There has been a lot of speculation about the end of the AT&T exclusivity arrangement, especially when AT&T started offering up iPhone 4 upgrades to anyone that would take one.
The device will be available to customers in January, according to the people, who declined to be named because the information isn’t public. Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, and Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, declined to comment.
The iPhone, which has been the sole domain of rival AT&T in the U.S. since June 2007, will give Verizon a boost in its competition for smartphone customers, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik said in an interview. Verizon customers, who numbered 92.8 million at the end of the first quarter, may buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, he estimates.
For now I’ll remain skeptical, if only because there have been rumors of a Verizon iPhone for years now. Actually, I just don’t want to believe I signed with AT&T when Verizon was just around the corner.
Verizon and Motorola announced a new phone today. Called the Devour, the phone looks like a mini-Droid, or as my title suggests, the Droid’s weird cousin. It’s got a smaller display, a presumably smaller keyboard (yikes) and runs Anroid, albeit through Motoblur, Motorola’s odd Android distro.
I would guess the phone is going to fall somewhere around the Droid Eris in terms of price. It’s not a bad phone for $100, but like the Eris, it seems like a waste for what you’d get if you spent another $99. I can’t for the life of me figure out why Motorola is so obsessed with the physical keyboard, either. The pad on the Droid sucks. It really sucks. Android’s software keyboard is just so much nicer, why not rely on that?
If Motorola is your thing, you can get the Devour in early March.
Verizon said it would cut 13,000 jobs from its landline unit in a conference call today. The company missed sales estimates by less than one percent, which prompted it to axe approximately 11 percent of the land-line division’s workforce.
The company cuts are really to hedge losses in other divisions. Though the landline division was up almost 10% in sales over last year, enterprise and FiOS TV and Internet sales were down in the face of the poor economy. Most analysts predict that things will improve little in 2010. Verizon’s CFO is optimistic about the Apple tablet, though. “It will attract more and more data customers, more and more usage over the network,” he said. “Devices like that will be, long term, very positive for the wireless industry.”
Guess we’ll know more about whether Verizon is a part of Apple’s plan tomorrow.
This render of what’s been called the Motorola Shadow has been making the rounds over the weekend. You’ll notice it looks a whole lot like a Droid, just in white and with an added wriststrap. By some accounts it’s the successor to the Droid – a thinner, less evil-looking version of Verizon’s flagship Android device. There is another option, though.
Some are calling this the next Google Phone – the Nexus Two, maybe? I’d call that a very remote possibility, judging by the design of the device and the fact that it isn’t made by HTC. It seems odd that Google would abandon the manufacturer so shortly after it turned out a phone with solid critical reviews, despite Google’s retail problems.
If anything, I’m going to bet on a different market. It’s a decent looking phone, but I really wouldn’t want that wriststrap hanging out in my pocket. I guess I should wear it on my wrist?
When you get poppy hipsters upset, they’re bound to go all sorts of loco on your ass. Take MIA. She recently had a three-hour long customer support call with Verizon, which prompted her to write a new song, titled “I’m Down Like Your Internet Connection.”
The song is set to be part of MIA’s new album, Kala which will be out later this year. For part of the song, MIA got Filipino Verizon employees to sing the hook. “I was having issues with my cable and wireless, and I was on the phone [with tech support] for three hours, and I thought, ‘Maybe this needs to be part of my music, could you just learn these lyrics and sing it down the phone to me?’” she said. “Ten phone calls later, I have Internet that sticks and a song.”
Now you know Verizon. You’ve got some bad publicity in the form of a pop song and your customer support reps aren’t helping your cause.
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple may have already locked in dates for WWDC 2010. A calendar listing at the Moscone Center in San Francisco shows a “Corporate Event” from June 28th to July 2nd, a name that has designated Apple events in the past.
The date also coincides with the launch of the original iPhone. Since that launch, Apple has made major iPhone announcements at each consecutive WWDC. The rumor this year is that we’ll finally see the phone make the jump to multiple carriers in the US, though it’s not clear who that could be. Most people think Verizon, but the CDMA standard is not exactly iPhone friendly. T-Mobile would be a much easier choice, but it’s also much smaller.
You can’t make mention of WWDC without bringing up the iPhone SDK conference that happens some time in March. Think we’ll see OS 4.0?
So you just dropped two-hundred bucks on your new Droid, not to mention the two-year contract you just signed, and things are mostly great. Sure, the keyboard leaves a little bit to be desired, but you just keep the thing closed on use the totally competent touchscreen keypad for all your input. The phone feels solid when you drop it into your pocket. On pulling it out, though, the battery cover pops off the phone and just doesn’t want to go back on.
And this happens time and time again. So you take the phone to your local Verizon store. At first, they offer you some scotch tape. After all, they didn’t make the phone. They’re just selling the thing. But scotch tape isn’t good enough for you, the tech savvy consumer. You want something more. A permanent fix. Something that won’t peel off. Your Verizon rep heads into the back of the store and returns with, low and behold, a Verizon band-aid.
Yes, this is really what Verizon is doing for you, Droid customers. Happy?
It’s hard to say who to blame for this one. On the one hand, I want to scream at Ted Estarija for not explaining the idea of data charges to his 13 year-old son. Not everyone is as tech savvy as you and me, though. On the other, you have to wonder why no one at Verizon noticed the sudden surge on the account – from zero data to 1.4GB in a month.
Whoever you blame, Ted Estarija still got slapped with a $21,917 bill for the server traffic. In a rare show of understanding, Verizon waived the entire bill. The lesson in all of this? Buy a data plan. That $15/month looks pretty great next to $21,917.
According to Gizmodo, AT&T and Verizon have decided to drop all litigation regarding the “map for that” crisis that had everyone in an uproar. Apparently Luke Wilson is pulling his weight, or more likely than not, AT&T realized that the iPhone sells, shitty network or not. It only took a few million handsets to get that message across.
Here’s the official text:
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by and between Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (”Verizon Wireless”) and Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff AT&T Mobility LLC (”AT&T”) that pursuant to Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: (a) Verizon Wireless’s claims against AT&T in the above- captioned action are hereby dismissed without prejudice, and (b) AT&T’s counterclaims against Verizon Wireless in the above-captioned action are hereby dismissed without prejudice.
All it really means is the fight is going to be right where everyone loves it: on TV. Oh, and I’d guess Luke Wilson isn’t going anywhere. Really, he needs the work.
What do you do when you’re getting crushed by clever advertising? That’s right. You bring in Luke Wilson. That’s AT&T’s strategy, anyway. Big Blue hasn’t taken well to Verizon’s recent string of “map for that” ads. It even turned to the law for help, but since that’s playing out like a high school homecoming rivalry, AT&T decided to “respond.” I guess that’s what you’d call it.
You can watch the ad below, but I think it’s safe to say that when your punch line is “doesn’t start with the letter V,” you should head back to the ol’ drawing board. Really there’s nothing in the ad to get remotely worked up about. Two of the little digs AT&T tries to get in are actually about the iPhone, which could very shortly end up on other networks. The whole thing is just another reminder that AT&T spends its money in all the wrong places, like buying up celebrity airtime instead of improving its infrastructure. Well done, fellas. Well done.
For the most part I’m still comfortable saying that Android growth is a good thing. The platform still needs to expand its app offering to be able to effectively compete with the iPhone. But while most would consider the number of devices sporting Android these days a good thing, it could drive developers crazy.
Android’s adaptability is one of its best features, but it’s a bit of a nightmare for developers. It means making sure apps work on all kinds of hardware, while iPhone developers have just one handset to worry about. For big developers its less of a problem, but for the small guys it means spending time debugging instead of updating apps and releasing new features. “You may build an app that works perfectly with all three firmwares, but then when you run it on carriers’ ROMs it completely blows up,” said Chris Fagan, co-founder of the Android development house Froogloid. “So we find ourselves having to create apps that are compatible with multiple firmwares, multiple ROMs and multiple devices with different hardware.”
Obviously this could cause some problems for carriers as well. As newer versions of the OS are released, older handsets might be left with out-of-date applications that no longer receive support from developers. Even though Android’s open-source platform means it can be hacked onto older devices, some of the features won’t work, like multi-touch from 2.0 on the original HTC G1.
Unfortunately that’s probably just what will happen. Developers will decide who they want to target and just support a set of devices. Everyone else will be stuck wishing they’d paid the extra benjy for the next phone up.
Verizon had to respond to the AT&T lawsuit at some point, but I didn’t think the response would be so catty. And boy is it catty. Verizon lawyers have dropped all the legalese in order to get a few more digs at AT&T and its crappy network.
The response opens like this: “AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s “There’s A Map For That” advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.” So it’s gonna be like that then? And that’s just what the lawyers are saying. Imagine how much worse things could get over the airwaves.
As Engadget points out, the rest of the response reads more like a press release than a legal document. Here’s another tidbit:
In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon’s side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T’s confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly.
Now that the Droid has launched we all want to know how many have sold. Well, I want to know anyway, and I’m guessing a few of you probably do as well. If you take Bloomberg’s word, opening weekend showed 110,000 units sold. Developer uLocate, which develops the GPS app “Where” has confirmed those numbers and done one better.
According to uLocate, the Where app typically gets installed on 10% of new Android devices in the first month, jumping to a 25% penetration rate thereafter. The same was true for the Droid, boasting 11,000 downloads during opening weekend. Since last weekend that number is up to 25,000, meaning we’re looking at 250,000 Droid sales in the first week. Considering the Palm Pre only sold 300,000 in its first month, that number’s looking pretty good. Doesn’t hurt that you can get the Droid on Verizon who, despite recent bad press concerning fees, is the most desirable network in the country (though T-Mobile is probably a close second with its new plans).
Hopefully it’s onward and upward for the Droid. I’m not personally a fan, but success of the handset means good things for Android, and that’s something I can get behind.
AT&T might have done well to keep quiet about Verizon’s “map for that” ads. Since bringing a lawsuit concerning the original commercial, Verizon has launched three more ads, all bearing the same message: AT&T’s network sucks. It’s not that the message is anything new, but AT&T has made it clear that network quality is a pressure point, and now Verizon’s going to squeeze.
The new ads will likely air all through the holidays since they’re all about Christmas. In one the iPhone ends up on the island of misfit toys, not fitting in until it shows its new friends the AT&T 3G coverage map. That one works on two levels, digging at AT&T and reminding Apple that Verizon still really wants the iPhone.
The second ad turns the naughty gift from coal into AT&T’s network, and the third features a man having a Blue Christmas (yes, the song runs in the background) until he walks home to find a festive red package sitting on his front porch.
The last two ads sound like the usual competition bashing you see in any industry, but that the commercials have so much truth behind them makes them devastatingly effective. Talk to anyone with an iPhone and you’ll hear about AT&T’s crap network. Apparently no one has mentioned to Big Blue that fixing their network would solve all kinds of problems, the least of which is this new ad campaign.
iPhone Nano rumors started to resurface this week, based on photos from a manufacturer and supposed insider reports that Apple is working up a device for Verizon’s CDMA network.
The rumored device would sport a hybrid UMTS/CDMA radio, making it compatible with pretty much any network. The screen is down from 3.5 inches to 2.8, which seems way too small to me. Granted, there’s always zooming to get to hard to read text, but there’s really nothing worse than scrolling a page around while you’re trying to read.
Speculation points to a 2010 release, which would make sense considering the massive Android rollout that has been taking place. As Android makes it onto more devices, particularly cheaper ones, Apple’s going to want a way to get those entry-level smartphone owners. A smaller iPhone might not get those folks, but a cheaper one definitely would.
I was pretty excited to go out and get my hands on a Droid yesterday. I made my way out to a local Verizon store, where a new owner was kind enough to let me play around with the phone and make a few calls. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the device. The screen looks incredible and the whole thing operates pretty quickly. Call quality was better than my iPhone, but what isn’t. What I can’t understand, though, is why Motorola added the physical keyboard. It’s not that a hardware keyboard is a bad idea, but that keyboard is the bad idea.
Seriously, that keyboard is terrible. The keys are too close together and so difficult to push that I found myself hitting multiple keys at once pretty often. The top row is too close to the slider, making it difficult to get my thumbs in there to push. The keyboard seems even more out of place when you use the virtual keyboard. I didn’t like it as well as the iPhone, probably because of the lack of multi-touch support, but it’s the best I’ve used outside an Apple product.
The obvious conclusion is that it’s meant to be a differentiator from the iPhone. Unfortunately, it detracts from the quality of the phone, and makes it a lot thicker than is necessary. I think part of the problem is that no one wants to make anything so close to the iPhone that an exec says, “Well why wouldn’t they just buy an iPhone,” and that’s a terrible strategy. The iPhone is great, but it can be improved upon, and there are people who just want something a little different. So give them Android, but leave the pointless differentiators on the design table.
My only other problem with the phone is the Android Market. It’s still too barren to make me seriously consider a switch, even if it would mean Google Voice and Google Navigation.
Verizon might be getting cocky about this whole Droid thing, but it’s becoming painfully clear that Big Red is hurting from all that missed iPhone business. In a move to recoup some of its losses to iPhone churn, Verizon may be looking at bumping that early termination fee – all the way up to $350.
To be fair, the iPhone is not the only thing to blame. People have been opening new lines on existing contracts for some time, paying the early termination fees, and then reselling contract-priced phones like the Blackberry Storm on eBay for a couple hundred bucks in profit. Well no more. The new fee will apply specifically to “advanced devices,” which pretty much covers anything Verizon deems expensive enough to make you pay for.
The only good news is that the price will decrease by $10 per month over the life of your contract. So halfway through you’re back to the original fee of $175.
Verizon’s had some pretty clever ads lately, most of them targeted at AT&T and the iPhone. One of the latest plays on the “There’s an app for that” saying that’s become inextricable from the iPhone. Verizon’s ad instead boasts, “There’s a map for that,” referring to the 3G coverage maps you see in the pictures. AT&T’s taken issue with the ads – so much issue that the iPhone provider is suing – because it claims the ads are misleading.
The bulk of the accusation goes like this:
Consumers are interpreting the white or blank space on the maps to mean that AT&T customers who are not in an AT&T “3G” coverage area have no wireless coverage whatsoever, and therefore have no ability to use their wireless devices for any purposes in vast areas of the country. This interpretation is not surprising as Verizon, in its own coverage maps, uses white space to inform customers that no coverage of any kind exists.
I realize the average American consumer isn’t as tech savvy as you and I, but for people to whom 3G matters I’d say Verizon’s claims are pretty clear. And as someone who has recently moved a fair distance across the country, I can also vouch for the fact that AT&T’s 3G coverage is at least as pathetic as that coverage map shows.
The part of the lawsuit that’s truly entertaining, though, is where AT&T claims Verizon is jealous of the former’s smashing smartphone sales. Sure, AT&T, everyone wishes they were selling the iPhone. You know what no one wants? The massive fallout you’ll see when the iPhone is on every other provider.
If you’re going to release a great device, a gadget of any kind really, don’t bog the thing down with rebates. It just gives me reason to pause before selling anything I can find just to get my hands on it. I wasn’t so surprised to see Palm try the rebate thing with the Pre. The company really needed money. But Motorola? I figured they’d be a little better off. Thankfully, Best Buy’s decided to just sell the thing for $199.99 outright with a contract.
This sort of thing takes a lot of the burden off the wireless stores, which tend to be small and understaffed, especially as you get more rural. It’s also just nice to be able to walk in and pay the $200 without worrying about rebates. In case you forgot, the Droid launches on November 6th.
Verizon made a quiet little announcement yesterday – the Blackberry Storm 2 will be out tomorrow, October 28th. The news follows a year of leaks, so it’s not much of a surprise. It’s odd, though, that Big Red is so nonchalant about the release. The original Storm wasn’t quite the hit it was supposed to be, but the Storm 2 is supposed to have fixed most of the original problems.
Part of the Storm 2’s problem is that it’s been almost universally panned. The GPS is supposedly awful and the Blackberry OS 5.0 has a tendency to reset spontaneously on the 9550. There’s also the fact that the Blackberry OS continues to age while systems like the iPhone OS and Android are doing a better job of growing alongside the devices they support.
As for positive additions, the Storm 2 finally adds WiFi and makes a big improvement on the original’s touchscreen. The Storm 2 will run $179.99 on contract after a $100 mail-in rebate.
