[G-funkster]

Engadget Reports:

New advertising allegedly leaked out of a consumer survey suggests that the 2-year contract price could come in a full two hundie lower, though: $299 for 4GB, $399 for 8GB.

Could be fake, but this does seem a lot more reasonable. If I were Cingular, I'd offer this kind of price cut on the hardware rather than the 18 months of 'free' service they were thinking of throwing around.

[Pearl_Diva]

That sounds a lot better!

[copernicus]

Well, I think there were some rumors that the price would be coming down so these prices may indeed be accurate. To me they seem awfully low. Apple and Cingular may be positioning themselves to clean up.

[Pearl_Diva]

Well they have to because how many sign 2 yr. contracts and still pay $600 for the phone? In the US.

[taroliw]

Oh Palm.... Palm?? .... PALM!!! Wake he hell up and get your ALP or other new OS build out the damn door already. ****, if this thing is user-extendable with applications or widgets, I'm gonna have hard time resisting it when it comes out.

[Pearl_Diva]

The iPhone can replace a full function smartphone? First, has it been proven that it will sync with Exchange and/or BB servers? Second, has it been proven that you can view and edit documents on the phone? Third, how's the contact management? And there's probably some stuff I'm forgetting. I have to see these things first before I could replace a Treo or TyTN.

[taroliw]

touchy. No, I don't think anything will be proven about this device until it actually hits the market. The point is Palm needs to wake the hell up and take notice that it is falling behind the market. Whether it's the iPhone or some other device -- dare I say even WM -- they are going to be surpassed. They need to take decisive action pretty quickly or face a losing proposition.

As for the iPhone specifically, I've heard way too many claims to really count on it doing anything in particular. I've even had people tell me it has iChat when in reality it's just the SMS application that looks like iChat. (at least what Steve demo'ed) I've also heard it said that users will not be able to unleash the true power of the Darwin within by installing their own applications. From my perspective, it's just plain stupid and will hurt the iPhone. So there are plenty of reasons I would have some pause about the iPhone. But there's also a lot of promise... time will tell whether the iPhone or some other Linux-enabled device will bring pain to Palm. But the basic fact is that Palm cannot live on Garnet and pimping itself to Microsoft.

[Pearl_Diva]

No not touchy, but I realize I cannot do without a real smartphone. iPhone is perfect as a 2nd phone though!

Nothing's changing over at Palm. Colligan is stubborn, did you see the thread where he said function over form?

You know I've criticized Palm for cutting corners. No built-in wifi on WM phones is embarrassing IMO. BT 2.0 should have been on the 750. Design-wise, I can't complain about the 750 except it could be a tad bit thinner. But Palm was quite late in slimming down. Garnet is almost nostalgic. In fact their only hope IS to pimp themselves out for a WM6 slimmed down Treo IMO! But yet again, they will be hanging thier entire hat on one or two phones.

[taroliw]

No not touchy, but I realize I cannot do without a real smartphone. iPhone is perfect as a 2nd phone though!

Well, that seems to be the consensus without really having been able to use one yet. The two key things I see standing in it's way is the usability issue with the on-screen keyboard and not being able to install user apps.

Nothing's changing over at Palm. Colligan is stubborn, did you see the thread where he said function over form?

Yeah, I have seen that thread. I think he's had his head in the sand so long that it's invaded his brain through his ears and is affecting his judgement. Someone pull the plug and get some new blood in there...

[Pearl_Diva]

If the Moto rumor is true...

Although Motorola in the US has it's own problems. Too many sucky design and UI phones. And they just kept releasing the *&^% things! Let's hope those days are coming to an end! They redeemed themselves with the RAZR(yeah I know, don't laugh, the design works if not the UI) and the Q.

[taroliw]

They redeemed themselves with the RAZR(yeah I know, don't laugh, the design works if not the UI) and the Q.

Well, I'll hold my comments on these two. Instead I'll just make the observation that the market hasn't quite resolved the tendency to make devices smaller and thinner with the realities of battery life and functionality requirements.

[Pearl_Diva]

Even if a smaller battery means less power, obviously people want these types of devices or they wouldn't sell so much. Someone just needs to remind them that they will get less battery life. But so many have RAZRs now, maybe it doesn't matter to those people. Moto must have made a fortune off the RAZR!!

[taroliw]

Even if a smaller battery means less power, obviously people want these types of devices or they wouldn't sell so much. Someone just needs to remind them that they will get less battery life.

LOL No, people imagine they will get it all with any device and get ballistic and irate when magically companies can't deliver. Every product is a function of compromise. That's simple reality.

Something I really laugh about is that some devices, like the Moto Q, are being shipped new to customers with two batteries. Now how's THAT for a signal of problems to come! And yet people continue to lambast Palm about the 680 and 750 for reduced power. *sigh*

But so many have RAZRs now, maybe it doesn't matter to those people. Moto must have made a fortune off the RAZR!!

No kidding. But the message a device like this really sends is that the smartphone / PDA market hasn't gained traction yet. If the big news in sales stories is yet another feature phone then the right things aren't happening in the smarphone / PDA space.

[Pearl_Diva]

Two batteries is a signal of problems? Maybe a sign of bad battery life but also a sign of making the customer happy. If Palm sold the thinner Treos with 2 batteries, we'd all be ecstatic!

Right now there's a battle between multi-media phones and smartphones, as I see it. All cool new devices seem to be smartphones or music/video phones.

One problem is the multi-media phones have smartphone features for the average user, and remain in a smaller and/or cooler form factor. Email for Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail. Sure no Exchange push, but many don't need that. IM. Contacts. Calender. Alarms. Just enough to keep the younger average consumer from buying and trying a full-fledged smartphone.

[taroliw]

Two batteries is a signal of problems? Maybe a sign of bad battery life but also a sign of making the customer happy. If Palm sold the thinner Treos with 2 batteries, we'd all be ecstatic!

Of course it is. And Palm users would probably say the same thing I've heard irate MotoQ owners saying: "Damn thing has such crappy battery life they ship it with two batteries!" Two batteries isn't a feature, it's a workaround. Products shouldn't ship with workarounds.

Right now there's a battle between multi-media phones and smartphones... [but] the multi-media phones have smartphone features for the average user, and remain in a smaller and/or cooler form factor. [...] Just enough to keep the younger average consumer from buying and trying a full-fledged smartphone.

Well, I guess what it boils down to is what they think their target (80/20 rule) market is. If manufacturers don't believe that the mass market is behind smarter smartphones or PDA's then they'll die, or become (more) hopelessly niche.

I guess one possible question to pose is "is a PDA phone really the ideal convergence device, or are we just trying to cram a laptop into our palm?" I can definitely identify with those who would prefer to remain mobile and yet still remain more or less fully functional. For me, this includes more common stuff like IMAP/Exchange email, remote PIM sync, Instant Messaging, SMS, and Web. But I go further for things like SSH, VNC, Remote Desktop, VPN. So I don't really count myself amongst the 80%. I wonder if I'll ever really have a device that hits my sweet spot. The Treo comes very close...

For me, I those "cute" devices and think "but what can I do with it besides talk on the phone or listen to music, unless I want to try and T9 my SMS or other messages?" In a word: ick. For me -- and I suspect others who would be drawn to the Treo -- really do factor more heavily on the function side of the form/function equation. If function requires more power and you make the form bigger, they call you a brick. If you scale back on function to fit the "ideal" form, then you're a not-so-smart phone (Razr comes to mind). In the end, there will always be some mix of devices... but I can't imagine a device that could ever achieve all things for all people all the time.

[Pearl_Diva]

No one is ever happy, ever notice that? Two OEM batteries would make ME happy! Then I don't have to worry about aftermarket products messing up the phone!

I have some cute devices also. They actually aren't bad if you don't need to do serious work for the day. Keep texting short and sweet, and it's OK.

[Felipe#WP]

Engadget Reports:





Could be fake, but this does seem a lot more reasonable. If I were Cingular, I'd offer this kind of price cut on the hardware rather than the 18 months of 'free' service they were thinking of throwing around.

Wrong.

[Pearl_Diva]

They aren't going to get many US buyers to pay $500-$600 with a 2 year contract. 2 year contracts usually mean subsidized phones. They should have taken the hint from the "fake".

[archie]

Haven't read much of this thread but I guarantee Apple will not be cutting the iPhone price anytime soon. They want the iphone to have a high dollar amount to infer quality in this all-in-one device to give consumers confidence. Some refer to this as a zero-sum heuristic.

I find it amusing that this subject keeps coming up.

[Pearl_Diva]

I can get the 8525 for the same amount. And NOT have to sign away 2 years to the monopoly of ATT!

[oalvarez]

slideouts could be offered for free and i still wouldn't buy one!

regards

[Pearl_Diva]

It's not as horrible as you think if you text a lot, which I do.

[oalvarez]

will go as far as saying i'd rather carry a treo again than own a slideout (as i once did), but that's just me.

regards

[Pearl_Diva]

Well slide out keyboards are only good for texting anyway. But the 8525 is also fully featured. More so than the iPhone at this time. Tri-band UMTS and guaranteed use of third party apps put the TyTN ahead of the iPhone in terms of usability for me.

[archie]

Haven't read much of this thread but I guarantee Apple will not be cutting the iPhone price anytime soon. They want the iphone to have a high dollar amount to infer quality in this all-in-one device to give consumers confidence. Some refer to this as a zero-sum heuristic.

The latest iPhone commercial, shown tonight at the Academy Awards, uses 'association' to also project quality.