Look, an "iPhone Nano" would serve one and only one purpose, because there are three kinds of people in the world:
1. People with an iPhone
2. People with an iPod Touch
3. People with neither
People with an iPod Touch already have a 3.5" screen and access to every available App........... and they have a non-Apple phone! An iPhone Nano would replace that non-Apple phone. It would be smaller and have talk, text, and be an iPod. Period.
People could choose any carrier they like and they wouldn't be tied to a data plan. The two biggest barriers to buying an iPhone. Apple will sell MILLIONS and MILLIONS of these!
I loathe Verizon. I'm extremely happy we dumped them in July for our iPhones after 10 years of crap. They crippled my phone usage so incredibly much, it was insane. Now we get reception with AT&T we never got with Verizon. Plus, I can create ringtones for myself without paying Verizon $2.99 for a song with my favourite part edited out. That's a waste of my money. I'd try to hook it up to my Mac and use Sync, and it still wouldn't allow me to do anything with it.
Good riddance to Verizon and their shitty customer service and no bluetooth usage outside of a headset. What's the point of bluetooth if I can't sync it with my computer and put files/ringtones on my phone?
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Explain why GPS was not allowed on some BB's last year when it was in the phone; not even a paid option at the time. They cripple whatever phone they want. They use to cripple them all.
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Apparently you don't own an iPhone.
in case you don't seem to already know... you can easily create your own FREE ringtones for the iphone too without paying Apple a cent... just google it.
What we need is a Verizon based iPhone 3G. You want to see iPhone sales skyrocket...there ya go! I don't mind AT&T, but its service is nothing compared to what Verizon offers, especially its 3G network.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevzaz
And yes, The iPhone REALLY needs to come to verizon....
Quote:
Originally Posted by iReality85
Also, I work for a telco infrastructure provider, and from the figures I've seen, I can say for sure Verizon Wireless (Verizon is actually a separate company) has been spending boat loads more on beefing up/extending their 3G network (and preping its next-gen network!) than AT&T has been. Verizon Wireless = win/win for Apple all the way around.
Yep, I will be the first in line. I'm stuck on Verizon in a shared business account anyways, but they have a MUCH more extensive 3G network (and 2G network) than AT&T. In fact, AT&T literally doesn't have even basic coverage between two major cities in my state along the biggest highway. It's pathetic. And their 3G network is only available in a tiny fraction of the area, is very spotty even within the coverage area, and is always overloaded.
I've used ALL the carriers over the last 5-7 years, and Verizon has consistently had the best service in the areas and states I have lived in. And until AT&T has HSPA rolled-out everywhere and then LTE, Verizon's CDMA is FAR superior to AT&T's GSM when talking about signal strength, ability to penetrate buildings, tower handovers, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amerist
This new partnership with Qualcomm provides the possibility of a CDMA version of the iPhone, since Qualcomm makes CDMA radios. And that means that A verizon partnership will be "more likely".
I know that AT&T has an exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the U.S. for 5 years then it's up for re-negotiation with other partners. If apple and Verizon could both bury the hatchet, I'm sure that both companies would find that it is a mutually profitable move that would have people flocking back to Verizon in droves, and dumping their treos, blackberries and iPhone lookalikes for an iPhone. I know that my entire company would not hesitate at the chance to ditch At&t for better wireless coverage.
Oh man, we can only hope Apple's next phone uses a Qualcomm Gobi chipset or whatever that can support both GSM/HSPA and CDMA/EVDO. That is totally an Apple type of move if they end their exclusivity. While they are at it, it would be awesome if they used Qualcomm's ARM cortex-A8 based SnapDragon platform.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella
Steve Jobs offered the iPhone to Verizon and they flat out rejected it. Unless you want an iPhone that is even more crippled by Verizon it isn't going to happen. I prefer having Apple decide whats on the iPhone rather than the carrier.
Verizon doesn't usually mess with Smartphone's software, although they have blocked WiFi or bluetooth on certain models. Obviously this would never happen on the iPhone -- Apple wouldn't allow it and it would cause an enormous backlash from users....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tofino
did the 5 year number actually get confirmed anywhere?
Nope! not officially... Hopefully it's over in 2009!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Except Verizon isn't GSM and Apple wanted to build just one phone that could be used in 90% of the world.
That doesn't matter. There are blackberrys among others that use chipsets supporting both technologies...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ALBIM
I'm in the verizon boat, and hope the iPhone comes soon. However, verizon has a history of castrating phones from wifi so that people run up their data plans.
Apple wouldn't let them mess with the iPhone, and they would have no interest in doing so given the iPhone would surely require an "unlimited" data plan anyways...
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE
AT&T have a $15/month data plan as well. However, I cannot find any reference if it is GPRS, EDGE, or 3G or if there is a monthly traffic limit on both AT&T and T-Mobile cheaper plans.
Perhaps that is for regular phones using shitty WAP browsers or something.. No way it would be for a smartphone...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac31
I loathe Verizon. I'm extremely happy we dumped them in July for our iPhones after 10 years of crap. They crippled my phone usage so incredibly much, it was insane. Now we get reception with AT&T we never got with Verizon. Plus, I can create ringtones for myself without paying Verizon $2.99 for a song with my favourite part edited out. That's a waste of my money. I'd try to hook it up to my Mac and use Sync, and it still wouldn't allow me to do anything with it.
Good riddance to Verizon and their shitty customer service and no bluetooth usage outside of a headset. What's the point of bluetooth if I can't sync it with my computer and put files/ringtones on my phone?
Yes, Verizon screws their customers on phones, particularly on non-smartphones. It is very easy however to get around the ringtone and bluetooth file transfer with software readily available online.. Google "BitPim".
Anyways, They wouldn't dare try to mess with the iPhone. Apple would never allow it, and customers would revolt..
Your absolutely right! A Verizon iPhone would be the ticket. AT&T needs to dry up and wither away.
Verizon was given the chance to be in ATT's position. they lost it because they refuse to let someone else have final design control over the devices they service exclusively. Apple made exclusive design control a non-negotiable issue. and I am thankful. I don't want to think about what improvements Verizon would have demanded.
and if you go and actually look at Verizon's smartphone plans, they are not that much different than ATT's plans
Add that to their lowest voice plan of $30 comes out to $45.
for a smart phone it would be $34.99, plus $29.99 for 300 minutes (compared to the 450 minutes you get from ATT with rollover for the unused ones) and then another 6.99 to get the unlimited mobile to mobile ATT includes.
so lets do some math:
ATT: 450 anytime, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited mobile to mobile + unlimited data/email + unlimited SMS=$39.99+$30.00+$20.00=89.99 + taxes
to get the same from t-mobile: 300 anytime, unlimited nights and weekends + unlimited mobile to mobile + 150 extra used minutes + unlimited data and text = $29.99 + $6.99 + 150 x $0.40 + $34.99 = $131.97 + taxes.
The at&t deal has been one of the most boneheaded moves on Apple's part for many moons. Five years is an eternity for phone owners. Gaaaaah!
it might seem that way to you but ATT provided a huge chunk of the R&D money for the iPhone. the contract is to pay them back for that. be glad it is only five years.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that the current AT&T company is the old 'Ma Bell' when in fact it is just a name. if you look into the actual history of acquisitions you will discover that it is SBC (Southwestern Bell) which has acquired the original 'Baby Bells' and the old AT&T (which was only a long distance company at the time) and then assumed the AT&T name and (T) ticker symbol.
Verizon was given the chance to be in ATT's position. they lost it because they refuse to let someone else have final design control over the devices they service exclusively. Apple made exclusive design control a non-negotiable issue. and I am thankful. I don't want to think about what improvements Verizon would have demanded.
and if you go and actually look at Verizon's smartphone plans, they are not that much different than ATT's plans
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
not exactly true.
you have to pay .99 cents to use a song from the store as a ringtone, but if you ripped a song off a CD and have something to cut down the track, you can use whatever you want.
or if you are a fanboy with some geek knowledge and creativity you can take a slow as crap g3 with one gb of ram, a copy of imovie hd, garbageband '08 and a copy of Coldplay's Viva la Vida bought off the itunes store and in about 5 minutes create your own ringtone without playing an extra penny. with a newer computer you could probably cut that time in half.
I owned a verizon pay as you go phone for years. It wasn't a bad deal but it was a crap phone. When I started looking for a smart phone I did look at the smart phone market in general. Verizon was and I suspect still is, a very bad deal if you are looking for full functionality.
That should not lead to applause for Apple though. Let's face it Apple hasn't exactly leveraged the hardware in iPhone fully. Where is our BlueTooth stack for example. I want to see a complete set of BluTooth profiles but I'm sure many would settle for stereo head phone support and data transfer. So while Verizon sucks with respect to not supporting built in hardware Apple isn't much better. It's a shame too.
That should not lead to applause for Apple though. Let's face it Apple hasn't exactly leveraged the hardware in iPhone fully.
but consider how long Apple has been in this market. not long at all. they are babies in this game. and personally I would rather that they add new and fancy features slowly so they take the time to make sure what is there works as well as it can rather than toss in tons of stuff and end up with a cock up not unlike this past summer when they released the 3g phone with the new activation at purchase protocol (at ATT's behest i'm sure but still), the app store and the new MobileMe at the same time and gummed up all 3 of them for days if not weeks in some cases.
while I hear that some folks have had issues, i have not and neither have any of my friends. although several of them had issues when they were on tmobile or verizon before getting the iphone. and I won't even bring up my prior experiences with Sprint Customer Disservice.
Surely the price of the iPhone contract will be the same no matter which carrier you are with?
Seen as AT&T are subsidising a chunk of the cost of the iPhone as part of the contract then so too will any other carrier. They need to add something like $4-500 per phone per contract. In countries where networks are selling the iphone contract free it is being sold for over $700 - that then is the true price you are paying for you iPhone.
So when Apple talk about a cheaper iPhone they mean exactly that, a cheaper iphone that might only cost you $300.
My understanding is that Apple initially wanted a % of the monthly revenues, carrier subsidies, and control over the content distribution. VZ, being the leader declined. ATT accepted because they needed a competitive advantage. Since them those terms have been revised by Apple to become more competitive.
Another issue was that Apple wanted initially to come out with a phone that had global coverage... one phone to work all over the world. GSM was it. VZ uses CDMA that has less than 20% global coverage... no coverage is most of Europe. WCDMA is immature and was even more so a couple of years ago... this asynch wide band tech uses a lot of power, needs higher tower density.
QCOM had developed multimode chips. They have GSM/CDMA/WCDMA reasonably priced chipsets... much better than the junk that Infineon is selling.
Meanwhile, Apple is stuck to a dumb 5 year contract with ATT. With the economy slowing down, I am hoping Apple will wake up and do an end run around ATT. They can come up with a multi band GSM+CDMA+WCDMA phone and sell it unlocked in the open markets in Hong Kong, etc at reasonable prices... then we can buy it over the internet or even Amazon.
Actually I am ready for WiMax networks. Have an iPod Touch with this tech, and used it world wide without the hi fees, etc.
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Apparently you don't own an iPhone.
You do NOT have to buy ringtones from Apple.
You can make them yourself using Apple provided software - GarageBand, it even transfers them automatically to iTunes for you. You can make ringtones out of any unprotected music files that you have on your computer, even from your own CDs.
Comments
and how complicated everyone is making it!
Look, an "iPhone Nano" would serve one and only one purpose, because there are three kinds of people in the world:
1. People with an iPhone
2. People with an iPod Touch
3. People with neither
People with an iPod Touch already have a 3.5" screen and access to every available App........... and they have a non-Apple phone! An iPhone Nano would replace that non-Apple phone. It would be smaller and have talk, text, and be an iPod. Period.
People could choose any carrier they like and they wouldn't be tied to a data plan. The two biggest barriers to buying an iPhone. Apple will sell MILLIONS and MILLIONS of these!
I loathe Verizon. I'm extremely happy we dumped them in July for our iPhones after 10 years of crap. They crippled my phone usage so incredibly much, it was insane. Now we get reception with AT&T we never got with Verizon. Plus, I can create ringtones for myself without paying Verizon $2.99 for a song with my favourite part edited out. That's a waste of my money. I'd try to hook it up to my Mac and use Sync, and it still wouldn't allow me to do anything with it.
Good riddance to Verizon and their shitty customer service and no bluetooth usage outside of a headset. What's the point of bluetooth if I can't sync it with my computer and put files/ringtones on my phone?
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Apparently you don't own an iPhone.
They should call it the iBook!
Isn't that a money earner for them? Replacing stuff at full cost. The shuffle will get more storage, and possibly a tiny info display of some sort.
Ah, yes. "Built in obsolescence".
Verizon doesn't cripple their smartphones.
Explain why GPS was not allowed on some BB's last year when it was in the phone; not even a paid option at the time. They cripple whatever phone they want. They use to cripple them all.
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Apparently you don't own an iPhone.
in case you don't seem to already know... you can easily create your own FREE ringtones for the iphone too without paying Apple a cent... just google it.
What we need is a Verizon based iPhone 3G. You want to see iPhone sales skyrocket...there ya go! I don't mind AT&T, but its service is nothing compared to what Verizon offers, especially its 3G network.
And yes, The iPhone REALLY needs to come to verizon....
Also, I work for a telco infrastructure provider, and from the figures I've seen, I can say for sure Verizon Wireless (Verizon is actually a separate company) has been spending boat loads more on beefing up/extending their 3G network (and preping its next-gen network!) than AT&T has been. Verizon Wireless = win/win for Apple all the way around.
Yep, I will be the first in line. I'm stuck on Verizon in a shared business account anyways, but they have a MUCH more extensive 3G network (and 2G network) than AT&T. In fact, AT&T literally doesn't have even basic coverage between two major cities in my state along the biggest highway. It's pathetic. And their 3G network is only available in a tiny fraction of the area, is very spotty even within the coverage area, and is always overloaded.
I've used ALL the carriers over the last 5-7 years, and Verizon has consistently had the best service in the areas and states I have lived in. And until AT&T has HSPA rolled-out everywhere and then LTE, Verizon's CDMA is FAR superior to AT&T's GSM when talking about signal strength, ability to penetrate buildings, tower handovers, etc.
This new partnership with Qualcomm provides the possibility of a CDMA version of the iPhone, since Qualcomm makes CDMA radios. And that means that A verizon partnership will be "more likely".
I know that AT&T has an exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the U.S. for 5 years then it's up for re-negotiation with other partners. If apple and Verizon could both bury the hatchet, I'm sure that both companies would find that it is a mutually profitable move that would have people flocking back to Verizon in droves, and dumping their treos, blackberries and iPhone lookalikes for an iPhone. I know that my entire company would not hesitate at the chance to ditch At&t for better wireless coverage.
Oh man, we can only hope Apple's next phone uses a Qualcomm Gobi chipset or whatever that can support both GSM/HSPA and CDMA/EVDO. That is totally an Apple type of move if they end their exclusivity. While they are at it, it would be awesome if they used Qualcomm's ARM cortex-A8 based SnapDragon platform.
Steve Jobs offered the iPhone to Verizon and they flat out rejected it. Unless you want an iPhone that is even more crippled by Verizon it isn't going to happen. I prefer having Apple decide whats on the iPhone rather than the carrier.
Verizon doesn't usually mess with Smartphone's software, although they have blocked WiFi or bluetooth on certain models. Obviously this would never happen on the iPhone -- Apple wouldn't allow it and it would cause an enormous backlash from users....
did the 5 year number actually get confirmed anywhere?
Nope! not officially... Hopefully it's over in 2009!
Except Verizon isn't GSM and Apple wanted to build just one phone that could be used in 90% of the world.
That doesn't matter. There are blackberrys among others that use chipsets supporting both technologies...
I'm in the verizon boat, and hope the iPhone comes soon. However, verizon has a history of castrating phones from wifi so that people run up their data plans.
Apple wouldn't let them mess with the iPhone, and they would have no interest in doing so given the iPhone would surely require an "unlimited" data plan anyways...
AT&T have a $15/month data plan as well. However, I cannot find any reference if it is GPRS, EDGE, or 3G or if there is a monthly traffic limit on both AT&T and T-Mobile cheaper plans.
Perhaps that is for regular phones using shitty WAP browsers or something.. No way it would be for a smartphone...
I loathe Verizon. I'm extremely happy we dumped them in July for our iPhones after 10 years of crap. They crippled my phone usage so incredibly much, it was insane. Now we get reception with AT&T we never got with Verizon. Plus, I can create ringtones for myself without paying Verizon $2.99 for a song with my favourite part edited out. That's a waste of my money. I'd try to hook it up to my Mac and use Sync, and it still wouldn't allow me to do anything with it.
Good riddance to Verizon and their shitty customer service and no bluetooth usage outside of a headset. What's the point of bluetooth if I can't sync it with my computer and put files/ringtones on my phone?
Yes, Verizon screws their customers on phones, particularly on non-smartphones. It is very easy however to get around the ringtone and bluetooth file transfer with software readily available online.. Google "BitPim".
Anyways, They wouldn't dare try to mess with the iPhone. Apple would never allow it, and customers would revolt..
Your absolutely right! A Verizon iPhone would be the ticket. AT&T needs to dry up and wither away.
Verizon was given the chance to be in ATT's position. they lost it because they refuse to let someone else have final design control over the devices they service exclusively. Apple made exclusive design control a non-negotiable issue. and I am thankful. I don't want to think about what improvements Verizon would have demanded.
and if you go and actually look at Verizon's smartphone plans, they are not that much different than ATT's plans
T-Mobile data&messaging is $15.
Add that to their lowest voice plan of $30 comes out to $45.
for a smart phone it would be $34.99, plus $29.99 for 300 minutes (compared to the 450 minutes you get from ATT with rollover for the unused ones) and then another 6.99 to get the unlimited mobile to mobile ATT includes.
so lets do some math:
ATT: 450 anytime, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited mobile to mobile + unlimited data/email + unlimited SMS=$39.99+$30.00+$20.00=89.99 + taxes
to get the same from t-mobile: 300 anytime, unlimited nights and weekends + unlimited mobile to mobile + 150 extra used minutes + unlimited data and text = $29.99 + $6.99 + 150 x $0.40 + $34.99 = $131.97 + taxes.
the possibility of a CDMA version of the iPhone, since Qualcomm makes CDMA radios.
I wouldn't count on that. Apple pointedly choose GSM over CDMA because they only want to have to make one device they can ship anywhere.
The at&t deal has been one of the most boneheaded moves on Apple's part for many moons. Five years is an eternity for phone owners. Gaaaaah!
it might seem that way to you but ATT provided a huge chunk of the R&D money for the iPhone. the contract is to pay them back for that. be glad it is only five years.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that the current AT&T company is the old 'Ma Bell' when in fact it is just a name. if you look into the actual history of acquisitions you will discover that it is SBC (Southwestern Bell) which has acquired the original 'Baby Bells' and the old AT&T (which was only a long distance company at the time) and then assumed the AT&T name and (T) ticker symbol.
OK fine- it still sucks.
Verizon was given the chance to be in ATT's position. they lost it because they refuse to let someone else have final design control over the devices they service exclusively. Apple made exclusive design control a non-negotiable issue. and I am thankful. I don't want to think about what improvements Verizon would have demanded.
and if you go and actually look at Verizon's smartphone plans, they are not that much different than ATT's plans
Except that the connection works.
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
not exactly true.
you have to pay .99 cents to use a song from the store as a ringtone, but if you ripped a song off a CD and have something to cut down the track, you can use whatever you want.
or if you are a fanboy with some geek knowledge and creativity you can take a slow as crap g3 with one gb of ram, a copy of imovie hd, garbageband '08 and a copy of Coldplay's Viva la Vida bought off the itunes store and in about 5 minutes create your own ringtone without playing an extra penny. with a newer computer you could probably cut that time in half.
That should not lead to applause for Apple though. Let's face it Apple hasn't exactly leveraged the hardware in iPhone fully. Where is our BlueTooth stack for example. I want to see a complete set of BluTooth profiles but I'm sure many would settle for stereo head phone support and data transfer. So while Verizon sucks with respect to not supporting built in hardware Apple isn't much better. It's a shame too.
Dave
That should not lead to applause for Apple though. Let's face it Apple hasn't exactly leveraged the hardware in iPhone fully.
but consider how long Apple has been in this market. not long at all. they are babies in this game. and personally I would rather that they add new and fancy features slowly so they take the time to make sure what is there works as well as it can rather than toss in tons of stuff and end up with a cock up not unlike this past summer when they released the 3g phone with the new activation at purchase protocol (at ATT's behest i'm sure but still), the app store and the new MobileMe at the same time and gummed up all 3 of them for days if not weeks in some cases.
Except that the connection works.
while I hear that some folks have had issues, i have not and neither have any of my friends. although several of them had issues when they were on tmobile or verizon before getting the iphone. and I won't even bring up my prior experiences with Sprint Customer Disservice.
Seen as AT&T are subsidising a chunk of the cost of the iPhone as part of the contract then so too will any other carrier. They need to add something like $4-500 per phone per contract. In countries where networks are selling the iphone contract free it is being sold for over $700 - that then is the true price you are paying for you iPhone.
So when Apple talk about a cheaper iPhone they mean exactly that, a cheaper iphone that might only cost you $300.
Another issue was that Apple wanted initially to come out with a phone that had global coverage... one phone to work all over the world. GSM was it. VZ uses CDMA that has less than 20% global coverage... no coverage is most of Europe. WCDMA is immature and was even more so a couple of years ago... this asynch wide band tech uses a lot of power, needs higher tower density.
QCOM had developed multimode chips. They have GSM/CDMA/WCDMA reasonably priced chipsets... much better than the junk that Infineon is selling.
Meanwhile, Apple is stuck to a dumb 5 year contract with ATT. With the economy slowing down, I am hoping Apple will wake up and do an end run around ATT. They can come up with a multi band GSM+CDMA+WCDMA phone and sell it unlocked in the open markets in Hong Kong, etc at reasonable prices... then we can buy it over the internet or even Amazon.
Actually I am ready for WiMax networks. Have an iPod Touch with this tech, and used it world wide without the hi fees, etc.
You don't have bluetooth sync on the iPhone either and have to pay Apple .99 cents for the right to use a song as a ringtone (if it is one of the chosen songs for ringtone).
You can only synch the iPhone to 1 Mac/PC and it has to be done with a USB connection to the computer.
Apparently you don't own an iPhone.
You do NOT have to buy ringtones from Apple.
You can make them yourself using Apple provided software - GarageBand, it even transfers them automatically to iTunes for you. You can make ringtones out of any unprotected music files that you have on your computer, even from your own CDs.