06/10/2008, 8:35am, EDT
Tuesday, June 10thiPhone 3G rivals tout age, not features as edge
Rivals to the iPhone 3G are turning to experience over sheer feature set to promote their devices, according to statements made by the respective companies. Palm in particular defends the slower load times of its 3G-capable Treo, which was outperformed by the 62 percent faster iPhone in load times, by arguing itself a veteran. Palm has had 3G-class devices "for years," according to an official from the company.
Nokia also defends accusations of poor performance for the N95 by claiming that it needs to test the two devices side by side and that its most popular smartphone is a longstanding benchmark, as both phones "appeal to the same audience," according to Nokia USA's Keith Nowak. He also downplays the significance of the iPhone SDK by noting that Nokia's development community has existed for 11 years. The company's direct replacement for the 2006-era N95, the 16GB N96, is due to launch in Europe by summer but should cost $800 unsubsidized, putting it well above the approximate $293 price of a subisdized 16GB iPhone 3G in the UK.
HTC also promotes its experience in developing smartphones for the past five years as well as the broader existing base of Windows Mobile developers. However, the Taiwan-area company also touts the faster 7.2Mbps HSDPA-based 3G support of the Touch Pro and Touch Diamond as well as their sharper 640x480 screens; both should also be priced at the same general level as the $199 to $299 iPhones, says chief marketer John Wang. Both have higher-resolution 3.2-megapixel cameras than the Apple phones but lack the internal storage, with the QWERTY keyboard-equipped carrying 512MB of memory with a microSD slot and the Diamond limited to its 4GB of built-in storage.
Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry line and is currently the only smartphone designer outperforming Apple in US marketshare, says it declines to comment on opponents' launches as a matter of company policy.
Filed under: iPhone, industry
Other story tags: Nokia, BlackBerry, iPhone 3G, htc, Research in Motion, Palm, Treo, Touch, N95
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"Palm has had 3G-class devices "for years," according to an official from the company."
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Which by saying makes it look even worse.
"Nokia also defends accusations of poor performance for the N95 by claiming that it needs to test the two devices side by side..."
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We'll find a way to refute the evidence...
"He also downplays the significance of the iPhone SDK by noting that Nokia's development community has existed for 11 years."
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Because they're about to get run over like an 11 year-old squirrel on the highway, and again, stating this makes it look worse.
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"HTC also promotes its experience in developing smartphones for the past five years..."
And one more, just for another foot -> mouth.
Sour Grapes
In these cases it is always best to say nothing about the competition. What ever they say it will not look good and just sound like sour grapes. If the iPhone is better (and I think it is), then it will sell on merit or not. Everyone I show my phone to says WOW I want one. The only stumbling block has been the price, well now that has been addressed.
meh...
Just more proof that these companies are afraid of the iPhone.
still too much
i will wait to buy an iPhone when it is as cheep as a POGO phone..... so in like year 2015.
Palm
You'd think, that with all those years of 3G experience behind them, they'd find a way to make their phones perform better.
And really, how do they expect to sell this to consumers? "Oh, sure, the iPhone is sleek, is a joy to use, has a great selection of software coming, and beats our phone on speed. But that's not what you really want. What you want is history, and baby, we've got that!"
Yes, Apple!
It's true, the competition is obviously running scared. What they're saying and how they're trying to defend themselves just makes them (and their devices) look even worse. Finally, the single largest reason NOT to get an iPhone is gone: price. At the moment, I can't think of anything else as useful and feature-rich as the iPhone for as good a price. Fantastic.
And I have to say, I'm really proud of RIM for declining to comment: that really was a smarter move than to claim experience over quality like Nokia.
I love my current iPhone. It's the best device I have ever come into contact with, let alone owned. Currently, it has about 50-60% of what I use my laptop for, already staggering for a mobile device. With the updates (both hardware and software), it'll be 75-80%.
The Hillary Argument
Sounds to me like a certain argument made by a democrat, and look where it got her.
Cheapskates
There will always be cheapskates who will not pay anything more than $0 for their cellphone. Our friend Herod will probably have to wait until year 2015 before he can get iPhone 2.0 on eBay for $1 (plus shipping); otherwise, he won't be able to get an iPhone for free anytime soon. If there is one thing that is certain for Apple, it is the brand value. Apple's brand value will NEVER be sold for $0. Not for $50, and for iPhone, not for $100 anytime soon (perhaps in 2020...).
@ Chris Hutcheson
Man, you beat me to it.
cheapskates
You make the assumption that folks can pay several hundred dollars for a phone and then the monthly contract on top of initial sales price.
With $4.00 gasoline, a house note, a car payment, etc. I am also going to bypass an expensive smart-phone. Teachers don't make enough to cover extras such as iPhone.