Wife needs a phone.... what's new coming out for Verizon?

[Hugh Jass]

I hope you're right. The $200 price-point would definitely make a pretty big dent -- basically the same pricing strategy as the initial Kindle Fire release, and we all know how that went. Question: how do you think it will go with Verizon? Given that the Nexus 4 never made it to VZW -- and the agonizing pace of getting a Verizon HTC One -- I have an uncomfortable suspicion that Verizon would not be so happy with a Motorola phone that (a) works on their network and (b) they don't completely control. I guess once we have the CDMA version of the X in hand, we'll know.

-Matt

It's been confirmed on all 4 carriers at launch, but there's always the possibility that this will be sold, unlocked, on the Play Store directly through Google. And that is precisely why I think this device will be one for the ages. If this is their strategy, it literally is genius because the masses have for the most part written Moto out even with a great flagship...this units popularity will erase all of the damage done IMO.

 

[bluezdawg]

Get your wife the S4, she'll love ya for it!

Sent by "bluezdawg" from my scream'n Infinity TF700/TF201 run'n Jelly Bean 4.2.1 using Tapatalk HD

 

[gadgetrants]

It's been confirmed on all 4 carriers at launch, but there's always the possibility that this will be sold, unlocked, on the Play Store directly through Google. And that is precisely why I think this device will be one for the ages. If this is their strategy, it literally is genius because the masses have for the most part written Moto out even with a great flagship...this units popularity will erase all of the damage done IMO.

I like your analysis and agree with the argument, but I probably wasn't clear about my VZW question, so let me rephrase:

Assumption 1: the Moto X is going to the 4 major carriers (VZW, AT&T, Sprint, TMo) at launch -- this is actually a fact at this point

Assumption 2: Moto (or Google or both) will sell the device carrier-free and unlocked for an amazingly-low price

What I'm having a hard time imagining is that given there's a CDMA version sold by VZW (and third-party affiliates like Amazon and Wirefly), it would be pretty unusual that I could go to Googorola and buy the same phone (more or less) out-the-door for (say) $200. I'm OK with Assumption 2 -- I just don't see VZW negotiating a contract with Motorola to sell the X, when they're being undersold by the manufacturer at the same time. Admittedly, this happens with the other carriers (witness the Nexus 4), but if the same business model emerged with VZW I think it would be a first.

NOTE: I thought maybe the Galaxy Nexus that sold on the Play Store back in early 2012 included a CDMA version, but I couldn't find one -- only GSM released at $399:

Google gets back into the phone sales business, offering Galaxy Nexus for $399 | Android Central

IIRC Verizon kept a choke-hold on their version:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus ad promises $199 price, hints at Nov 29th release
My ?fake? Verizon Galaxy Nexus randomly reboots every day, let?s end the public beta test | Android and Me

However, also see: Editorial: Is the Verizon Galaxy Nexus really a Nexus? You betcha | Android Central

Something I'd forgotten is that there was a minor dust-up regarding Google's support of the CDMA version:

Galaxy Nexus and other CDMA devices removed from Google Support pages
[Update from Google] The CDMA/LTE Galaxy Nexus is no longer considered a developer device | Android and Me

There’s been no official word from Google, but the Android Developers website tells it all. The CDMA Galaxy Nexus, codename “toro,” is no longer supported on the Android Developers website. Special CDMA radio installation and download instructions have been yanked, and factory images for the CDMA Nexus are listed as “archived, for reference only.”
There’s no telling exactly what is going on, but it doesn’t look like a mistake. Perhaps Verizon wanted more control over the device? Maybe they needed to add more custom apps, or decided they wanted to exclusively handle the updating procedure? Whatever the case, this is a sad day for Verizon customers who thought they were buying a developer device. It’s not that this will really impact consumers for the most part, but enthusiasts will surely feel let down.

I wasn't implying some type of VZW conspiracy theory, but I have to admit: looking back over the last 4 years, it really does seem that Verizon has opposed Google every time a carrier-free device was produced, i.e., the OG Nexus, the Galaxy Nexus, and now the Nexus 4. My growing sense is that all the stuff and nonsense about CDMA "technical difficulties" is just a cover story.

-Matt

 

[gadgetrants]

Something fascinating about this thread is the appearance of the word "Wife" in the title. A looooooooooong time ago (actually about 3 years), I had my first smartphone (OG Droid), while my wife had the cute, friendly, more-feminine HTC Droid Eris. I noticed several couples online with similar pairs of phones, so I started a poll:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/htc-droid-eris/65923-husband-wife-droid-couples.html

An interesting result was that 19 of 43 couples (44%) had the same combination of phones as my wife and me. Fancy that. At the time, the trend kinda made sense, as (I think) the popular perception was that "men like gadgets" and "women like pretty things." OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, so maybe I should leave it at, "men and women tend to look for different features when buying a smartphone."

Anyway, if I had to hazard a sociopolitical observation (or ooops, THOSE aren't allowed, right?) -- so let me call it a socioCULTURAL observation, it would be that in the last few years I'm seeing that women are becoming increasingly comfortable with the same phones that guys like. Another interesting trend is that this forum used to be almost exclusively guys, and now we not only have a decent number of female owners joining in, but also some remarkable female mods. I'm not sure if (a) I'm just imagining it, or (b) something is happening under the surface to help diminish the gender gap, but either way it's pretty cool. I'm really glad to see that it doesn't matter whether you're a woman or a man when you buy a smartphone -- what really matters is that it's an ANDROID and NOT AN IPHONE!!! LOL

-Matt

 

[jseah]

My wife and my daughter are diametrically opposite. My wife has a Razr Maxx, and doesn't care to learn anything about the phone. The phone could literally sit there for weeks with application update notifications sitting in the notification bar and she won't update the apps. My daughter has the S4 and she knows pretty much every in and out about the phone. When I read online about some neat trick or tip for the phone, I will tell her and she will have had already figured it out herself.

We keep telling my wife that she should just get an iPhone. Although to stay in the Android family, the closest to an iPhone would be Samsung. The Samsung UI is the most iPhone-like, although she doesn't care enough about gadgets to want to upgrade.

 

[jseah]

Assumption 2: Moto (or Google or both) will sell the device carrier-free and unlocked for an amazingly-low price

What I'm having a hard time imagining is that given there's a CDMA version sold by VZW (and third-party affiliates like Amazon and Wirefly), it would be pretty unusual that I could go to Googorola and buy the same phone (more or less) out-the-door for (say) $200. I'm OK with Assumption 2 -- I just don't see VZW negotiating a contract with Motorola to sell the X, when they're being undersold by the manufacturer at the same time. Admittedly, this happens with the other carriers (witness the Nexus 4), but if the same business model emerged with VZW I think it would be a first.

NOTE: I thought maybe the Galaxy Nexus that sold on the Play Store back in early 2012 included a CDMA version, but I couldn't find one -- only GSM released at $399:

Google gets back into the phone sales business, offering Galaxy Nexus for $399 | Android Central

That's the problem with the "Google" phones. Google always just have the GSM versions available direct from Google. As you noticed, the CDMA versions are never sold direct, and the full retail is always a couple hundred higher than the GSM version.

 

[gadgetrants]

My wife and my daughter are diametrically opposite. My wife has a Razr Maxx, and doesn't care to learn anything about the phone. The phone could literally sit there for weeks with application update notifications sitting in the notification bar and she won't update the apps. My daughter has the S4 and she knows pretty much every in and out about the phone. When I read online about some neat trick or tip for the phone, I will tell her and she will have had already figured it out herself.

We keep telling my wife that she should just get an iPhone. Although to stay in the Android family, the closest to an iPhone would be Samsung. The Samsung UI is the most iPhone-like, although she doesn't care enough about gadgets to want to upgrade.

Uhoh...I'm so tempted to turn this into a pissing contest over the "spouse who most neglects their fancy phone" but I guess we all have similar stories! So, are you saying it's an age/generational thing? I swear my teen son CAN LOOK at a gadget and in 5 seconds figure out all it's hidden features, and I'm amazed to see his tweener sister isn't far behind. They're both the same way about new computer software. My wife...not so much.

-Matt

 

[bluezdawg]

Uhoh...I'm so tempted to turn this into a pissing contest over the "spouse who most neglects their fancy phone" but I guess we all have similar stories! So, are you saying it's an age/generational thing? I swear my teen son CAN LOOK at a gadget and in 5 seconds figure out all it's hidden features, and I'm amazed to see his tweener sister isn't far behind. They're both the same way about new computer software. My wife...not so much.

-Matt

Think you are right on the generation thing with the exception of some of us older folks (guys & gals) that are techies, gadget freaks and/or early adaptors. The boyz and I usually end up mod'ing everything we touch (although I am trying to show restraint on the S4), while I can't get the wife, a nurse, to check her email! Yes, she has a flip phone

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

 

[Tankwylde]

My wife wants the S4 badly. She loves the camera on it and the screen isn't too big for her hands. She wants to look at the note 3 when it hits but most likely she will get the S4 in the frost white.

 

[bluezdawg]

My wife wants the S4 badly. She loves the camera on it and the screen isn't too big for her hands. She wants to look at the note 3 when it hits but most likely she will get the S4 in the frost white.

The smartphone phenomenon has now become the old Louis Vuitton purse phenomenon with the ladies. Keep the lady happy, get her the white S4. The cost is worth the happiness!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

 

[Tankwylde]

The smartphone phenomenon has now become the old Louis Vuitton purse phenomenon with the ladies. Keep the lady happy, get her the white S4. The cost is worth the happiness!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

I think that I will. Her upgrade isnt till November so we'll see what is out by then. The most important thing to her is the camera and customization of the look. Maybe by then she'll want the new X phone.

 

[gadgetrants]

But even that wouldn't sell a old news phone for long, so they designed it to be smarter than anything on the market today...all for the (so far rumored price) of ~$200 off contract. That's the trick, this phone can be hand without a contract for a subsidized price and still be feature rich and stack-able against the flagships, not because it's got more ram or GHz, but because it's designed to be smart, not because it's got the largest marketing budget on earth for a single device, or because it's cheap...but all three are the trifecta.

Argh, I was definitely starting to drink the low-off-contract-price Kool-Aid, but now we hear...

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/an...moto-x-party-tonight-moto-x-landing-page.html

I guess the folks at Googorola were just too excited to wait any longer. Hours before the official reveal tonight they opened up their website and shared the full specs and release dates for the new Moto X. They also indirectly confirmed that the pricing will not be the $300-350 off contract that rumors suggested it might. The phone will sell on all of the major U.S. carriers for $199.99 on a new contract for the 16GB version and $249.99 for the 32GB option. This would suggest that the off-contract pricing would be the usual $500-600 price range.

I'm gonna do what I normally do in this situation, which is: stick my fingers in my ears and hope the news is wrong. :icon_ devil:

-Matt