Verizon Wireless unveiled a new cell phone today for the holiday season: a LG handset named “Voyager” that Verizon hopes “will compete with Apple Inc’s iPhone,” Sinead Carew reports for Reuters.
“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,” Carew reports.
MacDailyNews Take: The only people “put off by iPhone’s lack of a traditional keypad” are people who haven’t used an iPhone.
Carew continues, “‘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.”
Carew reports, “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.”
Verizon Wireless would not give exact pricing, but the “Voyager” is expected to retail for about $400 according to the report. Apple’s iPhone costs $399. Voyager will offer a 2-megapixel camera and a slot for 8GB of extra memory. “Voyager” also looks to be at least twice as thick as iPhone. Apple’s iPhone has a 2-megapixel camera and 8GB of built-in storage. Oh, yeah, unlike the “Voyager,” Apple’s thin iPhone also has a multi-touch UI, a real OS, and a real iPod with access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Voyager will launch “before the end of November,” Carew reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers too numerous to mention for the heads up.]
Yet another phone made to look externally somewhat like Apple’s iPhone. How stupid do they think people are? Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman is one seriously delusional bastage if he really believes that thing is “the best phone this year” and that “it will kill” Apple’s iPhone.
So, what will MDN use as the equivalent to “blood on the click-wheel” for every “iPhone killer” that ends up in the rubbish bin?
“Blood on the glass”?
It is pretty impressive that they can knock out this knock off POS in less than a year. Not very tasteful thieves however.
Surely it wouldn’t take a huge software revamp to get the iPhone utilising a horizontal keypad…I think they’ll unveil that feature soon, as enough people have mentioned it.
As for LG killing the iPhone…don’t make me laugh. I LOVED the look of the LG Chocolate – until I bought it. Awful camera, temperamental touch control, the SLOWEST start-up of any phone in the world EVER, and then after a few months the touch screen completely died on me. I now have a replacement, and I’m anxiously awaiting the iPhone. LG, you make excellent quality electronics – but not phones. Stick to making TVs…
… and here’s the reason Apple mysteriously dropped the iPhone a whopping $200 less than two months after its release. They heard about it, and although we know it’s not in the same class as the iPhone even at $600, they had to make sure simple minded consumers would have no reason to think so.
I can’t believe these cheese whizzes copied the chrome bezel. that designer should be drawn, quartered and shot.
@ shiftOpt k
Exactly! They just did a story on Verizon’s new phone on CNN. They said it does the iPhone one better by having a real QWERTY keyboard. I’m on the side that says it’s not needed. I don’t use my iPhone keyboard that much and I have no problems typing away. Although I do agree with the poster above that hopes they will update the keyboard so it can be used in horizontal input mode at any time.
The funny thing to me is that these companies still don’t get it. You can’t copy the experience of using the iPhone, no matter how much you try and copy the look of it. It’s one of those things that can’t be explained and why I’m sure the doubters think we Apple fans are lobotomized.
I’d be the first to jump ship if there was a better computer, OS or phone out there. For me, there isn’t…but I do hope the other companies keep ‘really’ trying instead of just copying. Apple needs the competition.
I can’t use an iPhone here in Montana as ATT has no useable towers.
@rdf-b
I was a Verizon customer also and an ATT previous user that had real concerns about customer support from previous times that I had had a contract with them.
The switch was worth it. Cingular has seriously improved ATT’s customer service, I rarely get dropped calls like I was with Verizon. (It was a treo 700p handset issue not a verizon issue), and the iphone is a joy to use.
If you’ve got the cash, make the switch. I paid the early out penalty and it was worth every penny.
The problem with all these other touch screen models I’ve seen is that the interaction is awful, the response time is terrible. Whenever I’ve seen videos of them in use they either have to be pressed multiple times or, extra hard or there is a delay following your touch. If it’s not smooth there is no point in it.
The iPhone keyboard may not be 100% as fast as the best you can get out of a physical keyboard but it’s close enough so that most people get pretty damn good results out of it, results that don’t piss the off and which are generally made up for by the overall improvements of the interface across the board.
Other phones seem to have touch screen because they can and poorly immitate physical buttons or the same actions you would carry out with some sort of d-pad. They don’t offer any real advantage. Having no buttons should free up screen space and maximise the experience, just looking at this LG thing I don’t see any reason why this would be any better than a traditional phone.
@ rancher
forgot:
f) try to copy it
you all do realize that verizon was the first carrier to be approached by apple for the iphone. i recieved an iphone as a gift, but the person who bought it for did not know i was on verizon. i absolutely love their service, meanwhile talking to friends on cingular/at&t;(w/e they want to call themselves) have such a hard time with their service. i think i would have appreciated my iphone more if the service was faster and more reliable. sure this voyager is definitely a knockoff, but thats how everything in this world is. everyone has atleast a little bit of something to offer thats better than the first. i will not lie, i will be getting the voyager due to approx. time of the release will be the same time as a new phone upgrade for me. but hands down apple is on top of the game, but you also have to know how to stay on top and negotiate (which is why verizon and apple never came to an agreement because apple wanted to be wayyyyyy too involved over wayyyy too many decisions) so just remember while yall are ripping on this whole subject, remember who apple sought out first, because they know who’s the best!
Initially Verizon stated that they didn’t think the iPhone would have any impact on their sales. Now they are coming out with a phone that is an iPhone “killer”. Question: Why would it be necessary to come out with a phone to “kill” something that wasn’t supposed to be a threat in the first place? Sounds like somebody miscalculated somewhere. By the way, I couldn’t wait to dump Verizon after their salespeople kept telling me: “why would anybody want a Mac-compatible phone anyway?” The answer, of course, is the iPhone.
Voyager hinges open to reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen,”
YES, that’s EXACTLY what I want, a small tiny QWERTY board for my big gangly fingers.
Idiots.
I was considering purchasing another block of AAPL…..this pushed me over.
WTF?
I switched off Verizon to get the iPhone. Not that there was any regret, but…..words fail me.
The price of hubris, as it must, will be high for Verizon.
“Verizon Wireless HOPES the new phone will reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen,”
The key word fellas is….. HOPE. yes HOPING with fingers crossed that this brick will be useful to the masses. HOPING that his salary will take a big hike once those 30 ppl from Verizon buy it, HOPING that his dickh will grow twice the size and HOPING that he wont get a new one ripped open if sales do not meet the requirements…and they are definitely HOPING to sell 1 million in 2 days (roll eyes)
someone start a rumor that they are expecting and HOPING to sell 1 million units of this Voyager…atleast that way when the reports come in that the sales trickled and came to a halt on the first week, the stock will drop like a rock
MDN key word : i think u got it
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The LG has:
email
calendar
int. access
open to 3rd party apps
much faster connection speeds
plus other stuff
Who cares if it doesn’t have iTunes, that is what iPods are for. There are a lot of people out there that seem to be dissatisfied with the closed iPhone system. Also, as many of the above posters have stated, Verizon is far superior to AT&T;. Don’t be surprised if the LG phone is successful. It certainly will not “kill” the iPhone. But if Apple does not wake up and start listening to it’s customers, they may be in for trouble. Multi-touch is nice, but a zoom button could accomplish a similar effect.
@Fred
“If it were a crime to be stupid, 2/3 of Americans would be in jail.”
Hmmm, it appears that the “powers-that-be” are working on it, the US has more people incarcerated per capita than any other nation in the world.
It’s the OS stupid.
i think this ´voyager´ looks a little naugthy for the name,but i like my iphone,APPLE ROCKS
If consumers really prefer Thick As A Brick in order to get a $h*&&y;little keyboard, Apple could certainly add one. Apple’s building a whole family of touchscreen devices. Now how is Voyager gonna get a real OS? Let alone a real ipod.
Why in the world did Apple ever even bother approaching Verizon first? Forum comments notwithstanding, in terms of coverage, as well as market share, Verizon is second banana to AT&T; not to mention the dealbreaker – CDMA (instead of near-universal GSM). The only possible advantage could be the growth of their 3G coverage; however, once we put that in perspective, we realise that currently, less than 3% of US wireless customers even have access to it.
Over the past five years, we have seen numerous grand announcements about the arrivals of definitive iPod killers. We should all be used to it by now. Same thing with iPhone now – we should be ready to use the same skills we acquired ignoring all those “iPod killers” and ignore the “iPhone killers” as they come.
With iPods, Apple had to release new models every so often. With the iPhone, they just need to deploy new software and the killer is blown out of the water (not that it ever even stood any chance). Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind…
Well, Verizon, good luck! I’m sure you’ll find plenty of devoted fans who for some inexplicable (or perhaps even valid) reason hate AT&T;so much that even iPhone won’t bring them over.
This is HUGE talk from this Mike Lanman guy…boy, he better have something else up his sleeve to say that…either that, or he really and totally doesn’t have any clue whatsoever. And, by the way, doesn’t that look just like the iCal icon on that picture??
Mr. Lanman Verizon, Steve Jobs is the only person who could possibly say that a product even has the chance to kill some other product, yet he never says that. YOU are a big talker, and your arrogance in itself will make you eat your words. This thing is ugly and is a brick just on first glance, and that in itself is no comparison or competition to the iPhone, so I cannot figure how a person in a professional interview would say your device will “kill” the iPhone. You’re gonna eat your words and possibly lose your job later, dude. I feel for you on letting your emotions get the best of you in an interview.
What a effin Joke! that phone looks like ass
“The fact that they can’t seem to come up with their own interface (Buttons, arrangement, etc.) signifies the fact that they are a follower…”
Exactly, Walter!!!
Look at the calender icon and look at the overall shape and design. They have been working hard at copying the iPhone since it was announced in January.
Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Lanman is one seriously delusional bastage if he really believes that thing is “the best phone this year” and that “it will kill” Apple’s iPhone.
He’s also a fargin’ icehole.
How stupid do they think people are? “
Uhm…have you seen the nimrod the stupid people voted to be President?
“The People” are far, far more stupid than you imagine them to be.
If it were a crime to be stupid, 2/3 of Americans would be in jail.
Have you seen the socialist that the stupider people almost voted in?