Verizon isn’t pulling any punches: it calls out basically every major weakness on the iPhone, from its inability to run background applications to the App Store’s walled garden. The site kicks off with a stream of things that the iPhone can’t do, mimicking the black text-on-white background commonly seen in Apple ads but replacing it with statements like iDon’t run simultaneous apps. After a handful of these, the site kicks you to a page with the heading “DroidDoes”, with a banner rotating through a number of the Droid’s features that include Android 2.0, background tasks, and video recording support. Some of the differences mentioned, like the Droid’s inclusion of a physical keyboard, are really a matter of personal preference. Others, aren’t. For one, Droid can claim to run on “The Network”, which runs circles around AT&T.
The phone hasn’t been officially announced yet, and the release date is vague (the rumor is that it will launch at midnight on October 31). But we’ve heard from some people who have had the chance to briefly test it out, and they were very impressed (one response was that it was “totally awesome”). I’m not going to be foolish enough to call this an iPhone killer for the simple fact that the iPhone’s developer community is still miles ahead of Android’s regardless of how good Droid turns out to be. But don’t be surprised if you start hearing about people who quit the iPhone in favor of the Droid. After all, even if the phone doesn’t turn out to be quite as polished as the iPhone, it will be running on a network that will actually let them connect their calls consistently.
One final thing to note: given how direct an attack Verizon is making on the iPhone, it sure doesn’t sound like the iPhone will be making the leap to Verizon any time soon.
Commenter Christopher Daggett has tried to work out the exact timing of the countdown, revealing the (possible) launch date to be 10/30/09 at 1:00AM EST.
Video via BGR’s Twitter feed.
Nice. I can’t wait until AT&T sues Verizon for scamming in the “…You Will” at the end of their ad.
Main advantage of apple is monopoly of ipod. Those who had ipod will upgrade to iphone for their music library. And developers develop because their app can be sold even in ipod touch devices also. WinMo and Android should expand to music devices giving developers more scope.
Clear example of expanding ipod monopoly into phone market. Time to break open iTunes like Palm pre did. Better place to do that is in court of antitrust law.
Why do losers of our society always insist on this bizarre monopoly argument? What exactly is Apple’s iTunes violating? And why should the society or courts force it to break open as you say? Are people letting their envy run their hatred of successful people and companies perhaps? If other people want to beat Apple, they are more than welcome to do so… because they can’t beat it, they always cry monopoly and scream anti-trust BS. If you can’t beat your competition, get the hell out of the business. This I say to all the losers wanting to see Microsoft and Apple go out of business or force them to share their ideas and technologies in an open source format. Are we living in the weird communist society? All good original hard work needs to be rewarded!!! And Palm sucks… they should have gone out of business 10 years ago!!!
itunes is garbage bro. u never noticed how much it slows down ANY computor as soon as its opened? or how bout the licensing. itunes shouldnt be in trouble for monopoly. people should just stop using it and grow up. everything apple is designed for stupid spoon feed people. plus, its for faggots
Wow, what an insightful analysis! Thanks for taking the time to right that!
Amen to that, people try to talk up the supremacy of apple products when in reality they’re made pretty much cookie cutter so people don’t have to worry about everything inside. Viruses aren’t a problem, but half my friends with an Apple computer are pissed that now they can’t upgrade after putting all their shit into them. My HP, bought for 500 dollars less in the same month runs circles around them, and I only pay 50 bucks a year for antivirus. Two years later, I still have a startlingly fast computer, a hard drive size increase from 120 to 500, and an intact forehead for not bashing it against my iBook.
As for Palm, their products are amazingly useful in the medical field for the information accessibility than waiting on an iPhone to pull up on “3G”.
Wow “bro”. I Guess as a “stupid spoon feed person” I never noticed how much itunes slowed down my “computor”. You really know how to make a powerful argument. I’m sure a lot of people will abandon itunes now that they know “it’s for faggots”. Thanks.
Couldn’t agree more Mike!
Bigot
Whatever nugget of intelligence might have been in your comments is completely wiped out by the stupidity and gratuitous bigotry of your adding in the “faggots” remark.
What a complete jerk you are to (a) be a bigot in the first place, (b) imagine that it could actually help you persuade anybody other than other bigots.
If people like YOU are anti-apple, I’ll put that down as a “plus” in apple’s corner. Grow up.
LMAO/ great insight…truely imperative to get the word out that Apple are for queers and carpet munchers…
dont call me bro ..guy
Get some sun, step out of your moms basement fools. Read a Douglas Coupland Novel or something.
Apple makes great products. I am sure Droid will be great too. Why is everyone shilling for their favorite company as if one represents a more perfect representation of human values than the other ? plumb dumb
@MIKE: “plus, its for faggots”
While I give you credit for correctly not using an apostrophe in “its” you lose major points for the homophobic comment. Would you say that say that face-to-face to a homosexual? I suspect you’re better than that and wouldn’t. You should to spend some time talking to gay folk about the power of the word “faggot.”
In the future please consider not using homophobic comments to describe software (or anything else).
Actually, bcos, he didn’t even get the apostrophe part correct- the proper written statement would have been “… Plus, it’s for faggots.” You see, the proper, unabridged sentence would have been “it IS for faggots,” so therefore, the contraction of “IT” and “IS,” namely “IT’S” would have been the proper way to go.
Of course, someone of such limited intellect who would actually use the word “faggots” at all, let alone get so upset about anyone’s preference in software usage, couldn’t be expected to remember such a simple f*#king rule.
Idiot.
Because Apple is doing that same things that Microsoft was pinged as anti-competitive. Controlling there own close source applications.
Anti-trust couldn’t be completed against Microsoft for having almost all of the desktop market with anti-competitive practices. Intel has nearly the same dominance and had some of the same anti-compete business practices too, computer brands got discounts for not selling competitor’s chips, and they had to get their ads cobranded by intel in order to get some of those discounts too.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish Apple was more open, but how is antitrust going to be used against Apple for having a third of the music sales, 1% of all phone sales and *maybe* 20% of all smart phone sales? Apple doesn’t sell encrypted music anymore, and it’s trivial and legal to make an unencrypted version of the old encrypted songs.
The numbers just don’t add up, and it would be ten years before any prosecution could finish anyway. I’d say let the market sort itself out.
I wont mind if apple gains monopoly in ipods, it deserves it. But using it to expand into phone market? Music gadget market and phone market are different.
Considering ipod touch sells 5 times the iphone, developers have more reason to develop. It is mistake of WinMo not to go into zune or some third party, or of Android that did not launch a music device.
That’s where Double Twist becomes valuable.
Monopoly? Antitrust? Where did you get your law degree?
don’t litigate, innovate. we have way too many lawyers controlling our lives.
The only monopoly Apple has, is a monopoly on excellence.
I have to agree.
lol. …….no……..
lol. …….yes……..
lmao XD
Its not a monopoly or Antitrust its called “creating a better product that more people want” people get so caught up on this monopoly idea… the oil companies are a monopoly or oligopoly…
Have IPods but I have never used ITunes….
I use windows media and a program that I downloaded off of the internet. MUCH BETTER!
just do what i did unlock the iphone and put on any carrier the iphone as its ups and downs as well does the blackberry or any other phone. Its in our culture to get one up on the next guys so i say hoooray to verizon and yes i running with the iphone and the bb storm both phones unlocked !
All this arguing about AT&T and iphone will soon come to an end once Verizon signs the contract with apple at the beginning of 2010 to bring the iphone to the verizon network.
@O.P of this comment, how bitter Again, judgment day on Nov. 6 Will the droid be welcomed by us, humans?
detailed preview: http://tinyurl....elease-good-bad
and it came to pass that the waiting has finally been ended
WOW droid does a price drop again? What could be more sweeter than that.. So wait around for 1 month and see droid drop’s it price again.. maybe to 100 USD only? That will be insane
http://bit.ly/m...-at-dell-insane
“Pulling any punches”
power to android.
Android gets much props… But VZW, you are soooo gonna get spanked when you finally come crawling to Apple’s doorstep. It’s almost too terrifying to contemplate.
Well, VZW doesn’t have iDon’t at the moment, so what’s too terrifying to contemplate.
Actually, what is indeed terrifying to contemplate is when all the iDon’t fanboys will ditch their AT&T locked phone and flock to VZW-Droid as then Apple will come crawling to VZW.
I don’t think so. VZ is surprisngly burning the Apple bridge here, by launching a device switching campaign against users who, for the most part have little desire to switch. Bad bet.
Indeed!
Mike, is the Droid the phone you alluded to here?
http://www.tech...comment-3039950
Either way, looks like there are finally some great phones coming out that can do it all. And brilliant/obvious move by Verizon to confront and crush iPhone head-on… keep it up! Android, here I come.
This is great news, and I am glad to see someone step up and point out the vulnerabilities of the iPhone. 2010 will be the year the smartphone goes mainstream.
Yeah, they can brag about multitasking until June and from what I’ve seen there hasn’t been an Android app that you couldn’t already get on the App Store. Truth is while it may be nice to have Google Voice, I’d rather have Skype over 3G.
Locale.
oh yes sooo true and this one you really cant port onto iphone
I kind of thought it already was mainstream. Pretty much everyone I know has an iphone, blackjack, blackberry, etc.
But for sure they are going to the next level.. Android and Pre are ushering in the sleeker smart phones
Yup. Smartphones have been commercially available in Europe for years. The first mass market one would be the N95 in early 2007.
Really? I had a Orange SPV C500 (a rebranded HTC smartphone) running WinMo years ago – around 2004 i think…
2004? I had a Nokia 9110 Communicator in 2001 and that was the second generation device. You can go back to 1999 for the original communicator.
The 9110 even browsed the web, just a shame it didn’t have GPRS (you had to dial up).
I was simply making the point that smartphones have been around a lot longer than the N95 in 2k7
“no real keyboard” ?? oh really? then how am i typing this?
seriously the keyboards on most phones are way too small for my hands and i don’t have near cigar fingers, just larger hands on a tall american. i can’t type on blackberry phones nearly as quick.
Exactly, I don’t WANT a physical keyboard on my phone. iPhone does it quite aptly and rather excellently. Just a little practice and acclimation is all you need. I just cannot believe just how many iPhone and Apple haters are out there and most of them never even had iPod, Apple computers, or iPhone… they just hate for the sake of hating.
Let me see… what will Verizon and Motorola say when next generation of iPhone hits a year after Droid tries to get their phone off and running? Eh? Please… please… I see Verizon and Motorola being utterly humiliated in the near future.
What he said!! ^ (typed on my fabulous iPhone keyboard)
Well I guess the iPhone keyboard doesn’t mean the user is capable of sensical sentences – “quite aptly and rather excellently”. Wow. BTW, I’m typing this on an iPhone and I love it. This doesn’t mean I can’t acknowledge, even OWN devices from other companies. Yeah, I said it. My Zune runs circles around the iPod, that’s why I hate on it. I prefer Win 7 to Mac OS because the latter is a counterintuitive POS. But I still like my iPhone. I just don’t buy in to Crapple.
Oh he said “crapple” —
-2 mod troll
This is no BlackBerry keypad. From the pictures, this keyboard looks huge. There are plenty like it as well.
I think you haven’t been looking too hard.
I have Verizon service but, I also have the ipod touch and don’t use it after i bought it cause i hate itunes and, i don’t like the touch screen keyboard. I’m always hitting the wrong letter. This phone will be awsome, just like alot of people love the iphone. I don’t like the fact that iphone doesn’t receive pic messages. My brother has an Iphone so i do know a little about them. There all awsome phones. Everyphone has some sort of set back.
character is not entered until you lift your finger, so you can slide over to correct character, which you can see in the bubble, before lifting finger and enter the desired character. My typing got better when I learned this.
Seems like this is going to be Androids new flagship phone. Look forward to seeing more about it.
Unfortunately I can’t get DroidDoes.com to pull up on my iPhone
.
It’s flash. Which the Droid has and the iPhone does not. Congratulations, you just reinforced the ad campaign. XD
Congratulations…. you just saved some battery life by not running that power hogging flash on your phone.
Wow, that’s a really, really stupid comment there. What about the iPhone’s that overheat and have crap battery life anyways, what about my Nokia phone that I use about once every 4-5 days that hasn’t been charged since before this last summer? What about bluetooth and 3g and wifi, all automatically on, that all hog the battery?
Considering the web is moving more and more toward flash apps, I’d say you just gave a pretty stupid argument as well. I’d rather charge it back up or buy an interchangeable batter (as they noted in the droid commercial) and have greater access to what I want to see/do from my phone.
Actually, no. The web is not moving towards more and more flash apps.
No it isn’t.
heated.
iDo have over 75,000 apps.
iAm a stable, device that is here to stay.
The iPhone is certainly here to stay, but the whole numbers thing is stupid. Of those 75,000 applications (I think they’ve got over 80k now), a relatively small percentage are actually worth using. Sure, a wide variety means you can sometimes find some very niche apps that are exactly what you’re looking for. But let’s be honest: most of the apps are shit.
@kincaid That may be true about the quality of apps but they still highly outnumber Android in terms of quality apps and it has been proven in many times that iPhone users are actually willing to pay for apps. If Android users don’t pay for apps, devs won’t develop for it no matter how open it may be. Not only that but the Android’s store has been open for a. While now with paid purchases and has not enjoyed the same success as the App Store at the same point.
Android still has a ways to go and has not really proven that their “open” platform provides any real advantages over the App Store besides good press.
Let’s take it up another notch.
Useful apps are going to the browser anyway. They did so on our computers. When was the last time you installed a new app there?
I am just glad to webkit for Safari arising as the standard decent touchscreen web browser. Now my webapps will work everywhere.
oh, and btw.. the facebook iPhone web app works better on my G1 than the android app. Just incase you wanted a f’rinstance.
The browser is where Steve Jobs actually wanted apps to be in the first place:
http://www.appl...6/11iphone.html
No need to waste Apple’s man hours approving or disapproving applications, people can chose to use them or not straight from the browser, with the added potential security there.
“Useful apps are going to the browser anyway”
+1
One problem is that most decent games don’t run well in mobile browsers. Another is that access to the proprietary hardware is not standard or simple from browsers either. That makes stuff like augmented reality apps much more challenging to ‘browserify’.
Take it up another notch… Apple should allow Mozilla to bring Firefox to iPhone!!!
Apple “should” do a lot of things, but it “won’t” do anything that weakens its control over the iPhone/iPod platform.
I’m an Apple fanboy of sorts, which is why I find it a bit sickening that Apple would start touting the whole quantity thing. That’s the argument we have always used to justify how there is fewer Mac OS applications out there… that sure Windows had more apps, but they were all shit. Mac OS was where QUALITY mattered more than QUANTITY.
80K apps and maybe a tenth of them NOT hacked together over a weekend by some kid hoping to make some beer money.
that’s silly. all things aren’t going to the browser. the browser is so 2 years ago, apps have taken over – thanks to the ipod.
By the way – the droid commercial really sucks. these discrepancies they point out are superfluous, or subjective. Only tech geeks got it at all. I would guess 3/4 of the population didn’t know the product, let alone get the iPhone digs.
It was an inside joke.
+1. Irrelevant advertising that only appeals to the geek squad. Most iPhone users don’t care and won’t even be paying attention.
I’m no iPhone hater – but I don’t think I’d ever say that ANY device is “here to stay.” Everything gets left behind by evolution sooner or later.
I agree with you Michael. However, I’m not convinced that just another mobile phone is going to be the device that knocks out the iPhone. Innovation is tricky that way, can hit you from unexpected directions.
cool. how many after you filter all of the duplicates and all of the templates filled with useless web content?
Rad. iPhone can suck it.
fugly…. the droid can suck it.
From what I’ve seen so far, the Droid looks cooler than the iPhone. Obviously, that’s my opinion though.
What the thing looks like is completely beside the main point. If the Droid is more open and has better functionality than the iPhone, why would you _not_ want a Droid?
Because it won’t have more functionality and you STILL can’t install apps to the external memory (SD card) on Android. That means you run out of memory quick and is lame as hell!
Yeah the memory card on the iPhone is HUGE.
And because I’m already content, and lazy, like most non-technical users. Why change?
“most non-technical users”
Are you sure that you want to make that broad of a statement? You’re assuming that you know how most non-technical users feel just because you are one.
Besides the assumption, your argument has a logical flaw. You’re asking “why change”, yet the only thing that you can really count on in this world is that things generally CAN and DO change, whether you understand it or not.
Suffice it to say that when there is a better option on a better network and it’s the same price or lower (or even slightly higher), most people will want to change. This is not an assumption. It’s a simple fact that people generally want a better deal than what they have.
I thought “Droid” was a Lucasfilm trademark?
It is. At the bottom of the page it says that they’ve licensed the name from Lucasfilm.
Which is one of the most awesome things I’ve seen in a long time. As a Star Wars fan, I love that.
How does the processor compare to that of the Samsung Moment? I know the clock speed’s slightly lower, but there’s more to it than just that…
I know someone using this phone as a daily for the past week, and it has been good – although he was able to crash it a few times. My guess is the price will be higher than iphone though, and that could kill it before it gets started.
Now if only T-Mo can get a phone this cool for Android. I love the N900 (from what I’ve read,) but I don’t think I want to go to WinMo…
It is kind of annoying though that Moto makes this killer phone for VZW, and makes the stupid “Cliq” for T-Mo… if I gave two shits about Facebook and Twitter maybe I’d like the Cliq, but I’m not a 13 year old girl, and I don’t.
Should I be holding out any hope that T-Mo will add a real contender in the Android arena anytime soon?
The Nokia N900 runs on Maemo a Linux based OS, not Windows Mobile.
what is wrong with the G1?
Michael, I’m with you 100%, I work in a t-mo store, and we’ve had a demo cliq for a few days now… all the facebook and twitter crap *can* be dissabled/hidden, making it basically an upgraded mytouch with a badass keyboard.
Who cares if t-mobile doesn’t have a good hone, AT&T is lucky to have the iphone, its the only reason they are getting my business. No one compares to Verizon, in case you forgot these are phones and without service they are nearly useless. Granted I have many apps I use that don’t require connectivity but it is still a phone and AT&T service sucks and T-Mobile is only slightly better, Verizon is great and gives better service than anyone. Now that they finally have a decent phone props to them they will only get bigger, the only reason I switched away was to get the iPhone, I’ll admit I am not going back because I use it as a audio engineer to tune rooms quickly before I run Smart live. Once iAudiointerface comes out I hope to be able to sell my copy of smart and just use the iPhone (calibrated of course).
@Chris
Well, I care if T-Mo has good phones… which is why I made that post.
I live in New York City and I have fairly consistent 3G coverage at home and work – and everywhere in between. So, while I wouldn’t argue that T-Mo’s network is better the VZW’s, for where I am, T-Mo works just fine.
I think your post sort of assumes that no one on T-Mo would have any use for a good smartphone? Is that it? I don’t really understand.
Wow I was able to buy DroidDoesnt.com
Anyone want to collaborate on something fun?
I know something fun… sell it to Apple for an ass-load of dough. That would be fun.
Don’t think Apple would care though. They don’t need to take cheap shots like this.
Droid can be the next best thing since sliced bread … the general populace still wouldn’t care. Everybody I know (who’s not a geek) still wants an iphone. This droid will be one among all other wannabes that litter the wayside.
Have you not seen Apple’s commercials? They take cheap shots all the time. Rightly so btw, but c’mon, lets not delude ourselves here.
duh, the situation is reversed. the PC is the dominant in that market… the iPhone is the dominant in the phone market. that’s the difference.
In the former you’re the hero, in the latter you’d be the bully (a cheapshot)
“They [Apple] don’t need to take cheap shots like this.”
Bwaahahahaha. Every single Apple advertisement is a cheap shot.
You mean cheapshots like the “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC ads?”
devil’s advocate – but apple certainly rips as often as they can and it’s kind of humorous. I haven’t bought the iphone because i’d rather have verizon (went with storm), but i think the droiddoesn’t.com name was a good buy. you’ll get more than what you paid, and if apple doesn’t want it, i would think verizon might want it just to keep others from using it.
Considering how awesome Android is, I’d rather not. May want to look over at some of the Apple forums though. XD
stop. let it come out first. so far it looks like the Nokia N Series (I got one of those bricks). It has a better chance of being a Zune. If the iPhone comes out to Verizon in 2010, it’s all over.
You might want to whip up something like http://iphonessuck.com for the Android.
I bet the list would be a lot shorter though. There’s enough material to keep iphones suck going for a few more years.
The VZN marketing person who DIDN’T already buy droiddoesnt.com before the ad ran should be fired.
Looks to be some type of countdown in code at the bottom of the site. I’ve tried to decipher it. Assuming the format being used is “Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds”, this thing should land at around 11 am central time on November 9th.
iWar
Hooray for competition, but a lot of Verizon’s network advantage will disappear when it starts selling phones that are actually good enough to inspire people use the Internet. It’s easy to have an incredibly reliable network when no one uses it for anything but voice calls and a few emails via Blackberry.
It would be awesome if SE made an Android phone. Motorola will find a way to screw everything up. When was the last time Motorola made a good phone? I certainly don’t remember.
StarTac baby
“But don’t be surprised if you start hearing about people who quit the iPhone in favor of the Droid.”
People have already been saying this with all the previous “iPhone killers” for the past 2 years…
I think you’re right. How many people will leave iPhone in favor of Android? Most likely it will keep Verizon, etc subscribers (like me) from leaving their service for an iPhone on AT&T. I’m an early BB Tour adopter and I’ve hated the phone so much I’ve gotten within a couple mouse clicks away from abandoning VZW for an iPhone…even though in the back of my mind I knew ATT’s service was sub-par in comparison…solely based on the fact I need a better, more technologically advanced, more Internet-friendly smartphone than BlackBerry.
Yeah. I’m hoping they didn’t spend too much on this campaign, because it’s not going to have much effect.
Unless the average consumer is suddenly concerned about — or even aware of — ‘open development’?
Well done Verizon. Apple needs to get kicked in the face every once in a while.
Uh, Verizon has yet to kick anyone anyplace; let alone Apple. And get ready for a thoroughly humiliating face kicking done to Verizon and Motorola by AT&T and Apple. It is coming way way way before even Droid gets off the ground. They’ll get kicked lying on the ground bleeding… over and over by Apple and iPhone.
Jon,
Every time you post you sound dumber and dumber. Go drink some more apple koolaid.
Verizon is the largest US Carrier. They also have the best coverage. Now, if the iPhone does come to other carriers, which is it expected to do, it will help Apple, but I think they did far too little with the 3GS and there is a lot of excitement around Android right now. Android is fundamentally better than the iPhone because it is OpenSource. Verizon will be the 3rd major carrier to have Android on its network and I predict that you will see Android’s market share match that of the iPhone in no less than 2 years. In just 1 year, there are already 8,000 Apps for it which is pretty amazing considering up until a week ago, it was only available on T-Mobile (in the US anyway).
+1
Fanboyism is lame, let’s just report the facts people.
This argument is silly. Open source is killing the iPhone? Are you kidding me? The reason it’s flourishing is the availability of apps… there are 75,000 of them.
Also the iPhone is coming to Verizon in 2010. Game over.
That ad was a joke
Droid is coming onto the scene just in time for me to be completely fed up with my iPhone. I ‘updated’ my iPhone to 3.1 last night using an XP VM (Ubuntu + Virtual Box) and it has completely bricked my phone. Bring on the competition.
There is your answer. Get rid of your PC and get an Apple computer as soon as you can afford one. I take it you cannot afford an Apple computer right? I mean most people hate Microsoft… why are you using Sun’s product? They suck worse than Microsoft! Come on people… I want to see some relevant arguments on here!!!
Why would he waste money on an Apple computer when he is running Ubuntu???? That’s a downgrade and a half!
Hey RJ, I bet you won’t have any trouble connecting to your new Android phone from Linux!
watch out consumers! here come the geeks!
Droids…. Does google let tech manage marketing? Should lock them up in the closet and a keyboard like they do everywhere else.
Hey Jason, on the Droid Web site (www.droiddoes.com), there is a counter-like feature on the bottom on the page. After watching the mysterious characters for a couple minutes, I was able to decode the numbers. I believe it represents a release date of 10/30/09 at 1:00AM EST.
Photo is here: http://www.face...&id=5307397
Please let me know if anyone calculates something different.
http://photos-b...3_1665226_n.jpg
Great stuff, thanks.
Hi Chris,
I decoded: Saturday, July 3, 2010
-Will
addition: at 1:00PM EST…
One of us is right for sure.
hey will, how did you come to that date? -chris
How I figured:
The last digit is a countdown of 9-0
total seconds I gathered (at the time of looking at it) 22334400
/ 60 seconds in a minute
/60 minutes in a hour
/24 hours in a day
ah, okay. so your hypothesis is that all the encrypted characters equal one number, which represents the amount of seconds remaining?
i find that intriguing, but i just returned to the web site and it’s quite clear that the first two characters are “11″ now. this i believe to mean 11 days. this change from the earlier combination (which i believe to be 12) would also disprove the possibility of all 8 characters combining into one large number, i.e. 11 million seconds, because the second character would not have changed that quickly if all the encrypted characters represented one large number of seconds, counting down.
I thought the same thing at first, that is was the entire number was the amount of seconds but if you divide 11013539 by the amount of seconds in a day which is 86400 you get 127.4 days. seems like you got the right theory.
it’s counting down to 12am on 10/30/09, switch your computer’s clock to 11:59pm 10/29/09 and watch the counter count down to 00:00:00:00
that was good thinking.
Ngolo Creations
ngolocreations.com
I think Android needs to be more associated with Google. Sure us tech people know that it is but the average person doesn’t.
As it is Android is just another random “thing” (people don’t know exactly what an OS is) that is trying to compete with the iPhone. If they were more informed that it’s Google’s software for phones people would be more interested. After all people only see good in Google.
Looks a bit too big for me. I’m planning on getting rid of my blackberry for an Iphone, just the price kills me.
The cryptic countdown clock on http://www.DroidDoes.com counts down to 12 A.M. on October 31, confirming those rumors.
Excuse me, I meant to say 12 A.M. (CDT) on October 30, not 31. My apologies.
Yep, looks like the comments above agree. Thanks for working this out.
it’s not timezone specific, it’s based on your computer’s clock
Maybe I am way off.
Big problem = Motorola phone. I’ve have a few motorola phones over the years, and every single one of them has been lousy. Might like to try this, but i’m not sure I’m going to plunk down money for this brand.
Strange, my family owned four Moto phones over the years with no problems.
One with Cingular before the merge, one with T-Mobile, and two with Verizon.
The v300 was my fave
Any idea what the unsubsidized price will be? I hate being locked in to a contract, but these smartphone prices are killing me!
IDont care… iPhone is still the best.
The one nice thing about this is it puts pressure on Apple and ATT to get these features added to the phone and get improve their network.
Spoken like a true drone.
Yup, bingo!!! All Droid did was give Apple more ideas for the iPhone. And unless you live in some crappy rural area, 3G coverage argument from Verizon is pathetic as well. You will not have any 3G coverage problem if you live in a decent urban area. I have no problem in all of Orange County with iPhone whatsoever.
Really? What ideas does this commercial give to Apple?
Do you think Apple hasn’t already thought about opening up the iPhone so that anybody could create an app store? This commercial isn’t going to change their decision on that.
So you’re a better person because you live in an urban setting, and no one else deserves decent phone/web service?
Of course he isn’t, but he is right by implying that Verizon’s network coverage advantage is oversold.
Silly to say it is the best without seeing the showdown video of Palm Rre vs iPhone vs G1
http://homesafa...or-real-estate/
Verizon used to cripple every phone almost to unusable and now they are calling Apple a walled garden. iphone is the best best smart phone in terms of usability. I don’t believe the Verizon and their shit until i see the phone in action and also how they are pricing it.
-Ben
iDO work outside of the USA.
CDMA Droid completely irrelevant to 95% of the world.
There’s a GSM model that was just approved.
Oh yes, americans should buy also the GSM model when they want to travel abroad, europeans should buy also the CMDA model before travellig to USA, etc
noooooo…. those who travel outside the US should switch to a GSM carrier
It’s not debateable that Verizon’s network is better than AT&T’s? Really?
Well I’m sitting here in orange county, ca and my work phone (a Verizon blackberry 8830) has 1 bar. My iPhone on ATT has 5 bars.
Network coverage is ALWAYS debateable because it is 100% dependent on how close you are to a tower, and how many people are using that same signal at once. Maybe Verizon rocks where you are, but they suck here. Constant dropped calls too.
Not to mention, my Verizon phone is a brick everytime I go out of the country for work or vacation, unless I buy a SIM card in another country and then have to send everyone my temporary number. Are you kidding me? My iPhone works everywhere, and people back home can still call my local number while I’m in Europe no problem.
CDMA is ridiculous. I would much rather use a GSM phone, even if it was on Tmobile, before I would buy a CDMA phone.
When Verizon gets their act together and finally moves to the worldwide standard for their 4G network, then I’ll care what phones they offer. Until then, it really doesn’t matter what phone they try to sell me.
The point is that AT&T has a LOT more black holes than anyone else. This is a fact – you can dispute it all you want. There’s a reason why they are always at the bottom of the lists. There is no debate. Your bars are irrelevant and prove nothing.
Sure the overseas thing is an issue for any CDMA phone as well as for any locked phone. But that’s just not an overriding factor for most people. Few people travel to Europe often enough to make it an overriding factor in choosing a phone.
Anything else?
Your personal experience does not equal factual information.
Furthermore, a golden turd is still a turd. Verizon isn’t perfect, they’re just better. Maybe not for you, maybe not for him or her, but for more people than what ATT can say.
By the way, I’m sitting here with my ex who has ATT and I have Verizon. She has half the bars and I have full bars. See how that works? It all depends on your area. Who has more crappy areas? ATT. Go look up some coverage maps.
concerning the bars issue:
“Somewhat surprisingly, our testers also found that the “bars of service” readings on their phones were rarely an accurate predictor of the quality of the ensuing connection. In most places and with most wireless providers, the “bars” did little more than indicate whether the phone had access to some service or to no service.”
-from a pc world 1 day test of cell phone service in 13 u.s. cities
http://www.pcwo...life_of_3g.html
i love my iPhone, but i also think this is an awesome ad campaign. good choice of apple-commercial-like music too.
and speaking as a developer, it would be great for apple to see some real competition. the shackles of the iPhone app store can be confining.
the only downside is that the droid part of the ad comes across as rather sinister (at least to me). it’s almost like a horror movie trailer. i’m not sure if that’s a great association to have
Good luck Motorola! It’ll be a losing battle with you and Verizon!
So this must mean Verizon is not getting the iphone on their network anytime soon?
Neither AT&T nor Verizon offer reliable service in Eastern NC. Your iPhone or Droid or Pre or whatever nice phone you have will get service in Greenville, you might get a couple bars in Washington, but break down outside the city limits, and have fun playing with the apps with no bars, and pray someone with US Cellular stops to call you a tow. I took my US Cellular phone to CA to visit family, and in the mountains, I had five bars while my mother’s Verizon phone had no service — and US Cellular isn’t even in CA. They are just that good. I don’t know what it is, but they’ve never let us down. I’d love an iPhone or Pre or Droid, but I need the signal bars outside as well as inside the city limits.
Hmm, we have awesome Verizon service in Wyoming. I’d call that outside city limits…
This is exactly why “coverage” argument is irrelevant for everyone. Superior product, superior apps, superior company is the best argument. Verizon has yet to bring it. Wait and see… Verizon will discard Droid and Motorola very soon if let’s say Nokia presents something “better” to them. Loyalty and commitment is not what Verizon excels at.
Yeah, I get out that way and to Montana as well. Definitely a Verizon landscape.
Eastern NC is an odd market due to how towers and capacity were metered out by Level3 (WilTel) and AT&T during earlier years. Compounding that was Carolina Telephone becoming Sprint then later being abandoned as Embarq which is now CenuryTel/Link. The mashup of AT&T Wireless is just a headache of who bought who before being sold then bought. Gah!
You’ll note that Alltel and Verizon combination have also contributed to folks having issues. I’m regularly on and around coastal NC near little Washington and my iPhone was really useless in some areas. i.e. No Service and when I had my Verizon phone it was usually 1-2 bars.
However, the availability of towers and zoning changes will likely improve dense regions but a lot of folks don’t want to see a tower with the spectacular views on the coast. Eastern NC is where people want to live (increasingly) so the mobile market will improve as the sale forecasts catch up with the marketing folks.
FWIW, I remember when nothing worked down there except bag phones!
Apple is a very innovative companies, they make incredible products that people love, while other companies compete by reverse engineering and making a few superficial changes. Some exaggerate the features of the droid and believe apple is concerned, apple is just focused on new features and even better products. While the competitors play catch up, Apple just keeps raising the bar.
It’s funny because Apple does almost nothing BUT reverse engineer other people’s innovations.
you are incorrect.
Pfft okay.
Name one thing that Apple “invented” and I’ll show you a product that did the same thing before Apple did it.
Not only that; all of the so called competitors are really nothing more than iPhone copycats. That’s not innovation while their ads are referring to themselves as “iPhone Killers”. It’s sad really.
iPhone envy. There’s an app for that.
Droidoesnt work outside the US…
Droidcant be unlocked
Droidoes have freely available malware
Customize your Droid! Turn it into a brick!
Burn the midnight oil with your buddies! Create and distribute viruses!
Fill your Droid with pirated music! Spend happy hours in court!
Droid has a GSM variant.
Was there anything else?
iWant a GSM Droid! Where can iGet iT?
Oh! Good News!
“Don’t get too excited Americans- the GSM frequencies don’t support AT&T or T-Mobile 3G bands and will more likely be used to launch on European networks. Perhaps Vodafone, whom owns half of Verizon Wireless, will get their exclusive shot at the Sholes much like the arrangement with the BlackBerry Storm.”
Now all I have to do is emigrate to Europe to be able to buy a Droid that I can use in Europe, but not in the US?
Wait! Stop! Think this through properly!
Maybe “Droid” doesn’t, but there are plenty of GSM Android phones that do!
1. It has a GSM variant which means that yes, yes it does work outside of the US.
2. Why does it need to be unlocked?? It’s ALREADY unlocked out of the box. The iPhone has to be unlocked because they limit everything, the Droid doesn’t. Duh??
3. Source?
I couldn’t agree more
All the words you type….I’ve seen them all before…but in your message they make no sense.
Learn to smart…
That was a great ad, simple, and straight to the point. It might be one of the only ways that these companies can gain any leverage against Apple in the smart phone niche.
It’s a little unfair due to the fact the Iphone has been out for a while; I’m sure Apple will come out with something new soon enough.
Life and business is not about “fair”. It’s about a superior product run by a superior company. Nothing I hate more than crybabies crying Anti-Trust because they cannot compete with their vastly superior competitors. I am sure most of us agree that nothing is too big to fail. Ton of the crappy companies that caused our recent economic woes should have been allowed to go out of business; not bailed out!
Sista, the ad was pathetic. I work in advertising. This was purely shit. An inside joke that was pure red meat for the geeks who’ll actually get it. My parents who want an iPhone? Have no idea what that ad just said.
It speaks to the iPod simpliciticy, the opposite goal it has in mind. The lack of custom buttons, the lack of a removable battery…. please. The iphone is one button. one big screen, and the best mobile browser anywehre.
I got a Storm BTW. Not a fanboy. They’re number 1 for a reason, brilliant marketing and hardware.
iDon’t break.
My 2-year old iPhone has dropped on pavement and all sorts of places, lots of times. It has no protective cover. It has not broken, and it has hardly any scratches. I think that Apple has set a reliability standard here — if you are going to buy an expensive, portable device, which stores lots of important information, then it had better be robust. The iPhone has no removable battery and no sliding keyboard for this reason.
Mine broke after a year when I dropped it onto the pavement.
They actually break quite frequently. Did you forget about the overheating exploding issues they’ve been having as well?
What is going to eventually REALLY hurt iPhone is sticking with AT&T. As more and more phones come out that are on par with it, people will get sick of AT&T and leave it. They know this – this is why AT&T is so deperate to keep the monopoly it. Day one the iPhone shows up at Verizon (or anywhere else) AT&T knows it will lose just about every customer that’s not under contract.
That said, it looks like ol’ Jobs is going to make the huge mistake of staying at AT&T. If they keep the iPhone there into 2011, it’s going to hurt their marketshare. Pre is about to release on Verizon as well – there are a LOT of people currently with an iPHone that despise AT&T. Fanbois put on your rose-colored glasses, but android, pre and BB are closing the gap – it’s no longer a no-brainer to pick an iphone. Sticking with AT&T is not helping it.
Yes sir. You obviously are smarter than Steve Jobs and the exec mgmt team at Apple. They should stop doing what they do (growing AAPL stock 2000% from 2001) and take advice from you on how to enhance their market share and profits. Yes, I think thats the way to go …
Actually he’s right. Sticking with AT&T is hurting Apple, but honestly I don’t think Apple has much of a choice in the matter. The only one bigger than AT&T is Verizon and Apple wants too much control over the branding and user experience than Verizon is willing to give up.
Despite what you wish to believe, Steve Jobs isn’t really that great of a CEO. He’s very shrewd, but in the end he will lose. Just like they lost the PC wars to Microsoft, back in the nineties.
They’re not going to stick with AT&T. 2010 Verzion, havne’t you read the news? You don’t think that Verizon isn’t hot to feature Android, iPhone, Palm Pre’s, and WinDoze7 devices all at once???
Buy an Android or a iPhone – your carrier of choice, you’re buying an iPhone. You’re stupid if you dont.
Wouldn’t be surprised if this campaign was verizons attempt push the conversations along with Apple.
But they _are_ sticking with AT&T because there is no news to the contrary. Nothing is confirmed, you’re just hoping, that’s all.
You’re stupid if you do buy an iPhone. Why support a company that doesn’t support you? Enjoy your walled garden.
Ya ya… great ad, perhaps a great product… but so what? As the writer factually stated, iPhone and iPod and iTunes and iApps developer community is eons lightyears ahead of this thing and Verizon. And do you think Apple will let this thing and Verizon get head anytime soon? I am willing to bet no later than a year after Droid launches, we’ll see the next generation iPhone that either matches Droid or outdoes Droid. Then where is Droid? Only thing they can boast about is their 3G network and what? Come on people… think before you get all excited. A superior product often gets shut down and goes out of business by a superior development of a vastly better run company. Remember, iPhone and Apple has control over AT&T, can Motorola say the same thing? And what really will prevent Motorola from going elsewhere in the near future. Now it is clear, iPhone will never go to Verizon with this vehement attack ad. Don’t let hatred of some “company” blind you to facts of business. No matter how great Droid is, it will have a nightmarish time trying to win over iPhone. Oh, ya… how is Google’s phone doing by the way? Please…
give it a rest, Jon
I look at this as more of an issue of competition and having a choice. The only people who love a monopoly are those in charge of running it.
[small hand motion]
You don’t need a slide-out keyboard. This isn’t the Droid you’re looking for. Move along.
“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
Yeah, there’s a good counter-campaign in that somewhere for Apple, but then they would have to go pay Lucas as well.
This must be about the seventh “iphone killer” to hit the market. It becomes old to constantly hear about the next thing that will unseat the iphone. With 50000 apps it is hard to compete. The last iphone killer (palm pre) at last check had 18 apps. And google is under 5000 apps.
Good luck verizon google droid!
Lot more than 18 apps in the store – your last check was a while back. And only you fanbois talk about ‘whatever-killers’. The iphone killer will be Jobs keeping it at AT&T.
49,500 pieces of crap. You know it’s true. That counter isn’t a mark of anything but a lot of poor development.
What happened to quality vs quantity that Apple was always so high on? Money talks. How the mighty fall….
@Evil
“Lot more than 18 apps in the store – your last check was a while back. And only you fanbois talk about ‘whatever-killers’. ”
A whole lot less than 50k
“49,500 pieces of crap. You know it’s true. That counter isn’t a mark of anything but a lot of poor development.”
Like anything there are good ones, and not so good ones. The same could be said about all mobile apps open, closed, free, and paid.
One additional thought-
If companies want to truly beat the iphone they need to stop trying to out iphone the iphone, and come up with some different.
Like you’d admit it if that happened. Synergy is something new but all you can do is point a finger at how many apps the iphone store has.
what is synergy ? Exactly … nobody cares.
@Evil
I would not be the one making the proclamation. I am simply saying so many phone position them selves against the Iphone hoping to tap that market. At this point trying to out iphone the iphone has been a recipe for failure.
For instance running background apps on a phone with the same processor as the Iphone equals a slower device. The droid touts that as something it does better or more than the iphone, but really it is simply a different compromise.
Yes, and “smartphone” is not it!!! If they do not have the brains to come up with a proprietary OS that outperforms Apple’s, forget it as well. “smartphone” OS is not the answer to beating iPhone and Apple!
Good point. The whole ad is about the things that the iPhone doesn’t do (very) well. I suppose the assumption is that there is a huge market out there for folks that need a phone that takes pictures in the dark and allows apps to run in the background and want to search for Open Source apps all over the Internet. Maybe there is such a market. I am just not part of it.
So how about rather presenting me with something that speaks to what I want? I want a phone that is stylish, slim, secure, and for which I can run a huge variety of apps available from a secure marketplace, where I can also buy legal music. Oh, wait! I already have that phone!
Ask Firefox if open development work. Apple’s biggest problem is the closed nature of their business model. It’s why Microsoft had to bail them out. If Apple were to open their doors to outside development, it could be a monster.
Droid being open to development will mean a Firefox-esque opportunity for people to write FREE programs, and offer them to others FREE. Just like Firefox.
“After all, even if the phone doesn’t turn out to be quite as polished as the iPhone, it will be running on a network that will actually let them connect their calls consistently.”
That is the most telling comment. So, it may just turn out to be a fancy expensive phone; not actually an iPhone killer or even a remote competitor. Again, with the network coverage argument of Verizon. It’s not relevant of an argument. Then their ad becomes a huge joke as well.
Great marketing.
I love the Feist-like “happy” music and the exhasted apple “reflection” on the typography.
“open development”– hmm… Apple’s done wonders with a software development kit, has thousands of app programmers on board, has an easily accesible vehicle for downloading apps (iTunes), etc.
By all accounts, Verizon turned down the iPhone because it, Verizon, wanted control over what could and couldn’t go on the phone! Verizon apparently cripples the software usable on its phones…
Just wait for the call from Apple’s legal department… we’ll see the “open development” phrase dropped pretty quickly!
And wait until we see how the hardware actually works! It’s easy to be great before going out into the real world and real consumers use your product! The iPhone is a proven, time-tested device and platform.
I think the call from the Apple Legal Department will be followed up by Verizon with a list of the developers who’s apps have been denied access to the App Store. Seems anyone can develop for the iPhone but not every one can distribute their app without getting though the Apple approval gate… doesn’t sound very “open” to me.
(save your keystrokes arguing that there haven’t been many apps denied… there has been a whole “jail break” community built out of the fact that the iPhone distribution is “closed” to a wide range of apps)
I love my mac and my iPhone. But, I live in a rural area and AT&T coverage is really terrible. They are offering a new femtocell device, but, they want $150 + charge extra and still not available in my area. Why should I have to pay more to improve my phone service using my DSL connection?
If Verizon would offer a new phone, like mentioned in this article, that would sync my mac info I would sadly e-bay my iPhone but be more than happy to switch to Verizon.
As I mentioned, I live in the sticks. However a friend and I have been all over the area, he is on verizon and me on at&t, and there is no comparison — he even gets 3G coverage, something AT&T doesn’t offer unless your in a really large city.
I wish Verizon good luck — again, my beef is with AT&T’s service and not the iPhone (but, I wish it would multi-task!).
yeah… rural. or anywhere south of palo alto, or most of San Francisco, or inside buildings in NYC.