Sprint Slams the iPhone – dubbed the “whyPhone”

Sprint sent out a press release this morning regarding the “whyphone” and how it won’t meet the needs of the mobile community. Based on the needs of many business users it is already speculated that the iPhone won’t meet many business users needs so it is interesting to see one of the early barrages against the lofty iPhone.

‘whyPhone’ Raises Questions

Sprint has heard lately about something that sounds something like a “whyPhone.” As of June 26, 2007, the whyPhone is still not available, but from initial details and speculation, it appears that the whyPhone may not have the right answers for many mobile customers who are looking for value, variety and speed.

For more about the latest in Sprint’s mobile offerings, see below.

The rest of the press release and Sprint’s offerings.

You Really need to read the whyPhone fact sheet(pdf) it is funny, to the point, and well done.

I think this is a good example of what other companies should do regarding the iPhone release. Currently the other wireless carriers seem to be sitting back and waiting before they even announce new phones. Verizon Wireless is especially guilty of waiting until the iPhone release to even mention its upcoming devices. While it can be reasoned that their product announcement would be overshadowed by the iPhone it is shortsighted to think that keeping mum will help retain customers. One other reason Verizon is mum on the new phone releases is that it does not want the upcoming release to keep any customer from re-upping their contract and handset before the end of the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately the powers that be at Verizon think that holding off will benefit their iPhone Killer and the rest of their lineup.

Delaying the release or even the announcement past the iPhone release date will lead to lost customers heading to the iPhone, especially with the current look of nothing in Verizon’s pipeline. The other issue is that even if Verizon rolls out an amazing iPhone killer they have already raised it’s price ~$175 to those who just signed up with A T&T in June. If Verizon wants to hold on to as many subscribers as possible it should at the very least announce and make known what it has coming, and likely tout the lower price and business compatibilities of the phone. If Verizon looses out in late Q2 early Q3 the fault lies solely with the decision to hold off on even enticing its consumers to stay with the promise of awesome gadgetry, for the shortsighted goal of selling one or two extra 29.99 phones. Shame Shame.

Say It Ain’t So Sammy!

Over the past day or two rumors have been floating around that the Samsung SCH I760, destined for Verizon Wireless has been delayed further.  To clarify the phone has not had an official release date yet, but it was generally expected to be releeased before July 4th to the Business clients by those in the forums.  Starting late Tuesday reports have began floating in saying the device is being held back through at least August.  The sources cite either software/hardware bugs or Verizon’s desire to add V-CAST “functionality” to the phone.  Yet another trusted source has weighed in saying the phone is having its features pulled out quicker than you can say “The Network”.  Many astute people have also noted the defecting of individuals to the HTC Mogul from Sprint, which hurts Verizon’s Business and the user community for the Samsung i760.

I am still hoping that some miscommunication happened, but things do not seem to be looking up.  This is yet another reason I wish consumers could purchase phones form the manufacturers and depend on Verizon for “The Network” rather than the hardware they provide.  If the i760 keeps going this direction I will need to start my search for a new phone again, and it will likely involve a new carrier.

Outlook for other devices:

Sprint

• HTC Mogul (PPC6800) Released

Verizon

• PPC 6800 – rumored July 18 release
• Motorola Q9m - Fall Release

Helio

• Ocean – Released

T-mobile

•  ??? -??? Not sure if the service is in my location

Cingular/AT&T – Service in my Area??

• iPhone – June 29th – back in the clutches of Apple
• BlackJack – Released

I am guessing by Monday we will all have a better idea of the Future of the Samsung i760, and I will have a better idea of my next handset and carrier.

Sprint Finally releases the PPC6800 aka Sprint Mogul

Yeah, It is out, not delayed until August! You can get one online right now or in retail stores in July. I would link you right to Sprint’s site to aid in your ordering but Sprint seems to believe the folks in my zip code can’t be bothered with “options” and tries to force you into 4 “dumb” phones and a few pricey plans. That is a rant for another day, you can check out the press release for the HTC Mogul by Sprint. The Mogul is available for $399 after an instant rebate.

Boy Genius also spotted another pdaphone coming to the market in the near future, the Motorola Q9M with Verizon Branding

.

Snippet from BGR:

The Q9m also looks like it supports miniSD cards for memory expansion, and has a nice red glow around the d-pad. This Q9M brings back the scroll wheel that the GSM Q9 lacked. Another Verizon customization was the home screen. It displays shortcuts for commonly used applications like the camera, messaging, web, music in a circular pattern on the screen. The icons in Windows Mobile are completely customized, and look for VCast music support on here as well.

Still no definite word on my next phone the Samsung SCH i760.

Wacky Wireless Carrier Father Day Surveys

With Father’s Day quick approaching both At&t and Verizon have released the results their interesting Father’s day surveys. I haven’t noticed this type of information put out by either of these companies in the past, though I haven’t dedicated this much time to reading wireless carrier press releases until recently. The backend to these releases serves to sell handhelds for Father’s Day and to build a positive brand by playing up the company’s social responsibility at least in the case of Verizon.

Verizon’s Father’s Day survey focused on domestic abuse, which Verizon currently fights with its Hopeline phone donation program. Unsurprisingly to me Verizon’s survey shows that *surprise* the majority of men care about domestic violence. The majority also would be willing to get involved in the prevention of domestic violence, including donating an old phone. I’ll bring this out to the front for you, if you buy a new phone from Verizon dad can show he cares about domestic violence and donate his old phone.

snippet:

* Two-thirds of men (67 percent) say domestic violence and sexual assault are very or fairly common in the United States. Just 15 percent of men (and just 12 percent of young men) say it is not likely that, at some point, a woman or girl they know will be a victim.
* Seven in ten men are willing to talk to children about healthy relationships (up from 55 percent in a poll conducted in 2000) and an equal proportion are willing to donate old wireless telephones to programs that help victims and prevent violence. Two-thirds say they would sign a pledge; an equal number would sign a petition or contact lawmakers about the issue.
* Men give no institutions high marks for doing enough to raise awareness and address domestic violence and sexual assault. More than 60 percent say the sports and entertainment industries, government, school and colleges, the news media and businesses should do more.
* 87 percent want employers to provide information for victims, 83 percent want employers to adopt policies to help victims, 77 percent want supervisors and managers to be trained to support victims, and 72 percent want employers to provide resources to employees on how to talk to children about healthy, violence-free relationships.

At&t’s Father’s Day survey focused on the differences in how the two sexes use phones. At&t has found that for the 6th straight year men talk more than women on cell phones, though they note that women are catching up. The survey also shows that women are more likely to use the game, texting and camera functions of their phones. This survey like Verizon’s hints at the fact you should buy dad a new phone, he talks the most anyway, until its Mother’s day and you should buy a phone for mom cause you love her!

snippet:

According to the survey of approximately 1,000 users, men average 458 minutes of monthly wireless phone usage, and women average 453 minutes. The largest historical gaps since the survey’s inception in 2001 were in 2002, when men averaged 589 minutes and women talked only 394 minutes, and in 2005, when men averaged 571 minutes and women talked only 424 minutes.

The survey results also indicate that 45 percent of wireless subscribers use the text- messaging features on their device and 44 percent use the camera feature; 17 percent of subscribers play games on their wireless device and 11 percent access wireless e-mail. Women use the gaming, camera and text-messaging features more frequently, and men use their device for wireless e-mail and accessing the Internet more frequently than women.

Overall, both men and women continue to use cell phones more than home phones on average (455 minutes compared with 394 minutes), a trend that began in 2005.

I don’t think many people will find the results of either survey mind blowing, but the At&t survey is somewhat of a surprise as far as who talks more on their phones based on my personal experience. I think the money behind these veiled marketing efforts could have been better spent on releasing and promoting the Samsung SCH-I760!

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