I think the new Droid ads mean, it will never come to Verizon. apple is probably fine not having to create a CDMA version of the device.

I wouldn't view the ads necessarily as a "slap" at Apple, but rather addressing the criticisms and weaknesses of the iPhone. Those kinds of things are done all the time (even by Apple), but some are more subtle than others.

I'm a current BlackBerry Storm victim, er, I mean user. I've been looking forward to the Storm 2 coming out (supposedly this week), but I'm going to take a hard look at the Droid.

I think I can get over the fact The Droid is absolutely ugly. But from what I see so far with regards to the specs, it looks rather impressive.

This has got to be a World Phone (CDMA in NA, GSM elsewhere). Otherwise, I'll probably pass.

BGR also says they will have another review soon (hoping today).

I've just about one year into my two-year deal with VZW. Hoping there will be some leniency in dumping the Storm 1.

The droid is a little bit on the ugly side, but then again that could be a photo from a pre-production model.

I wonder how much the plan is going to be to get one of those.

If the phone is cool enough, I will go ahead and get it. The AT&T service by my house is crappy, so I am hesitant to get the iPhone.

I have already bought six this year.

Damn, 6? what for??


As much as I hate Apple, the iPhone / iPod Touch are amazing devices...

They can't be that good, since you had to replace it five times already

even if the at&t exclusivity deal is voided, apple does not have to go out of their way to make a CDMA version of the iphone. in fact, apple can say: "we make all iphones GSM/HSDPA and unlocked to use on any carrier who supports these standards, the rest is on the carrier to provide a compatible network".

the fact that verizon insists on using CDMA EVDO is not apple's problem, it's verizon's.

They just keep disappearing.....

It's Apple's problem if it wants customers loyal to the single most pervasive network in the US. No combination of GSM carriers can cough up anywhere near as many customers, nor support the bandwidth needed to provide a decent iPhone experience. AT&T is struggling now in that area, and customers are complaining.

The top 3 cellular providers in market share in the US are Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, comprising nearly 80% of the market. Both Verizon and Sprint are CDMA, meaning that the remaining 20% of carriers (which are not exclusively GSM) really don't offer Apple as remotely attractive a number of customers.

You're so ethnocentric

iPhone customers are loyal to Apple and not AT&T - key words: unlocked iPhones. I in fact just upgraded from 2.2.1 to 3.1.2 last night....

Apple sells worldwide, when the iPhone came out in the states, it was estimated that 25% of sales 'leaked' overseas. The only large markets that aren't entirely on gsm are US, Japan and Korea (and china).

The 'problem' is not with apple, it's with AT&T.

I see the smiley and realize you're kidding, but I should point out that if I were truly ethnocentric, I wouldn't have included all of the "in the US" qualifiers

In the US, currently, the distinction is meaningless.

How much of the "worldwide" smartphone market does Apple actually have today? In May 2009, it had just over 10% . . . so it's got a long way to go and too much serious competition to dominate at this point. IMHO, of course

My post was meant to be in good fun, glad you took it the same

Seriously speaking though, and back to the OP's orginal topic: it's a shame Vz users will never get to experience the iPhone on their great network!

It is

But they have been hyping up the droid

It could fall flat on it's face, everybody is talking about what it does that the iPhone doesn't, but I've yet to see a single spec sheet. I don't even know how much storage it has

If everything looks OK with the phone by 2/10, when my contract expires, I will probably get it. I am really stuck with Verizon, it works like great by my house, there is no reception by any other carrier, and I don't pay for roaming in the office in Juarez.

Oh well, I will have to go through life without ever owning an iPhone

TMO's hotspot@home with UMA phones (including multiple BB models) would solve your reception problem at home. Doesn't come out of your bucket of minutes, excellent reception on WiFi....

I had pinned my hopes on the Droid to replace my entirely unsatisfying Storm. The specs inadvertently leaked on Motorola's website yesterday have pretty much dashed them . . . while it's a great phone, it's not a world phone (CDMA/1XEV only). And although Motorola has, at least temporarily, removed access to those pages, BoyGeniusReport grabbed some screen shots while they were up.