Keep calm, Verizon lovers: despite Sprint's huffiness about the length of their exclusivity, Verizon is stalwart in maintaining that the Pre will hit their network. Digital Daily listened in to a big V quarterly financials conference call in which the executives state that "they plan to carry the Pre 'early next year.'"
What "early" means in this case is basically up for grabs (hey, at least it's not the dreaded "First Half of" phraseology). Don't forget, though, that earlier this month the word "January" was tossed about. We'll be curious to see if Verizon will deign to alter their decidedly more expensive plans to accommodate the Pre -- and by "curious" we mean "shocked and amazed."
Now, Verizon, listen very closely: your plans to not allow Palm's own App Catalog to come preloaded on the Palm Pre are dumb. Don't do that.
Comments
As a former Verizon customer and user of what could have been an awesome phone - Samsung Omnia - Verizon will disable as many featrures as possible as to ruin the Pre experience...then charge you more for the service. Go away Verizon!
I used to be a verizon customer but my contract finished and I bought the Pre on Sprint. Although Verizon has great service in my area their phone plans are way too expensive. I'm happy I switched to Sprint. . I saved money in the long run and the Pre is a great phone. I made the right decision.
I used to be a verizon customer but my contract finished and I bought the Pre on Sprint. Although Verizon has great service in my area their phone plans are way too expensive. I'm happy I switched to Sprint. . I saved money in the long run and the Pre is a great phone. I made the right decision.
I used to be a verizon customer but my contract finished and I bought the Pre on Sprint. Although Verizon has great service in my area their phone plans are way too expensive. I'm happy I switched to Sprint. . I saved money in the long run and the Pre is a great phone. I made the right decision.
The baseless Verizon hate is hilarious.
With some creative bombarding of the executive offices from the Crackberry forums, they unlocked the GPS chips in all of their most recent Blackberry devices. Other than the GPS, I'm still trying to find something that is locked down on my Verizon 8330.
If you're using a dumbphone why are you complaining that VZW keeps it dumb?
The problem isn't keeping a dumbphone dumb. The problem is they seem to successfully make a smart phone dumb.
The limits on the Treo pushed me to Sprint. They haven't gotten better. Lets flash forward the the beginning of 2010 when the Pre gets on their network:
"Yeah, there's and App for that, but it is only available in the Palm store which you can get to, so suck it." - Verizon.
I paid to leave Verizon, because they canceled my insurance without letting me know. It was worth the early termination fee to leave. I had no problem when I was on their network with a regular phone. Being on their network with a smart phone is a joke.
That's true... Verizon is like the pompous rich girl you take to prom. Sure she's rich but you'll spend all your money on the limo and dinner before hand and whatever else she wants because you have to buy her affection. Sure, she's pretty, but she's expensive as hell and make you say "Wow, I would have been better off going with that girl from A.V. class with the weird boil on her face." in the long run. You know why? You know why you'd say that?! Because the prom pretty pompous princess is going to sleep with the football player by the end of the night! And leave you with a broken heart and an empty wallet! DARN YOU VERIZON! DARN YOU AND YOUR PRETTY POMPOUS PRINCESS WAYS!!!
Sounds like someone had a bad experience during their prom.
It shouldn't take an email bombs from the users to the executives to unlock a feature that is already present on the phone. This is why I am no longer a Verizon customer.
All I ask is that people like you do some research before they make a stupid comment. If you would have done this, you would have found that you will still be able to get palm's app catalog, you just need to download it.
That's it! I didn't think Dan Hesse would lie to me. Does Steve Jobs lie to Apple users? NO! I hope this is not true, I really-really hope this is not true. I just want an exclusive device for Sprint, that's it. Is that too hard to ask? I think the Verizon CEO is smart. Specially if they know as much as we know about sales numbers, "If Sprint doesn't sell this X amount per a week then the exclusive deal will run dry." , why would anyone jump to Sprint if they know that? They're basically sabotaging Sprint's Pre's campaign. They're playing the "Wait a few months for us to have it!" card. Don't let this be true. C'mon Dan Hesse, c'mon! I'm rooting for Sprint on this one. Show that cross eyed Verizon guy who says "Can you hear me now?!" A thing or two, put him labor like that one commercial when they went through the tunnel and got in the cab!
I believe that's exactly what Verizon is doing. Why? Because they've been telling me the same tall tale about the iPhone for over a year. Multiple Verizon representatives have vaguely mentioned to me that the "Verizon iPhone" is in the pipeline. Remember all the web-rumors that were out at the end of last year and early this year about how Verizon was going to get the iPhone? It didn't happen. I believe that Verizon marketing people are behind these vague (ie useless) talking points that I keep getting from the customer reps as well as the internet rumors.
They will have lost me as a customer by the fall of this year regardless of whether they finally add a quality smartphone to their lineup. Verizon is just too complacent about how good they think their network and ad campaign is.
@MangoGT
Verizon locks most of its smartphones out of the gate.
Touch Pro has half the RAM (no apparent reason), it took them 6 months+ to unlock GPS, which is still gimped and no aGPS support.
And I believe the Omnia has yet to release a GPS unlock or it happened in the past few weeks?
Why does it take Verizon so long to release phones? They have to create the software for it to lock-it down so that they can charge users for features that should be free. It has nothing to do with "Thorough compatibility testing" It's about $$.
Verizon not gimping? Baseless? You need to check your facts. Bombarding the office with requests is something that shouldn't have had to happen in the first place.
Note: I'm still a Verizon customer.
This is what I've been wondering all along. Why would anybody want a crippled Verizon Pre? I left Verizon for a reason.
Anyway, there's no way Verizon will have the Pre next January. It will take them longer than that to figure out how to remove webOS and run BREW on it.
Actually with a family plan like many people on verizon have, prices are close to and sometimes even cheaper than sprint's or at&t's.
some people blindly pay for vz even though the prices are out of control i'm happy with sprint so i don't care.
Love my Verizon Centro. What lock down problems are you guys talking about? I have been keeping my Centro waiting for the Pre to come to Verizon. So far, it appears to be the right choice. Give me firm evidence about the Palm Centro indicating otherwise or it just sounds like a forum of sour grapes to me as the Pre comes to a world class network.
The Centro is too dumb to really be locked down...
I take it you haven't taken that "world class network" abroad with you at any point.
Its going to be really awesome when VZ releases the phone with their own app store and not have ANY apps on it because they will all be on the palm app catalog where devs know they will make the money. I betcha VZ will charge you to use their app store LOL!
GASP! I have an idea! We're all talking about how the Palm/Verizon app store would not get along too well! MAYBE! JUST MAYBE! THIS IS JUST A CRAZY RUMOR! And Palm doesn't want to do the deal with Verizon but Verizon is just saying stuff! Guess what guy? People lie! Hell, I lied to my wife this morning when I said she is beautiful! We all do it!
A- HOLE...
But yeah this all sounds like a huge crock of $#&% to me, and IF it isn't then its no big deal. If people want to pay more to buy a crippled phone let them! In the end it makes for a larger fan base for this great phone!
- posted from my Palm Prē
What more evidence does one need of Verizon's device limitations than their desire to manage its own app store exclusive from what Palm releases for the Pre? Do you really think its because Verizon wants to offer MORE THAN what might be available at that time from Palm's App Catalog?
Get real.
Dear Sprint,
Why do you confuse me so? I love you, yet you have the audacity to let Verizon bully you. You're like the nerdy kid at school getting wedgies and tossed into lockers. Please Sprint PCS, grow some balls. Because people like us at Precentral can't keep fighting your battles for you. We can only do so much.
Thank you.
I'm very happy with the Pre and with Sprint. I've been with Sprint for years now and my biggest complaint was the lack of new phones, the Pre has taken care of that. If Verizon gets it, great! More phones out there means a larger user base, which means more developers and more apps. I really hope that the Pre lives up to its potential.
We are arguing about rumors here. Come on!
AMEN!
All I am saying here is that I am no longer a Verizon customer because of the history that they have of crippling smart phones by locking out features such as GPS...this is not a rumor, it is documented by millions of customers. If people want to wait for Verizon to get the Pre or iPhone...go ahead and wait and see if you get the full featured version or a crippled version. I am happy that I ended my contract with Verizon and moved to Sprint.
one thing you guys aren't realizing. if verizon doesn't let the app catalog be included on the device, but palm wants it installable after the fact, this means there could be a way to install applications without any special hack.
If Verizon ever gets the iPhone, they will also get iTunes and the App Store from Apple. The same should apply to Palm devices - take the whole package, or nothing. Good luck with the Gestapo tactics when managing iPhone apps! Never gonna happen.
See that may not be the case. VZ is creating their own app store and is planning on blocking WM and Blackberry Apps outside of their app store. So it safe to assume that they will block any device app store. What you will get is a sellection of what VZ wants to sell. With the Pre you can also say bye bye to homebrew apps.
I am leaving Verizon to go to Sprint and get a Pre the very moment that my contract is up at the beginning of October.
I am leaving for a variety of reasons:
1. Verizon's shady CPNI policy, covered here:
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/03/07/07readwriteweb-v...
'm a customer, and I would never have known about this were it not for the New York Times. I refuse to support a company that engages in such unethical activities.
2. The addition of advertising to Mobile Web in the midst of my contract. There were none when I signed up, yet I'm still paying the same fee. Again, no notice from the company on this.
3. I know they are going to cripple this phone, just as they crippled Bluetooth on certain phones in the past.
4. Neither my friends nor family members are on Verizon now (several were when we started), so I get no benefit from calling in-network.
5. I am sick of paying way too much. We can get *two* Pres with full data access for less than we are paying now for one Palm with slow web access and one "dumb" LG.
6. Verizon's anti-competitive practices in Pennsylvania:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/view.html?pg=3
I'm sure there are numerous other activities in which the company has engaged of which I would disapprove, however, the six listed above are more than enough incentive for me to migrate.
I'm really looking forward to leaving Verizon.
I hope no one believes this crap Verizon is pushing... AGAIN! As myself and many others have said i the past, Verizon is NOT getting the Pre. This another said attempt by Verizon to steal Sprints thunder.
I work at a Best Buy mobile and Verizon reps have been telling us for about 7 months that they are getting the iPhone "soon." Ill believe this when I see it
Everybody saying that verion getting the pre is a lie because there have been talks of a verizon iphone doesn't understand the situation. verizon can not have the gsm iphone on their cdma network which means apple would have to make all new software just for verizon. Also the apple at@t contract is still in effect. The pre is a cdma device that can be run on verizon's cdma network which will happen in early 2010. Think about it, sprint can't sell nearly as many pre's as verizon or at&t could, so why would the struggling palm company keep the phone that is going to save them on a very small network that isn't selling alot of them. They need to sell more pre's and this is not going to happen only on sprint's network. If you guys would think instead of being sprint fanboys then you would see that it is imminent that the pre will be on verizon in early 2010.
Left Verizon and am very happy with Sprint! Verizon cripples phones and is too expensive. And----they haven't carried top of the line phones.
Sprint has a reciprocal data roaming agreement with Verizon and a 3G voice and data roaming agreement with Alltel and US Cellular. Sprint also has the most reliable 3G network, according to recent tests administered by a third party, PC World. Gizmodo says in a recent article, "Sprint is a serious contender in almost any location—and should be taken seriously as a 3G and 4G data service provider, no matter what your feelings are about its basic phone service—we have confirmed what we thought, that the regional Bell heavies (and the former GTE) hold their own where their real estate holdings are most vast."
So I think it's all hype that Verizon has a better network. This is the Verizon marketing machine at work again. AT&T claims to "have more bars in more places." What good do all those bars do you when customers complain of dropped calls? I beg to differ with "Visor to Pre". What hard facts do you have that indicate that Verizon's 3G network is 100% bigger than Sprint's?
Not to mention that Verizon's plans are more expensive than Sprint's. So if you can get the same phone for less money, why would you go with Verizon?
There was a thread the other day about why people are so defensive about the pre. Well I think there should be one about why so defensive about sprint- laughing.
First up- A) Verizon is 100% fact more expensive then sprint. But B) their 2/3g network is 100% fact larger than sprints. (and NO sprint users can NOT roam on Verizon ANYWHERE- that’s just not true- I’ve used both extensively). Some people decided that B is more important than A (there’s a reason that so many people pay soo much more for vz than sprint- they aren’t all “idiots”)- it’s as simple as that. Others will see it the other way. Sometimes sprint is better. Sometimes there are other factors. To each his/her own. Don’t see why anyone needs to knock the others and insult people.
That out of the way
1. app store- we haven’t even seen the Verizon app store yet- so why all the hate? There were/are MANY different App stores for the Palm OS- did that make it suck? Seems so far all Verizon is saying is other app stores wont be PRE-INSTALLED on the phones. So any of us with brains and who care about the pre app store can get the free download that palm will for sure offer someplace to enable it. Many palm apps are offered an many different app stores- it may very well be the same with Verizon. The Verizon store may in fact be BETTER for developers compared to the sprint only pre app store because there will be more potential customers and people apparently can just order and charge to their monthloy bill right on the phone without having to thing too long and go get a credit card and punch it in. Much will depend on what the cut is that Verizon wants from the developers compared to what palm wants.
2. disabling things? Verizon has been pummeled enough in the press and probably from their own subs that they have unlocked GPS on all the recent smart phones. People bitch they may not yet have AGPS support. But when palm “unlocked” the gps on the treo pro and did it with AGPS only and the thing didn’t work when it was off the network people went insane in the treocentral forums. So exactly how was sprint soo much wiser? Some say they will disable Wifi- exactly when have they done that? Many recent phones come with wifi- even ones that exist on NO ONE ELSES’s network and were therefore made just for Verizon. (they don’t care anymore now that they make you PAY for unlimited data on all new pda phones.- See A above) They have spec’d less memory or dead accelerometers from certain phones- MUCH TO THOSE PHONES DETRIMENT. But is it really likely that they tell palm to take memory out of the pre or put in a crappier CPU and still get the phone, the very first Palm ever made on the platform, out 6-9 months after sprint does the original PRE? Not likely It will probably be exactly the same with cosmetic changes. Now will the follow on phones be different? Could we see an EOS with 2gb? Maybe. The version centron is exactly the same as the sprint except for the paint job. So they don’t automatically cripple each and every phone. They just don’t.
So bottom line- assuming it costs more, the service sucks, there will be no apps, and everything is disabled, why do people get so worked up if someone else wants to go that route?
The answer to both 1 and 2 is HISTORICAL FACT of previous Verizon behavior. 100% fact, Verizon has lobotomized their phones for no reason other than more money. I seriously doubt that the Verizon App Store will have more apps than Palm's App Catalog. There might be Verizon's own apps (like Sprint's NFL and Nascar), but I would be 100% surprised if they have all the Palm App Catalog does.
Verizon is such a pig. Their latest attempt to create their own app store just proves my point!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10297904-94.html
By the time Verizon gets the Pre...Sprint will be on to the HERO, YES THE HERO....Its coming in time for X-Mas Shopping, and also on to the NEXT WEB-OS! Device...
The PRE will be a has been by then, we're TALKING 6-7 Freaking Months, Sprint would have sucked the life out of the PRE by then...Just like ATT/T-MO did with the RAZR before Sprint or Verizon saw the CDMA version.
Hesse is Bringing Sprint back from the Dead....This is the type of CEO you dont mind getting the 50million bonus, because he believes in the Company....
Sprint and PALM are locked tight, Sprint will probably get the Exclusives on all Palm releases well before ATT or Verizon....
Who backed Palm when it was at its worse...Sprint, only Sprint carried every one of Palms releases....
I'm just curious as to why you seem to be so excited about the HTC Hero.
I mean, by all means, have at it if you want it, but to me, it seems to be going after the iPhone more than the Pre, given its lack of a physical keyboard. That feature is important to me, and because of it, in a side-by-side, I'd still choose the Pre over the Hero.
Here's a post that includes some Hero videos:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/24/htc-hero-hands-on/
My Point was not to Play HERO vs PRE...Both are great....my point is by the time Verizon releases the PRE it will have been a has been.
To quote Inigo Montoya from the wonderful film _The Princess Bride_, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." :)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/has-been
The iPhone was introduced in January of 2007. Over two years later, it is still going strong. I see no reason to think that the Pre would be over and would have completely peaked within six months. Indeed, with the recent release of Mojo, the Pre app situation should be in very good shape by that point.
While Palm could already be working on Pre II, I think the first Pre's lifespan will last until at least Summer 2010, a year from its initial release.
Just my speculation, though. I don't have any insider information or anything. :)
There are three generations of iphones yet they are still the hottest devices on the market... i don't think that the pre will be a has been in just six months because it is a great phone just like the iphone.
If I recall in the past- except for one treo Sprint always got them before Verizon. (anyone confirm?)
but heads up about Sprint geting the Next WebOS device, verizon has their eye on that too.
the VZ ceo said:
'You will see devices like the Palm Pre and the cousin on our network from Palm'
I'm guessing the "cousin" he was talking about was hte eos/pixie.
So could be that sprint will get that for 6 months before Verizon too but they also are looking at it.
Love all the theories that it's all lies. thats killer.
the head dude at verizon said to INVESTORS that verizon will be getting the pre "in around 6 months". Assuming that it's some grant plan to manipulate consumers and the markets then saying such a thing would be against SEC rules and the guy could go to jail.
it's not some snot nosed pimple faceed conversation between peon's of best buy and verizon.
If you look no one of authority has ever said that verizon will have an i-phone anytime soon.
apples and oranges people.
You guys are all ragging on Verizon without even having any facts. The rumor about Verizon not allowing access to the Palm App store was BS. Even if the Palm App Store doesn't come pre-installed, you will be able to install it yourself just by visiting the Palm website. So what's the problem? The guy who said the Centro is "too dumb to be locked down" doesn't know WTF he's talking about. The Centro is just as powerful as any Palm OS smartphone and the Centro can do dozens of things that the Pre can't do yet. (Video recording, run programs from external memory, and Atari ST emulation via CaSTaway software, just to name a few off the top of my head.) And Verizon hasn't "locked down" any intrinsic Centro features. So stuff a sock in it until you've got something real to gripe about.
I wonder if verizon will include GPS turn by turn like Sprint does on their Pre. Big issue for me.
Definitely two personality types in this forum:
The Young and the Restless or the Guiding Light.
Verizon would kill Sprint if it sold a 16gb Pre.
Not if I had to pay more for their service and locked out the open source possibilities of the Pre. I don't think Palm will be adding a 16g to the line for a while. We may see one in mid to late 2010 but not on a first offering situation. First they will have to produce enough to keep up with the demand in the US and to expand into Canada and Europe which is going to happen before Verizon. If there is a different Palm model for Verizon, I think it's going to be the EOS. Also what happen to AT&T claiming the same thing with having the Pre the first part of 2010?
I left verizon for the pre on june 6th and sprint's coverage couldnt match up to verizon's in my area. I then went to att for the iphone 3gs which had even worse reception than sprint. so i ended up going back to verizon...
my lesson learned: choose the network, not the phone.
I am very happy that the pre is coming to verizon because imho, the pre is the best phone on the market hands down. woohoo!!!
Personaly, i think this is a bad move on sprint's part. I think they should have secured exclusivity for longer, this phone is supposed to be a rival for at&t and the iphone. if this phone is left to roam to other carriers then itll leave consumers to make a choice.. and sprint doesnt have a very good rep. unfortunately.
But from palm's standpoint congrats.. this proves how good a phone they made.
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