Here Come The iPhone 'Rivals'

from the groundbreaking dept

Thu, Jun 7th 2007 6:36am — Carlo Longino

As the June 29th release date of the iPhone draws closer, the circle of hype around it swells even more, particularly among members of the media for whom the functionality of the iPhone represents something new -- even when it isn't. A side effect of this will see plenty of new handsets labeled "iPhone rivals", simply because they're mobile phones. But some companies are coming out with devices that mimic the iPhone in many ways -- such as Microsoft's favorite white-label manufacturer, HTC, which has announced its touchscreen-driven "iPhone rival", creatively named the Touch. Of course, there's only one problem: the touchscreen interface sucks, and is apparently barely usable. Plenty of devices will, unfairly or not, get compared to the iPhone by the media. But if your company is going to portray one of its own devices as a worthy competitor to the iPhone, it would help if it was actually a decent product in its own right.

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25 Comments

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Jordan West, 7 Jun 2007 @ 7:03am

the prada
I read about another "rival" called the prada by LG. I havent heard anything good or bad yet, but i am interested to learn more. Supposedly its going to come out for verizon so they can compete with cingular. Honestly, i think, as inovative as apple can be, i would trust a phone from a weathered company over apple's first phone. Remember all the problems with the first gen Ipods, and even the second and third gen.
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- Matt Bennett, 7 Jun 2007 @ 7:05am
  
  Re: the prada
  every LG phone I ever had (well, 2) broke really fast.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 7 Jun 2007 @ 4:33pm
    
    Re: Re: the prada
    I currently own 2 LG phones. The first is nearly 4 years old and the second is just over 2 years old.
    
    They work perfectly and have never had any problems, despite me dropping both of them multiple times onto concrete paving from head height.
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- Leslie, 7 Jun 2007 @ 9:48am
  
  Re: the prada
  I got the prada last month in italy. paid 650 euro. and it sucks. dont bother of buying
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Matt Bennett, 7 Jun 2007 @ 7:04am

Well, calling the functionality "not new" isn't exactly fair. yes, every piece of it has been their before, but over all it's slick piece of work and an excercise in ergonomics, just like the iPod was. I guess I'm saying I often see several things I want, but they're all on different devices, and putting them all together well certainly increases the "functionality" to ME.
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Mariano, 7 Jun 2007 @ 7:41am

Bad move, HTC... Their smartphones are great, but that sluggish imitation of iphone just makes me want to buy a real one and makes me remember that windows mobile is way behind.
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tom, 7 Jun 2007 @ 9:11am

so far all comments made by idiots, competion bread inovation.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jun 2007 @ 9:19am

Tom, you call everyone idiots but you don't even know the difference between bread (the kind you eat) and bred (as in pro-creation) and you don't know how to spell INNOVATION. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!
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fuse5k, 7 Jun 2007 @ 9:57am

the prada phone is not a serious iphone competitor, its just a pretty mobile with a touchscreen.
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- TW, 7 Jun 2007 @ 10:49am
  
  Re:
  the prada phone is not a serious iphone competitor, its just a pretty mobile with a touchscreen.
  
  So how is that different from the iphone? Oh right! It's old technology with a new buzzword – yeah that makes ALL the difference!
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UniBoy, 7 Jun 2007 @ 10:16am

Yeah, right...
There are no decent cell phones! That's why Apple is entering the market.

End result. There WILL BE decent cell phones, probably from several manufacturers, in the next 18 months.

However, if Apple plays it smart, they will be a dominant player in the new breed of devices...same way they are the dominant player today in music players.
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- Faceless Minion, 7 Jun 2007 @ 10:38am
  
  Re: Yeah, right...
  There are hundreds of decent cell phones on the market. And they all do what they are supposed to - receive and transmit calls. If you want more then that, sure, there are not many that do all the different things that an IPhone can do... but saying that that freak of nature is the only good phone out there is hardly accurate!
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  - Thomas Elliott, 29 Jun 2007 @ 8:39am
    
    Re: Re: Yeah, right...
    Wake up and smell the success already. Apple set out to redefine the cell phone. It has done that in spades. Have you checked the stock values of Apple and compared it to that of MicroSoft? Take a good hard look.
    Every other cell phone is CRAP compared to the iPhone.
    You and your words can take NOTHING away from Apple.
    Their engineers are among the best in the world. Get used to it. Reality has come around and bitten you in the butt and you don't like it. Awww, too bad for you. Isn't there a hole in the sand somewhere where you like to stick your dead?
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Simmer Down There, 7 Jun 2007 @ 10:58am

C'mon
I've read two impressions so far and both say nothing but good things about the Touch. Check out http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13082 and watch the 1 min video. Gary Krakow seemed to like it but he does work for MSNBC so there may be som bias. The touch screen look pretty basic in terms of functionality but sure as hell doesn't look "barely usable".
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brian, 7 Jun 2007 @ 11:34am

Old news
Yes, the iPhone hype had been there and there are so many so called 'rivals' on the horizon. None of them have so far meet their expectations. We'll have to wait and see when it actually comes out in order to tell it's capabilities.
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chucklebutte, 7 Jun 2007 @ 12:40pm

iphone
um... the phone is pretty overall and is good piece of hardware but the price tag and 5yr contracts make it a total yawn. so i guess what makes these "new" phones so cool is no stylus use? it can be used in one hand? um if thats the case better take your phone back to the drawing board not once do i EVER use my stylus on my audiovox/htc VX6700 from verizon i can txt make phone calls use wifi listen to music u name it i can do it with one hand and no stylus :/ hype isnt everything obey your finger! lol
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Chris, 7 Jun 2007 @ 2:46pm

iPhone
I really think the iPhone is going to bomb. It seems to me that it will be one of those things like Snakes On A Plane that everyone on the internet talks about, but nobody is willing to pay for. I'm sure there will be those people who rush out and buy it, mostly the Apple die hards and those who want to show off their incomes, but I doubt the average person will want a phone that costs so much with a contract too. We as 'consumers' (at least in the US) are used to getting free or greatly discounted cell phones with a contract, and I don't see how something so expensive (a la PS3) is going to compete unless it also gives blow jobs.
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- Anonymous Coward, 7 Jun 2007 @ 4:39pm
  
  Re: iPhone
  We're used to the discounts here in the UK too, probably more so than the US.
  
  I'm currently paying £35 per YEAR for 400 x-net minutes + 100 texts with O2 (that means I can phone ANY network operator with those minutes/texts) and I got a FREE handset to boot.
  
  The normal tariff is £35 per month, but only a fool would actually pay that in todays competitive market.
  
  PS. I missed out on the 12 months FREE deal by 1 day ;-(
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joe, 7 Jun 2007 @ 6:16pm

ATT will doom iPhone
Seems like the dumbest idea ever to only offer the iPhone for ATT. I don't know anyone who has ATT as their cell provider.
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- mike, 9 Jun 2007 @ 1:25am
  
  Re: ATT will doom iPhone
  Amazing since ATT has the largest customer base in the US.
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  - Joey, 23 Jun 2007 @ 6:12am
    
    Re: Re: ATT will doom iPhone
    ATT may have the largest customer base, but the worst customer relations and the most complaints of any provider out there. I agree, there should have been a better thought out distribution of the iPhone. What would have been truly ground breaking (although totally unlikely) would have been a roll-out with three providers (ATT, Sprint, Verizon). That would have been impressive and historic.
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jackie113, 5 Jul 2007 @ 3:09am

60606
iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log

www.mp4-converter.net/iphone-converter/dvd-to-iphone/
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- jay, 8 Jul 2007 @ 8:19pm
  
  Re: 60606
  I agree the iphone is a nice package, but to say that it a new technology is false. I am still running with the Tmobile(HTC) Pocket PC 2003! Guess what is works great!
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  - Jay, 8 Jul 2007 @ 8:24pm
    
    Re: Re: 60606
    .....Oh yeah and I just go to my phone book or contacts point, click (all interactins are GUI based on this phone) and wahla! I'm connected. It's nothing new just in a prettier package.
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Justin, 25 May 2009 @ 12:20am

iPhone is way better
Had a blackberry curve and a g1 threw them away kept iPhone.
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