dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
view:
topics flat nest 
Comments on news posted 2010-03-09 08:55:39: AT&T's first foray into the business of offering Android-based phones isn't going particularly well, and it's pretty clear the company's general dislike of Google for their positions on competition, network neutrality and open access is spilling over.. ..

page: 1 · 2 · 3 · next
theeinstein
Premium Member
join:2003-07-31
Fernandina Beach, FL

1 edit

theeinstein

Premium Member

disgusting

Well at least AT&T will never let you down.. If there was ever a doubt they are now worse than Big Red.. the "globe" is refereed to as the "death star" and they live up to it!

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

I will admit this is pretty freaking weak. It ruins the whole idea of Android.

Dread
On course
Premium Member
join:2005-02-28
Bronx, NY

Dread to theeinstein

Premium Member

to theeinstein
Yup working as intended.

I find it funny that there is no Google search on the device despite being a on Android OS, way to fail AT&T

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

1 recommendation

woody7

Premium Member

hmmmm....

Just don't buy the fricking phone.........
theeinstein
Premium Member
join:2003-07-31
Fernandina Beach, FL

theeinstein to Dread

Premium Member

to Dread

Re: disgusting

Its pretty sad that Google even allows it.. It proves that even they will bend over to the dollar!
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Stuff

My hope is that once Android reaches a large enough market share of the smartphone market Google will pull in the reigns and play hardball with the carriers, forcing them to use only an open, Google approved version, in the same way Microsoft and Apple do with their OS's.

Also I really, really wish SBC had never merged with AT&T. Once you get past 4 competitors in any market you start to have some real price competition and innovation. A 5th nation-wide competitor would work wonders for our industry. Heck, if MCI still existed and we had 6 competitors, the industry would look completely different than it does now.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

1 recommendation

pnh102

Premium Member

Ok so...?

This clearly isn't an ideal phone for people like us then. Dismiss this phone and find a different one.
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo to theeinstein

Member

to theeinstein

Re: disgusting

If they didn't allow it, it would look bad on them.

Steve B
Premium Member
join:2004-08-02
Auburn, WA

Steve B

Premium Member

Well....

I did some more digging and it appears (I haven't seen proof yet) that Google search may not have been removed after all. Someone mentioned the 'default' was changed to yahoo and that you could change it back to Google at anytime. Still, what AT&T is doing is crazy.

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios to Dread

Member

to Dread

Re: disgusting

doesnt that kinda defeat the point of Android?
makes me wonder if it even has the google maps GPS ap

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 edit

ArrayList

Premium Member

its

AN ABOMINATION!

you can't add 3rd party(non-market) applications... it makes me sick to think this shares the same OS as my g1. at&t has mommy daddy issues.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords to sonicmerlin

MVM

to sonicmerlin

Re: Stuff

said by sonicmerlin:

My hope is that once Android reaches a large enough market share of the smartphone market Google will pull in the reigns and play hardball with the carriers, forcing them to use only an open, Google approved version, in the same way Microsoft and Apple do with their OS's.
I know your reaction is a totally honest one. I'm not going to bash you for it. You know, normally I agree with you, but isn't the point of Open Source to allow developers to take it and use it to make their own stuff (with attribution and source-sharing, of course)?

Yes, we should be mad at AT&T for AGAIN putting the "no" in technology, but Google shouldn't force AT&T to do anything except to follow the open-source license.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9 to woody7

Premium Member

to woody7

Re: hmmmm....

But that provides one less thing to whine about on the front page.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords

MVM

said by openbox9:

But that provides one less thing to whine about on the front page.
C'mon. AT&T having the customer-numb balls to put out a locked-down Android HAS TO BE FRONT-PAGE NEWS.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch to theeinstein

Member

to theeinstein

Re: disgusting

said by theeinstein:

Its pretty sad that Google even allows it.. It proves that even they will bend over to the dollar!
Google released Android as open source software, so it can be modified at will by anyone who wants to use it. So AT&T took Android, crippled the hell out of it, and handed it to Moto to load onto the Backflip. Google had no say in the matter.

Nhatters
join:2004-01-24
Oklahoma City, OK

Nhatters

Member

When will they learn?

Good going, AT&T.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to funchords

Premium Member

to funchords

Re: hmmmm....

Is this sarcasm Robb? This post seems to contradict your response to sonicmerlin See Profile below. AT&T has the choice to whatever it wishes with Android so long as it abides by the license. Admittedly, I know little about Android and the other Android offerings. Don't other Android devices need to be rooted to have full "open" access? Can this device not be rooted?
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo to woody7

Member

to woody7
Many would probably buy thinking that it is open because that is all they know about the Android platform.

AT&T should have a warning that the phone is more akin to a Razr than a smartphone.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

3 recommendations

jseymour to sonicmerlin

Member

to sonicmerlin

Re: Stuff

said by sonicmerlin:

Also I really, really wish SBC had never merged with AT&T.
Let's be clear on something: SBC did not merge with AT&T. SBC bought AT&T lock, stock and barrel, and then changed their name to AT&T. The upshot being: The thing calling itself "AT&T" today is not, in reality, AT&T, but SBC re-branded.

And boy, does it ever show. I dealt with the real AT&T for, oh, about 20 years, before it was bought by SBC. It had its faults. It wasn't perfect. But it was a damn sight better than SBC in all respects, IMO.

AT&T, the real AT&T, is no more.

Jim
k1ll3rdr4g0n
join:2005-03-19
Homer Glen, IL

k1ll3rdr4g0n

Member

Rings a certain familiarity

Odd, this devices sounds just like another smartphone device.

I believe it was made by some company that uses a fruit as their symbol...but who cares about them .

All sarcasm aside:
Here is the real kicker though - the more restrictions you put on a device or software the faster someone will figure a way around it. So, you pay your R&D, what - millions of dollars and a couple of years to cripple the phone when someone will turn around and remove the restrictions in probably a months time.
I don't think companies will ever get "it".
Don't think so? Do you think DRM has stopped piracy? The only thing piracy has done is prevent honest consumers from making copies for themselves.
duranr
join:2006-10-14
Leonia, NJ

duranr

Member

Bah...

For all the talk about Open handsets, and giving the Customer "Choice;" at&t turns around and outputs this garbage.

I'd like my iPhone tethering now, please.

gball
Master Yoda
Premium Member
join:2000-11-28
South Bend, IN

gball

Premium Member

Whats surprising is

that anyone is actually surprised by this!
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05 to funchords

Member

to funchords

Re: hmmmm....

Yet Verizon's nationwide data outage last week was nowhere to be found on BBR.....

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to theeinstein

Premium Member

to theeinstein

Re: disgusting

said by theeinstein:

Well at least AT&T will never let you down.. If there was ever a doubt they are now worse than Big Red.. the "globe" is refereed to as the "death star" and they live up to it!
This is why Apple & AT&T were such a good fit. Both companies are pathologically controlling and want things their way, no matter what the customer may want. I am surprised that AT&T even let Android phones on their system - even a crippled version of it.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch to gball

Member

to gball

Re: Whats surprising is

said by gball:

that anyone is actually surprised by this!
QFT.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron

Premium Member

Not Surprised

Given AT&T's record with the iPhone this behavior doesn't reall surprise me.

What does surprise me, is the lack of consumer revolt.

ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium Member
join:2001-08-02
La Porte, IN

ztmike

Premium Member

screw atat

T Mobile ftw
tazCO
join:2004-01-14
Indian Hills, CO

tazCO

Member

OS

Can this device just be wiped and reinstalled with a fresh os? I already talked to AT&T about getting out of my contract. It'll be worth the $100!
mAlfunkti0n
join:2003-12-16
Loveland, OH

mAlfunkti0n to itguy05

Member

to itguy05

Re: hmmmm....

It must have been so bad I didn't that my life stopped .. because for a nationwide outage I heard nothing about it, nor noticed any issue on my Droid, and I use data CONSTANTLY. I do that pretty much to just suck up as much as I can from Verizon.

I'm no mouthpiece for VZ, but my service with them has been far better than the Death Star, not to mention my Droid wasn't locked out like this ... nor is my wife's Droid Eris.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

3 edits

1 recommendation

djrobx to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5

Re: disgusting

said by FFH5:

This is why Apple & AT&T were such a good fit. Both companies are pathologically controlling and want things their way, no matter what the customer may want.
Prior to the iPhone, I wouldn't agree with this statement. As a Cingular customer one of the things I've liked most about their service was that all the phones I got were pretty much unencumbered. My 3650 wasn't even locked. The tethering features weren't hacked out of my 3650, V559, HTC 3125, blackjack, or HTC 8595. If I wanted my own ringtones I simply put them on my phones. If I wanted pictures out of the phones, I'd do a simple OBEX exchange. Application installs were always unrestricted. There was some AT&T branding stuff loaded in, but it rarely got in my way. Being used to this freedom, I wouldn't touch Verizon with a ten foot pole.

Things like locking billing rates to the type of phone you insert your SIM into didn't appear until after the iPhone launch. This stuff about cutting Google out of Android is a big step in the wrong direction for them.
page: 1 · 2 · 3 · next