Verizon fires a shot accross the iphone's bow

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Slick5150
FYI - The Palm Pre is coming out on Verizon in January as well. So, for those opposed to Android, that's another REALLY solid option (I've owned an iPhone, and currently have both an HTC Hero (Android) and a Pre, and the Pre is definitely my favorite of the 3)

Will likely be getting a Pre or HTC Hero when my contract is up. Why do you like the Pre better?

The Hero is sluggish. It uses the same processor as the T-Mobile myTouch which, frankly, is simply too slow to run Android very well. As I mentioned above, the Droid is really the first phone that will run Android the way it was intended..

The Pre, on the other hand, is quite quick in my experience, and the Touchstone charging system is outstanding. I have a touchstone mounted on my car's dash, so when I get in I just set the Pre on it (which is then held onto it magnetically) so it can charge and I can stream Pandora to my stereo and/or get GPS directions at the same time (Sprint Navigator is really quite a solid GPS program). The recent software updates have fixed a lot of the quirks the phone had when it launched. Frankly, they launched a beta product, it wasn't done yet, but I consider webOS a solid platform since the most recent 1.2 update.

The Pixi is also coming out in the next few weeks. Its basically a trimmed down Pre that just uses a candybar form factor instead of the slider that the Pre uses.

Just my 2 cents anyways.

 

[Q]

I was thinking this was Google's Android phone

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
If the only way you can market your product is to compare it to some other product, you've already lost.

The Moto phone is unproven as yet, (Moto's future actually depends on Android) and Verizon is notorious for crippling phones. The ad is pretty odd, a carrier taking a shot at a manufacturer.

<---Apple stockholder, Android user.

Not really. iPhones are supposed to be locked into AT&T networks. So for verizon, it is never a good thing when someone buys an iPhone. Make the iPhone look stupid while your option is great is business. If apple doesn't like it, then they should consider allowing different carriers.

 

[swbsam]

looks a lot like the "iSheep" campaign by Sandisk (against the iPod).

Here's a clue- if you're trying to gain market share against a device that people love, don't make fun of that device! Show what your device does better because, otherwise, you'll just look like a bitter nerd.

 

[ultimatebob]

Wasn't the Blackberry Storm supposed to be Verizon's iPhone killer? I think that we all know how that turned out.

 

[ivan2]

i hope it doesn't suck like the storm does. what a slow ass phone that was.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: ivan2
i hope it doesn't suck like the storm does. what a slow ass phone that was.

The Storm 2 is actually fairly decent, but its not really intended to compete directly with the iPhone. More just a different UI for people who like Blackberrys.

The Droid will go directly after the iPhone market.

 

[secretanchitman]

definitely looking forward to this phone. doesnt look that great, but android 2.0 and the internals looks awesome.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
w/o the huge user base it'll never have the # of apps + accessories needed to compete with apple.

Anrdoid Market is #2 in apps. I believe they have upwards of 10,000 by now. Considering how many apps on these markets are just copies of each other, there's pretty much an app for everything on Android.

Originally posted by: Chris
Android just blows. I spent most of the day learning the Android SDK but now I have no desire whatsoever to write an Android app. Even though Objective-C and the iPhone SDK are shitty, I'd rather be writing iPhone apps.

fyi...Chris is a notorious Apple-proponent. There is nothing wrong with the Android platform.

If the only way you can market your product is to compare it to some other product, you've already lost.

The Moto phone is unproven as yet, (Moto's future actually depends on Android) and Verizon is notorious for crippling phones. The ad is pretty odd, a carrier taking a shot at a manufacturer.

A) Don't tell that to Apple, they employ that marketing strategy all the time, generally with success.
B) Verizon is launching a full-scale marketing attack on AT&T and their biggest product. They have those "there's a map for that" commercials attacking AT&T's network, and now these attacking AT&T's flagship phone

That's like saying all Linux distros are the same though. Android is more of a foundation than an outcome.

I wouldn't go that far. Actually, Android is based on Linux, so your comparison is more accurate if you're talking about Android vs WebOS vs Maemo. Each manufacturer of Android is decently different, look at stock vs sense vs motoblur, but its still Android.

As long as Java apps are slow? I've been a Java developer since 1996 and there's no denying that Java apps, UI apps especially, are slow. Even on my quad core Xeon Java apps chug compared to native apps. It's worse on a cell phone.

It's not just Java -- it's any VM based language. Compare iPhone apps to Zune HD apps as well. iPhone's calculator starts instantly where on the Zune HD it takes 10 seconds to load because it requires a runtime VM.

Let's hope Android can fix this, but I've been waiting 13 years now so I'm not really optimistic about it.

*sigh* If high-level languages compiled into IL are so slow, can you explain why Amazon's back end is slowly but surely being converted from C++ to Java, or why much of Microsoft's new (non-legacy) code is written in C#? Today's languages are not the same as they were in 1996, you just have to know how to use them.

Ive owned all 3 Iphones, (currently using a 3gs) and owned a G1 and i must say i really liked Android...however the touchscreen itself on the G1 is what made me want to go back to the Iphone. Given the fact that the Droid will have multitouch makes me optimistic about this phone.

The G1 actually does support multitouch in hardware, its just disabled by the software. I used a custom ROM for the G1 that had multitouch enabled, it was nice.

I was thinking this was Google's Android phone

It is an Android phone.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Kaido
iDon't have 80,000 apps

iBet it will have more since iphone apps can only be developed on macs.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Kaido
iDon't have 80,000 apps

iBet it will have more since iphone apps can only be developed on macs.

Yea, considering how much smaller the G1/myTouch user base is than the iPhone's, the 10k+ apps on the Android Market are impressive. Now that Sprint and Verizon are adding Android phones too, that number will only grow.

 

[oogabooga]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Wasn't the Blackberry Storm supposed to be Verizon's iPhone killer? I think that we all know how that turned out.

I think that's not how it was advertised or described... but certainly what was hoped for.

I don't think anyone really thought the storm would knockout the iphone though or make a serious dent, or at least I didn't. *shrugs*

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Kaido
iDon't have 80,000 apps

iBet it will have more since iphone apps can only be developed on macs.

Yea, considering how much smaller the G1/myTouch user base is than the iPhone's, the 10k+ apps on the Android Market are impressive. Now that Sprint and Verizon are adding Android phones too, that number will only grow.

iAgree. if it catches on in popularity, it won't take long at all for the android to surpass the iPhone's number of apps.

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: Cogman

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Kaido
iDon't have 80,000 apps

iBet it will have more since iphone apps can only be developed on macs.

Yea, considering how much smaller the G1/myTouch user base is than the iPhone's, the 10k+ apps on the Android Market are impressive. Now that Sprint and Verizon are adding Android phones too, that number will only grow.

iAgree. if it catches on in popularity, it won't take long at all for the android to surpass the iPhone's number of apps.

Maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here, but "if" the Droid is about as good as the iPhone, it will be a game changer. That is a massively large "if" though. Since Android is not a phone, there could be dozens of phones using the OS on any carrier (unless AT&T doubles down on the iPhone).

I will remain cautiously optimistic about the Droid. However, if it is a legitimate iPhone competitor, it will be very interesting to see what happens.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

my fat fingers require a qwerty keypad which this phone has.

 

[Pliablemoose]

The problem with Android phones is that they'll quickly become a comodity item...

Wait for the wave of cheap smartphones using Android to hit. Every major manufacturer except RIMM and Nokia have one. How long until Noklia Android phones appear and they'll have a decent OS.

 

[Molondo]

Fanboism aside, the more competition the better for the consumers.

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: swbsam
looks a lot like the "iSheep" campaign by Sandisk (against the iPod).

Here's a clue- if you're trying to gain market share against a device that people love, don't make fun of that device! Show what your device does better because, otherwise, you'll just look like a bitter nerd.

isn't that what the commercial did? I know that the droid will have a user-replaceable battery, verizon network, and open app development. And I watched it really tired one or two days ago.

Originally posted by: Deeko

As long as Java apps are slow? I've been a Java developer since 1996 and there's no denying that Java apps, UI apps especially, are slow. Even on my quad core Xeon Java apps chug compared to native apps. It's worse on a cell phone.

It's not just Java -- it's any VM based language. Compare iPhone apps to Zune HD apps as well. iPhone's calculator starts instantly where on the Zune HD it takes 10 seconds to load because it requires a runtime VM.

Let's hope Android can fix this, but I've been waiting 13 years now so I'm not really optimistic about it.

*sigh* If high-level languages compiled into IL are so slow, can you explain why Amazon's back end is slowly but surely being converted from C++ to Java, or why much of Microsoft's new (non-legacy) code is written in C#? Today's languages are not the same as they were in 1996, you just have to know how to use them.

I love it when a man talks IL.

 

[destrekor]

After reading that hands-on report, this makes me really want this phone. Was hoping it would be a faster version of the OMAP3 chip, but it's supposedly an awesome one and the specific chipset in the phone has a lot of capability from what I have read.
The report is stating it is a very fast and responsive Android 2.0 phone.

How customizable is the Android look? I know the different manufacturers have their own UI styles, and while the Cliq has Motoblur (?), the last I saw it sounds like the Droid does not have that? Looked like a nice UI, though I really really want HTC's Sense UI, but sadly HTC's Hero on Verizon is not 2.0 nor does it have a speedy chip.
Still want to wait for a Snapdragon Android or WinMo 7 phone. The fact this the Droid is [apparently] the thinnest slider on the market is awesome because I like having a physical keyboard at times, say when typing an email or typing lengthy texts (surprise surprise eh? ). If it's snappy and can support taxing apps (3d games?), I'll be very happy.
Hating that damn chin at the bottom but at least it doesn't jut out like that one HTC phone.

If the Droid's UI get customized or at least can be customized to great length, I'll be very interested.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Originally posted by: Chris

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
How long will this Java = slow thing go on?

As long as Java apps are slow? I've been a Java developer since 1996 and there's no denying that Java apps, UI apps especially, are slow. Even on my quad core Xeon Java apps chug compared to native apps. It's worse on a cell phone.

It's not just Java -- it's any VM based language. Compare iPhone apps to Zune HD apps as well. iPhone's calculator starts instantly where on the Zune HD it takes 10 seconds to load because it requires a runtime VM.

Let's hope Android can fix this, but I've been waiting 13 years now so I'm not really optimistic about it.

If you have been developing Java applications since 1996 and still think Java is the reason your programs are slow, I would give all the money back that people paid you because that is a crime.

 

[TheVrolok]

Any competition for the iPhone is welcomed.

 

[trmiv]

I'd get this phone if my new every two was coming up soon. I've got awhile though, still using my Blackberry Curve 8330 which feels ancient right now.

 

[sohcrates]

apple spends an amazing amount of time perfecting it's user interface. everyone else who tries to compete may have great hardware but rushes to market. people are so used to great apple interfaces that the bar is pretty darn high for useability.

i am very excited about Droid. I just hope they are not rushing it out with a lot of hype without enough testing.

my buddy has started programming apps for android. it is very powerful and has so much possibility as an open platform I really think it is best suited for direct apple competition.

 

[dwell]

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
If you have been developing Java applications since 1996 and still think Java is the reason your programs are slow, I would give all the money back that people paid you because that is a crime.

The only crime is your denial that the Java platform results in slow-ass programs. Sure you can compile Java to native code but it's still not going to be as fast as C/C++ because of the gimpy garbage collector.

 

[dwell]

Originally posted by: Deeko
fyi...Chris is a notorious Apple-proponent. There is nothing wrong with the Android platform.

Because the G1 was awesome. And fast. And had great battery life. Before Moto wants to talk shit about the iPhone, how 'bout they prove the Droid is worth a damn?

*sigh* If high-level languages compiled into IL are so slow, can you explain why Amazon's back end is slowly but surely being converted from C++ to Java, or why much of Microsoft's new (non-legacy) code is written in C#? Today's languages are not the same as they were in 1996, you just have to know how to use them.

Back-end code. 90% of what you are running on the back-end is the same code which gets compiled by the JIT so it's not IL anymore anyway. With back-end apps the latency is in the data sources (database/web services) not the actual code so it's not a big win use C/C++, especially considering the complexity of the language and how you can shoot your self in the foot with memory management. With UI it's a different story, and sorry, the terms Java and "snappy interface" are not exactly synonymous.