Topic: Verizon phones

[BlackNMild2k1]

My htc phone by google wasn't free...

I believe it was designed by, but not manufactured by Google.
On a slightly related note...

Verizon is coming out with 2 new Android phones that fully support Google Voice and 1 of them Google listed as a "Game Changer".
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[Flames_of_chaos]

I have a Google phone, the OS is pretty much open source and built on a Linux kernel. The phones have to be manufactured and all the nice features are crammed in so that is why Android phones cost a pretty penny. My Mytouch 3G from T-Mobile supports Google voice, all Android phone support it. I know Google Voice got rejected on the iPhone App store due to AT&T's influence.

While it seems like Google doesn't make any money due to the fact that almost all of their products are free or open source they make a lot of revenue the non-traditional way. Their primary source of revenue is advertising, in 2006 they made about $10.5 Billion just with ads and about $112 Million from other revenue sources.

[MegaByte]

I've been holding off on my "new every two" credit in hopes that Verizon would finally get some good phones this year.  Now I can't wait for one of those new Android phones.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I've been holding off on my "new every two" credit in hopes that Verizon would finally get some good phones this year.  Now I can't wait for one of those new Android phones.

My new every two is coming up in June, and I am eagerly awaiting to see if Verizon hold up to this "big push to be seen as the "open" carrier" and stop crippling new phones and forcing people to use the Verizon store for even simple stuff. Part of what led me to get my current phone was the fact that you could easily put your own ring tones on the phone and skip paying $3.99 for 20 second clips of songs that I might already own in 4 different places (CD, computer, mp3 player, etc etc.) especially when I could buy the entire song for $0.99 online somewhere.

[MegaByte]

Are there any phones that are really that crippled?  I know my phone is crippled from what it could be, but I can still use BitPim to upload custom ringtones.  Even my old phone would take MP3s renamed as MID through BitPim.

[BlackNMild2k1]

My last phone wasn't supported by Bitpim and the one before that (I didn't know about bitpim) required you to jump through hoops to get a highly degraded self added ringtone onto the phone. It was a hassle and I could always not wait to upgrade.

my current phone has had features disabled from the original version of the phone, and I'm hoping that when I check out a phone before it comes to Verizon, that for once it will arrive with all it's features still intact. Not stripped to force you to use V Cast.

[Plugabugz]

Are there any phones that are really that crippled?

Network branded phones (that have software branding for Verizon, Orange UK etc etc) are nearly always slower than their "naked" counterparts and introduce a whole new set of bugs.

[EasyCure]

I have a Google phone, the OS is pretty much open source and built on a Linux kernel. The phones have to be manufactured and all the nice features are crammed in so that is why Android phones cost a pretty penny. My Mytouch 3G from T-Mobile supports Google voice, all Android phone support it. I know Google Voice got rejected on the iPhone App store due to AT&T's influence.

While it seems like Google doesn't make any money due to the fact that almost all of their products are free or open source they make a lot of revenue the non-traditional way. Their primary source of revenue is advertising, in 2006 they made about $10.5 Billion just with ads and about $112 Million from other revenue sources.

I just recently bought my girlfriend the MyTouch because the Samsung Behold I bought her not even a year ago crapped out; she couldn't be happier with it (aside from the camera not being as good). I've had my G1 since launch and I love it too, its a great little phone and its surprising how many applications you can download for FREE that are actually very useful. Some don't even come with ads!

[MegaByte]

my current phone has had features disabled from the original version of the phone, and I'm hoping that when I check out a phone before it comes to Verizon, that for once it will arrive with all it's features still intact. Not stripped to force you to use V Cast.

From what I've been reading, Verizon mostly only cripples their dumb phones now, not their smart phones.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Well i have the LG Dare, considered a smart phone, and I know that some features were changed for the Verizon version of this phone. I had requested that VZ get the LG Viewty, but they basically got a stripped down modified version of it instead about 6-7 months after I had asked. I can add ringtones, but I have to text msg them to myself, I can't just use songs already on the phone or mem card and they disabled the wifi that the original phone had, and they lowered the resolution of the camera from 5mpix to 3.2mpix.

It's still a pretty good phone, if not a little bit slow, but I was hoping they would bring over the full featured version and not a stripped down verizon version.

[MegaByte]

Well, two things.  I said "now," not last year, and the Dare isn't really a smartphone anyway.

[BlackNMild2k1]

it's classified as a smartphone/pda, but I'm eagerly awaiting these new phones and my New Every 2 upgrade.

It would be nice to have a hone with apps, a nice camera(pics/video), easy music/user interface, multi-tasking, wifi and touchscreen.

[MegaByte]

They might say that, but it doesn't run a smartphone OS or have a serious processor to run apps.  From what I can tell, besides touch, it doesn't do a lot more than my SCH-u740, and that's considered a dumb phone as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I consider it a dumb phone, but they sure didn't price it as such when it first came out.

[BranDonk Kong]

If anyone is on Verizon, I highly suggest checking out the Omnia 2 when it releases in a couple weeks. It looks absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. It has mutli-tasking (all Windows Mobile phones do), WiFi, touchscreen, and a 5 megapixel camera. It can also record 30FPS 720p video, unless that has changed from the original Korean version.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Wow. this is the first time I started a thread without starting a thread.
I was slightly confused for a second until I saw the date since I didn't remember any Verizon thread started by me.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Verizon asks 'if the iDoesn't, what does?'

The "there's a map for that" ad was a pretty aggressive way to broadside AT&T and the iPhone, but it looks like Verizon's just getting warmed up. We're hearing that the carrier will be kicking off a major new campaign this evening during the Yankees-Angels game that'll feature "a very different look and a whole new attitude," calling out the "iDevice" (their words, not ours) for all the things it can't do. That's a bold offensive for a carrier that historically has lacked breadth and depth in its smartphone lineup, but with the big new Android releases coming down the pike, this might be perfect timing -- and a strong implication that we can seriously put those endless Verizon iPhone rumors to bed for a little while.

These Android phones better be the **** and Verizon better not be crippling them in any way.

[BranDonk Kong]

Seriously the iphone is completely overrated, and it's taken 3 years for it to *start* getting some of the features that other phones have had for a decade now (thought it still cannot multitask). Nothing will ever "kill" the iPhone though, there are just way too many of them out there.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Everything iDon't, Droid Does


and a little tidbit from the video that you probably wouldn't have noticed.


"DROID" is a trade mark of Lucasfilm Ltd.

(pre-production images, subject to change)

Rumored Specs:

• Name: Motorola Sholes, Tao, or Droid
  
• OS: Android 2.0 + Eclair (Google Experience Device*)
  
• Network: Verizon Wireless CONFIRMED
  
• Release: Late October or November CONFIRMED
  
• Screen: 3.7-inch WVGA (854×480) capacitive touchscreen CONFIRMED
  
• CPU: 600 MHz ARM Cortex
  • GPU: PowerVR SGX 530
    
  • ISP: 430 MHz C64x + DSP
• Storage: Either 512 MB or 16 GB
  
• Camera: 5 megapixel with autofocus and facial recognition
  
• Battery: 1390 or 1400 mAh
  
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headset jack CONFIRMED, stereo Bluetooth, MicroSD, USB 2.0, GPS
  
• World's slimmest QWERTY smartphone at just 13.7mm thick. That's about as thick as an iPhone.

Current Android Features (for the uninformed):

• Open-source smartphone operating system primarily developed by Google
• Over 10,000 apps in the Android Market (recently upgraded with a better UI and screenshots)
• This includes Google Voice
• Multitasking
• Cross-app information exchange (change ringtone based on GPS location, scan QR codes with bar code scanner and the app appears in Android Market, etc.)
• Customizable homescreen (wallpaper, app shortcuts, setting shortcuts, widgets, etc.)
• Homescreen widgets, "always connected" mini-apps that display small amounts of vital info on one of the three homescreen panels.
• Kickass notification system that most tech pundits agree hasn't been surpassed
• Kickass WebKit-based browser ([highlight]Flash coming in January 2010[/highlight], rumored to be getting Chrome Sync soon too)
  
• Best damn GMail client availableâ„¢
• Text-to-speech and speech-to-text
• Gesture support
• WVGA, HVGA, and QVGA supported
• Universal search, with app developers able to plug in their apps to the system
• Google account required, syncs all contacts, calendars, and mail via push
• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync supported
• Soft keyboard can be used if a hard keyboard isn't present (or open)
• Video recording and picture taking (recently updated)
• Accelerometer-based app and keyboard rotations for portrait or landscape mode
• VPN Virtual Private Network support

* Google Experience devices use the "stock" Android ROM plus Google's suit of applications. At the moment this means that it won't ever have the prettier interfaces like HTC's Sense or Motorola's MOTOBLUR, but we don't know how Android 2.0 looks. Google Experience devices also feature the "with Google" branding, and are required to have a camera and compass; additionally, manufacturers and carriers are forced to not interfere with the actual OS, or the Android Market.

[BlackNMild2k1]

^ If Verizon stick to their new stance of truly open phones, then I will definitely be making the switch, hopefully sooner rather than later.

[ShyGuy]

I have Verizon and my phone is eligible for the "new every two" but I don't want to pay extra for data services. Is that Droid phone the best one to get?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like it. But there is also a new HTC phone. HTC Tattoo I think, also android based.



I hear the Pre2 is coming early next year too if you wanna hold a little longer, but these will be the 1st "open" phones on Verizon and shouldn't be Vcast crippled in anyway.

[ShyGuy]

Vcast is hideous.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Your preaching to the choir.

Too bad my NE2 isn't valid till June 2010... it's gonna be long wait. I hope they come out with something even better between when these come out next month and June of next year.

[NWR_insanolord]

Seriously the iphone is completely overrated, and it's taken 3 years for it to *start* getting some of the features that other phones have had for a decade now (thought it still cannot multitask). Nothing will ever "kill" the iPhone though, there are just way too many of them out there.

You know what's overrated? Multitasking. Seriously, apart from running streaming audio apps like Pandora in the background I can't think of a single reason I'd need it. It'd be nice to have but in no way necessary. It's like the only reason it gets hyped up is because the iPhone doesn't do it.