Gotta hand it to Google - Nexus / Droid

[Droidophile]

Google definitely sees the bigger picture. This screenshot says it all. They are definitely not trying to whore hardware thats for sure. Check out the direct link to the Droid phone for Verizon folks.

 

[vincentp]

They've really spread their options out. Android is going to be absolutely everywhere within a year, if you ask me, and of course that's a great thing for Android users.

 

[screamster]

The beauty of this is that AT & T will be getting android phones soon.

It is not looking good for Apple imo. They were cocky with Verizon. Now it looks like they may have sealed their own fate. Only time will tell.

 

[gentlefury]

I agree, Google knows it is WAY more important to get the OS out there than the hardware. Their goal from the beginning was to make an open source OS that could be put on any hardware...including a cheap flip phone with no smart functions. So it makes perfect sense for them to say get a Droid if you want it now.

Apple will really need to step it up now....things have finally started to change. Droid is going to take off and with open source dev it is going to take a LOT less time for Android to catch up. And with the open market policy I don't doubt a lot of App Store developers making the move over...or of course developing for both.

 

[thecrazing]

It is not looking good for Apple imo. They were cocky with Verizon. Now it looks like they may have sealed their own fate. Only time will tell.

Actually, Verizon was pretty cocky with Apple. Apple gave pretty much the same pitch to AT&T, and they grabbed it up in a hurry.

Now, it was AT&T's and Apple's runaway success with the the iPhone that put Verizon in such a.. desperate state (for lack of a better word), that they were willing to let Google completely change their practices. Anyone remember VCast? Anyone have that Razr with its locked down USB and Bluetooth? Could anyone from 5 years ago recognize today's Verizon at all?

 

[vincentp]

The beauty of this is that AT & T will be getting android phones soon.

It is not looking good for Apple imo. They were cocky with Verizon. Now it looks like they may have sealed their own fate. Only time will tell.

I was under the impression that Verizon had turned down Apple for the iPhone, not the other way around. That said, when Android comes to AT&T and is on all of the major US carriers, growth is going to skyrocket.

 

[GorillaTheHutt]

i don't necessarily think it's bad for apple/iphone. my take for a while now has been that iphone/android on mobile devices will be similar to mac/windows on desktops. that is, apple will have very successful high-end products that are about 5% of the market, whereas android/windows is more readily available and not as high quality, but occupies the other 95% of the market.

that sounds bad for apple, but remember, the smartphone market right now is still tiny. most people still have dumbphones. within a couple years that will not be the case. everyone will have a phone with some sort of "real" OS on it. even if apple has only 5% of that market, it will still potentially sell more iphones than it does today.

i think apple is happy occupying the high-end niche (at least, they have always been happy there with their mac products). the real battle is: who will take the other 95%? right now, it looks good for android...

 

[destardi]

Actually, Verizon was pretty cocky with Apple. Apple gave pretty much the same pitch to AT&T, and they grabbed it up in a hurry.

Now, it was AT&T's and Apple's runaway success with the the iPhone that put Verizon in such a.. desperate state (for lack of a better word), that they were willing to let Google completely change their practices. Anyone remember VCast? Anyone have that Razr with its locked down USB and Bluetooth? Could anyone from 5 years ago recognize today's Verizon at all?

Um, so you're arguing that Verizon should have conceded to Apple and have Apple be the one to lock everything down, and dictate to Verizon EVERYTHING related to the phone? Support? Activation? content? so on and so forth?

AT&T was neither cocky, nor submissive..they were desperate.

 

[link1305]

Assuming by "high end market" you mean apple fanboys and/or high-priced (in the case of their computers). To me there is nothing that puts the iPhone more high-end than the Droid (or Nexus). Sure its interface is a little more polished, but high-end to me is the power of Android, eg open-source, almost limitless customization, instantaneous synchronization between many google services and my phone.

 

[destardi]

i don't necessarily think it's bad for apple/iphone. my take for a while now has been that iphone/android on mobile devices will be similar to mac/windows on desktops. that is, apple will have very successful high-end products that are about 5% of the market, whereas android/windows is more readily available and not as high quality, but occupies the other 95% of the market.

that sounds bad for apple, but remember, the smartphone market right now is still tiny. most people still have dumbphones. within a couple years that will not be the case. everyone will have a phone with some sort of "real" OS on it. even if apple has only 5% of that market, it will still potentially sell more iphones than it does today.

i think apple is happy occupying the high-end niche (at least, they have always been happy there with their mac products). the real battle is: who will take the other 95%? right now, it looks good for android...

The "high end" comment doesn't hold true right *now*, but maybe it will with the new iteration of the iPhone. If by "prettier" you mean "more expensive" then, yea I can see that.

I don't think the iPhone has Gorilla Glass, does it? Or a higher res screen than the Droid or N1? It can't multitask? Sure it surfs the web more seamlessly (I think), and is 'pretty' but that sure doesn't sound 'high-end' when compared to the Droid. The next version of the iPhone will surely have better specs; it has to in order to compete. And just remember...the "me too" view of Android based phones towards the iPhone existed with Japanese vehicles way back when..and now Japanese vehicles are the benchmark by which others are compared.

It follows that Apple advanced the development by needing to catch up, but they will eventually be relegated to a small niche just as you had suggested.

 

[GorillaTheHutt]

sorry, i wasn't particularly clear.

yes, of course there will be android phones that are as high-end as apple phones. just as now, there are windows machines that are as high-end as macs.

but the real target for android, i think, is the hundreds of millions who don't buy these higher-end devices. the oPhone variant of android in China is a perfect example of this, as is a move towards android phones with even lower resolutions than the G1 (such as the Tattoo).

of course, the good news for those of us that have high-end android phones is that we get the benefit of a high-end experience (although some will always argue it's not as polished as the iphone, as people do with osx vs windows), as well as a plethora of apps because of the pervasiveness of the android platform.

 

[BigMace23]

GO GOOGLE! I think android has a ton more going for it and will soon catch up to the amount of iphone users. They have already passed the iphone in the os department imo. With all the advantages and customization of open source, people are starting to notice... And with so many android phones out there google will def take the #1 spot in the mobile platform.

 

[shadowdude777]

Actually, Verizon was pretty cocky with Apple. Apple gave pretty much the same pitch to AT&T, and they grabbed it up in a hurry.

Now, it was AT&T's and Apple's runaway success with the the iPhone that put Verizon in such a.. desperate state (for lack of a better word), that they were willing to let Google completely change their practices. Anyone remember VCast? Anyone have that Razr with its locked down USB and Bluetooth? Could anyone from 5 years ago recognize today's Verizon at all?

Haha, whichever one it was, iPhone (or lack thereof) was the best thing that happened to Verizon. Because then Apple went to AT&T, and Verizon had to take on a different platform in their desperation. And what do you know? Our platform is miles ahead of the iPhone platform.

 

[vincentp]

i don't necessarily think it's bad for apple/iphone. my take for a while now has been that iphone/android on mobile devices will be similar to mac/windows on desktops. that is, apple will have very successful high-end products that are about 5% of the market, whereas android/windows is more readily available and not as high quality, but occupies the other 95% of the market.

that sounds bad for apple, but remember, the smartphone market right now is still tiny. most people still have dumbphones. within a couple years that will not be the case. everyone will have a phone with some sort of "real" OS on it. even if apple has only 5% of that market, it will still potentially sell more iphones than it does today.

i think apple is happy occupying the high-end niche (at least, they have always been happy there with their mac products). the real battle is: who will take the other 95%? right now, it looks good for android...

I think your assessment of the situation is good, but I find it a little silly to call Mac OSX and the iPhone "higher quality" than Windows or Android. They are not. Some may have this opinion, but the quality is really no different. It's about preference. I can't stand OSX. I hate it. Not because I don't like Apple (this is basically the reason I started to dislike Apple), but because I don't like the OS. I prefer Windows, always have. I think it's superior. Same thing with Android. The only thing the iPhone has going for it is a heavily locked in "user experience", making it easier to pick up and use if you are very tech illiterate. As far as I'm concerned, Android is a superior OS.

I am saying that I agree with your assessment, but not your wording of it. Apple will continue to dominate a certain niche, but "high-end" is not it. It's a stylistic/fashion/fan niche.

 

[GorillaTheHutt]

I am saying that I agree with your assessment, but not your wording of it. Apple will continue to dominate a certain niche, but "high-end" is not it. It's a stylistic/fashion/fan niche.

point taken, and i actually personally agree with you about windows vs osx and android vs iphone. i'm too nerdy for apple...i always want to do stuff that they don't think i should want to do, so i can't use their products

 

[cdodge]

Actually, Verizon was pretty cocky with Apple. Apple gave pretty much the same pitch to AT&T, and they grabbed it up in a hurry.

Now, it was AT&T's and Apple's runaway success with the the iPhone that put Verizon in such a.. desperate state (for lack of a better word), that they were willing to let Google completely change their practices. Anyone remember VCast? Anyone have that Razr with its locked down USB and Bluetooth? Could anyone from 5 years ago recognize today's Verizon at all?

Exactly... it was VZ's fault for wanting to cripple the iphone to allow it on their network. I applaude apple for standing up to them. Now that VZ has come to their senses maybe they will finally strike a deal with apple and then we can even have more choices. I personally wont be getting an iphone but i would recomend it to someone like my parents that arent as techy and want a simple phone to use.

 

[vincentp]

Exactly... it was VZ's fault for wanting to cripple the iphone to allow it on their network. I applaude apple for standing up to them. Now that VZ has come to their senses maybe they will finally strike a deal with apple and then we can even have more choices. I personally wont be getting an iphone but i would recomend it to someone like my parents that arent as techy and want a simple phone to use.

I'm interested to see how the iPhone would perform on Verizon's network. Many users and reports have cited the iPhone itself as the source of much woe when a lot of the blame is (perhaps unfairly) placed on AT&T. Unfortunately, by the time it comes (if ever) it's definitely going to have new hardware - especially since it has to switch to CDMA - so the comparison won't be a fair one.

 

[skunkpbguy]

..new hardware - especially since it has to switch to CDMA - so the comparison won't be a fair one.

You took the words right out of my mouth!! I do not see how a fair comparison can be made using different networks.

 

[darreno1]

I think your assessment of the situation is good, but I find it a little silly to call Mac OSX and the iPhone "higher quality" than Windows or Android. They are not. Some may have this opinion, but the quality is really no different. It's about preference. I can't stand OSX. I hate it. Not because I don't like Apple (this is basically the reason I started to dislike Apple), but because I don't like the OS. I prefer Windows, always have. I think it's superior. Same thing with Android. The only thing the iPhone has going for it is a heavily locked in "user experience", making it easier to pick up and use if you are very tech illiterate. As far as I'm concerned, Android is a superior OS.

I am saying that I agree with your assessment, but not your wording of it. Apple will continue to dominate a certain niche, but "high-end" is not it. It's a stylistic/fashion/fan niche.

+1

Well said!! You put in words exactly what I was thinking.

 

[rjoudrey]

I bet you AT&T paid plenty for the "exclusive right to the iPhone". Obviously their contract is running out.

The iPhone established that the phone may be more important than the network.

 

[thecrazing]

You took the words right out of my mouth!! I do not see how a fair comparison can be made using different networks.

I feel like the comparison would only be unfair in a situation like, Verizon gets a phone branded the 'iPhone 4G' and AT&T is stuck with a 3GS. If they both have something called the 4G and are released at the same time, why would the comparison be unfair?

As a sidenote, I was thinking of about a few scenarios in which AT&T can extend their exclusivity, which they need more than Apple does. Maybe they strike a Kindle-like deal with Apple for letting iPod Touch users access the App Store and iTMS over AT&T's data network at no fee.