Comments on: Verizon's New Voyager Looks Like the iPhone, But Software Is Inferior

By: Mark Fearing

Mark Fearing — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:03:04 +0000

As for the comment above that the iPhone is ‘crippled’ because of no keyboard and ’slow network’, I’m not sure we are talking about the same device.
I was at a coffee shop today, a restaurant and a grocery store, and I had wifi connectivity that would beat 3G. In the car, stopped for a short while, I sent an email using EDGE. Not super fast, but it worked fine.
As for the keyboard, I am amazed it works so well. I was thinking it would be a big drawback, but it is not. Typed at least two dozen emails today and a SMS session. And as Walt points out the elements all work together, and the user experience is so much better, easier, more useful, even more ‘ fun’. Cell companies need to take interface design seriously instead of just buying bits and pieces from the different manufactures to make Frankenstein products.
-M
http://cartoonshmartoon.blogspot.com/

By: Clement Galluccio

Clement Galluccio — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:50:22 +0000

First, I find it disingenuous for Verizon to state that the Voyager is not a competitor to the iPhone as they clearly attempt to infer that it provides the superior ‘touch’ experience in their TV advertising. Second, I find the WiFi/Edge flexibility preferable to a 3G-only device. Granted, I’ll be first in line for a WiFi/3 or 4G iPhone. Third, this is one iPhone user who does not now, nor is unlikely to, feel cheated by my purchase of the iPhone. It is by far the best technology product I have purchased, well, since the very first Macintosh.

By: services.mail2web.com | Gadget Blog |

services.mail2web.com | Gadget Blog | — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:24:06 +0000

[...] Verizon’s New Voyager Looks Like the iPhone, But Software Is Inferior – Walt Mossberg, January 10, 2008 [...]

By: Rich Rosen

Rich Rosen — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:37:36 +0000

As Einstein taught us, everything is relative.

Does the Voyager match up to the iPhone? Hell, no.

Do I want a phone that is the same as the iPhone? If I did, I would have bought an iPhone. I have a V (LG VX9800) and I like its design and the presence of a real keyboard (one that doesn’t require three hands plus one additional appendage to hold down the modifier keys for entering numbers). I *hate* its lousy WAP browser and small screen. I like its battery life and don’t care that much about its music and camera features, they suffice.

Does the Voyager surpass by lightyears the previous incarnation of LG’s clamshell keyboard phone, the V and the en-V? Hell, yes. The Voyager is a quantum leap up from the V or en-V, yet still supplies the same real keyboard and everything else the V/en-V had.

Do I want a Voyager? Even more now that I’ve read Walt’s review. All the things he complained about are just fine with me. I am taking a step up (a few steps, actually) in going for the Voyager. I would get a real browser with a larger viewport that would let me do not only email but also actual web browsing.

Are the camera and music capabilities as good as the iPhone? Nope. Can I use advanced finger gestures like pinching and scraping and curly-Q spirals for advanced scrolling and zooming? Nope. Do I care? Perhaps I should. Perhaps I shouldn’t allow myself to live without the bestest most advanced gadgets in the world.

On the other hand, jumping from the V to the Voyager will get me the very things I think my old phone is lacking. Not much more than that, but so what? I will be a happier phone owner with the Voyager. As far as I can tell, I will be much happier with the Voyager than with the iPhone.

For now…

By: Brian Prows

Brian Prows — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:00:09 +0000

Since Walt acknowledges that Verizon Wireless, a cellular provider with a knack for disabling bluetooth profiles and email clients, is not claiming Voyager is like an iPhone, why dwell on it? HTC’s Touch, running on Sprint’s EVDO data network, offers a superior alternative to the iPhone. The Touch’s features, in fact, match many of my ideal Android phone specs, summarized in MarketingBeyond, my blog. It’s clear that the glitz of the iPhone, crippled by slow EDGE data use on AT&T, batteries that users must return for replacement and other deficiencies, has blinded iPhone users. When Apple releases the 3G version of the iPhone worldwide this year, new purchasers will be dismayed how fast the battery drains, unless Apple re-engineers the iPhone’s components, including a more powerful battery. Existing iPhone owners will feel cheated about web crawling on EDGE, while Apple competes with other carriers and mobile manufacturers such as HTC, Nokia and Motorola. I’m a Mac user but Apple’s first mobile device only presented an example of future mobile devices.

By: LG Voyager parece o iPhone, mas seu software é primitivo, diz Mossberg | AppleMania.info

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:32:04 +0000

[...] detalhes no artigo completo de Mossberg. No momento da finalização deste artigo nosso iTunes tocava: Emerson, Lake & [...]

By: Jim Hopkinson

Jim Hopkinson — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:01:40 +0000

“Wired’s new story on the development of the iPhone is the best piece done on that subject yet.”

I totally agree. The author managed to capture the essence of what everyone already knows in a very articulate story, that being, that Apple just GETS IT. I was a CIS major, tech geek, and PC/Windows person for 15+ years, but switched to the Mac last summer. I’m never going back. I have an iPod, wireless network, and take classes at the Apple store. The iPhone is not far behind. And Apple TV if they make some great updates.

Great job Wired and great job Apple.

By: Eric Welch

Eric Welch — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:21:37 +0000

The problem with Verizon (beside ridiculous pricing of plans) is that they are like the other carriers (other than AT&T which was smart to partner with Apple). They think that making a buzzword-compliant phone makes it an iPhone killer.

But as Steve Jobs points out, design isn’t just the veneer, or how the thing looks. It’s how it works. Maybe, in a few years, that simple fact might finally occur to them. (Wired’s new story on the development of the iPhone is the best piece done on that subject yet.)

By: Charlie Brenner

Charlie Brenner — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 04:47:04 +0000

I’ve had a Voyager for a week or so, and my favorite feature is the FedEx return label that came in the box, for all the reasons Walt cited. The iPhone, though, is hopelessly crippled by the lack of a keyboard and the slow network, and the pain of these shortcomings endures after the “Wow!” has worn off. So, yes, the cellphone makers are going to have to step up their games, but Apple also has some stepping up to do. For me, for now, the answer is an iPod Touch plus a hotspot @ home Blackberry Curve, a two-handed solution that offers the best of both worlds.