verizon turned down the iphone! Says new phone due late summer!

[rcyphermd]

Interesting article in USA Today where the CEO of Verizon says he turned down the iphone, but has something new late summer to compete. Interesting!

 

[Bill Gamble]

Interesting article in USA Today where the CEO of Verizon says he turned down the iphone, but has something new late summer to compete. Interesting!

Link?

 

[Musicman247]

Yep, it's the mePhone.

 

[lazaruz]

Interesting article in USA Today where the CEO of Verizon says he turned down the iphone, but has something new late summer to compete. Interesting!

i think that vzw turned down the iphone is "old" news... but "something new" in "late summer" probably means another blackberry or some such pos

 

[richpjr]

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2007-05-21-at&t-iphone_N.htm

 

[efudd]

wow-

that 5 year exclusive is either pure genius or a blunder on par with the stupidest ones of all time for apple.

It seems like Apple really revels in being a niche player. Extreme case ATT maybe can corner what, maybe 50% of the market? (right now I guess they are around a third if you att in dinks besides sprint and vz)- why the hell would you limit yourself to 33- 50% of the market for 5 years? ATT must have paid a fortune?

 

[whatever7]

Apple has alway made money on being a upscaled niche player, what do you expect?

 

[Fafafoooey]

Verizon said no, since the IPhone has Wifi, and VZW can't have that. I would also imagine that the IPhone will eventually have GPS (I hope) eventually, and VZW would have to disable that too. Verizon is freakin stupid to disable built in functionality of a phone, like GPS on the BB 8703e and the 8830. WTF! It is built into the phone. You pay for the technology, and Verizon denies the customer the "right" to use the function!?! DARN YOU VERIZON. YOU'RE NOT NICE.

 

[blackboxsocial]

I'd switch to ATT if I could get the a unlimited data and text add on for the same price I'm paying now: $15

 

[gt5l]

I think the VZN will introduce the BB Curve later this year. It is a much anticipated BB that does NOT have real GPS which is right up VZN's alley.

 

[bobonoho]

why would verizon have ever want to have wifi? if you could just get on a wifi network instead of using evdo, they would lose millions a year.

 

[vMAC]

why would verizon have ever want to have wifi? if you could just get on a wifi network instead of using evdo, they would lose millions a year.

Not really because EVDO is more prevelant than wi-fi is in most major cities, and also if you're using wifi you aren't using EVDO which means you aren't costing them money or bandwidth. The reason they don't want wi-fi is because in the long run, wi-fi has the potential to do away with verzion and all other cell phon companies entirely if wi-fi became more widely used. Then all yo would need is a VOIP phone.

 

[efudd]

I dont think that verizon really has a beef with wifi compared to evdo. they have a hand in pay wifi. If you install their software to use tethered data from an evdo phone it has a wifi component.

They probably dislike FREE wifi but I'm sure they dont mind selling their business customers wifi.

Wifi and voip is never going to kill cell phones- probably wont make a dent either. It's not like you can get free wifi anywhere. The only wireless internet technology that might be scary to verizon's evdo is wimax. And the only national wimax network will be the pay one that sprint is building. So I'm sure at some point vz might even move to wimax themselves. PAY wimax.

even voip at home probably doesn't bother them- internet isn't free someone is paying for it and they hope you buy it from them on their fios network. So they are more than illing to SELL you voip ontop of their fios fiber. Want to try free voip like sykpe or something- go right ahead they'll just charge you for the internet anyhow. If tons of people abandon paying for phone then watch what happens to the price of internet service- they'll just jack it to make up the lost money.

 

[BMIC50]

Verizon said no, since the IPhone has Wifi, and VZW can't have that. I would also imagine that the IPhone will eventually have GPS (I hope) eventually, and VZW would have to disable that too. Verizon is freakin stupid to disable built in functionality of a phone, like GPS on the BB 8703e and the 8830. WTF! It is built into the phone. You pay for the technology, and Verizon denies the customer the "right" to use the function!?! DARN YOU VERIZON. YOU'RE NOT NICE.

why would verizon have ever want to have wifi? if you could just get on a wifi network instead of using evdo, they would lose millions a year.

the i730 had wifi.

 

[G-funkster]

the i730 had wifi.

So does the 6700, the upcoming 6800, etc. This has been discussed at length, in the end, it had nothing to do with wifi.

USAToday previously reported that Apple was asking for a cut of the monthly fees. Given how stingy and pricy and smug Verizon is (*sigh* and I'm a customer), I'd say that was the reason they turned it down.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-01-28-verizon-iphone_x.htm?POE=TECISVA

Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial."

 

[MartinTek]

Yep, it's the mePhone.

Well I laughed anyhow.

 

[scotttreo]

From USA article:

Customer care was another hitch: If an iPhone went haywire, Apple wanted sole discretion over whether to replace or repair the phone. "They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat ? on hardware and service support," Gerace says.
-------------------
Ha! Verizon hardware and service support?? Has anyone ever had actual hardware or service support from Verizon? I certainly haven't.

 

[gzartman]

Verizon said no, since the IPhone has Wifi, and VZW can't have that. I would also imagine that the IPhone will eventually have GPS (I hope) eventually, and VZW would have to disable that too. Verizon is freakin stupid to disable built in functionality of a phone, like GPS on the BB 8703e and the 8830. WTF! It is built into the phone. You pay for the technology, and Verizon denies the customer the "right" to use the function!?! DARN YOU VERIZON. YOU'RE NOT NICE.

This is incorrect:

-WIFI has nothing to do with cellular service. I think Verizon is a little short sighted for not leaning on their hardware vendors to provide this, but Verizon isn't preventing us from having it. There is nothing to be lost by Verizon for including WIFI.
- GPS IS available on Verizon phones. Just about any of the regular phones can download a Navigation App from Get It Now that works exactly like any of the highend GPS units you'd buy, including the Blackberry 8800. This includes voice directions and all. I have no idea why Verizon doesn't make this app available to us Treo users.


Greg

 

[gzartman]

I think the VZN will introduce the BB Curve later this year. It is a much anticipated BB that does NOT have real GPS which is right up VZN's alley.

ALL cellular phones sold in the US today MUST have a GPS receiver in them. It is an FCC based law initially put into place so a person could be found if they dial 911. My guess is that the FBI/CIA, or who ever else in the govt., now use it under some clause in the Patriot Act to track down suspected terrorists or other people of interest..

Bottom line is we all are packing around GPS units with us. The only thing that is missing is software to marry the GPS signal to a map database. Why Verizon doesn't just port their existing app for regular phones to the Smartphone platforms is beyond me.

Greg

 

[gzartman]

why would verizon have ever want to have wifi? if you could just get on a wifi network instead of using evdo, they would lose millions a year.

No they wouldn't... Wifi has a range of what, 1000'?? Even if there were hotspots all over the place, it wouldn't do you any good driving around. As soon as you obtained a connection with a hub, you'd lose it seconds later. There is a huge difference between wifi and wireless broadband. Comparing wifi to EVDO is not much different than comparing bluetooth to EVDO. They serve two totally different functions.

Greg