No Fascinate For A While

[dsignori]

...

Just think back to the landscape when the original Droid was developed and released.

That landscape had VZW doing quite well in spite of Apple (though not as good as they are now), and had Motorola falling off a cliff economically. VZW would have been in a much stronger position and would not have made such a deal.

..
That's where the Fascinate has a problem. All of the other carriers have Galaxy S variants, and except for the Epic 4G, they're mostly identical. So the Fascinate is not going to bring anyone to Verizon; you can go to AT&T or T-Mobile and get the same thing. I think that explains why Verizon is so much more interested in promoting their exclusives, like the Droids, rather than a "me-too" phone that probably won't win any new customers.

...

This is precisely why they do need it out sooner. precisely because people can change carriers to get it if they want it.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. I guess what's done is done, we all have to just wait and see now.

 

[pres16]

DolfanCole you ignorant slut! (sorry, couldn't resist the SNL reference - I've actually enjoyed this little debate)

The iPhone was launched in January of '07 after several years of rumors and was a very popular device. Although T-Mobile actually launched the first Android device in September '08, VZW was running scared because the iPhone was dominating the buzz. So, they needed something new to compete and putting VZW, Google, and Motorola, 3 big name brands together (you have to admit that, just from a recognition standpoint, Motorola is bigger than HTC and Samsung - especially in 2007 when the contract was probably negotiated) would be a pretty powerful force to launch a product in Nov '09. Because of this, they may have agreed to some things with Motorola that they probably shouldn't have - including a delay in launching competitive devices.

 

[DolfanCole]

DolfanCole you ignorant slut! (sorry, couldn't resist the SNL reference - I've actually enjoyed this little debate)

The iPhone was launched in January of '07 after several years of rumors and was a very popular device. Although T-Mobile actually launched the first Android device in September '08, VZW was running scared because the iPhone was dominating the buzz. So, they needed something new to compete and putting VZW, Google, and Motorola, 3 big name brands together (you have to admit that, just from a recognition standpoint, Motorola is bigger than HTC and Samsung - especially in 2007 when the contract was probably negotiated) would be a pretty powerful force to launch a product in Nov '09. Because of this, they may have agreed to some things with Motorola that they probably shouldn't have - including a delay in launching competitive devices.

I am a Android newbie. So I don't know the history of how things played out. Not sure if that makes me a total ignorant slut though.

Regardless though, I stand by the fact that I don't believe that Motorola had enough clout (or really any clout) to "strongarm" VZW into doing something so stupid. And I think just the releases of other phones show that this was not the case.

And I don't admit that Motorola was bigger than Samsung from any standpoint.

 

[anon(41845)]

Right now Verizon has a couple of phones that risk being lost in the tidal wave of new releases coming in the 4th quarter: The Fascinate and the BB Storm3. Clearly the Fascinate will have the better screen in terms of display and size - but at least when it comes to Verizon - the Storm will have better brand recognition - good or bad. I for one have a Blackberry Storm1 and had planned on getting the Droid X this summer but was not impressed with the UI. The build quality felt great - but the hump on the back and the moto blur really served to distract from the good elements of the phone.

I had high hopes for the rumored Droid Pro - but now that we know it is just a WE Droid2 - I am left hanging once again. I really wish Verizon would bring something out as polished and powerful as the EVO 4G. By the time they get the Fascinate out...it will be a relatively dated device.

 

[DolfanCole]

Right now Verizon has a couple of phones that risk being lost in the tidal wave of new releases coming in the 4th quarter: The Fascinate and the BB Storm3. Clearly the Fascinate will have the better screen in terms of display and size - but at least when it comes to Verizon - the Storm will have better brand recognition - good or bad. I for one have a Blackberry Storm1 and had planned on getting the Droid X this summer but was not impressed with the UI. The build quality felt great - but the hump on the back and the moto blur really served to distract from the good elements of the phone.

I had high hopes for the rumored Droid Pro - but now that we know it is just a WE Droid2 - I am left hanging once again. I really wish Verizon would bring something out as polished and powerful as the EVO 4G. By the time they get the Fascinate out...it will be a relatively dated device.

I'm not sold on the Droid Pro being a Droid 2 WE. Inventory numbers just don't match up. They may end up calling the Droid2 WE the Droid Pro, but that doesn't discount the fact that there will be a separate device (A957), which might end up being called something different. Plus, with all of the other rumors that state a difference in screen size and hardware relative to the Droid 2, it just doesn't add up that the Pro would just be a 2 with a GSM radio.

 

[anon(41845)]

I'm not sold on the Droid Pro being a Droid 2 WE. Inventory numbers just don't match up. They may end up calling the Droid2 WE the Droid Pro, but that doesn't discount the fact that there will be a separate device (A957), which might end up being called something different. Plus, with all of the other rumors that state a difference in screen size and hardware relative to the Droid 2, it just doesn't add up that the Pro would just be a 2 with a GSM radio.

I hope you are correct. I do not want or like slider phones. Give me a touch screen - with at least a 4" screen. I really wish the DroidX didn't have moto blur. HTC's UI is much nicer...but the DINC isn't big enough for me. I was really hoping for a more robust touch screen...without the annoying camera hump on the back like the DX.

 

[bxojr]

In the irresponsible rumormongering department, here's a new report that says the Fascinate is due for release at the end of September:

Update: Fascinate coming next month? ? Tech for 20s

I don't know the blog, and the "information" comes completely without attribution or any indication of its reliability, so take that for what it's worth (i.e. not a whole lot).

But still, it's a reminder that we just don't know; the rumors disagree with one another, so you can believe whichever one you want at this point! I think late September is still too late, but it's better than late October for sure...

 

[idkmybffjill]

whaaaaaaaaat?

I really wish the DroidX didn't have moto blur. HTC's UI is much nicer...

I'm a current BB user, hopefully a future Android user. Based on this comment, am I to believe that on Android devices, the most open of open source electronics, we are powerless to change the UI? I've heard bad things about motoblur and touchwiz. I was hoping that if I get a Fascinate I could put a custom UI on it. Tell me this is possible...

 

[hanano17]

I'm a current BB user, hopefully a future Android user. Based on this comment, am I to believe that on Android devices, the most open of open source electronics, we are powerless to change the UI? I've heard bad things about motoblur and touchwiz. I was hoping that if I get a Fascinate I could put a custom UI on it. Tell me this is possible...

You can change it if you want, theres plenty of different home replacement apps that you can download that are different enough that you can find something you like.

 

[voghan]

You can change the ui a lot. There are several home screen replacements available on the market. You can fill your home screens with short cuts to any of your apps. I'd say I've seen several peoples home screens and none have been the same.

 

[joebob2000]

You can change the ui a lot. There are several home screen replacements available on the market. You can fill your home screens with short cuts to any of your apps. I'd say I've seen several peoples home screens and none have been the same.

You can change the home screen layout, or you can change the UI app itself? I am sure there are a million ways you can "arrange" the home screens on any of the Android phones, that doesn't mean you can get the same functionality out of any of them.

 

[hanano17]

You can change the home screen layout, or you can change the UI app itself? I am sure there are a million ways you can "arrange" the home screens on any of the Android phones, that doesn't mean you can get the same functionality out of any of them.

Both.

 

[caliskimmer]

You can change the home screen layout, or you can change the UI app itself? I am sure there are a million ways you can "arrange" the home screens on any of the Android phones, that doesn't mean you can get the same functionality out of any of them.

You can do both. For the UI app, just download from the Android Market and then every time you go home, you will get a choice what launcher to use along with a little box on the bottom that allows you to enable that launcher by default. In other words, you can somewhat replace Touchwiz UI if you do not enjoy it (emphasis on SOMEWHAT).

 

[gspeed]

After putting launcher pro on the samsung captivate it omitted all samsung widgets.

Did not check to see if touchwiz was still running any background processes, but was able to verify that the entire look and feel of the phone is customizable.

If you are not a fan of the cartoonish look of touchwiz then I'd recommend either launcher pro or adw launcher. It will give you a more customizable version of stock android.

Only downside is losing some of the touchwiz widgets. Most of the widgets are replaceable from the market though. You can replace daily briefing with a financial stock widget, a weather app(beautiful weather is good option to use), and any news reader widget app.

You can also replace the friends feed with any of the various twitter or fb clients.

If I ever purchase a phone that is not stock Android then I would immediately install either home replacement apps.

 

[caliskimmer]

After putting launcher pro on the samsung captivate it omitted all samsung widgets.

Did not check to see if touchwiz was still running any background processes, but was able to verify that the entire look and feel of the phone is customizable.

If you are not a fan of the cartoonish look of touchwiz then I'd recommend either launcher pro or adw launcher. It will give you a more customizable version of stock android.

Only downside is losing some of the touchwiz widgets. Most of the widgets are replaceable from the market though. You can replace daily briefing with a financial stock widget, a weather app(beautiful weather is good option to use), and any news reader widget app.

You can also replace the friends feed with any of the various twitter or fb clients.

If I ever purchase a phone that is not stock Android then I would immediately install either home replacement apps.

Doing the same exact thing. I'm not worried about customizations anymore (except for that AWFUL cube thing in TW 2.0), if I don't like it, then, well, what do I do? Change it! Slap on a nice launcher, download some widgets and I'm set for phone life...2 years.

 

[CR6]

here's the latest!! Sept 9th! wooohooo! http://www.androidcentral.com/sept-...-verizon-fascinate-tie-mtv-video-music-awards