Whaty rumors do you think Apple will leak in fear of the Palm Pre's launch?

[jmpage2]

As to coverage, naturally it comes down to where you are. I travel a lot in the Mid West and Sprint coverage here (I have a wireless laptop card) is outstanding. I can often pull down data over my Air Card at over 1500 kbps sustained.

AT&T on the other hand has laughable coverage and frequent dropped calls and horrible call quality.

Add to that AT&Ts stunt with forcing Apple to yank the 3G capability for Sling Player and I am really hoping that iPhone gets offered on another carrier's network... and soon!

 

[SwiftLives]

Apple won't be leaking any rumors about the new iPhone. However, I would not be surprised to see some sort of price adjustment to the iPhone plan - perhaps one that either includes text messaging or at least drastically lowers the price of it. I expect the monthly cost of the iPhone to quickly fall in line with the Palm Pre.

 

[9822679]

this thread is the definition of trolling

 

[themoonisdown09]

Apple will start leaking rumors that the new iPhone will be released as "Buy One, Get One Free".

 

[Michael CM1]

I see the Pre, Android based phones and iPhone eventually ruling the entire market. Each with a similar amount of market share, maybe one of them Windows'ing it, but all of them will at least be contenders.

I don't see any of them really owning a huge chunk for a few years. Laypeople still call smart phones "BlackBerries". Those companies have to whack people over the head to let them know a BlackBerry isn't the only smart phone. Apple has jumped all the other smart phone makers, but RIM was actually helped by that with increased sales.

I think what the iPhone did is say, "you can't make a sucky phone and just make people need it because it gets e-mail." The newness gimmick of the BlackBerry with the full keyboard and better e-mail than anybody at the time is over. RIM tried to go touchscreen with the Storm, but its' been kinda "eh" while the Bold and Curve still hold the market.

Apple's main wall is price. I think you can get a BlackBerry without a data plan, but you can't do so with an iPhone. If it were only an extra $10/month for very limited data, I can see a lot more people getting one. It may take a while with a huge recession going on, but more and more people are going cell phone-only. Android-based phones have a long way to go, and we know zilch about how good or bad the Pre is.

 

[diemos]

ill be happy with just oled screen

 

[randomusername]

I see the Pre, Android based phones and iPhone eventually ruling the entire market. Each with a similar amount of market share, maybe one of them Windows'ing it, but all of them will at least be contenders.

I don't see that. RIM and Apple will continue to rise and take over the market, obviously. Windows Mobile and Symbian will either drop a little bit or it will stay the same, but I don't see them leaving us anytime soon. Android and Web OS are the platforms that I'm iffy about. Android may be attractive to us tech geeks, but it means nothing to the average phone buyer. Palm is most likely going to fail. It was near dead before CES and they're doing a horrible job marketing the Pre, so it might flop.

And second, I believe Apple is afraid of the Palm Pre. But I believe they're only afraid about having another phone rival the quality of the iPhone. They're not afraid of sales. The Pre will most likely flop. Sprint and Palm are advertising it very little, and most of the ads I've seen are on tech sites where everyone already knows about the Pre. When I see an ad outside of tech sites, it's either a single picture of the device or it's a list of features. Now, I have a problem with that. I've seen a picture of the Pre in a newspaper with nothing but "Palm Pre" and "Sprint" on it. That is a horrible ad. First, the device looks like a cheap toy, not a sophisticated smart phone. So advertising the design is a horrible. And they don't list a single feature, making it look like another cheap touch screen phone. It doesn't create hype, it makes it look unexciting. And the ads that actually list the features only list the boring features that pretty much every smart phone has. They didn't mention multi-touch, they didn't mention much about Synergy, they didn't mention anything about it's gestures and multi-tasking. Everything listed you could find on most smart phones. And that is why the Pre will probably flop, leaving Android, Symbian, WinMo, Blackberry OS, and iPhone OS owning the smartphone market. No Web OS on that list.

 

[kas23]

I've seen many, many more average users with G1s. Simple reason is that it's cheaper (the plan and the phone). It also depends on whether or not your area is served by T-Mobile (which really doesn't serve that much). I'd imagine if Android is loaded onto multiple phone models (near 5) and was placed on a major carrier (Verizon or AT&T), it will likely see a surge in people using it. As of now, Apple is being held back by their limited number of iPhone models and their exclusive deal with the devil. Android has no such exclusivity deals and is not officially tied to one device.

 

[randomusername]

I've seen many, many more average users with G1s. Simple reason is that it's cheaper (the plan and the phone). It also depends on whether or not your area is served by T-Mobile (which really doesn't serve that much). I'd imagine if Android is loaded onto multiple phone models (near 5) and was placed on a major carrier (Verizon or AT&T), it will likely see a surge in people using it. As of now, Apple is being held back by their limited number of iPhone models and their exclusive deal with the devil. Android has no such exclusivity deals and is not officially tied to one device.

I didn't say Android phones don't sell, I'm saying it's not Android itself that is attractive to buyers. iPhone OS is one of the major things that sells the iPhone, same with Blackberry OS, and possibly Web OS for the average user. But Android isn't a big thing, especially since it's interface style looks kind of cheap and generic. If Android becomes more well known and they polish the interface, then Android will sell Android phones to the average consumer. But right now, as seen with the G1, it's the network, plans, and hardware that sell the phones. The software isn't a big thing for non-tech geeks that buy Android phones. It's not when they buy an iPhone because it's running iPhone OS. They bought a phone...and it just happens to run Android.

 

[bigchief]

I don't think Apple has any fear of the Palm Pre but I'll bet they're looking over their shoulder more often than they use to.

 

[Goona]

Wake me up when they sell one phone, last I checked they might not even ship 1 million in their first year, lol.

 

[John T]

Methinks the Apple fanboys/acolytes protesteth too much They must be getting worried!

 

[Palm Pimp]

Pre is $200 with a 2 year contract, $550 out of contract. Maybe Apple might allow us to get iPhones without a contract now (in the U.S.)?

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Pre is $200 with a 2 year contract, $550 out of contract. Maybe Apple might allow us to get iPhones without a contract now (in the U.S.)?

I believe they do.

 

[JCastro]

The notion that either the iPhone or Pre has to take market share away from each other is a joke. If anything, these new generation "smart phones" will take market share away from current "regular" phones produced by LG, Samsung and Motorola.

The smart phone market is growing exponentially. There's plenty of room for iPhone, Blackberry, Pre, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Android-based phones among others.

I agree. When "smart" phones came out they were hundreds of dollars more expensive. Anymore they are just as cheap as a regular phone.

Nothing to fear...everything is known about the Pre, it gets sold 2 days before the whole world knows about the new iPhone. Two days later, the new iPhone comes out...the Pre becomes old news.

Most regular mobile phone consumers probably couldn't tell you what the hype about the pre is all about. I really couldn't tell you. But everyone know what the iPhone is. Like it or not you know what it is. Apple is not scared.

 

[Perk]

Apple and fear just don't bound.

I don't even think they're considering the Pre.

 

[hbg]

I can, in all honestly, say that I don't personally know a single AT&T customer who pays full price for their monthly bill. EVERYONE I know has some sort of work or school discount with them.

I guess you know one now, because I don't get any AT&T discounts. I work with a small business and they won't give us discounts because we're only 3 people, and I'm not in school.

 

[Michael CM1]

Pre is $200 with a 2 year contract, $550 out of contract. Maybe Apple might allow us to get iPhones without a contract now (in the U.S.)?

That's $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate. That's by no means sure money if you've ever tried to send one in.

Also, Apple's non-contract prices for iPhones elsewhere are $599 and $699. Why would someone want to pay that much more? Either way, you probably won't see a non-contract phone until the AT&T exclusive deal is up.

 

[QCassidy352]

Most regular mobile phone consumers probably couldn't tell you what the hype about the pre is all about. I really couldn't tell you. But everyone know what the iPhone is. Like it or not you know what it is. Apple is not scared.

That's the truth, and it hasn't been said nearly enough in the "pre vs. iphone" threads that are all over this site recently. EVERYONE knows what an iphone is. I know a lot of people who would never even think about a blackberry or any other smartphone but have gotten or are planning to get an iphone. The iphone is the smartphone that brings smartphones to the masses. It's cool, it's recognizable, and people trust it because they know and love their ipods.

If people even know Palm, they know it as a has-been major player in the now-dead PDA market.

I'm not saying the Pre is bad - it looks pretty cool. I'm not even gonna say the iphone is better (although I will be sticking with it). I'm just saying that your average non-reader of tech forums doesn't know or care what Palm does like they know and care what Apple does. So yes, the Pre will probably be a very good smartphone and may well sell a pretty good number of units. But we techies are the only ones sitting around picking apart the strengths and weaknesses of each new device. Most users don't care about this agonizing point-by-point comparison.

 

[kdarling]

That's the truth, and it hasn't been said nearly enough in the "pre vs. iphone" threads that are all over this site recently. EVERYONE knows what an iphone is.

Yes, a lot of people have heard the iPhone name. Just as in years past, everyone had heard of a Palm Pilot. It had pretty much become a generic name for ALL handhelds.

Likewise, I can't count the number of times that I've been asked if the business touch WM phone I carry is an iPhone. People don't pay as much attention as we hope

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

That's the truth, and it hasn't been said nearly enough in the "pre vs. iphone" threads that are all over this site recently. EVERYONE knows what an iphone is. I know a lot of people who would never even think about a blackberry or any other smartphone but have gotten or are planning to get an iphone. The iphone is the smartphone that brings smartphones to the masses. It's cool, it's recognizable, and people trust it because they know and love their ipods.

If people even know Palm, they know it as a has-been major player in the now-dead PDA market.

I'm not saying the Pre is bad - it looks pretty cool. I'm not even gonna say the iphone is better (although I will be sticking with it). I'm just saying that your average non-reader of tech forums doesn't know or care what Palm does like they know and care what Apple does. So yes, the Pre will probably be a very good smartphone and may well sell a pretty good number of units. But we techies are the only ones sitting around picking apart the strengths and weaknesses of each new device. Most users don't care about this agonizing point-by-point comparison.

You're quoting me, yet I never said that...

 

[thetexan]

Palm is going to be around for a long time, they did really well in the past and will continue to do great in the future. The new iPhone refresh this summer will sell mostly to current iPhone users, the average user won't care about some increased technical specs. I'm a 25 year old guy who is out and about a lot, and I can say most everyone who wanted an iPhone has one already. The barrier to getting one broke when AT&T subsidized the 3G, it's just not that unobtainable expensive phone that it once was.

Is Apple worried about Palm? No. However they're not worried about RIM, MS, Google, or Nokia either. Believe it or not the market is big enough for everyone. RIM and MS will dominate the business user while Apple, Google, and Palm share the market for personal users and Nokia will sell to people who want "dumb" smart phones. Nobody needs the Apple hype to be successful, they have all done fantastic in the past without that sort of thing and they continue to do so today. Just look at the Storm, us techies know it's not a great phone but I know more people with a Storm than I do with an iPhone.

Nothing is going to "kill" the iPhone. Keep in mind, the iPhone has not "killed" anything else on the market either. WM, RIM, and Nokia devices are still selling like crazy and the G1 has been very successful too along with Palm's Centro (I know a few people with one).

 

[QCassidy352]

You're quoting me, yet I never said that...

how odd. that's not a mistake I've ever made before... I must have used multi-quote and decided not to quote your post but accidentally left your name? Anyway, fixed it.

 

[Palm Pimp]

That's $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate. That's by no means sure money if you've ever tried to send one in.

Also, Apple's non-contract prices for iPhones elsewhere are $599 and $699. Why would someone want to pay that much more? Either way, you probably won't see a non-contract phone until the AT&T exclusive deal is up.

At sprint there's the mail in rebate. Stores like Best Buy will sell it rebate free for $200.

 

[t0mat0]

Should the thread title be changed to launches?

Sprint:
Because of the Pre’s popularity, it’s likely that initially we won’t be able to keep up with the demand for the device. If that happens, we will work diligently to ensure that everyone who wants a Pre can get one as soon as possible.

Those pre-registered will have a chance to clear some stock on June 5 prior even to the launch.

Best Buy: Estimate of 4 a shop
RadioShack: Estimate of 2 a shop.

Sounds like the UK level 16GB iPhones 3Gs (Though at many O2 shops on launch morning, staff already had iPhone 3G's (whilst Apple staff had to queue themselves)). Had a few more 8GB than this though.