vB Easy Archive - Verizon unveils iPhone rival

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Verizon unveils iPhone rival
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Posted by: A27

By Sinead Carew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless unveiled three new cell phones on Wednesday for the holiday season, including a high-end handset named Voyager that will compete with Apple Inc's iPhone.

The Voyager, made by LG Electronics, trumps the iPhone by offering faster wireless Web access. But in a nod to the Apple device, which is only available to AT&T Inc subscribers, it has a large touch screen and full Web browser.

Verizon Wireless hopes the new phone will attract customers put off by the iPhone's lack of a traditional keypad -- the Voyager hinges open to reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen.

"We think it'll be the best phone ... this year. It will kill the iPhone," Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman said in an interview.

Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said the Voyager may attract existing Verizon subscribers who do not want to switch service providers, but he doubted it would hurt iPhone sales.

"People who want a high-end media phone and want to stay with Verizon will certainly give that one a hard look. I don't know that it would pull anybody away from an iPhone," he said.

The battle for cell phone buyers' hearts this holiday shopping season is shaping up to be even fiercer than usual, as rivals to Apple and AT&T launch new challengers.

Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc ( and Vodafone Group Plc, has not been first with the hippest phones, but said this line-up is its best yet.

"Typically a carrier brings one, maybe two exciting products to the market in a year. We're bringing four," Lanman said, referring to the three new models and its existing LG Chocolate phone.

Verizon also introduced Juke, an ultra-narrow phone that comes in three colors and is shaped like a chocolate bar. The phone, made by Samsung Electronics, is less than 1 inch wide.

It also unveiled another LG phone, the Venus, which comes in black and pink, and has a phone keypad that slides out from under a touch screen. As with Voyager, it vibrates when a user taps a menu option on the screen.

Verizon Wireless would not give exact pricing beyond saying each phone would target a different segment and range from under $100 to about $400. The iPhone costs $399.

Greengart at Current Analysis said the new Verizon range is a step forward for a company that has been trumped before by AT&T, which sold Motorola Inc's Razr long before Verizon did.

"This is something Verizon had to do," Greengart said. "It's been a long time coming for them to get hotter devices."

Venus and Voyager both have 2-megapixel cameras, and high-speed wireless connections for fast music and video downloads, and a slot for 8 gigabytes of extra memory. The iPhone has 8 gigabytes of built-in storage.

Venus and Voyager will launch before the end of November

The cheapest phone in the range is the Juke, which is narrower than any U.S. phone so far and will go on sale on October 19, Lanman said.

The Juke slides open to reveal a tiny keypad and comes in dark blue, red and teal. It has dedicated keys for playing music but does not have a high-speed wireless link.

Verizon Wireless said it expects to attract more fashion-conscious young users to Juke than those who want to constantly e-mail or Web-surf on cell phones.

Posted by: A27

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/...UKOP_0_PICTURE0

Posted by: maevro

I don't know how I feel about it. It is not Windows but LG's touch screen OS they used on the Prada phone.

Engadget has tons of live pics....

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/photo...new-lg-voyager/

Posted by: juiceppc

Yeah I don't think it'll "rival" it that much. The iPhone's screen STILL rules. HTC might want to look into designing a screen oriented device. And not the Touch. Bigger and better quality. Yeah, like the iPhones...

Doesn't this thread belong in a different forum?

Posted by: BeyondTheTech

I'm assuming a CLR button is clear/backspace. Maybe it's just me, but is that button always necessary to look at? I saw another picture and it's also a hardware button between the send/end buttons.

Posted by: richy240

Ok, I'm with neo. This totally belongs somewhere else; maybe the Lounge or something.

But it is interesting nonetheless...

Posted by: juiceppc

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeyondTheTech

I'm assuming a CLR button is clear/backspace. Maybe it's just me, but is that button always necessary to look at? I saw another picture and it's also a hardware button between the send/end buttons.

Sup dude. Hey I gotta challenge you on the "They had me at scrolling" catchphrase.

Do you find it easier to have to flick your thumb/finger multiple times to scroll down a page or just hold down a dpad?

I'm not an iPhone hater I just don't see how useful that is. I got a question since I have an iPhone in my drawer. One thing I think I would definitely need in order to use the iPhone full time, is a soft off button. Like a button on the screen to turn it off instead of reaching way up for that sharpish power button. Is there one?

Posted by: richy240

Quote:

Originally Posted by juiceppc

Sup dude. Hey I gotta challenge you on the "They had me at scrolling" catchphrase.

I find it easier to scroll by flicking my thumb - it keeps scrolling and you can just tap it to make it stop. It's very useful. (I know the question wasn't directed toward me, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to answer it.

)

Posted by: neo001

Quote:

Originally Posted by juiceppc

Sup dude. Hey I gotta challenge you on the "They had me at scrolling" catchphrase.

Hey Juice . . . how much do you want for your Iphone ?? any trades ?? let me know ok ??

Posted by: juiceppc

Quote:

Originally Posted by richy240

)

You may think it's easier but it definitely requires more energy.

Posted by: richy240

Quote:

Originally Posted by juiceppc

You may think it's easier but it definitely requires more energy.

Dude, I'm gonna have to politely disagree. The scroll action on the iPhone is super sweet. I love the functionality of WM, but the interface of the iPhone is top notch. Just my opinion, of course.

Posted by: AwaySooner

"We think it'll be the best phone ... this year. It will kill the iPhone," Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman said in an interview.

Wow what kind of kool-aid are they serving up there at Verizon? It's not like their customer base has much choices when it comes to new phone.

Posted by: juiceppc

Quote:

Originally Posted by richy240

Dude, I'm gonna have to politely disagree. The scroll action on the iPhone is super sweet. I love the functionality of WM, but the interface of the iPhone is top notch. Just my opinion, of course.

I agree that the scroll action on the iPhone can be considered "super sweet". But...

, by the laws of physics it requires less energy/effort to hold down a dpad to get to the bottom of a, let's say very long page than to keep flicking ones thumb/finger. Also I'm a dpad fanboi so I'm going to defend the dpad til the end

. I also think the iPhone could benefit from a dpad. You don't have to use it but it would be there when you don't feel like a thumb/finger workout.

Has anyone gotton tendonitis from the iPhone yet? It's coming... Maybe I'll coin the term... "iPhone-itis". That doesn't sound catchy enough.

Posted by: mikeypizano

Wirelessly posted (iPAQ HX2495b: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320))

Sorry but the only thing that can kill the iPhone is a second generation iPhone...

The phone is very tempting though.

I prefer the classic dpad. I have tried Opera Mobile which is similar to the iPhones flick.