. The apps for the iphone really are not great when it comes to real world business use. Apple always creates a product that works really well if we lived in an all Apple world, with that being said we live in an all Windows world.

The Blackberry still blows away the iPhone and will for years to come. Current sales of the Blackberry still more than doublt that of the iPhone. I believe the latest numbers were Blackberry 48%, iPhone 19% and Palm 13%.

While Apple makes well thought out products that work well the problem is they are not compatible with the rest of the world.

I work for the largest IT company in the world, cool doesn't mean much the product has to function correctly with the rest of the business world. The iPhone like most other Apple products does not meet that need.

Using both platforms for many years Windows and OSX I say this without any bias towards either. Just my own personal experience.

 

[MacFly123]

I dont think you understand the scale of the industry. There must be about 150 million ipods sold in total, with an installed base of probably around 70 million.

If Apple sold iPhones as fast as it sold iPod's it would still make it a bit player. Its like if Bill Gates woke up with Steve Jobs's net worth he would kill himself. The cellphone indistry is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to the cellphone industry.

In one quarter Nokia would have outshipped the whole iPod installed base, and in 2 quarters they would have outshipped the whole ipod cumulative sales since 2002.

Apple's iPod sales would only qualify it as "other" in the cellphone market.

I was referring to the iPod penetration of the USA but with iPhones world wide.

P.S. Your logic is flawed because those are numbers for ALL PHONES, the iPhone is a smart phone, therefore that is not an accurate comparison.

 

[Phil A.]

screw the LG/iPhone argument, http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=547 this was around in 2003.

i have no idea why LG/Samsung is so touted here when in Asia they are just looked upon as what they really are: tech wannabes that are best at copying successful designs. doesn't mean what they are making is bad but just never really original. oh and i guess when there are no oustanding designs to be copied they just make their own stuff which generally isn't all that bad.

all the LG Dare can do is to chase The Cool (any William Gibson fans here?) known as the iPhone and i'm sure most people here know better than others that a company can't be chasing...it must be The Cool.

Don't forget the Motorola A920, which was one of the first 3G touchscreen phones available in the UK (think it was late 2003 / early 2004, but not 100% sure) - it ran (IIRC) Symbian OS, had A-GPS, and a media player built in. It also had a rotating camera that could face back for camera mode or forwards for video calling (!). It was also a total brick weighing in at around 210 grammes!
For it's time though, very advanced.

 

[Archie-]

I was referring to the iPod penetration of the USA but with iPhones world wide.

P.S. Your logic is flawed because those are numbers for ALL PHONES, the iPhone is a smart phone, therefore that is not an accurate comparison.

Firstly, the comparison is perfectly valid, as this very thread is about a dumb phone challenging the iphone.

Secondly, are you seriously saying Apple will do much better worldwide than last time, with regional encumbents like Nokia and Samsung/LG are gunning for their blood?

 

[Belly-laughs]

I was referring to the iPod penetration of the USA but with iPhones world wide.

P.S. Your logic is flawed because those are numbers for ALL PHONES, the iPhone is a smart phone, therefore that is not an accurate comparison.

i don't think it's accurate to compare with the installed ipod user base as the market for mp3-players is far smaller than that of phones. i'd argue that the iphone may catch a large portion of the cell phone market in addition to a large portion of the current ipod base.

likely the iphone will become a far bigger player than the ipod ever was.

let's let the guns rest until the 11th, perhaps it now caters the specialized needs of business users, if not photographers.