the conspiracy theorist in me (wants to) suggest that at&t has something to do with keeping HD off US soil. ok, so much for that thought. this is one device that i'd be willing to get as long as it had EDGE internet speed. it will still be on my list of devices to get; hopefully my "holiday football bowl winnings" will fund my "new device lust" like it did last year. the HD is the type of device that i'd keep/use for a long time. i do hope that HTC will change their mind and release a US 3G version even if it's sometime next year.
Come to think of it, why is the touch HD so much more expensive than an iphone? I am not debating features or capabilities, I mean manufacturing cost wise. Does a touch HD really cost $400+ more to manufacture?
I've often wondered the same thing myself - I sometimes wonder if HTC is soaking up massive profit margins, being both the ODM and brand rolled into one. It may be though that Apple, with the number of iPhones they're selling, is able to get much better deals on components than HTC, and thus have a lower cost. But even that doesn't make much sense given the overall number of phones that HTC moves every year...
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Maybe the point of the HTC reps post was that they want to milk the Euros at premium prices, and by the time that market segment has run its course, they'll have something similar but cheaper out.
Here's it's a niche market, a smaller one, and it's not worth the effort of swinging deals and FCC approval.
The point about CDMA was that without an iPhone in its pipeline, I don't think my fellow CDMA customers would spend that kind of money in large quantities. I think $400 after subsidies is the top number or close to it at this point.
I don't agree - the iPhone is widely available in cheap, subsidized manner in Europe already, and HTC has no issue charging their premium (or dropping the price). If they intend to compete with the iPhone they have to compete just as hard in Europe as they will in the US. I think the bigger issue may be ATT telling them NOT to compete with their money-maker, and HTC prefers not to fight with one of their largest customers.
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Originally Posted by frankenbike
I think the half inch mark is a definite demarcation. You can get all incremental, but a half inch seems like the start of what you can call "slim". But it's not.
Well, having pocketed the 910, the Tytn and the Tilt, I can tell you there is a significant difference between the iPaq and the others. In my pocket the difference between it and my iPhone are negligble. I don't wear cargo pants, just dress slacks, dockers or jeans and the iPaq isn't a nuisance, but too each thier own here.
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Originally Posted by frankenbike
Sure, but "today" it's still in Beta. Next year it will be the product to beat.
But next year we'll probably see improvements in Opera & Safari as well as perhaps a usable version of Mobile Firefox, rendering the point moot. A web based solution will never be a true alternative for those of us that rely on a secure browsing experience. I was one of the very early beta testers for Skyfire and have been continually disapointed in the overall experience, compared to both Opera 9.5 and Safari. Yes, I can get Flash (not a huge deal to me), but otherwise I don't find it near as easy to use. I still don't understand what Skyfire's business model is. How can they make money? Running those servers has to be a signficant expense, not to mention developing the software, etc. Are they going to charge for the service? If so, how much?
I still don't understand what Skyfire's business model is. How can they make money? Running those servers has to be a signficant expense, not to mention developing the software, etc. Are they going to charge for the service? If so, how much?
I've wondered the same thing myself...I just don't see much, if any, of a demand for proxied browsing if it costs the consumer money.
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I've often wondered the same thing myself - I sometimes wonder if HTC is soaking up massive profit margins, being both the ODM and brand rolled into one. It may be though that Apple, with the number of iPhones they're selling, is able to get much better deals on components than HTC, and thus have a lower cost. But even that doesn't make much sense given the overall number of phones that HTC moves every year...
And it's not like HTC doesn't release "high end" phones in the U.S. I think the Touch Diamiond is still considered high end, and it's available here (quite a bit after being released in Europe). The same will be true of the Touch Pro.
And what about the Palm Treo Pro, which is built by HTC?
I'm guessing Skyfire's model will be a subscription fee.
Without Flash, I find any browser useless. 90% of my web browsing is on Flash sites.
But I'd say Skyfire would need to address the web security issues and intranet functioning before it could become a commercial product.
I do think that Safari uses server based pre-rendering like Skyfire though.
As far as I'm concerned, Skyfire is beta, and substantial improvements are expected before it goes commercial by whatever model it expects to.
What I don't like is the drain on the battery. They really need to fix that, probably by getting rid of the "always connected" technique they're using and move to a more demand oriented system.
Without Flash, I find any browser useless. 90% of my web browsing is on Flash sites.
Really? What sites? And is Flash required to get use out them (like YouTube) or just a nice (or annoying) extra (like ESPN)?
Personally, most of my browsing could be done without Flash (and probably a lot without graphics). The only useful thing Flash provides is an occasional video, which I couldn't see on my Q9m until I installed Skyfire (I didn't try one of the kludged up packages). And it's not like I'd be upset if Flash didn't work at all.
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Originally Posted by frankenbike
I do think that Safari uses server based pre-rendering like Skyfire though.
Why do you think that? I've never heard that claim. As far as I know, it's just a Webkit-based browser with a fast processor backing it up.
I've often wondered the same thing myself - I sometimes wonder if HTC is soaking up massive profit margins, being both the ODM and brand rolled into one. It may be though that Apple, with the number of iPhones they're selling, is able to get much better deals on components than HTC, and thus have a lower cost. But even that doesn't make much sense given the overall number of phones that HTC moves every year...
You don't really know the price of the Touch HD yet. The current price is from Italy, and as we all know, Europe pricing sucks.
Don't forget, an unlocked 16gb iPhone is about US$800 in HK (and HK has cheap electronics) and about US$700 for the 8gb. It's not that cheap either. In fact it's about as expensive as the Touch Pro.
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As far as flash in browsing, Opera 9.5 and Flashlite 3.1 make an awesome combo. I can even watch youtube directly in the browser with my Tilt at reasonable quality/framerate (and the tilt is by no means among the most powerful devices anymore; cant wait to try this on an xperia). Sure skyfire probably renders flash faster, but I am not dependent on a proxy. Kinda the same appeal MS exchange has over BB. When Black Berry servers go down, all BB users are SOL as far as email goes.
Back to the Touch HD. What do you guys think? It HTC pulling massive profit margins over lower volume with the THD, or does it really cost that much more to develop and manufacture?
HTC And The Market
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