Alienware Planning Android iPhone Killer? 152
meteorit found a story about
rumors of an Alienware phone based on Google's Android phone OS. As Dell has a history of bombing with handhelds, it would be interesting to try the Alienware brand instead. And I'm not exactly sure where they get off claiming that their drawings are the first pictures of the thing. Cheesy renderings designed explicitly for your website are not quite pictures of a product... they are artists impressions.
Anyone else think... (Score:5, Insightful)
iPhone killer? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anyone else think... (Score:1, Insightful)
Eat up Martha (Score:4, Insightful)
So does Apple, fool.
iPhones not "the" phone to beat (Score:3, Insightful)
Butt Ugly (Score:5, Insightful)
As for an iPhone killer? Why is everything these days an iPhone killer? This abomination does not compete with the iPhone in any way. Completely different design (if you can call it that) aesthetic. It's not based on a touch screen. Any mention of an iPhone killer exists only to drive people to the site so they can have a look. If the title was 'Dell subsidy designs cellphone, beats it with ugly stick' they would not get as much traffic.
bombing? (Score:3, Insightful)
The Dell Axim series was one of the most popular Pocket PCs in history, I would bet they sold several times more Axims than Apple has sold iPhones.
The highest powered Axims released in the later years of the series was more powerful and feature rich than the iPhone. The x50 had VGA, touchscreen, wifi, BT, SD/CF, IR, 620mhz CPU, over 6000 software apps, and came out in 2004.
If Dell was serious about releasing an iPhone 'killer' all they would have to do is resurrect their x50 and add phone support and it would be better than the iPhone except for the interface. After releasing 6 PDA models they have the knowledge and experience to easily do this. Its probably only a matter of business contracts with the mobile carriers that is holding them back.
Re:Proof? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to mention Alie nware can't make a cell phone if it meant their life. They can barely make laptops (the build quality isn't very good), and their case designs are generics from Asian suppliers, modified slightly to give it that distinct Alienware style at the top. I don't believe they have the engineering expertise to build a mobile system from the ground up - not when their status is merely a (substandard quality, overpriced) systems integrator.
Hell, the iPhone's only *real* advantage is its incredibly slick and easy UI. That Alienphone concept has a UI that looks convoluted enough that even a techie like myself will get lost.
Re:Anyone else think... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:iPhone killer? (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought Android is a platform (Score:5, Insightful)
"The Open Handset Alliance, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies, is developing Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform."
But the title suggests that there is an Android phone which will be killed! Android is a platform just like Linux, and Alienware's device will be based on the Android platform. so to me, this development will perpetuate Android instead of killing it.
It's like saying..."Bogaboga Systems is gonna come up with a Linux killer which will be based on Linux!" This does not make much sense to me.
iPhone killer (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:bombing? (Score:5, Insightful)
The interface is the device.
fugly (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Anyone else think... (Score:4, Insightful)
However, "iPhone" in the headline attracts more attention.
Re:Where's the KISS?? (Score:3, Insightful)
After a year or so, they come up with something that is bigger than the iPod, but has a load more features. They ramp up the hype machine and tell everyone about all of the great features it has. Consumers then go into a shop and look for a device with a nice form factor which has the one feature they actually want - the ability to play music - and buy an iPod. Yet another company fails to kill the iPod.
If you want to kill the iPhone, start with the form factor. Design goal number one should be to make something that fits better in the hand than the iPhone. Then take a look at all of the features in all of the smartphones out there, and rank them by utility. Start at the top of the list (presumably 'making voice calls') and keep adding them until just before your user interface starts to get cluttered. Then stop.
Re:Anyone else think... (Score:3, Insightful)
revisionist history (Score:2, Insightful)
Uh, no - the iPod was the player to beat the day it was announced. It was the first player to use 5 gigabyte 1.8" hard drives while everything else used tiny amounts of flash memory or used big and heavy desktop hard drives. It also used a 400 Mpbs Firewire interface while everything else used 11 Mbps Usb 1.1 or even parallel. Combine that with a good interface and good integration and you had a product that was far ahead of the competition.
Now everything uses USB 2.0 and the same storage media, so there is little difference in the physical size/capacity anymore, but that wasn't the case to begin with.
Re:Proof? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think mobile consumers have proven themselves savvy enough not to buy substandard "phone blank" devices. Why is Motorola in the rut they are in now? Well, years of making substandard devices (hardware quality was fine, software was not) that had no ergonomics physically nor mentally. They thought they could ride on their brand (which at one time was THE most powerful in the market) with mediocre phones. Consumers knew better.
For anyone to break into, or even survive in, the mobile market, they need to bring to the table something amazing, either by offering unprecedented feature sets, or simply making the gadget slick and stylish. A "blank phone" would accomplish neither of those things.
In the end, any serious competitor in this market is going to have to spend a LOT of money building their phones, no corner may be cut.
Re:iPhone killer? (Score:5, Insightful)
I know a lot of people that freelance, and want/need email and some sort of web access in their pocket. The Treo still seems to dominate that world, but maybe it will change? These are people picking out their own phones and paying for their own plans, not issued by work.
*Most* iPhone owners i know are new to a smartphone. The second biggest group are people that upgraded from a Treo.
I write this as a Treo owner, and a Mac user.... but if the iPhone was CDMA, i would probably own one. The iPhone's Safari is the app i want more than anything. Having a Verizon/BREW Treo it does not seem like i have 3rd party options for browsers that are anywhere near Safari (operamini doesn't run on my phone).
Re:iPhone killer? (Score:3, Insightful)