Latest Phones

Verizon Wireless could have been the first wireless carrier to offer the Apple iPhone, but the mobile carrier passed on the opportunity because Apple’s financial terms were too steep, Verizon said Monday.

Denny Strigl, president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, said the iPhone will help draw attention to the whole mobile-music movement, but he said he was glad Verizon passed on the opportunity. Verizon Wireless is jointly owned by Verizon Communications and the European wireless carrier Vodafone.

“The iPhone product is something we are happy we aren’t the first to market with,” he said during Verizon Communications’ fourth-quarter 2006 earnings call on Monday.

USA Today first reported Monday that Verizon Wireless had passed on the iPhone two years ago. One of the big sticking points for Verizon was the fact that Apple wanted control of the distribution of the product. Specifically, Apple only wanted to sell the iPhone through Verizon stores or the Apple retail stores, locking out other Verizon distributors such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

“We have great distribution partners nationally, regionally and locally,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for the company. “And the deal they (Apple) wanted would have frozen out those partners. So we said, ‘No thanks, not under those conditions.’”

Apple also supposedly wanted a percentage of the service revenue from iPhone users, the USA Today article said. When Verizon declined Apple’s offer, the iPod maker went to Cingular Wireless, now owned by AT&T.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the new iPhone would be available on Cingular’s network starting in June. The phone will come in two versions, a 4GB model for $499 and an 8GB model for $599. And even though Cingular and Apple each sell products through other retail chains, such as Best Buy, the iPhone will be sold exclusively through the Apple and Cingular stores as well as on their Web sites.

So far, neither Cingular nor Apple has disclosed financial details about the deal, such as how long the exclusivity contract will run.

Representatives from Cingular and Apple declined to comment on Verizon’s claims that it had been approached first to sell the iPhone.

“Apple chose Cingular because it’s the best, most popular carrier in the United States,” said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple.

Luxury car brands’ partnering with mobile phone manufacturers to make special edition phones looks like it’s going to be one of the hottest trends of 2007.  Here are a few sneak previews of phones coming in the next few months:

Motorola MOTORAZR maxx V6 Ferrari Challenge Limited Edition Mobile Phone

Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition

Nokia 8800 Sirocco

Apple made an interesting decision with the iPhone, announcing it 6 months before it will be available.  It’s been stated this decision was made because FCC requirements require detailed reports to be filed and it was believed the media would find and report that information, limiting Steve Jobs ability to make a surprise announcement.

That 6 month window leaves lots of time for the luster to fade from the iPhone and it appears that just a week after the announcement that has begun to happen.  Industry analysts have several concerns over the iPhone:

Price Point:
Apple has reported that the iPhone will cost $499 for a 4GB model and $599 for an 8GB model both with a 2 year service contract. Sony’s PS3 with the same price point as the iPhone, $499 and $599, has seen limited success since its launch in November. While Sony at that price looses money, Apple it has been estimated will make a 50% profit on iPhone sales.  But iPhones will have an extra hindrance requiring users to switch service providers and enter 2 year service contracts.

No Mobile Music Downloads:
Though the iPhone has web access through both WiFi and EDGE it’s been reported the phone can’t download music directly from the iTunes Store.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this changed in the release version of the phone.  Steve Jobs loves secrecy and surprises so I expect their holding some things back for the final release announcement.

Not Wide Screen:
While Steve Jobs boasted about the iPhone being a “widescreen iPod” it’s actually not. Anyone who sat in Moscone Center to witness the unveiling surely noticed the screen cropping (letterboxing) that occurred when Steve played Pirates of the Caribbean. That’s because the iPhone isn’t “widescreen” as the term is customarily understood with a 1.78:1 (16×9) aspect ratio. Rather, the display utilizes a 1.5:1 aspect ratio. As demonstrated during the Jobsnote, true widescreen videos can be zoomed to fill the iPhone’s screen but only at the expense of cropping the left and right-hand side video.

But at the end of the day none these feature problems are going to hinder iPhone sales and the price point may actually help sell it.  Because to me the iPod isn’t about the best music player, it’s a status symbol for the owner and with the iPhones new higher price point the phone will be even more elite than the iPod.

LG Electronics has announced a touchscreen Prada phone that looks and functions eerily like Apple’s iPhone. The phone, much like its Chocolate phone cousin, is marketed towards luxury users and includes a leather case, pre-loaded content and ring tones. LG’s phone could even beat Apple’s iPhone to market.

The tri-band 12mm thin phone normally has glowing touch-sensitive icons, but the icons disappear when the phone is not in use. A 2 megapixel camera on the back has an LED flash along with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Like other Korean phones, the Prada phone can play back MP3/ACC/WMA music along with MPEG4/H.264 video clips. Extra content can be loaded through a MicroSD slot.

Unfortunately there is no mention of the phone coming to the United States. The phone will be sold starting in February to the UK, France, Germany and Italy for about $775 (US). Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore will get the phone in late March. LG’s home country Korea will have the phone in the second quarter.

LG’s choice of marketing a phone with a Prada name makes sense for fashion conscious consumers in Asia. Prada is known for making fashionable and high-end accessories like handbags and sunglasses.