Verizon Goes on Offensive Against iPhone Again With 'Droid Does' Teasers

[str1f3]

Wow, yeah, visual voicemail is the "killer app" and is what separates it from the competition. Seriously, this is the best you can do? The iPhone is great (I have the iPT and love it) but visual voicemail isn't really it's most compelling feature.



I don't think you really understand market competition, at all. Of course Apple is driven by competition. If they wanted to be the best at something though, they wouldn't be resting on their laurels with the OS, and putting out seriously buggy software.



Why is that when someone disagrees with someone's point, they missed it? No friend, I got your point. I just think it's way off base.

So run away now, and drink some Kool Aid. Steve's got a 32oz Big Gulp of it waiting for ya.

I love my Macs. I love my iPod Touch. But let's be realistic. Android is a legitimate threat.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...android_to_lead_mobile_os_market_in_2012.html

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/57664/report-android-will-leapfrog-the-iphone-by-2012/

And OS X 10.6 needs some serious improvements in fixing bugs and improving security to compete with Windows 7.

Yes Android is a threat but not because it builds a better mouse trap. It's because they will flood the market with Android handsets which usually was Microsoft's M.O..

The reason why this worked so well for Microsoft was that there were only two choices. One great advantage Apple has (that Google didn't unlike MS) is that there are currently 6 different OS's. This keeps all the other platforms to a lower percentage of market share because it is so fractured.

Due to this, Apple has a greater chance of dominating the smartphone market just as they did the iPod. In this situation the market will reward the best product. Apple's best chance of dominating the market depends on innovation and ease of use, both of which they are synonymous with.

 

[226896]

iDont have a real keyboard: I can type faster on the iPhone's virtual keyboard faster than I can type on any other 'real' keyboard on a mobile device. Plus, I type in Japanese mode a lot, and the buttons change to make it easier for me. Let's see your real keyboard do that.

iDont run simultaneous apps: Therefore, my battery isn't dead by the time I get out the shower in the morning. Push notifications, and the fact that most apps save where you are when you exit, make this hardly a point against the iPhone.

iDont take 5-megapixel pictures: No, it doesn't, but it has autofocus, and the lens is of a decent quality, making pictures look very nice. The quality of a picture is determined by MUCH more than just the megapixels. Seriously, people need to stop falling for the whole megapixels bait.

iDont customize: Oh dear. Go and use an iPhone before you make stupid points like this, please.

iDont run widgets: Widgets, oh **** wow, damn. I forgot how much everyone loved how useless widgets are. There's an app in the app store for about every single useless widget out there, so you're wrong again.

iDont allow open development: In other words, you can't write viruses for the iPhone. What a bummer.

iDont take pictures in the dark: You're implying that your amazing new fail phone has a flash? Okay then, let us know if that flash reaches longer than a foot away from the lens. THEN, I will call this a useful feature.

iDont have interchangable batteries: iAlso don't have rattley buttons, seems and parts all over my shell. Who carries phone batteries on them anyway..?

Wow. Another iPhone killer huh..? I can't WAIT to see how hard this one fails too. Call me a fanboy, but you know it's the truth.

 

[polaris20]

Yes Android is a threat but not because it builds a better mouse trap. It's because they will flood the market with Android handsets which usually was Microsoft's M.O..

The reason why this worked so well for Microsoft was that there were only two choices. One great advantage Apple has (that Google didn't unlike MS) is that there are currently 6 different OS's. This keeps all the other platforms to a lower percentage of market share because it is so fractured.

Due to this, Apple has a greater chance of dominating the smartphone market just as they did the iPod. In this situation the market will reward the best product. Apple's best chance of dominating the market depends on innovation and ease of use, both of which they are synonymous with.

Totally agree. I never said Android is mind-blowingly better than the iPhone OS. It's not. But it's rapid deployment upon multiple devices, coupled with it being better than nearly everything else on the market except the iPhone presents a major challenge.

iDont have a real keyboard: I can type faster on the iPhone's virtual keyboard faster than I can type on any other 'real' keyboard on a mobile device. Plus, I type in Japanese mode a lot, and the buttons change to make it easier for me. Let's see your real keyboard do that.

Anecdotal.

iDont run simultaneous apps: Therefore, my battery isn't dead by the time I get out the shower in the morning. Push notifications, and the fact that most apps save where you are when you exit, make this hardly a point against the iPhone.

Battery life on the MyTouch 3G lasts all day long.

iDont take 5-megapixel pictures: No, it doesn't, but it has autofocus, and the lens is of a decent quality, making pictures look very nice. The quality of a picture is determined by MUCH more than just the megapixels. Seriously, people need to stop falling for the whole megapixels bait.

I agree completely. Besides, for a camera phone the 3Gs does a nice job.

iDont customize: Oh dear. Go and use an iPhone before you make stupid points like this, please.

I agree to this too, but it's a subjective point as well.

iDont run widgets: Widgets, oh **** wow, damn. I forgot how much everyone loved how useless widgets are. There's an app in the app store for about every single useless widget out there, so you're wrong again.

Useless.....for you. Again, anecdotal.

iDont allow open development: In other words, you can't write viruses for the iPhone. What a bummer.

Well yeah, because there are so many viruses for Linux.

iDont take pictures in the dark: You're implying that your amazing new fail phone has a flash? Okay then, let us know if that flash reaches longer than a foot away from the lens. THEN, I will call this a useful feature.

Seeing as how you don't know the specs anymore than the rest of us, we'll all have to wait and see.

I don't have interchangable batteries: iAlso don't have rattley buttons, seems and parts all over my shell. Who carries phone batteries on them anyway..?

The MyTouch is not in any way "rattley" as you put it.

 

[X38]

I hope by the gods that Apple will never add a physical keyboard to the Iphone for the sake that it is ugly and causes blistering and calluses. The great thing about Iphone and virtual keyboard is there are no limits to what is possible. I've adapted to mine quite well and fast. It doesn't require much to learn

I agree completely. I tried www.mobiletypingtest.com and found out that I actually type as fast and accurately on my iphone as I do my desk top.

Phones with physical keyboards are the past. But there was a time when many folks ranted about how they would never use a mouse and swore they could never give up their command line interfaces for a GUI...

Besides, iDon't want to go back to Verizon.

 

[MorphingDragon]

That would be a more valid point if everything Motorola made since the original Razr wasn't a steaming pile of excrement. Oh and that every other android phone isn't providing anything unique. You could use that Motorola or an HTC Magic and not notice much difference.

I bet Apple is getting their lawyers ready for the use of "i".

 

[NJMetsHero]

No one phone will every meet the needs of every consumer on the planet. The iPhone very clearly has a place in the market, the Droid will have it's place too. I think it's going to be a big seller for Verizon based on what we've heard about it from a hardware and software standpoint. It's going to be the headliner of a wave of new great phones on Verizon. Along with Droid, you have another Android phone coming, the Storm 2, the Pre, and the enV Touch.

For people like me will never get AT&T being in the NJ/NY area, where AT&T sucks and Verizon always has service unless I'm in a subway, these phones are what I will have to choose from for the forseeable future. I'm pretty happy about that. I'll always have my iPod Touch to get my iPhone-esque functionality and access to the App Store. Next time I get a phone, 1 of the ones listed could be it unless the iPhone finds it's way onto Verizon.

Stop calling it ugly and saying how much it sucks. The few people who've actually seen/handled it in person say it's the best phone they've seen come to market since the iPhone.

 

[str1f3]

No one phone will every meet the needs of every consumer on the planet. The iPhone very clearly has a place in the market, the Droid will have it's place too. I think it's going to be a big seller for Verizon based on what we've heard about it from a hardware and software standpoint. It's going to be the headliner of a wave of new great phones on Verizon. Along with Droid, you have another Android phone coming, the Storm 2, the Pre, and the enV Touch.

For people like me will never get AT&T being in the NJ/NY area, where AT&T sucks and Verizon always has service unless I'm in a subway, these phones are what I will have to choose from for the forseeable future. I'm pretty happy about that. I'll always have my iPod Touch to get my iPhone-esque functionality and access to the App Store. Next time I get a phone, 1 of the ones listed could be it unless the iPhone finds it's way onto Verizon.

Stop calling it ugly and saying how much it sucks. The few people who've actually seen/handled it in person say it's the best phone they've seen come to market since the iPhone.

I'm in NY too and suffer through AT&T but I'm tired of hearing this about Droid. All this is speculation and, as you have said, few people have actually laid their hands upon it. The same exact thing was said about the Pre and it just came out a few months ago. The thing is that this has moved past hardware specs and more towards experience. They will all be using the same processor and the same RAM. 2MP doesn't really mean anything on camera phone though a flash is a nice advantage.

 

[charlituna]

That's probably the most important part of the article.

and the part I call BS over.

if there was any truth to the idea, Verizon wouldn't be attacking the phone.

not to mention that Apple is more likely to go GSM/LTE than GSM/CDMA in the phones. which means until Verizon has LTE up, they can't handle the phone anyway.

 

[stubeeef]

I love my apples, have never paid for a windblows computer in my life. Bought my first Mac in '87.
I hate AT&T, I know alot of people that will NEVER EVER EVER go back to those morons.
If Apple wants to be exclusive with AT&T that is their business, I will therefore NEVER EVER EVER own an iPhone if that is the case.
My life continues despite never owning an iPhone, I would choose it if someone else carried it. But the majority of cell phone users, don't use AT&T. Seems like a limiting strategy at this point, but I don't have a Wharton MBA.

 

[polaris20]

No one phone will every meet the needs of every consumer on the planet. The iPhone very clearly has a place in the market, the Droid will have it's place too. I think it's going to be a big seller for Verizon based on what we've heard about it from a hardware and software standpoint. It's going to be the headliner of a wave of new great phones on Verizon. Along with Droid, you have another Android phone coming, the Storm 2, the Pre, and the enV Touch.

For people like me will never get AT&T being in the NJ/NY area, where AT&T sucks and Verizon always has service unless I'm in a subway, these phones are what I will have to choose from for the forseeable future. I'm pretty happy about that. I'll always have my iPod Touch to get my iPhone-esque functionality and access to the App Store. Next time I get a phone, 1 of the ones listed could be it unless the iPhone finds it's way onto Verizon.

Stop calling it ugly and saying how much it sucks. The few people who've actually seen/handled it in person say it's the best phone they've seen come to market since the iPhone.

well put, and I agree. Look, I think the iPhone is great; I love my iPT. But I will not be using AT&T anytime soon, because it's terrible. However I do like T-Mobile in my area (hence the MyTouch) and have Verizon for work, hence why I am getting the Droid.

 

[schwell]

I love my apples, have never paid for a windblows computer in my life. Bought my first Mac in '87.
I hate AT&T, I know alot of people that will NEVER EVER EVER go back to those morons.
If Apple wants to be exclusive with AT&T that is their business, I will therefore NEVER EVER EVER own an iPhone if that is the case.
My life continues despite never owning an iPhone, I would choose it if someone else carried it. But the majority of cell phone users, don't use AT&T. Seems like a limiting strategy at this point, but I don't have a Wharton MBA.

So which morons are you with now?

 

[Goona]

Another iphone killer, what happened to the Palm Pre or is this the new flavour?

 

[orangermac]

Nah, it's the iPod they'll be getting

100% increase in iPod Touch sales year over year...makes the iPhone or even Mac growth seem stunted. Have long believed the iPod Touch was Apple's sleeper device. But it makes a huge deal with the success of the app store.

Just a matter of time before you can get one with a data connection - enter Verizon. Lots of people don't want/need the phone part of the iPhone, but would jump on an iPod Touch pro with the GPS, camera, magnetometer and mic of the iPhone. Pay just the monthly data fee instead of messing with minutes and you have a hit!

 

[MorphingDragon]

100% increase in iPod Touch sales year over year...makes the iPhone or even Mac growth seem stunted. Have long believed the iPod Touch was Apple's sleeper device. But it makes a huge deal with the success of the app store.

Just a matter of time before you can get one with a data connection - enter Verizon. Lots of people don't want/need the phone part of the iPhone, but would jump on an iPod Touch pro with the GPS, camera, magnetometer and mic of the iPhone. Pay just the monthly data fee instead of messing with minutes and you have a hit!

It'll be GSM remember? Like everything else in the world.

 

[oban14]

I will switch to whoever offers the best browser and the best network.

Verizon already has won #2.

I don't care about apps, itunes, movies, or anything else.

Give me a better browser than the iphone, and I'll gladly switch. It's the only reason I switched to the iphone in the first place.

 

[ungraphic]

Another iphone killer, what happened to the Palm Pre or is this the new flavour?

What, there cant be TWO iphone killers? Interesting logic.....

 

[akadmon]

I will switch to whoever offers the best browser and the best network.

Give me a better browser than the iphone, and I'll gladly switch. It's the only reason I switched to the iphone in the first place.

What's wrong with iPhone Safari? So it doesn't have Flash - big frigging deal! It's still good enough (if not great) for 99+% of the content anybody needs to access while away from their PC.

 

[oban14]

What, there cant be TWO iphone killers? Interesting logic.....

Unlikely you can kill the iphone. Too many markets:

1) People who want the best browser.
2) Trendy people who just want something that looks good. (Probably the majority here and the majority of iphone users as a whole)
3) Technical people who want the best technology.
4) Practical people who want to be able to change batteries, not be restricted in terms of applications, etc.
5) People who want the best network.

You could probably expand this list well into the double digits. Point being, you can't get them all.

I'm in group 1. I'd also like #5, #4, maybe #3... but it's unlikely any one company will be able to get all 5. And #2 is probably impossible to control except for Apple.

Hit numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5 and you can make a dent. But group #2 will be tough.

What's wrong with iPhone Safari? So it doesn't have Flash - big frigging deal! It's still good enough (if not great) for 99+% of the content anybody needs to access while away from their PC.

It's the best I've used. You saying it's perfect?

I'd like flash, it could be much faster, I find the interface to be a bit flaky (especially now that there is copy/paste), can't spoof it as a different browser (so I keep getting pointed to special "mobile" versions of sites with crippled functionality), no private browsing, would like to be able to control when/if something reloads when going between tabs, the network is too slow...

Got a couple hours?

 

[grooveboy]

Let's See:

Real Keyboard - no thanks .. more things to break .. more moving parts
Simultaneous Apps - ok .. so I'd love to be able to text without closing .. but this 'feature' is not enough to make me jump to V
5 MP Pics - big whoop
Customize - uh huh .. sure, considering V disables every feature on every other phone, I doubt there'll be much to customize on this one
Run Widgets - ummm, why?
OpenDev - With 88,000 apps, I'm not sure that the iphone platform is hindering anyone
Pics in the Dark - ummm , so
Interchangeable Bat - this has never been an issue for me - so again, not something that would make me jump to V.

Sorry V .. you are reaching on all of these .. good luck to you

Ok, so Android only has 9000 apps. Really, who needs another fart machine? Or "ghost radar".

Verizon does keep a pretty tight lock on their "dumb" phones, but the smart phones are pretty much as they come from the manufacturer, barring the addition of an app or two, which some people may actually like. You never had to, say, buy ringtones from VZW if you had a blackberry or, god forbid, a moto q. Besides, not paying for ringtones is kinda a violation of federal copyright law, and we wouldn't want to do that, now would we?

5mp, in the dark? Well, given the choice flat-out between "better and capable of doing more" or "not as good". I think most users would take better. Obviously, how important that feature is is gonna be up to the user.

Keyboard? Matter of choice, as has been stated before.

Widgets are kinda cool

Interchangeable batteries? Well, I think that the folks in this this forum, at least many of them, are the type that update their phones pretty frequently, but for those people out there that wanna keep and use their phone for more than until the next subsidized upgrade becomes available, this is a good thing. Typical cell batteries usually only last 300-500 charge cycles.

Network, the end. Verizon's 3g coverage far surpasses ATT's, period. I want to be able to actually able to use the features on my phone on someplace other than college campuses. CDMA allows more simultaneous connections to towers, and the towers have greater range.

All in all, I think the iPhone is an amazing device, with an amazing interface and I don't think any single device is going to kill it soon, but the competition is finally starting to get stiff. The ad brings up some valid points, features that nearly every other smart phone has *except* the iPhone. iPhone users got picture messaging and video, what, last week? Seriously, the "free with a new contract" phones can do that nowadays. Oh, and you have to buy the "upgraded model" to get those features that come in a $19 samsung flip phone? You get fart machines though (for a small fee)

Competition can do nothing but good for consumers who are buying the iPhone, or one of the many other options available. ATT on the other hand, meh.

For all of the people that posted about VZW shooting themselves in the foot concerning getting the iPhone, LTE isn't gonna launch until probably 2011 according to most sources, which is when new phones will be cross platform anyway and open the doors for the iPhone to be on VZW. I don't think anyone is gonna be concerned about a 2 year old add when Apple can spread their market share to the largest carrier in the US. Who knows though? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. (Now when are those new iMacs coming out, dang it?)

 

[FX120]

I've got to say, Android has come a long ways. To the point where I as a long time Windows Mobile user am considering not going to a Touch Pro2 and opting for a Samsung Moment instead.

What has always drawn me to WinMo has been the ability to use the device as I wanted, back in the day this meant bypassing the carrier restrictions dumped onto feature-phones. Today it means being able to download an application from anywhere and use it on my phone, even if it might be too taboo for my carrier, PDAnet is a great example. Finally Android is offering this same level of ultimate flexibility combined with a platform which has now reached a state of usability with the release of 2.0.

While the Android app catalog might be smaller in number than the Apple store, at this point they all seem to be fairly unique, and from what I researched there are only a couple of fart apps.

Apples store while it might have a lot of apps, only a small percentage of them are getting used by the masses:
http://mashable.com/2009/06/25/iphone-apps-admob/

 

[MorphingDragon]

Ok, so Android only has 9000 apps. Really, who needs another fart machine? Or "ghost radar".

Verizon does keep a pretty tight lock on their "dumb" phones, but the smart phones are pretty much as they come from the manufacturer, barring the addition of an app or two, which some people may actually like. You never had to, say, buy ringtones from VZW if you had a blackberry or, god forbid, a moto q. Besides, not paying for ringtones is kinda a violation of federal copyright law, and we wouldn't want to do that, now would we?

5mp, in the dark? Well, given the choice flat-out between "better and capable of doing more" or "not as good". I think most users would take better. Obviously, how important that feature is is gonna be up to the user.

Keyboard? Matter of choice, as has been stated before.

Widgets are kinda cool

Interchangeable batteries? Well, I think that the folks in this this forum, at least many of them, are the type that update their phones pretty frequently, but for those people out there that wanna keep and use their phone for more than until the next subsidized upgrade becomes available, this is a good thing. Typical cell batteries usually only last 300-500 charge cycles.

Network, the end. Verizon's 3g coverage far surpasses ATT's, period. I want to be able to actually able to use the features on my phone on someplace other than college campuses. CDMA allows more simultaneous connections to towers, and the towers have greater range.

All in all, I think the iPhone is an amazing device, with an amazing interface and I don't think any single device is going to kill it soon, but the competition is finally starting to get stiff. The ad brings up some valid points, features that nearly every other smart phone has *except* the iPhone. iPhone users got picture messaging and video, what, last week? Seriously, the "free with a new contract" phones can do that nowadays. Oh, and you have to buy the "upgraded model" to get those features that come in a $19 samsung flip phone? You get fart machines though (for a small fee)

Competition can do nothing but good for consumers who are buying the iPhone, or one of the many other options available. ATT on the other hand, meh.

For all of the people that posted about VZW shooting themselves in the foot concerning getting the iPhone, LTE isn't gonna launch until probably 2011 according to most sources, which is when new phones will be cross platform anyway and open the doors for the iPhone to be on VZW. I don't think anyone is gonna be concerned about a 2 year old add when Apple can spread their market share to the largest carrier in the US. Who knows though? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. (Now when are those new iMacs coming out, dang it?)

You limit your scope to the US.

A, CDMA is dying. I think the US is like the only major Country that still uses it actively.

B, CDMA is a technology that was too powerful for what was needed.

C, In some countries you can buy an Unlocked phone straight from Apple and use whatever carrier you want. Or there are multiple Carriers like Australia and soon to be the UK.

 

[lylegrad]

You, like several, are spreading complete BS.

As I type, I'm looking at my Blackberry Tour, WHICH SUPPORTS GSM AND HAS A SIM CARD.

Get your facts straight.

on a premium phone that you probably payed $200 for. it's not standard in MOST of their phones, especially the ones by lg. Paying for a blackberry is a different story. GSM, wow. big innovation there, brand new technology from the year 1982.

i'll stick to my iphone, with a data plan that i can afford, and speeds that i can enjoy

 

[IlluminatedSage]

some thoughts i have

1- the commercial has alot of freaking valid points
2- we need a more open iphone
3- we need swapable batteries
4- we need better camera with flash
5- we need a REAL keyboard.

Apple had better start improving the iphone alot more than it has. its been the same No real keyboard phone for some time. and its annoying.

anyway. just my 2 cents. i think apple needs to start giving more options to the customers, we want alot of the complaints from the ad.

oh yeah, AND I WANT AN IPHONE WITH VERIZON's NETWORK. hate AT&T at this point, too many problems with ATT

 

[grooveboy]

You limit your scope to the US.

A, CDMA is dying. I think the US is like the only major Country that still uses it actively.

B, CDMA is a technology that was too powerful for what was needed.

C, In most countries you can buy an Unlocked phone straight from Apple and use whatever carrier you want.

You are 100% correct, but LTE is still in development, which will supercede CDMA. Currently, in the USA we have CDMA and GSM. Given the choice for the phone that I would be likely to be using until at least the first round of LTE phones drops (assuming that choice is based on network alone) I would have to go CDMA.

Oh, and there are several countries outside of the US that use CDMA: Mexico, China, South Korea, etc, but you are right in stating GSM is the predominant technology worldwide. Now, how large of the percentage of users in the US looking for a new phone *right now* are international travelers? These are the only customers that having GSM capabilities is going to matter to. Unlocked phones are expensive, and most folks here like those carrier-subsidized prices, even if they hate the contract that goes with it.

 

[iMaggot]

The new "iPhone killer" ?
I don't think so, but lets wait and see.