Sprint Directly Targeting iPhone and AT&T in New Palm Pre Ad

[bruinsrme]

At&t is the weak link in this whole equation- Really with the iPhone being updated on a yearly basis they need to rethink their subsidary policies... but here isn't the place to rant.

I just hope the FCC opens it up so we can use the iPhone to the full extent it's capable of.

Maybe At&t needs to see the pre's success to light the fire under their butts.

Why is ATT the weak link?

Maybe if Apple didn't place so many restrictions on Verizon things woud have been different.
maybe apple will open up the iPhone so users can get more out of their phone instead of depending on jailbreaking.

Why should ATT change their subsidary prices/policy, apple sure as hell doesn't subsidize your cost in purchasing a new computer after they refresh their line up 1 year after you buy.

 

[csmitty]

I agree with the last guy. I use maybe 200min/month on my phone. I send the occasional text and sometimes I go over 200/mo but that's rare. I mostly use 3G data (Facebook, MR, web browsing, AIM, email, etc). My bill per month is about $85 AFTER taxes. So if I switched to Sprint, I'd have to shell out about an extra $683!

I guess that's what all that fine print on Sprint's ad is for.

I'm in the same boat, and the person I used to talk to the most on Tmobile I don't talk to much anymore, so i might use 100mins. Mine is $72 after taxes
Why pay more for something I wouldn't use. But I guess thats just the rational people talk. I havn't even used iCall once.

 

[cerote]

Some of you guys are missing the fact that it's AT&T and not Apple that Sprint is targeting here. AT&T is undoubtedly the weak link in the iPhone's ecosystem. And while the savings numbers are padded (though possible) their underlying point is a reasonable one - AT&T's plans are simply nowhere near as good as Sprint's. Sprint's coverage issues are a thing of the past, and their data network is solid.

They target Apple in the second sentence, which is the one before they are even targeting ATT. The one where they say it can run multiple apps at once in real time.
I have 4 lines on my plan, 1 iPhone, and my bill is only 150$ a month. I have unlimited text and mms for all the lines. It doesn't bother my about unlimited minutes, everyone I talk to have ATT or they text.

Coverage with ATT works everywhere I go. I travel many times to Oklahoma, upstate New York, and Washington. Everywhere that I go the coverage is always there and in 3g.

 

[iphones4evry1]

I blame AT&T for charging so much per month. It's absolutely ridiculous. This advertisement goes to show that Sprint was able to do it for $1200 less. Note to AT&T: Adapt or become extinct.

After demo-ing a Pre, I have to say that although I like my iPhone3G better, especially with the App Store, iPod, bigger screen, and touch keyboard, the Pre can do a lot and in my opinion is the #2 smart phone on the market behind the iPhone. And I'm going to admit that there are some things it does just as good as the iPhone and one thing it does better (multiple apps open). In the end though, I still like my iPhone3G better.

New York Times FULL PAGE ad for Sprint Pre: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Palm-Pre-FullPage-Ad-Takes-A-siliconalley-2684132109.html?x=0&.v=4

 

[ZacUSNYR]

That pre looks like a cheap pile. I'd take the half eaten apple over the pre and throw it at the side of a sprint store door.

I had sprint/nextel. Never again.

AT&T and Verizon only from now on. I'll gladdy pay more a month.

 

[bytethese]

I blame AT&T for charging so much per month. It's absolutely ridiculous. This advertisement goes to show that Sprint was able to do it for $1200 less. Note to AT&T: Adapt or become extinct.

So since Sprint is using "fudged" numbers, AT&T has to adapt? Sprint should compare "Apples to Apples" so to speak. As I posted above, my AT&T plan would be about $683 less than what Sprint is touting.

Show me the Palm Pre's plan with minimal voice minutes and minimal texting plan along with unlimited data, then we'll see how far off the numbers are.

 

[ryanw]

Yes, but do you have an unlimited everything plan? Do you need one? I seriously can't understand how someone would, what with free in-network calling, nights and weekends, and IM and email supplementing SMS. I don't even use my measley 450 minutes/200 messages per month because of those factors.

Yah, you're not the targeted demographics for this. I use over 4500 minutes a month. unlimited everything is my only option.

 

[iphones4evry1]

Competition is a great thing and hopefully things like this will spur ATT to consider the cost of their data plans and affect their pricing for things like tethering, which I'm afraid to even guess what the price will be for that.

You are definitely right that competition is a good thing. But, with AT&T now having to deal with the extra bandwidth of Youtube video uploads, MMS by the "end of summer" (iPhone MMS supports video messaging on Apple's website), and possibly tethering in the future, adding more and more users, and having to upgrade to 7.2Mbps, I don't expect AT&T's data fees to be heading south any time soon. HOWEVER, what AT&T does need to do though is lower the VOICE fees. Most people today consume a lot more data and text msgs than voice minutes. The current system is disproportionate with reality and needs to be updated.

THIS IS WHAT THE FCC SHOULD BE LOOKING INTO!

 

[SFStateStudent]

Sprint is actually on to something; there's so many things the iPhone hasn't been able to do, such as cut & paste, MMS, tethering and drag & drop; (except for the cut & paste) after two YEARS!!! Let's give credit to Palm Pre for targeting AT&T & Apple....

 

[iWork]

AT&T has on numerous occasion revealed that iPhone 3G ARPU is north of $95. Essentially, the average AT&T iPhone 3G subscriber pays close to $100. Further benefit to AT&T is the fact that iPhone users exhibit less churn than their AT&T peers.

Sprint's service is certainly more affordable than AT&T's. Sprint's price to performance ratio is certainly far greater than AT&T's here in NYC. YMMV depending on Sprint's coverage in your area.

This ad is a shot at AT&T. The effect will however be minimal as polls have shown that iPhone users do not identify with AT&T, but with Apple.

 

[bytethese]

Yah, you're not the targeted demographics for this. I use over 4500 minutes a month. unlimited everything is my only option.

How long have you had your hack license?

 

[eastercat]

Hmm . . . the advertisement would be more compelling for me with the following:
Emphasize the ability to save money, no matter which plan is used. Because Sprint's basic voice+data plan also kicks in unlimited texts, that'd save $20/month (which is the price for AT&T's unlimited text plan). Personally, it'd save me the expense of being dinged for text messages, since I don't have a text messaging plan.
If they have a great network, emphasize that too. AT&T has one of the bigger networks. I perceive Sprint to have a smaller one that has less coverage. While one piece of advertisement can't convey that, repeating the message helps.

If they're smart, they'll have a series of advertisements. The general one and others that focus on specific features, related to the network, price, etc., but that's just my thoughts.
It's easy to picture one where there's text on the Pre that says something like "Free unlimited text messaging". The text would say, you can save up to $20/month on text messages with their included text messaging plan. For parents, this might be attractive--considering how much their little spawn like to text.

My $0.02.

 

[spazzcat]

But it is indeed a phone. How could one not understand why some people would want over 1000 min/m or unlimited texting? How is that far fetched or hard to understand? It was already a couple years ago that mobile phones outnumbered traditional landlines home phones. People here should be happy Sprint offers $99 per year for unlimited EVERYTHING. Why is competition so bad here? The attitude reminds me of North Korea's. How dare Sprint speak out against the glorious iphone in ANY way or form-- fire the nukes at them! Wipe Sprint and others off the planet so ATT can jack the prices up even more-- only then will MR visitors be truly happy!

I have no issues with competition, I have had Sprint in the past. It was the worse of the three. And I have used all three. They have the worse coverage and more important they have the worst customer service. You get what you pay for in this case and I would love to see ATT lower their plans, but at this time they are not being forced too...

 

[spazzcat]

I blame AT&T for charging so much per month. It's absolutely ridiculous. This advertisement goes to show that Sprint was able to do it for $1200 less. Note to AT&T: Adapt or become extinct.

After demo-ing a Pre, I have to say that although I like my iPhone3G better, especially with the App Store, iPod, bigger screen, and touch keyboard, the Pre can do a lot and in my opinion is the #2 smart phone on the market behind the iPhone. And I'm going to admit that there are some things it does just as good as the iPhone and one thing it does better (multiple apps open). In the end though, I still like my iPhone3G better.

New York Times FULL PAGE ad for Sprint Pre: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Palm-Pre-FullPage-Ad-Takes-A-siliconalley-2684132109.html?x=0&.v=4

I like to know, what have pre owners seen with battery life? Because this is the #1 reason Apple isn't doing multitasking

 

[iHalo]

This is a really dumb move on sprint's part. They just ruined their relationship with Apple. If they were smart, they would be courting Apple to put an iPhone on their network. Oh well, their millions lost.

 

[QCassidy352]

Yah, you're not the targeted demographics for this. I use over 4500 minutes a month. unlimited everything is my only option.

that's about 2.5 hours a day on a cell phone, excluding nights, weekends, and in network calling. ...how?

Sprint is actually on to something; there's so many things the iPhone hasn't been able to do, such as cut & paste, MMS, tethering and drag & drop; (except for the cut & paste) after two YEARS!!! Let's give credit to Palm Pre for targeting AT&T & Apple....

- C&P is here now, so however long it took to get it, it's not a selling point any more
- MMS and tethering are both coming, soonish. If you're so desperate for those things that you'd switch to sprint rather than wait a couple of months, you probably didn't have an iphone in the first place.
- drag and drop is one I can't figure out - it was an option on ipods from the start, and now that the iphone is at 32 GB, it should really be an option there too. But there are 3rd party apps that accomplish this rather easily, so no big deal. And can you even do this on a Pre? It's not something I've heard discussed much.

 

[iluvgr8tdeals]

Reminds me of car adverts, Kia vs Toyota/Honda...

Sprint's adverts of the Palm Pre remind me of the car adverts of the Kia brand, when they tout the many advantages and more features packed into their car compared to the Toyota or Honda. The fact that the Kia has more features than the Toyota/Honda, and sells for thousands less, does not mean that a potential car buyer shall flock to buy the Kia. Since the Toyota/Honda is a much more durable and reliable car with a better reputation than the Kia, more people are going to buy the Toyota/Honda, regardless of the 'savings' that Kia may throw at them. (I am not bashing Kia owners, just stating their advertising tactics!) When I see a car manufacturer produce an advert comparing their car to a different car, I assume that, for the most part, the car they are comparing theirs to is the superior one. Imitation is the sincerest form of flaterry!

The iPhone is a much more superior phone. The tale of the tape tells it all. 1 Million downloads of PalmPre apps vs 1 billion iPhone/IPod Touch downloads of apple apps, 150,000 PalmPres sold vs 1 million iPhone 3gS' sold.

PalmPre simply came too late into the superior smartphone game. I was a user of the Treo series and palm pilots, and I remember owners babling endlessly on the treo/palm forums about the need for Palm to produce a phone that would compete with the iPhone. Since sales were brisk at that time and they had a loyal fan base with phones that were carried by different cell-phone providers, they did not feel the need to react. 2-3 years later, their 'loyal' fan base all have iPhones, with hardly any chatter on the treo forums! (The little chatter left is by those switching to iPhones, or those die-hard palm fans who were waiting for the new palm. Remember when the release of the treo 680 and the 750 (755) was all the rage?

Having said that, Apple should be a proactive company, listening to iPhone owners who 'babble on endlessly' about features they need on the iPhone, to avoid digging a hole like Palm did.

 

[z4n3]

There is always someone worst off

WISH!!!! we had AT&T prices in Spain!!!

90 euros ($126.65) thats JUST!! 90 euros for calls or SMS/MMS !!! NO FREE MMS O SMS!!! included

25 euros ($35.18) 1Gb traffic! 3G! goes down to 128Kbs after the 1Gb limit!!!

Total of $161.83 a month!! just to get a little bit close to a all in unlimited price plan!!!

Although I have seen a press release of a new price plan that comes out in July for a 39.00 euros a month 3Gb data plan!!! ($54.88) which is quite good!!

 

[z4n3]

snap shot

WISH!!!! we had AT&T prices in Spain!!!

90 euros ($126.65) thats JUST!! 90 euros for calls or SMS/MMS !!! NO FREE MMS O SMS!!! included

25 euros ($35.18) 1Gb traffic! 3G! goes down to 128Kbs after the 1Gb limit!!!

Total of $161.83 a month!! just to get a little bit close to a all in unlimited price plan!!!

Although I have seen a press release of a new price plan that comes out in July for a 39.00 euros a month 3Gb data plan!!! ($54.88) which is quite good!!

Pic added

 

[heckaslammin]

Sprint, here I come!

My contract is up on July 1st and I've been counting the days. I get no reception from my home in Los Angeles and on my way back from the airport the other day my call was dropped 12 times. Yes, 12. When I told AT&T about my problem the guy in customer service told me that I should've checked to see if there was coverage there before I moved. Seriously. I asked him if he really thought I should base my home-buying on whether or not AT&T gets good coverage there. He didn't respond.

I love my iPhone, my MacBook, my mobileme acct, etc., but I REFUSE to stay with a company (AT&T) who milks me dry every month and still can't supply adequate service.

What's the point of my iPhone if I can't even use the darn thing?

 

[iluvgr8tdeals]

AT&T customers, appreciate what you have...

WISH!!!! we had AT&T prices in Spain!!!

90 euros ($126.65) thats JUST!! 90 euros for calls or SMS/MMS !!! NO FREE MMS O SMS!!! included

25 euros ($35.18) 1Gb traffic! 3G! goes down to 128Kbs after the 1Gb limit!!!

Total of $161.83 a month!! just to get a little bit close to a all in unlimited price plan!!!

Although I have seen a press release of a new price plan that comes out in July for a 39.00 euros a month 3Gb data plan!!! ($54.88) which is quite good!!

Thanks for the Spain prices!

This makes me appreciate the prices and subsidies we have here in the US under AT&T, unlike in Canada where they have 3 year contracts under Rogers that are not subject to early upgrading! AT&T customers, appreciate what you have!

z4n3, I guess you cannot use your tether feature, (or use it VERY sparingly) lest you burn through your data, another reason At&T customers should be grateful!

 

[z4n3]

Thanks for the Spain prices!

This makes me appreciate the prices and subsidies we have here in the US under AT&T, unlike in Canada where they have 3 year contracts under Rogers that are not subject to early upgrading! AT&T customers, appreciate what you have!

z4n3, I guess you cannot use your tether feature, (or use it VERY sparingly) less you burn through your data, another reason At&T customers should be grateful!

Your welcome!!! it is even worst!!! if you calculate the total cost to get a iPhone for 19.00 euros you have to spend a total of 2812.94 euros (18 month minimum contract) $3,958.50 TOTAL!!!! and take into account that Movistar are stuck in the middle ages!! with STILL!! charge a connection fee of 0.15cents FOR EVERY! CALL!!! you make, on top of the call price be it 1 sec o 1 hour!!!! YOU GUYZ!!! on ATT&T do not know how good you have it!!!

 

[swajames]

that's about 2.5 hours a day on a cell phone, excluding nights, weekends, and in network calling. ...how?

It's not at all difficult - anyone with a career in professional services can easily be using 4000 to 5000 minutes per month.

 

[jediaxle]

Maybe Sprint and Palm should fix the phone first before they start attacking others. Friend just got one and it has a 3 hour battery life in stand by and gets so hot, he can barely hold it. Odd thing is according to http://forums.palm.com/palm/board/message?board.id=weboshardware&thread.id=94&view=by_date_ascending&page=1 it's because of hotmail accounts.

 

[chrissurra]

I switched from the iPhone to the Pre. Sprint has faster data, unlimited texts, MMS and unlimited tv, free turn by turn directions (the only app so far for iPhone is $95) plus the $10 monthly ATT charge.

When I went to Sprint they offered more for less money plus I get a corp discount of 25% that ATT wont allow on iPhone plans.

I loved my iPhone but the multitasking is sweet and Sprint allows me to roam onto Verizon's network for 1/4 the price. Once Apple dumps ATT I will be back.

I was a early adopter of the iPhone 2G and remember the growing pains of that device too and they had NO apps for the first year. The Pre has some growing pains but Palm has already released 2 OS upgrades.