'iPhone Lite' On Verizon?

or limited version of the iPhone. What I suspect would happen if a locked down/crippled/somehow dumbed down version came out for Verizon services is you'd see more attempts at unlocking/jailbreaking the phone.

»tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/ ··· zonappleForget iPhone Lite. Get an iPhone competitor running Windows Mobile.

More: »arstechnica.com/microsof ··· pink.ars

Doesn't Verizon already have a bunch of named (name, not a model number) iPhone killers ("touch" phone) from LG and Samsung? What selling advantage/distinction would a touch WiMo phone have from a propriatary OSed LG or Samsung? WiMo phones are already are stylus/partially finger-able (ignoring Windows Mobile for Smartphones, which is for flip phones without a touchscreen and with D-pad navigation and softkeys only).

Bottom line is this...Verizon Wireless has a ton of games and music you can download for your phone but as far as apps to do anything useful there is very few. That is what burns me up about my phone. The phone service is great but nothing but crap as far as apps go.

The 'only' thing that the iPhone has that its competitors have (IMO) is:
- A decent screen/form factor

I have both an HTC Tilt (AT&T) and a Treo 800W (Sprint).
Both have a lot of features that are unavailable on the iPhone (video capture/offload, removable battery, micro SD RAM removable, no 'crippled' software)

I do however, like the form factor of the iPhone/iPod better, and it has a nicer screen. Treo = 2.4" HTC Tilt = 2.8", G1 = 3.2", iPhone = 3.5"
Others have higher resolution... but smaller size display (Bold/HTC Pro/HD)

NOTE to manufacturers: Build a VGA capable iPhone replacement with similar dimensions (3.5"), USB/micro USB connector, micro SD card support, WiFi, supportable by different OS (Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, MacOS, Linux)

Samsung Omnia, only thing it doesn't have is a standard USB/micro USB port.

It doesn't have a physical qwerty keyboard. The Palm Pre is what I am waiting around for to give a test run.

I would agree that, at first, Apple's primary advantage was form factor and good design but it took the rest of the industry so long to catch up (arguably they still haven't) that now they also have to compete against 1 Billion AppStore downloads and tens of thousands of apps most for $2 or $3 or free. Despite an almost decade head start there just isn't that much good WM software out there. The few good apps are incredibly expensive.

Apple also took a strong lead because it produce a very intuitive phone. Like when I use google maps on the iphone, I can type in a friends name and have the address from my contact book pop up on it. Apple was set on being the "blackberry of the personal user" and they delivered.

While other companies have released their "iphone killers", they just aren't polished and they feel rushed to market.

That's just a Google Mobile thing, nothing specific to iPhone. A Sprint BlackBerry will tell you exactly where your friend is on the map, and you can use the built-in GPS to get you to the doorstep...even if you have to copy and paste the address from one application to another...while they are both opened.

Let's see.

iPod vs. Zune...iPod won.

iTunes vs. MSN Music store....iTunes won.

Sorry but Microsoft has failed in many of its online and other ventures. Remember the Microsoft routers?

Not all phones are crippled. I have Storm that is wide open. Iphone users take a crippled phone now. How does Video Recording and Cut/Paste Work? Can they use Sling Media??? Nope AT&T wont allow it.

AT&T and Apple also cripple too.

Cut and paste, mms and most all things will be resolved in june with the 3.0 release of the software. As a developer I am testing it and it is fantastic.

Isn't "Lite" just a play on LTE (which looks like the word lite)?

I can see a $15 Lite device being sold to Verizon customers for $300. It makes sense!

Maybe they are just gonna make a new phone, call it the Jebus Phone instead of the iPhone and then they won't have to worry about any contracts with AT&T.

I don't know if I like this "lite" label. What does this mean? Half the storage? Half the screen size? half the features?

All i know is if its not a full iphone then why bother.

They a posted job on their Careers site seeking an Android dev.

»www.androidcentral.com/v ··· d-device

Recently, rumors were leaked that they were in talks with Microsoft for an "iPhone rival" (this almost made me laugh).

»www.bloomberg.com/apps/n ··· refer=us

Looks like Verizon wasn't happy with the level of interest produced by the Blackberry Storm, and is playing all the players off one another.

this will stay a rumor

I would get Iphone if Verizon and Apple make love.

I hope the "lite" version would be a smaller/thinner like the Ipod Touch.

Verizon's iPhone Lite and Windows handsets will follow Verizon's basic rules:

1. No WiFi capabilities. None, ever! Users will load up stuff from their home computers that are uncontrolled. "Uncontrolled" is Verizon-speak for no $$ for Verizon.

2. No Java. Java would make it possible for Verizon handsets to load uncontrolled apps and data. "Uncontrolled" is Verizon-speak for no $$ for Verizon.

3. Limited computer connectivity. We can't have our users loading just anything uncontrolled on our handsets, can we? "Uncontrolled" is Verizon-speak for no $$ for Verizon.

4. Verizon subscribers will pay through their noses for Verizon's controlled apps and data. "Controlled" is Verizon-speak for maximizing $$ for Verizon.

And I have no plans to leave Verizon. They have the best coverage in my area. Plus I get a discount by combining my cell service with Extreme HD on FIOS.

Current iPhone 3G user:

Am I the only one who feel the iPhone-esque era is getting too played out? Many of us were all googoo eyes over the RAZR just a few years back and look what happened?

I don't mind Apple product and they'd be dumb to forsake a model that has made them lots of $$$, but a fresh new design is in order to keep things alive.

Unlike Moto and the Sammy's of the world, I feel Apple is too proud to let any of their products be sold too cheap. But at a certain point, you can't keep pumping the old units at a high price and expect consumer demand to follow.

Side point: I left T-Mobile for the iPhone on ATT. The iPhone was the ONLY reason I did. With my cool device, I've had to put up with the dropped calls, garbled calls, flaky 3G service etc. that is considered "normal," being part of ATT.

Had the device been available with my own carrier I would have never strayed.

No wonder ATT wants to hold on to this device with all they got? Their Q1 figures would be worse than T-Mobile's if they didn't have it. People who flocked to them for the Jesus phone now know just how bad ATT's network can be.

Has anyone thought of the possibility that Verizon has no real intentions of getting the iPhone and is just trying to get AT&T to pay Apple more?