Category: Mobile (Page 33 of 65)

      Verizon lays into AT&T with new 3G ads

      November 8, 2009 /

      Island of misfit toysAT&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, Mobile, Video

      iPhone Nano coming in 2010?

      November 8, 2009 /

      iPhone nano?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.

      Apple, iPhone, Mobile

      Why does the Droid have that keyboard?

      November 7, 2009 /

      Motorola Droid from Verizon.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.

      iPhone, Mobile

      Cell phone inventor says mobiles are too complicated

      November 6, 2009 /

      Martin Cooper, inventor of the cell phone.If you take a look at today’s most popular devices it’s easy to see the shift away from specialized gadgets to universal tools. The Nook from Barnes and Noble is the not-so-missing link between ereaders and tablets, camcorders are shooting still pictures and vice versa, and of course there are our cell phones, which are screaming toward becoming the all-in-one device of the future. Martin Cooper, grandfather of cell phones, thinks that’s a bad thing.

      The 80 year-old has voiced his ‘simple is better’ opinion about the iPhone in the past, and he’s said it again to a privacy conference in Madrid this week. “Whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well.” Cooper’s really put me in a pickle here. Obviously the guy has made very significant contributions to the world’s technological progression, but it seems he’s lost his gift for foresight.

      To say that a device that does all things cannot do any one thing well is just patently false. Take a look at computers, or do we classify all that they do as computing? Take a closer look at the iPhone. Sure, the phone part of it sucks – maybe even blows – but the internet browsing is pretty great (just needs flash to get my super awesome stamp of approval) and the media features are second to none. And the device is really still in its infancy. Compare where cellphones are today to where they were when Cooper made the first cellular call in 1973. Now give the technology another 35 years and imagine where things will stand.

      To be fair, Cooper could be saying that universal devices can never rival dedicated devices – think DSLR versus a cell phone camera – and there he may be right, at least in some cases. But is that really what we’re after? That sort of quality is just overkill for the average user, and splits from one of the features that makes combined devices so popular – convenience. Cell phone cameras can easily match point and shoot quality without requiring you to carry another device, and that’s what makes them so great.

      Whatever Cooper meant, the future he imagines is likely very different than the future we’re likely to see. “Our future I think is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing that will improve our lives,” he said. And I think you’re crazy.

      Mobile

      Verizon early termination fee could jump to $350

      November 5, 2009 /

      Verizon hot air balloon.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.

      Source: Boy Genius Report

      Mobile, News

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