Verizon announces 4 identical devices from 4 different manufacturers?

[froboebel]

Motorola Droid Bionic: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
HTC Thunderbolt: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
Samsung phone: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
LG Revolution: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.

You guys get the point. I'm not gonna list the announced specs of them all, but they are all pretty dang similar devices. The processors are different but the form factor is the same.

The question is... why? Do we really need 4 of the same large-screen device?

Verizon, look at the still-strong sales of the Incredible. Not everyone wants a huge bulky screen in their next phone.

 

[nalpakj]

More than the screen size issue, why aren't we seeing anything about dual core devices for Verizon? To me that's just about as important of a feature as the 4G, if not more important.

 

[nalpakj]

...Especially after we did see a dual code device announced for AT&T, the Atrix.

 

[froboebel]

Agreed, I thought a dual core successor to the Incredible wouldn't have been too far of a stretch for first half 2011. Apparently I am misled.

EDIT: Well.. I did read the Bionic has a dual core. @nalpakj

 

[Kyle Gibb]

Droid Bionic has dual-core. But yes, I was somewhat let down by Verizon's showings.

 

[akcregistered]

and no sliders? so we remain stuck with the g2 and lg ally? come on verizon.

 

[StrandedBrit]

For those wondering about lack of dual-core ships in the announced phones, I think dual-cores go by who manufactures the chip. Motorola got the dual-core tegra2 because Nvidia has is ready to be used now.

HTC has historically gone with Qualcomm chips (think Sony does too) and their dual-core snapdragon isn't ready yet. Same with Samsungs dual-core hummingbird. So I doubt you will see phones from these manufacturers that have dual-core chips for a while.

 

[Icon]

very good point. It's still unfortunate that Moto didn't match the Bionics' specs with the Atrix 4G (1G of RAM specifically). I guess that will be my next phone, unless something else leaks out between now and then. If so I will just keep my X until then.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

For those wondering about lack of dual-core ships in the announced phones, I think dual-cores go by who manufactures the chip. Motorola got the dual-core tegra2 because Nvidia has is ready to be used now.

HTC has historically gone with Qualcomm chips (think Sony does too) and their dual-core snapdragon isn't ready yet. Same with Samsungs dual-core hummingbird. So I doubt you will see phones from these manufacturers that have dual-core chips for a while.

This would be more than likely the best answer. Tegra2 has been "ready" for a little while now, while Samsung and Qualcomm have both stated that dual-core is still in the works.

 

[froboebel]

So yeah, they have dual core phones. But why would a manufacturer even want to release a phone on a carrier with so much competition in the same form factor?

No 3.7" slabs, no sliders? This is a huge void.

 

[Kyle Gibb]

So yeah, they have dual core phones. But why would a manufacturer even want to release a phone on a carrier with so much competition in the same form factor?

No 3.7" slabs, no sliders? This is a huge void.

HTC Merge still floating around somewhere... VZW is probs gonna announce it sooner than later. May or may not have LTE though. And we did just get the Droid Pro a couple months ago. Still, you are right, I would like to see a portrait slider like the Pre but on a 4-inch phone. I think alot of featurephone types would be all over it.

 

[zero157h7]

I don't understand why Samsung is going up from 4 to 4.3. While I am not going to buy Samsung again, I think 4 is the perfect size and I no I am not the only one that thinks so.

 

[DroidXcon]

I don't understand why Samsung is going up from 4 to 4.3. While I am not going to buy Samsung again, I think 4 is the perfect size and I no I am not the only one that thinks so.

its not a design choice its actually a manufacturing choice, they converted a factory they already had that cut 4.3 to 4.5 inch displays. produces less waste of material and also allows for higher density imaging.....and the massive amounts of DX and EVO screens sold didnt hurt that fact... and for some people namely me would love to move up in size, infact i would easily carry a 4.5" screen. So although 4" works for you its not necesarrily what everyone wants. So there are many factors in the size choice. not as simple as saying, oh we feel like we will go bigger.

 

[TheANARCHY]

Variety is the spice of life, so you are getting choice from multiple vendors. And let's face it... Now that the CDMA/4G iPhone is all but announced Verizon is looking at tons of sales (and the press coverage to go with it) so dual core is just another feature.

Also check out how AT&T got real serious w/ the Android platform at CES. They know they aren't the only game in town w/ iPhone anymore so they had to diversify.

 

[Guamguy]

3.7" inchers getting eaten alive by the 4" and 4.3" phones.

The much anticipated Droid 2 release, for example, proved to be underwhelming under the shadow of the Droid X. 3.7" vs. 4.3".

Then HTC's, and much of Motorola's line, mainly on 3.7" screens, got devoured on the market by Samsung's 4" screen phones.

Let's remove the Android OS factor and check on the Windows Phone 7 market to see---

Again, we see the HTCs and LGs with the 3.7" and 3.5" screens getting eaten alive by the Samsung's with the 4" screens and the HD7 (4.3").

The 3.7" slab is dying. Samsung and HTC has proven the 4" to 4.3" factor to be publicly acceptable. The reason why HTC still goes with a 3.7" screen is that it lets you make a decent size slider. The bigger the screen goes, the bigger the keyboard becomes and the phone becomes more of a handful. Hence the reluctance for Samsung to release a Galaxy S Pro after the Epic was released.

 

[Hitch_Itch]

Somewhere in the 4 million articles I read about CES, I saw something about the Incredible HD will be out 2nd Qtr 2011 w/ dual core snapdragon

 

[The Hustleman]

Motorola Droid Bionic: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
HTC Thunderbolt: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
Samsung phone: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.
LG Revolution: 4.3" display, 4G enabled, front facing camera.

You guys get the point. I'm not gonna list the announced specs of them all, but they are all pretty dang similar devices. The processors are different but the form factor is the same.

The question is... why? Do we really need 4 of the same large-screen device?

Verizon, look at the still-strong sales of the Incredible. Not everyone wants a huge bulky screen in their next phone.

Verizon sees that large screen phones are perfect sized!

They feel perfect in the hand, great screen size, and yet still small enough to fit perfectly in the pocket without stretching it out.

I don't blame verizon, the evo taught then something

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Verizon sees that large screen phones are perfect sized!

They feel perfect in the hand, great screen size, and yet still small enough to fit perfectly in the pocket without stretching it out.

I don't blame verizon, the evo taught then something

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

Some people don't feel that way though. I don't think we'll see the end of 4" devices, but I definitely think the age of 3.7" devices is coming to an end. I would not be surprised to see the next iPhone have a 4" screen.

 

[moosc]

The new Samsung has a slightly different body style and physical keys. Bionic did away with the hard keys and hump and just smoothed it out. My guess 4g radio bigger and more cooling room for the dual core but THEY All look same.

 

[RUSH]

Most people prefer non-slider phones... There were too many issues with the mechanism in the sliders.

Every company now going with bigger screen. It's 2011.... People were complaining about losing their eyesight. lol.