SciAm.com: Verizon unveils iPhone rival for holiday shoppers

hiake · Oct 3, 2007

Verizon unveils iPhone rival for holiday shoppers

Verizon unveils iPhone rival for holiday shoppers Three new cell phones unveiled by Verizon Wireless for the holiday season on Wednesday in a composite image. REUTERS/Handout

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 <AAPL.O> iPhone.

The Voyager, made by LG Electronics <066570.KS>, 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 <T.N> 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.

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"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 <VZ.N> and Vodafone Group Plc <VOD.L>, 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 <005930.KS>, 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 <MOT.N> 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.

Source: SciAm.com
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Still like the iPhone better... But I guess I will stick to my SE for now... until it breaks down on me.

ah_wong201 · Oct 3, 2007

^ same here. i like the iphone better. though i would not get a iphone. won't use all the functions on the iphone.
waiting for the new se k850i to come out

hiake · Oct 3, 2007

ah_wong201 said: ↑

^ same here. i like the iphone better. though i would not get a iphone. won't use all the functions on the iphone.
waiting for the new se k850i to come out
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I don't know, the LG/Samsung never grew on me... I didn't like the brand(s) any better than back when the first LG/Samsung was released...

igoeasy · Oct 7, 2007

the phone will have to have the touch screen pad as the iPhone in order to compete. Any pictures ?

[N] · Oct 7, 2007

As expected everything is gonna try to compete with the iphone lol but the truth is that they still look like copycats with maybe slightly higher specs...

BigM · Oct 7, 2007

I personally think its better for a rival company to create something New then to have all the phone companies trying to compete with the iPhone... I personally do no tsee what is so good about it when you consider some of the other phones that can do what the iPhone can do

Could just be me

SciAm.com: Verizon unveils iPhone rival for holiday shoppers

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

ah_wong201 Well-Known Member

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin

igoeasy Member

[N] RATED [ ]

BigM Well-Known Member