T-Mobile launches iPhone challenger
NEW YORK--T-Mobile USA is betting big on its second Android smartphone, the MyTouch 3G, as it officially launches the device making it its flagship smartphone to compete against Apple's iPhone on AT&T.
(Credit:
T-Mobile USA)
The company announced the MyTouch 3G, which is essentially the same phone as the Google Ion or the HTC Magic, last month. And on Wednesday T-Mobile made the device available for pre-orders to its existing customers. The device will be generally available starting August 5.
The MyTouch is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last fall. And so far the company claims it has sold more than 1 million devices.
Thinner and slightly smaller than the G1, the MyTouch features a large 3.2-inch touch screen with 3G and Wi-Fi support. The device comes loaded with several applications including integrated Google Apps, but it also can access the Android Market, a virtual application storefront where users can have their pick of some 5,000 applications for downloading.
Executives at an event here Wednesday made no bones about pitting the MyTouch against Apple's popular iPhone, which is sold exclusively for AT&T's network in the U.S.
"My hope and expectation is that this device will be compared to the iPhone," said Denny Post, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at T-Mobile USA.
It's easy to see the similarities between the phones. Like the iPhone, the MyTouch has a touch screen with a virtual keyboard. And it has access to a lot of very cool applications.
But executives also point out what they consider important differences between the MyTouch and the iPhone.
Personalization is the big buzzword the T-Mobile marketing folks have used in launching the new phone. They claim no two MyTouches will be the same since users can customize their devices to tailor their own lifestyles and needs. The customization goes beyond the ability to download different applications, and also includes the ability to change the background on the phone's home screen and the ability to organize application icons on the home screen.
While iPhone users can drag and drop icons and customize their sleep mode screens, the home screen essentially looks the same on all iPhones.
Whether or not this differentiator is a big deal to consumers is yet to be seen. Another possibly more important differentiator is the fact that the Android software on the MyTouch allows users to easily switch between multiple applications that are open on the device. The software also allows information from one application to be fed or viewed in another application. For example, there is a little user bar at the top of the phone's screen that shows the temperature and weather. It also has alerts for new e-mails and text messages as they come into the phone, without interrupting the application that is going.
Of course, the MyTouch is not the only smartphone that offers this kind of application multitasking. The Palm Pre announced earlier this summer for Sprint Nextel's network has gotten high marks for its ability to multitask. But Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile, says that what sets the MyTouch apart from the Pre is the Android Market mobile application store, which already has 5,000 applications.
At the heart of the MyTouch is the open platform Android software, which was developed by Google. And because it uses the same operating system developed for the G1, the features and functionality available on the MyTouch are not much different from the G1.
And it's likely that other Android devices that will be launched on T-Mobile's network and other operators' networks later this year will also be similar in terms of functionality because they use the same operating system.
But instead of lumping multiple Android devices together, T-Mobile will be focusing much of its marketing on the MyTouch as its flagship device. This makes sense from a competitive standpoint as other wireless operators highlight their own exclusive handsets. Apple has the iPhone. And Sprint has the new Palm Pre. Now T-Mobile will focus its marketing on the MyTouch.
The G1, the first Android phone to come to market, launched in November last year and has been a major success for the carrier. But the phone has mostly appealed to early adopters, Post said. The MyTouch will be targeted at the mass market.
"It will appeal to the same consumers that are interested in the iPhone," she said. "But the applications used on this phone won't be just for show. They won't simply be a novelty. Instead they will be very useful and purposeful."
As part of its push to make the MyTouch its premiere smartphone, T-Mobile has put extra effort into training retail staff to help new customers customize their phones and add new applications.
And even though the Android Market today is only a tenth the size of Apple's App Store, it's expected to grow rapidly as more Android devices come to market. And when that happens, Post says there will be a great need to help consumers to sift through the chaos and discover new applications.
"It will become increasingly important for us to recommend and help highlight applications we think consumers will find most useful," she said. "Customers need a guide to help them find useful apps, and move beyond simple novelties. So you will see us creating bundles for recommendations to make discovery easier."
But going up against the iPhone will not be an easy task as the latest version of the device, the iPhone 3GS, seems even hotter than previous generations. In its first weekend, Apple and AT&T sold more than 1 million units. But consumers are hungry for alternatives, and Post believes consumers will also be swayed by T-Mobile's value proposition. The carrier's unlimited data package is priced about $5 less per month than a comparable data package from AT&T.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
Care to share them?
The iPhone broke out and took off not because it was trying to aim at the Blackberry, or at the Treo, or at (insert smartphone leader here)...
The iPhone became a hit because it offered a combination of features that the big boys didn't have, and put it in a package that consumers wanted.
If you compete directly with something, the best you can hope for is to beat that one competitor, and usually you'll fail as a wannabe or also-ran. Proof? There's been at least five or six touch-screen smartphones that have come out since the iPhone... all of them looking suspiciously like one. Each has been swooned over by the press as an "iPhone killer", yet each has either failed entirely, or came in at a very distant 2nd/3rd/4th/etc. place.
Google is starting with a scalable platform... and that is why Android will last.. now.. they just need to find a hardware company that can design well.
As biased as he is, he is right. The iPhone is limited.
"Can only use Apps from the iTunes store? What, is 40,000 not enough for you? "
Sooo then why do the majority of tech savvy iPhone users jailbreak their phone? lol "
What do you mean by "majority" of users. Care to prove this or do you just like to throw empty stats out there?
Maybe this MyTouch won't be locked in and have better freedom and rights for its users. One can only hope.
The whole reason why I won't use an iPhone is the price, lack of freedom and rights, limited in what I can install on it, and when the battery goes bad I have to buy a new one I cannot swap out the bad battery. Plus the iPhone gets really hot and can burn people when left on for a long time.
Can only use Apps from the iTunes store? What, is 40,000 not enough for you?
No user serviceable battery? I've had all 3 iPhones and never have had any need to do anything with my battery but charge it once in awhile - plus as I have with all cell phones, since I owned my first one in the early 90s, I always carry a spare battery, or in this case, a battery pack.
Can't use it on a non-AT&T network? So? My AT&T works just fine, thanks.
It can burn people?! Who are you, friggin Elisabeth Hasselback? You believe every sensationalist piece of crap you read on the Internet.
Dude, you've never owned the phone and are basing your opinion entirely on what you read. Have an original thought for once in your life.
A good portion of these apps do the same damn thing and a good portion are useless.
@Zippy-T-Pinhead
A good portion of these apps do the same damn thing and a good portion are useless."
And of course you know this because you use an iPhone right?? Didn't think so.
And good portion of the iPhones apps are damn useful.
Being locked down is a big deal to a lot of people and you really can't get offended by someones opinion about that, especially since obviously its not a huge deal to you or other iPhone users, seeing that a good chuck of people have an iPhone.
I m on my second iPhone (yea got one of the first ones and got a 3G one about 3 months ago) mine never got very hot and I never wore out the battery. And my wife has one to with no really issues other then right at the beginning . ATT works pretty good every where I have been. From the north slope of Alaska, to most of the Hawaiian Islands, and all the west coast states by car on and off the interstate. Sure sometimes the EDGE was slow, but 3G is pretty wide ranging now. I have even serviced my phone (well it was my wife's) and even living 3000 miles from an Apple store the turn around time was 24 hours from phone call to Apple to working phone back in her hands. Sure, it's not for every one, but Apple is a good company that makes a good product. For Proof I am no nerd fan boy, this is who I am: www.anadventurer.com
"Can only use Apps from the iTunes store? What, is 40,000 not enough for you? "
Sooo then why do the majority of tech savvy iPhone users jailbreak their phone? lol
Even though you can "jailbreak" android (the G1 at least, not sure about this new one), you don't really need too. Not only can you rearange icons on the home screen, but you can completely replace the home screen with a 3rd party one. Same with everything else on the android phones...
AT&T obviously has problems, otherwise Apple wouldn't of practically told them to F off and not renew their contract and go to Verizon. If you want an iPhone, wait until Verizon has it. A lot of the limitations that Apple is blamed for is because of AT&T, not all of them are though.
...ever been to the Blackberry app store? I have... and it has the exact same problems, only in a smaller catalog.
You don't need to have an iPhone to know this just browsing through a the app store without one will prove this.
No Android will not kill anyone. The developer base for the iPhone is huge. Android is a PITA to develop for, too many moving parts. Every device is different, different features, different screen, different input, etc. Its like the difference between developing for a PC vs. Mac. Time to market with iPhone is pretty fast, and one submission will work on ALL devices, with ALL features. The only exceptions of course are the new compass and video. But every iPhone has the same screen res, keyboard, audio, etc, etc, etc. Android devices don't. (emphasis on the period)
They would have to over take the fan base which would require a major **** up on Apples part. I doubt that will happen.
you're probably right. Each phone has its own features. I woudn't hold to my Iphone (if i own 1) for more than 2 years. Why? I prefer new layout, new design, and new things that current phones don't have. I've used all Iphone new features on my WinMo device long time ago. new compas?? who need it while you're using sound-guidance/turn-by-turn GPS?
Put a faster chip and more storage inside Iphone. Then call yourself King Iphone? gezz!
Once time, i showed my HTC device to a friend of mine (iphone 3G fan) and it knocked him out ;) finally, he purchased a HTC Diamond.
As a developer, creating apps on Android isn't to big of a deal. In the future, it might get a little more complicated to be friendly to all android devices, but incompatible apps will be filtered out based on your device in the future...plus handling input isn't hard using the SDK.
I've never coded for iPhone but using Java over C++ is a huge win for a lot of hobby developers out there because it doesn't take so much precision(I love coding in C++ but memory management is just no fun in most cases). There is room for both to exist, ones not going to win against the other any time soon. Both are amazing OS's, and both have an amazing future, mostly because they are going to push innovation on each other continuously, as the mobile market opens up more, which is always good for us consumers :D
Yes there is definitely room for both, I doubt the Android platform will fail. iPhone dev is done in Obj-C and not C++ by the way. The Obj-C runtime does have GC and can do all the memory management for you.
Rob
Anyway, $99 is a lot of money to get the licensing to publish with Apple...I like the fact that I started out making free apps on Android but $25 isn't that hard to let fly away free, it helps build a reputable name for myself, which will hopefully help out when I do release a paid app on the market.
As a user of Android, I like having competing markets because developers tend to innovate off each other...If something amazing comes out on one market, another dev will try and recreate that for another market(or in the case of all the Flashlight apps ehhh....I think that speaks for itself)
Windows Mobile all over again.
To compare with Iphone, name few things that my HTC Touch Pro2 can't do (itune???) gateway of hell!
HTC touch pro? Is that the phone that runs on Windows Mobile? That's like comparing EEE PC to MacBook Pro. EEE PC can do every thing that MBP can do. It's not just what it can do. It's how easy/intuitive it is to do something.
I agree iTunes is gateway to Hell. I hate it myself. I use it only when I have to add music to my iPhone.
BTW, before people pick up their pitchforks, I am not an Apple fan. The only Apple product worth purchasing is the iPhone.
But it seems millions upon millions of people like the iPhone, and don't mind the cost of iTunes. So why not let them pay?
As for all those great $15 services: they only work because most people don't use them. If everyone was using the $15 plan, and nobody was paying for music from iTunes or Amazon, then either the $15 services would have to increase in cost, or there would be no content out there because there would be no money to be made in the industry.
If you're positioning yourself against iPhones, you need to be able to show your media chops, which will mean you need to play audio and video files as good as, or better than, iPhone. That starts with including a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
Also, Bluetooth headsets are way too friggin huge. Until they become earbud sized, forget it. You'll never win the young crowd that currently pine for the iPhone.
wake me when the Gen 4 iPhone comes
out--the real next iPhone killer. Zzzzzz.
While you are all at it and commenting on the iPhone, Andriod etc; I am laughing my a$$ off. No iPhone or Andriod or Pre for me; I am sticking with my Crackberry Curve; it does what I need, make calls, listen to music and what video's. Best of all, the price; yeah I know it's not shiny but it works well and I don't look like a geek or nerd. Oh! the price, free...I use it for the companies business.
And when WM7 releases, again, it will have dozens of models.
You obviously haven't coded on the Android platform, it has the most elegant API I've ever seen and I've coded on API's from C++ to Java for different platforms and devices. I can't claim personal experience with Iphone coding but I often read of issues developing for it, where yours is the first ever comment I've seen with that charge levied against the Android, so it is naturally suspect.
- by a_flores July 9, 2009 3:11 AM PDT
- Ugly. Look is not essential but important.
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