iPhone Competitor Talking Points Revealed

Wednesday June 27, 2007 7:00 am PDT by longofest

Competing carriers' talking points to hold their own against the iPhone threat are beginning to leak.

Verizon Wireless's talking points, published by AppleInsider. Highlights include:
- No "Song ID" feature on iPhone
- No IM on the iPhone
- Unprotected music can be transfered to their Verizon phone using Music Manager software.
- 4 GB expansion cards are available
- Notable quotes: "stay near a plug", "watch your wallet"

A few days ago, Sprint's talking points made it to Mac Daily News. The pdf can be found here, and highlights include:
- Sprint 3G deployment is strong, "leading the way" in 4G/Wi-Max deployment
- The iPhone allows desktop-like surfing, but is on a slow network
- Notable quote: "using the iPhone on the GSM/EDGE network may be like having a really powerful computer on dial up"

Common talking points between the competing carriers appear to be criticism of AT&T's network, Apple's built-in battery approach, non-expandable memory, no over-the-air downloads, no multimedia messaging, and price.

Potential buyers should note that while each do bring up some valid points that they may want to consider, the documents also contain false statements about the iPhone:
- Sprint claims iPhone camera is 1.3 MP. Actual: 2.0 MP.
- Sprint claims iPhone only operates on GSM/EDGE. Actual: GSM/EDGE/WiFi Hotspots (for data).
- Verizon claims iPhone can only watch media that was loaded on the phone from your PC. Actual: YouTube integration.
- Both claim iPhone does not support Exchange. Actual: Exchange support may have been revealed yesterday. To be fair, this may simply represent information that was not available to the networks at time of printing.

Top Rated Comments

dizastor

180 months ago

Unprotected music can be transferred to your Verizon phone?? is that a feature?? I don't get what they are saying? Are they inferring that the iPhone can't play unprotected music? or had they not disclosed that verizon phones could play unprotected music before this?

Song ID is weak. They are grasping at straws.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NicP

180 months ago

What is the "song id" feature they mention?

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

MukelG

180 months ago

Stay near a plug? Verizon should also be saying that about their own Moto Q. I have one, unfortunately.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

kavika411

180 months ago

They are getting desperate to fight the iPhone.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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