AT&T hedges iPhone 4S bet with 5 new Android devices

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
AT&T announced on Tuesday the upcoming release of the Motorola Atrix 2 smartphone and four other new Android devices, bringing the wireless carrier's total Android lineup for the year to 19, seven more than originally planned.



The second-largest wireless operator in the U.S. issued a statement early Tuesday broadcasting the upcoming availability of five new Android phones: Motorola Atrix 2, Samsung DoubleTime, Samsung Captivate Glide, Pantech Pocket and the AT&T Avail.



"Committed to serving the growing number of Android fans, AT&T now provides more options for customers seeking the Android OS experience at a variety of price points, form factors and through unique services," the company said.



The Atrix 2, the flagship device of the bunch, is Motorola's followup to the Atrix 4G released earlier this year. Though the original Atrix garnered significant pre-release interest for its impressive technical specifications and unique accessories, including a laptop dock and media station, sales failed to live up to early expectations.



The second-generation handset "combines "extreme power" with "life of the party" all at an affordable price,"" AT&T wrote in its press release. The phone sports a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 4G HSPA+ connectivity, and a 4.3-inch display. Like Apple's recently-announced iPhone 4S, the Atrix 2 has an 8-megapixel camera and can record video in 1080p HD.



Motorola's new smartphone will compete with Apple's iPhone 4S when it goes on sale on Oct. 16, just two days after the launch of the new iPhone. With an aggressive $99 price tag, the Atrix 2 undercuts the iPhone 4S, which starts at $199.







The other four upcoming devices round out AT&T's Android offerings to a total of 19 in 2011, with more planned to come. Prior to the most recent batch of Android phones, AT&T had launched 12 Android smartphones and two new Android tablets this year.



The Samsung Captivate Glide is the other "premium smartphone" of the bunch, featuring a side-slide QWERTY keyboard and a 1GHz. The device boasts a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, 8-megapixel flash camera and 1080p video recording. Samsung's DoubleTime sports a full flip keyboard, the older Android 2.2 operating system and a white and pink color scheme. Meanwhile, the Pantech Pocket is billed as the ideal device for "customers focused on social entertainment and messaging. Finally, the AT&T-branded Avail, produced by ZTE, is a device built for AT&T's GoPhone pre-paid business.



Though AT&T was Apple's original carrier partner for the iPhone in 2007, the carrier made moves to reduce its reliance on Apple ahead of the loss of its exclusive on U.S. iPhone sales in February of this year.



AT&T announced late last week that it had received 200,000 preorders for the iPhone 4S in the first 12 hours of availability. Apple offered up a second figure early Monday when it revealed that it had received a total of one million preorders for the iPhone 4S in the first 24 hours. Preorders for the device are backed up, with current shipping estimates of 1-2 weeks on Apple's website.



Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S last week, showing off new Siri personal assistant voice technology, an improved 8-megapixel camera and the faster A5 processor.



With the iPhone 4S launching this week, Android competitors are preparing their responses. Google and Samsung had sent out invitations for an event next week, presumably to launch the next-generation Nexus Prime smartphone running Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," but the event has been rescheduled, reportedly out of respect for the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Android handset makers are expected to finalize their fall lineups within weeks in order to challenge the iPhone during the holiday season.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member
    Wonder if the Atrix 2 is compatible with the original's docking station. Friend of mine got one for 99 bucks in that short lived Walmart fire sale, and said it's kind of useful in a severely limited fashion.
  • Reply 2 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cash907 View Post


    Wonder if the Atrix 2 is compatible with the original's docking station. Friend of mine got one for 99 bucks in that short lived Walmart fire sale, and said it's kind of useful in a severely limited fashion.



    it should be but considering how disjointed the android OEMs can be I wouldn't be shocked if it isn't.



    There are things I absolutely adore and things I absolutely despise about the Android community.
  • Reply 3 of 42
    19 Models to 3 for the iPhone



    And Fandroids run around bragging about how much higher the numbers of units sold.



    I look forward to reading the 10-Q from ATT agains where it shows in the billions upon billions of impact the iPhone continues to seed for them.



    The same goes for Verizon.



    Seeing Sprint go into the black, due to the iPhone, will be a switch.
  • Reply 4 of 42
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    That Motorola phone looks terrible. Honestly.
  • Reply 5 of 42
    jkichlinejkichline Posts: 1,369member
    Because having 19 different versions of the same thing doesn't confuse consumers at all...



    As I've heard said many years ago... "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull____"
  • Reply 6 of 42
    That Motorola actually looks rather dated. Reminds me of the Android 1.5 handsets from 2008.
  • Reply 7 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jkichline View Post


    Because having 19 different versions of the same thing doesn't confuse consumers at all...



    As I've heard said many years ago... "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull____"



    Same OS =\\= same phone.



    Also you and a lot of the Apple fans here tend to think everyone is absolutely retarded.



    First they are going to think the tab is an iPad. Then that the galaxy is an iPhone. And now they are going to get brain aneurysms over choices.



    Sheesh. Live and let live.
  • Reply 8 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post


    That Motorola actually looks rather dated. Reminds me of the Android 1.5 handsets from 2008.



    Most Motorola handsets look dated. They must have one 65 year old man who they found in a cave as designer.
  • Reply 9 of 42
    Notice how Appleinsider makes us scroll through a ton of ads before getting to the articles?
  • Reply 10 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maccherry View Post


    Notice how Appleinsider makes us scroll through a ton of ads before getting to the articles?



    ...and that's why it is free for us to "use". Every company has a right to make money....every company has to make a profit.
  • Reply 11 of 42
    genovellegenovelle Posts: 1,480member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz View Post


    Same OS =\\= same phone.



    Also you and a lot of the Apple fans here tend to think everyone is absolutely retarded.



    First they are going to think the tab is an iPad. Then that the galaxy is an iPhone. And now they are going to get brain aneurysms over choices.



    Sheesh. Live and let live.



    Thats just it. Each one mentions has a different OS that it runs. Some I are running 2.3, at least one is running 2.2, one is suppose to be coming with 4.0. The tablets have 3.1 or is it 3.0. And you most of these are stuck where they are. Tomorrow my 2 year old 3Gs will be running iOS 5. The only feature I care about that I'll miss is Siri, because of the hardware.



    I think I'll still to what makes sense!! I like that my phone wasn't made obsolete 6 weeks after I bought it even though I got it on day one.
  • Reply 12 of 42
    The only android handset I'm mildly interested to see is the Nexus Prime and "Ice Cream Sandwich" (let's hope the OS is more inspired than the farcical name)
  • Reply 13 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by markbyrn View Post


    The only android handset I'm mildly interested to see is the Nexus Prime and "Ice Cream Sandwich" (let's hope the OS is more inspired than the farcical name)



    I'm wondering when Fudge Cream Bar or Blow Pop shows up next.
  • Reply 14 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    I'm wondering when Fudge Cream Bar or Blow Pop shows up next.



    Maybe Google can ink a deal with Comedy Central and go with Chocolate Salty Balls.
  • Reply 15 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by markbyrn View Post


    Maybe Google can ink a deal with Comedy Central and go with Chocolate Salty Balls.



    hahahahahahhahaha
  • Reply 16 of 42
    Is there even a difference between them? Android has become the new windows.



    Not a complement.
  • Reply 17 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by genovelle View Post


    Thats just it. Each one mentions has a different OS that it runs. Some I are running 2.3, at least one is running 2.2, one is suppose to be coming with 4.0. The tablets have 3.1 or is it 3.0. And you most of these are stuck where they are. Tomorrow my 2 year old 3Gs will be running iOS 5. The only feature I care about that I'll miss is Siri, because of the hardware.



    I think I'll still to what makes sense!! I like that my phone wasn't made obsolete 6 weeks after I bought it even though I got it on day one.



    most are running 2.3, some are running 2.2, and the very very old cheap poorly made ones may be running 2.0 or even some variation of Android 1.0...no new device is under 2.3 and I think Google are working on the fragmentation issue, but it is an issue for the tech conscious, not so much for the end user.



    4.0 will be on one phone @ launch, maybe more soon after...and hopefully 4.0 will be the beginning of more unified OS updates.



    None of that is Google's fault though. That's the price of licensing an OS for free* to any tom dick and harry.



    When you control both hardware and software you get to dictate everything, when you only control software, all you can do is hope others update the hardware on time.
  • Reply 18 of 42
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    19 Models to 3 for the iPhone



    And Fandroids run around bragging about how much higher the numbers of units sold.






    Apple is finally starting to extend the iPhone brand. What's next?
  • Reply 19 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by res08hao View Post


    Is there even a difference between them? Android has become the new windows.



    Not a complement.



    yes...and no it hasn't.



    but even if it did, what's wrong with that?



    It's about options mon ami. I have that. You really don't.



    Luckily for you Apple makes amazing hardware and iOS is really the most consistent mobile OS (maybe WP7 too but who cares?) but if you want keyboards, large screens, smaller screens, flip, bb style, slider, etc etc etc you're out of luck.



    Don't assume you're one size fits all device and OS actually fits all.







  • Reply 20 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    I'm wondering when Fudge Cream Bar or Blow Pop shows up next.



    Alpha

    Beta

    Cupcake

    Donut (1.6)

    Eclair (2.0 - 2.1)

    Frozen Yogurt (2.2)

    Gingerbread (2.3)

    Honeycomb (3.0-3.2 so far)

    Ice Cream Sandwhich (4.0)

    Jellybean?

    Key Lime Pie?

    L?

    M?

    N?

    O?

    etc



    see a pattern?



    thing is those are simply code names.
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