AT&T really dropped rhe Android ball

[Martin030908]

Maybe AT&T won't offer a 'full capability' Android device as long as they're in ties with Apple and that other device?

I've felt this has made common sense for some time. Just like I was certain that Verizon would not be selling the iPhone. They've made their bed with Apple, and they are going to sleep in it.

and if Steve Jobs is going to ban the word "Android", it's not unlikely for him to push for some crippling in AT&T's Android offerings

 

[Garemlin]

I am really glad that I did not stay with AT&T. What sucks is that anyone not familiar with an android phone and this is their first android phone, will think to themselves, what is the hype with these phones. My Backflip is horrible, and the apps are not that interesting.

Yup my point exactly and I too am glad I jumped ship a few months ago or I may have been tempted by their Android offerings.

I'm surprised Motorola (or any other manufacturer) would want to be associated with this watered down, locked down, proprietary version of Android.

 

[miamidroid]

vzw used to cripple fones too... I remember wifi didnt come with the storm 1 or many phones before it. Also gps was locked so that you can only use it with vz navigator. There are other things that were also "censored" but I can't recall right now.

 

[Vulcan1600]

vzw used to cripple fones too... I remember wifi didnt come with the storm 1 or many phones before it. Also gps was locked so that you can only use it with vz navigator. There are other things that were also "censored" but I can't recall right now.

I was just going to say something very similar. People used to always say on the forums they were leaving VZW because they lock down and cripple all their devices. When the iPhone came locked down the fans said it was ok. AT&T locks down their new android device now, and I think it is finally going to bite them. You can't even add third party apps to the new android.

As for no wifi on the Storm 1 - there were other devices before the BB Storm that VZW had wifi capabilities on, but for the most part those phones were few and far between. The Blackberry phones were the first ones VZW finally unlocked the GPS on too just a year or so ago so other map programs could work besides VZNavigator.

 

[takeshi]

I'm sure Apple's stronghold had a lot to do with this.

I doubt it's Apple's doing. They'd benefit from having other carriers offer the iPhone. IMO it's really at&t that's currently seeing the most from the agreement since the iPhone is a best seller and exclusive to them. At&t's network certainly isn't what's selling the iPhone -- especially if you read comments on this site.

its no surprise to me. Isnt there a few anti vzw/droid commecial from att? And a few iphone commercial that dissed the droid and vzw also? If they carry a full blown version of the droid, then what are they going to do with those commercials? They cant make fun of it anymore, right?

IIRC they've targed Verizon and not the Droid specifically.

I'm surprised Motorola (or any other manufacturer) would want to be associated with this watered down, locked down, proprietary version of Android.

Not everyone's looking for a top-of-the-line smartphone. It doesn't make sense to any of us but remember that users of this forum make up a tiny fraction of a percent of the market and that they tend to be enthusiasts with very different perspectives on things compared to your average consumer.

vzw used to cripple fones too... I remember wifi didnt come with the storm 1 or many phones before it.

A feature that isn't included from the manufacturer isn't crippling. Crippling is when a carrier disables a feature built into the device.

 

[New2u]

vzw used to cripple fones too... I remember wifi didnt come with the storm 1 or many phones before it. Also gps was locked so that you can only use it with vz navigator. There are other things that were also "censored" but I can't recall right now.

I was just going to say something very similar. People used to always say on the forums they were leaving VZW because they lock down and cripple all their devices. When the iPhone came locked down the fans said it was ok. AT&T locks down their new android device now, and I think it is finally going to bite them. You can't even add third party apps to the new android.

As for no wifi on the Storm 1 - there were other devices before the BB Storm that VZW had wifi capabilities on, but for the most part those phones were few and far between. The Blackberry phones were the first ones VZW finally unlocked the GPS on too just a year or so ago so other map programs could work besides VZNavigator.

I will have to agree with you on this one. But once you start locking down android, it no longer is android, nor as they pointed out a product considered the "google experience". Of course this will come back to bite them in the butt, just like most of what they do. I think AT&T and apple go together really well.

 

[zakany]

To think I'm upset at the crapware Verizon Visual Voicemail app on my Droid. Ten such things? That's silliness.

I, really, don't see why anyone would buy a smartphone from AT&T.

 

[marvin02]

And Google's market share will take a big hit cause of AT&T limitations...

Not likely - many Backflip users are using Google search anyway, not hard to change browser homepage or put a shortcut to Google on the home screen. All of the other Google apps are ther and work as expected in Android 1.5.

They claim there doing it because of wifi tethering. Wifi tethering would really but at&t's network in a log jam. All backflip owners gotta do is wait for someone to root it then there golden

The backflip tethers just fine with PDAnet. My only complaint is that there is no desktop client that runs in linux for PDAnet.

A feature that isn't included from the manufacturer isn't crippling. Crippling is when a carrier disables a feature built into the device.

The setting to allow apps to install from 'untrusted' sources was disabled by AT&T, but this can be bypassed using the Android developer's SDK or Droid Explorer.

I have had the phone for over a week and like it. It is working well for me.

Many of us are coming to Android for the first time from phones that have far less features and are way more locked down than the backflip. I have done more customizing to my backflip in a week than I did to my Samsung Eternity in over a year.

And about those locked GPS's - one mod I did make on my Eternity was to get the GPS working with Google maps, Yellow Pages, etc. One person's lock is another person's challenge.

 

[JCo352]

And Google's market share will take a big hit cause of AT&T limitations...

Not likely - many Backflip users are using Google search anyway, not hard to change browser homepage or put a shortcut to Google on the home screen. All of the other Google apps are ther and work as expected in Android 1.5.

They claim there doing it because of wifi tethering. Wifi tethering would really but at&t's network in a log jam. All backflip owners gotta do is wait for someone to root it then there golden

The backflip tethers just fine with PDAnet. My only complaint is that there is no desktop client that runs in linux for PDAnet.

A feature that isn't included from the manufacturer isn't crippling. Crippling is when a carrier disables a feature built into the device.

The setting to allow apps to install from 'untrusted' sources was disabled by AT&T, but this can be bypassed using the Android developer's SDK or Droid Explorer.

I have had the phone for over a week and like it. It is working well for me.

Many of us are coming to Android for the first time from phones that have far less features and are way more locked down than the backflip. I have done more customizing to my backflip in a week than I did to my Samsung Eternity in over a year.

And about those locked GPS's - one mod I did make on my Eternity was to get the GPS working with Google maps, Yellow Pages, etc. One person's lock is another person's challenge.

Is Verizon not good in your area?

 

[jsh1120]

Though the backflip is unlikely to appeal to many folks on this site that doesn't mean it isn't an appealing device. One doesn't have to see the evil presence of Apple in all this to understand that an affordable smartphone that one does not have to spend hours (if not weeks or months) configuring is a worthwhile product for AT&T.

The backflip is meant to appeal to consumers whose tastes run to social networking and don't want to be bothered with a phone where that functionality is, at best, a secondary priority.

The phone allows AT&T to have a presence (and therefore a voice) on the Android platform. It provides a hedge if Apple elects to jump ship and make the iPhone available to other carriers. And its unique form factor has a definite novelty value, not an insignificant consideration in the phone market.

Like it or not, if the Android platform is going to be anything other than a playground for geeks, the backflip is just the first in a wave of similar devices.

 

[marvin02]

Is Verizon not good in your area?

I have no idea. I have the impression that where I live is a signal rich area for all carriers (near Chicago, ILL) as whenever I talk to someone about another carrier I do not get any complaints about this.

I became an AT&T customer through acquisition - they bought the company I was a customer of. In fact, since I got my first cell phone I have paid the bill to 4 or 5 different corporate entities without ever changing my service.

I have always had good service from whoever cashed the checks. I realize that this is not the case for every AT&T customer.

Why am I reading and posting on a Verizon forum? I figured that those of you who had been using Android longer might have something to offer.

I will point out to those who poke fun at people who do not own the latest/greatest Android powered phone - If the cell phone carriers only sold to the small percentage who are the uber-geeks and technophiles they wouldn't bother. The people who buy the phones just to use them as phones and as tools to help manage their lives benefit the high-end community by providing the monetary incentives to the developers through higher sales than selling only to the savvy minority.

The everyday users - who just want their phones to work and their schedules to be right and available wherever they are - benefit from the community that tears these devices apart and turns them inside out finding flaws and offering improvements.

I felt a need to state an opposing opinion to some of the statements about the Backflip because I disagreed with them and in some cases found them to be erroneous.

 

[TimChgo9]

My girlfriend has a Backflip and she loves it. She's not a "phone geek" like me, so she really doesn't care about non-market apps. She just wants a phone that is going to work when she needs it, and the Backflip does that for her. I think it's a cool phone. It's not enough for me, though. I would prefer something a bit more robust, and thankfully, with my Droid I have it.

 

[slinky]

I think people that have AT&T don't have very good impressions of cell phone service in general when they buy from that horrid company...so...I don't think this will really hurt the Android.

AT&T service was very good when I had my iPhone, at least for the most part. They were just as professional and provided me with credits when appropriate. Part of the problem with them was that, after a while, the insane data being pushed from the iPhone was tapping the network. With the Droid, Verizon is starting to see the same. I've had two outages. Not terribly long but they were there too.

 

[murkurface]

:/

I am really glad that I did not stay with AT&T. What sucks is that anyone not familiar with an android phone and this is their first android phone, will think to themselves, what is the hype with these phones. My Backflip is horrible, and the apps are not that interesting.

i agree, and as how this is my first android phone, i was totally disappointed and infuriated that at&t totally implemented something into android that it is nothing about. Opensource, freedom. And I really hope it becomes rooted soon. I left windows because of restriction, and i will soon do the same to at&t.

 

[mcatdtDroid]

I am really glad that I did not stay with AT&T. What sucks is that anyone not familiar with an android phone and this is their first android phone, will think to themselves, what is the hype with these phones. My Backflip is horrible, and the apps are not that interesting.

Yup my point exactly and I too am glad I jumped ship a few months ago or I may have been tempted by their Android offerings.

I'm surprised Motorola (or any other manufacturer) would want to be associated with this watered down, locked down, proprietary version of Android.

you assume it's ONLY about putting the most capable phone on the market out. It's not, it's about mass production and getting as many people as possible, buying products from you.


Texas Instruments make great advanced, scientific calculators and they make very limited calculators. you're suggestion that Texas Instruments should be ashamed to put out basic calculators when they know how to make a very advanced calculator is flawed in economic thinking.... I don't need a scientific calculator to help me balance my checkbook or do my budget, so why should I be forced to buy a $100 calculator, when my basic, $1 calculator does everything I need it to do? If you need/want a Scientific Calculator, T.I. has a calculator for you.... if you don't, T.I. has a calculator for you, too.

There's a reason Droids cost more than backflips.... available options.... but if I don't need all the droid's options, why should I be forced to buy it because Moto has the ability to make it?

if you need a phone that does everything, Moto has a phone for you... if you don't, Moto has a phone for you, too.