OT - Rumor alert - IPHONE/VZW announcement June 28th

[FireDancer]

They do in Europe (Germany I think?) just not in the UK

T-Mobile is an iPhone carrier in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.

 

[luke]

T-Mobile is an iPhone carrier in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.

Thought as much.
Wonder why they didn't get themselves the contract in the UK then

 

[FireDancer]

Thought as much.
Wonder why they didn't get themselves the contract in the UK then

I'm really not sure. I thought maybe because they only take the phone if they get exclusivity but there is one other carrier that has it in Austria and two others in the Czech Republic so that isn't it. Maybe it has something to do with the pending merger with Orange? Orange already carries the phone in France and the UK so maybe they are holding off on it until after their talks are done.

I am reaching here, I have no reason to think this should have an impact on the phone, especially since the phone isn't exclusive to Orange in the UK or France but it wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen in the wireless space.

 

[yitbos96bb]

You also forgot openness. The Droid is open to apps that don't have to be approved by anyone, and that is important to some people (like me).

So is the iPhone if you jailbreak it... :-D

The android phones are open, true, but with that openness comes a side headache of apps not being tested properly and fouling up the phone. With non-jailbroken apps the chances of this happening are less. Yes, its draconian, but for 90% of the people out there, open apps will never be important to them... not when every person and their brother are programming apps for the Iphone. Its the 10% like you and me who the droid or jailbreaking is better for.

Overall though, I just don't think the droid functionality is anywhere close to the iphone... But there are some cool android phones coming out so we will see. Right now, I haven't found one that makes me want to give up my iphone... and god knows I'd love to leave ATT.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Yep... Iphone was definately not the first smartphone... nor was the ipod the first MP3 player (I actually had one of the first... the Diamond Rio)... but as you said, they made them easy to use... that's why they have been such a rousing success... really as a phone, the iphone is mediocre... as a mobile mini computer and media player... its AWESOME!

I think your criticisms of the App Store are completely valid. I do understand that the openness is really more an Android thing than a Verizon thing. The reason I mentioned it is that Verizon has been touting it as a feature in their Droid ads, and I find that completely ironic given their history. All of a sudden Verizon is presenting itself as the poster child for open platforms? Please. But I agree that Android has a very different approach than Apple does with the iPhone OS.

I think in some ways choosing an Apple/iPhone product is a deal with the devil. Despite the hype, the iPhone was not the first smartphone or the first device to do most (any?) of the things it does. I have used a lot of PDAs/smartphones, starting with the old Palm Pilots back in the day. Even those could do many of the things the current iPhone can do.

In my opinion, where the iPhone excels is the user interface. It makes many of those functions available and easy to use for regular people who don't want to spend their lives tweaking their cell phone. I'm a computer nerd and a phone nerd. I don't deny it. I was comfortable hacking the registry of my Windows Mobile phone to enable certain features, and even my Motorola Razr a few years ago with SEEM edits to get around different limitations. I can do those things, so I was very skeptical about the iPhone at first, since on paper it doesn't really do anything those other devices couldn't. But where it excels is not in what it does but in how it does it.

The trade-off, and the deal with the devil part, is that part of how Apple achieves that brilliant user experience is because they control it all, from start to finish, hardware and software. There aren't 15 different variations of the UI for different devices, there is no pre-loaded software selected by the carrier, none of that. Who knows for sure what went down in the negotiations where Verizon turned down the iPhone, but I'm sure part of it is that Verizon didn't want to relinquish control over certain key elements of the device. AT&T obviously gave in - there is no AT&T branding on the iPhone, none of the crapware they inflict on their other smartphones - only what Apple has allowed to be present (much like a Mac, which is blissfully free of the virus-like shareware that plagues many Windows computers).

It is not at all surprising to me that Apple exercises the same kind of control over the App Store that it does over other aspects of the iPhone. I don't think that is always for the good, and sometimes it is downright ridiculous. With the explosion of apps, it's going to be impossible for them to keep up with it (they certainly don't control all Mac software). I think there will have to be changes in the future, if for logistical reasons if nothing else. For right now, though, I accept those limitations because I love my iPhone so much. It just is far and away the best device of its kind that I have ever used. I could spend my time tweaking another device, but I'm actually really happy not to have to (I haven't even jailbroken it). Maybe I'm just at another phase in my life these days where I'd rather not spend the time.

As for the Droid, I have never used one, but I have heard a lot of good things. I can completely respect someone not wanting to deal with the control-freak approach that Apple uses. It certainly has its drawbacks (the Google Voice fiasco being a prime example). For me currently, I can live with the issues. But while I think they may change some things to be a little more flexible in the future, I doubt their corporate culture is likely to change significantly anytime soon.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Well looks like this is definately happening... AT and T was pushing Android phones left and right at CES today while ignoring the iphone. So they are preparing for the end of exclusivity...

OT, you should have seen the data usage chart for ATT since the iphone was released... current usage is 7000% higher than pre-iphone.... wow...

 

[mf1973]

usage driven by the iPhone is off the charts. Good news is that AT&T just completed there inital 7.2 Mbps rollout. Now I regularly get 1800 Kbits download.....that helped tremendously.

Well looks like this is definately happening... AT and T was pushing Android phones left and right at CES today while ignoring the iphone. So they are preparing for the end of exclusivity...

OT, you should have seen the data usage chart for ATT since the iphone was released... current usage is 7000% higher than pre-iphone.... wow...

 

[k5jm]

usage driven by the iPhone is off the charts. Good news is that AT&T just completed there inital 7.2 Mbps rollout. Now I regularly get 1800 Kbits download.....that helped tremendously.

I did a speed test yesterday and was getting 2.8mb down and 1mb up. That is better than most DSL in town (other than the latency of 180ms).

 

[zulemara]

Well looks like this is definately happening... AT and T was pushing Android phones left and right at CES today while ignoring the iphone. So they are preparing for the end of exclusivity...

OT, you should have seen the data usage chart for ATT since the iphone was released... current usage is 7000% higher than pre-iphone.... wow...

well I"m glad I got my shuffle and held off on anything more fancy. I'm really holding out hope that the iphone on verizon is released in late June. That'll be a great time to upgrade for me. I'm almost at my 1 year point with verizon so I should be able to get some kind of deal.

 

[OKW Lover]

I did a speed test yesterday and was getting 2.8mb down and 1mb up. That is better than most DSL in town (other than the latency of 180ms).

I did a speed test at the office (standing by the window) and got 2.4 down, but only 0.25 up.

 

[k5jm]

Looks like ATT may loose exclusivity next week, according to reports. This would explain the edgy carrier commercials that have been running lately.

Originally posted at Hothardware.com
AT&T Insiders Report iPhone Exclusivity Going Away On Wednesday

Saturday, January 23, 2010 - by Shawn Oliver
It's sort of hard to believe that all the hype from CES is already over and done with. Larger companies spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to introduce and showcase new products at the show, and now all anyone wants to talk about in the tech world is Apple. Must be nice to be Steve Jobs (or an investor). The company that gave the world the iPod and iPhone is planning a media event on the 27th of this month, and while the world tends to believe a tablet or slate of some sort is planned, there has been no definite proof of that to this point.

We really have no idea what's next from Apple; we just know that it'll be something to unleash one's creative side based according to a tagline in the invite. According to an inside source close to the going-ons involved in all of this, a new tablet of some sort may not be the only thing on deck for next Wednesday though. We have been led to believe by an inside source that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on the same day, though it's not yet clear what other carrier (or carriers) will be stepping in to also carry the phone. For anyone who has followed the saga, you may notice that you haven't seen AT&T fighting to extend their original exclusive agreement of late. In fact, they have spent most of their time fighting Verizon's negative ad campaign.