So Verizon’s got a superphone coming. Hah.
Let’s take a moment to consider Verizon. This is a company that for years has been touting their network – a network that until recently was still relying on analog to fill out their coverage map – while downplaying the fact that their CDMA-based network meant a worse selection of handsets than any major mobile carrier on Earth. Handsets that had worse battery life than their rivals, thanks to the limitations of CDMA. Handsets on which they forced their own custom user interface and own custom application type. (BREW? Really?) Handsets on which they regularly locked out or removed features like Bluetooth, e-mail support, GPS.
And now, they want us to forget all that, because they have a new phone coming real soon that will put the smack down on the iPhone and show Apple what’s what.
The obvious question is why a carrier thinks it’s in competition with a handset maker. But setting that aside…what are they pushing? “Doesn’t run multiple apps at once.” (Technically true but largely irrelevant.) “No open development.” (Verizon can suck it – they have less than zero room to talk about “open” anything. Do you think Mary Sue Enduser gives a shit about the developer options?) “Doesn’t run widgets.” (Huh? I assume they mean some sort of idle-screen display.) “No removable battery.” Well, two years and three models later, I don’t think the battery thing is killing the iPhone too bad, do you?* “No physical keyboard.” Again, doesn’t seem to be making that much trouble, especially considering that the current flagship Android phone (HTC myTouch 3G on T-Mobile) doesn’t have one either. The 5 megapixel camera is a possible get – but then, there are plenty of other phones with 5 megapixel cameras and none of them seem to be putting a dent in the growth rate of the iPhone.
The bigger story, to me, is that Verizon has pretty much punted on the iPhone on LTE in a couple of years. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a guy whose name rhymes with Sleeve Knobs who was never going to deal with the red V again after they wanted UI input. Now Verizon has found an open source phone OS that they can presumably trick out how they want…the question is, will they have the sense to let Motorola design a MOTOBLUR-type look for it or are they going to go with the same block-red abortion of an interface they slapped on everything from cheap-shit LG freebies to Blackberries?
The lesson here: Verizon is shitting themselves because the iPhone is eating their lunch. Not AT&T – AT&T sucks and most iPhone owners will tell you the same. But despite that, they’re still going for the phone – and that’s why Verizon has to try to knock down the iPhone.
The truly interesting thing, though, is that of all the stuff Verizon says is terrible about the iPhone, almost every bit of it is something that could be changed in OS 4.0. Not the camera or the battery, obviously, but don’t forget that everyone was touting the advantages the Pre had over the iPhone – and by launch day, most of those were minimized at best. So they could well be setting themselves up to get lapped sooner rather than later – and if you don’t think the iPhone is Apple’s #1 platform these days, wait until you see sales numbers Monday.
Verizon’s gone out and bought themselves somebody else’s hardware and somebody else’s OS and thinks they’re going to give Apple the beatdown? COME TRY IT IF YOU’VE GOT THE BALLS.
* The obvious gimmick is that with CDMA, you NEED to be able to swap batteries, because you’ll never get through a full day on one charge. Try running multiple apps at once on a CDMA network; your worktime will be measurable in minutes.