It seems that BlackBerry Tour sold better than the "iPhone killer" wannabe Pre. Some "analysts" were quick to note that Pre is in fact directly competing against BlackBerry, not iPhone. Now it seems it falls behind both.
Otherwise Verizon store is a lame idea.
Unlike Apple and Palm, RiM has many devices on many carriers that are desirable. While I don't expect any BB to beat the iPhone for the top selling model for the next two quarters, they will sell a lot more total devices.
AnandTech has some iPhone 3GS articles and a Palm
Pre article that details were the Pre wins and loses. There are some areas that Palm has clearly done better than Apple. Most important to me is the message overlay. Both Android and WebOS have a great setup while Apple's system is too simple, especially now that it includes all the Push Notifications, too. I really hope they are rethinking it.
I agree. I love Verizon's phone service. They are far more reliable that ATT ever was for me. However, they need to learn that they are a network provider, not a software provider. Their attempts to standardize the UI on their phones are misguided, at best. They need to give up some control, and I think they'd find that the can make more money that way.
As far as crippling phones, I understand people's concerns. But with my Verizon phone I can sync with my Address Book contacts and transfer photos between my phone and MacBook Pro...all over Bluetooth. That's really all I need it to do. I'm not sure if tethering is an option, never seriously looked into it. So it does support more Bluetooth profiles than others apparently get with their Verizon phones. That said, how much money do they really make by forcing people to use their network-based services for transfering photos, etc. Is it really so much that it's worth pissing off customers with nickel-and-diming?
That all sounds a little too dramatic and I don't think we're going to see this unless a significant number of consumers are affected by it. Keep in mind that app purchases have been pretty insignificant until Apple came along and drew attention to it. The real question might be how the various phone developers feel about this.
[...]
I use to think that MS got off lucky but since then having considered the above I think it's actually worked out best and at the expense of those riding the MS boat. MS really hasn't done very well in most areas since the final verdict.
I may have expressed it a little flippantly, but, no, I don't think it's dramatic at all. This will certainly become a factor in looking at antitrust issues in the wireless industry, and it's a clear example of a company using it's market position to monopolize other markets. Certainly RIM and Palm, as well as other phone manufacturers, aren't going to be too happy about this development, and there will likely be pressure from them to bring action, as well as from those looking out for consumer interests.
I'm not as sanguine as you about how the whole MS antitrust case abandonment has gone. And while MS may not seem to have been on the top of its game lately, I think the way the case was hustled off into the shadows certainly did not, nor will not, benefit consumers in the long run. A more constructive outcome might have, for example, led to a situation where the whole HTML5 video mess had never become an issue.
And, I don't think it would have hurt Apple at all. I think the companies that would have been formerly known as MS would have been busy competing in their own arena with potential competitors and would have been even less able to compete against Apple in a meaninglful way.
See, they have not learned, just another reason you will never see Apple and Verizon in a Business relationship.
Everyday they keep proving to the whole they do not know how to create a successful business relationship or how to create value that people want to pay for.
See, they have not learned, just another reason you will never see Apple and Verizon in a Business relationship.
Everyday they keep proving to the whole they do not know how to create a successful business relationship or how to create value that people want to pay for.
If given the opportunity I they would let Apple control their own App Store and not require the Verizon app store. Smartphone users with a required unlimited data package is a powerful bargaining tool.
PS: If the AT&T/Apple contract really is up next year I think we'll hear rumours about Apple in talks with Verizon, but I think it will only be to scare AT&T into bending to Apple's will even more.
A guy I work with bought one of these new Blackberry Tours over the weekend. One thing I will say about it is that the browser loads pages amazingly fast. Way faster than what I have seen with the iPhone 3Gs. And, they are full websites - not the chinzy mobile versions.
Before any flames begin, anyone who knows me and my posts knows that I am a diehard Apple fan (and I'm going to get my first iPhone at the end of the month), but I'm not afraid to admit it when rivals do something well.
And, they are full websites - not the chinzy mobile versions.
I actually like some of the iPhone specific web sites (especially when they give you the option of that or the full). The Weather Underground iPhone site has, I think, better weather than any of the App Store apps I've tried (Weatherbug, Weather Channel, Accuweather) or the built-in Weather app.
I this actually news? My 3 year old Verizon-branded RAZR has been locked like that since the day I got it. All add-on content - ring tones, apps, music, screen savers, etc. - has to be installed via VZ's proprietary "get it now" service.
They actually crippled the firmware so I can't access the parts of the file system where media files are stored.
Does anybody seriously think Verizon is any different for other kinds of phones? Or that they would somehow change for an iPhone?
Phone companies should stick to what they can barely provide adequately: phone service. The problem is they keep trying to profit from other services, like ringtones, accessories and applications but are incapable of doing it well. Apple showed everyone how it should be done, and now Verizon suddenly thinks it can be Verizon AND Apple at the same time.
Apple has done to the mobile phone industry what they did to the recording industry. And as we can see with recording companies, they STILL haven't got a clue, so, I guess we'll have to watch Verizon and other phone companies attempt to fail yet again at doing something they have no business doing.
Tmobile is a joke. On vacation now with my wife, mom and son. Two iPhones, two blackberries and mom's cheapo tmobile cell. My sprint bb curve barely has a roaming signal. Wife's vz bb is also roaming. iPhones are on edge but the speed is faster than 3g in NYC. Laptops have sprint and vz data cards which are painfully slow here in the poconos.
And moms tmobile cell is now saying ATT when you turn it on since tmobile has a crappy network
I get what you are saying and overall agree.
However, isn't the point of a vacation the part where you get away from it all - not bring it all with you? Food for thought.
This will not be a problem when it is time for the iPhone to move to Verizon. Why? Because within a year it will be obvious to Verizon that their store is a miserable failure and give in.
Also, FYI, I don't think there will ever be a Sprint or Verizon iPhone - Apple isn't going to waste their money making a Verizon specific and a Sprint specific phone that don't work anywhere else in the world (Sprint is specific because of their chosen 4G protocol)
Aside from Verizon being a bunch of controlling twits and Sprint being Sprint, you do realize that there are more CDMA users outside the US than inside, right?
A guy I work with bought one of these new Blackberry Tours over the weekend. One thing I will say about it is that the browser loads pages amazingly fast. Way faster than what I have seen with the iPhone 3Gs. And, they are full websites - not the chinzy mobile versions.
Not a chance. I got the Tour on Sunday and took it back on Monday. It is like being in the dark ages compared to the iphone 3GS. The browser is horrible and pages don't even come close to resembling how they really look- it is not even close to the perfect renderings by the iPhone. Plus, even when you zoom a web page you can hardly read the print- you'd have to have a magnifying glass. It is slow, the trackball does not respond half the time, and you must wade through endless menus to do anything. Finally, the sound quality is just awful. Once you've tried the iPhone it is impossible to go back.
This is part of the announcement by Verizon to set up a carrier-based API across all major cell phone platforms with the world's largest carriers with a total of a billion subscribers.
GSM won the war against CDMA (even though CDMA is technically superior) because GSM has a billion subscribers. This API will win the war --- no matter how technically inferior it may be --- because it has a billion subscribers.
This is part of the announcement by Verizon to set up a carrier-based API across all major cell phone platforms with the world's largest carriers with a total of a billion subscribers.
GSM won the war against CDMA (even though CDMA is technically superior) because GSM has a billion subscribers. This API will win the war --- no matter how technically inferior it may be --- because it has a billion subscribers.
I don't see how this is supposed to help just one group of wireless standards and hurt the other. Keep in mind that Verizon Wireless in the US is still CDMA-based.
I don't see how this is supposed to help just one group of wireless standards and hurt the other. Keep in mind that Verizon Wireless in the US is still CDMA-based.
It DOESN'T matter --- whether it's CDMA or GSM phone, or whether it's a LG phone (which is based on their own proprietary OS) or a RIM phone.
The only thing that matters to the software developers --- it's a billion subscribers.
Comments
It seems that BlackBerry Tour sold better than the "iPhone killer" wannabe Pre. Some "analysts" were quick to note that Pre is in fact directly competing against BlackBerry, not iPhone. Now it seems it falls behind both.
Otherwise Verizon store is a lame idea.
Unlike Apple and Palm, RiM has many devices on many carriers that are desirable. While I don't expect any BB to beat the iPhone for the top selling model for the next two quarters, they will sell a lot more total devices.
AnandTech has some iPhone 3GS articles and a Palm
Pre article that details were the Pre wins and loses. There are some areas that Palm has clearly done better than Apple. Most important to me is the message overlay. Both Android and WebOS have a great setup while Apple's system is too simple, especially now that it includes all the Push Notifications, too. I really hope they are rethinking it.
Verizon is a really good telephone company.
Their other stuff is.... very very lame.
I agree. I love Verizon's phone service. They are far more reliable that ATT ever was for me. However, they need to learn that they are a network provider, not a software provider. Their attempts to standardize the UI on their phones are misguided, at best. They need to give up some control, and I think they'd find that the can make more money that way.
As far as crippling phones, I understand people's concerns. But with my Verizon phone I can sync with my Address Book contacts and transfer photos between my phone and MacBook Pro...all over Bluetooth. That's really all I need it to do. I'm not sure if tethering is an option, never seriously looked into it. So it does support more Bluetooth profiles than others apparently get with their Verizon phones. That said, how much money do they really make by forcing people to use their network-based services for transfering photos, etc. Is it really so much that it's worth pissing off customers with nickel-and-diming?
That all sounds a little too dramatic and I don't think we're going to see this unless a significant number of consumers are affected by it. Keep in mind that app purchases have been pretty insignificant until Apple came along and drew attention to it. The real question might be how the various phone developers feel about this.
[...]
I use to think that MS got off lucky but since then having considered the above I think it's actually worked out best and at the expense of those riding the MS boat. MS really hasn't done very well in most areas since the final verdict.
I may have expressed it a little flippantly, but, no, I don't think it's dramatic at all. This will certainly become a factor in looking at antitrust issues in the wireless industry, and it's a clear example of a company using it's market position to monopolize other markets. Certainly RIM and Palm, as well as other phone manufacturers, aren't going to be too happy about this development, and there will likely be pressure from them to bring action, as well as from those looking out for consumer interests.
I'm not as sanguine as you about how the whole MS antitrust case abandonment has gone. And while MS may not seem to have been on the top of its game lately, I think the way the case was hustled off into the shadows certainly did not, nor will not, benefit consumers in the long run. A more constructive outcome might have, for example, led to a situation where the whole HTML5 video mess had never become an issue.
And, I don't think it would have hurt Apple at all. I think the companies that would have been formerly known as MS would have been busy competing in their own arena with potential competitors and would have been even less able to compete against Apple in a meaninglful way.
I guess talks between Apple and Verizon have failed
They never happened but people on these sites come up with crap out of their rears in hopes of influencing the outcome they desire.
Anyone who thought Verizon had changed it's tune to make money on Apple's platform was exhibiting wish fulfillment.
Verizon sucks- last with bluetooth and now last with Apps.
I am still getting used to this...... but a (belated) welcome....
I am still getting used to this...... but a (belated) welcome....
Is that not sarcasm on his part?
Regardless, I much prefer a jokey Teckstud.
Everyday they keep proving to the whole they do not know how to create a successful business relationship or how to create value that people want to pay for.
See, they have not learned, just another reason you will never see Apple and Verizon in a Business relationship.
Everyday they keep proving to the whole they do not know how to create a successful business relationship or how to create value that people want to pay for.
If given the opportunity I they would let Apple control their own App Store and not require the Verizon app store. Smartphone users with a required unlimited data package is a powerful bargaining tool.
PS: If the AT&T/Apple contract really is up next year I think we'll hear rumours about Apple in talks with Verizon, but I think it will only be to scare AT&T into bending to Apple's will even more.
Before any flames begin, anyone who knows me and my posts knows that I am a diehard Apple fan (and I'm going to get my first iPhone at the end of the month), but I'm not afraid to admit it when rivals do something well.
And, they are full websites - not the chinzy mobile versions.
I actually like some of the iPhone specific web sites (especially when they give you the option of that or the full). The Weather Underground iPhone site has, I think, better weather than any of the App Store apps I've tried (Weatherbug, Weather Channel, Accuweather) or the built-in Weather app.
They actually crippled the firmware so I can't access the parts of the file system where media files are stored.
Does anybody seriously think Verizon is any different for other kinds of phones? Or that they would somehow change for an iPhone?
Apple has done to the mobile phone industry what they did to the recording industry. And as we can see with recording companies, they STILL haven't got a clue, so, I guess we'll have to watch Verizon and other phone companies attempt to fail yet again at doing something they have no business doing.
Ummm, apparently not?
Tmobile is a joke. On vacation now with my wife, mom and son. Two iPhones, two blackberries and mom's cheapo tmobile cell. My sprint bb curve barely has a roaming signal. Wife's vz bb is also roaming. iPhones are on edge but the speed is faster than 3g in NYC. Laptops have sprint and vz data cards which are painfully slow here in the poconos.
And moms tmobile cell is now saying ATT when you turn it on since tmobile has a crappy network
I get what you are saying and overall agree.
However, isn't the point of a vacation the part where you get away from it all - not bring it all with you? Food for thought.
Also, FYI, I don't think there will ever be a Sprint or Verizon iPhone - Apple isn't going to waste their money making a Verizon specific and a Sprint specific phone that don't work anywhere else in the world (Sprint is specific because of their chosen 4G protocol)
Aside from Verizon being a bunch of controlling twits and Sprint being Sprint, you do realize that there are more CDMA users outside the US than inside, right?
A guy I work with bought one of these new Blackberry Tours over the weekend. One thing I will say about it is that the browser loads pages amazingly fast. Way faster than what I have seen with the iPhone 3Gs. And, they are full websites - not the chinzy mobile versions.
Not a chance. I got the Tour on Sunday and took it back on Monday. It is like being in the dark ages compared to the iphone 3GS. The browser is horrible and pages don't even come close to resembling how they really look- it is not even close to the perfect renderings by the iPhone. Plus, even when you zoom a web page you can hardly read the print- you'd have to have a magnifying glass. It is slow, the trackball does not respond half the time, and you must wade through endless menus to do anything. Finally, the sound quality is just awful. Once you've tried the iPhone it is impossible to go back.
http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_...na_Mobile.html
GSM won the war against CDMA (even though CDMA is technically superior) because GSM has a billion subscribers. This API will win the war --- no matter how technically inferior it may be --- because it has a billion subscribers.
This is part of the announcement by Verizon to set up a carrier-based API across all major cell phone platforms with the world's largest carriers with a total of a billion subscribers.
http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_...na_Mobile.html
GSM won the war against CDMA (even though CDMA is technically superior) because GSM has a billion subscribers. This API will win the war --- no matter how technically inferior it may be --- because it has a billion subscribers.
I don't see how this is supposed to help just one group of wireless standards and hurt the other. Keep in mind that Verizon Wireless in the US is still CDMA-based.
I don't see how this is supposed to help just one group of wireless standards and hurt the other. Keep in mind that Verizon Wireless in the US is still CDMA-based.
It DOESN'T matter --- whether it's CDMA or GSM phone, or whether it's a LG phone (which is based on their own proprietary OS) or a RIM phone.
The only thing that matters to the software developers --- it's a billion subscribers.