Verizon getting in touch with its Touch?

A poster over on HowardForums has a series of convincing shots of a little something we'd like to call "Sprint's Worst Nightmare." Okay, that's going way too far, but if this Verizon-branded HTC Touch is legit, Sprint has to be just a little bummed that it's about to lose exclusivity on the fancy little Windows Mobile piece among the big four US carriers (though Alltel's on the ball already). If it's simply the same Sprint hardware we know and love repackaged in white, we can expect EV-DO, microSD expansion, Windows Mobile 6 Professional dressed up to be about as finger-friendly as it possibly can be, and a 2 megapixel camera. Thing is, the poster says that this one's "a little thinner" than Sprint's -- amazing if true, considering that it's already a svelte and manageable 0.6 inches -- so all bets on specs are off until we get some official confirmation. Word on the street is that we'll see it in March.

[Sean @ Jan 18th 2008 12:20AM]

I sure hope thats true. Been waiting for a decent and small smart phone for awhile.

[Green @ Jan 18th 2008 12:21AM]

Been with Sprint for 8 years, once my contract is up in a few months I'm ditching them...

even though the HTC Touch seems decent, I'm not going to get it...

...will be switching to AT&T b/c I am sick of all the CDMA phones where you are stuck with a particular phone and have horrible choices. I want to have the freedom of a SIM card, to use any phone I want from across the world and maybe even switch between phones on the same day if I feel like it.

[Prokanda @ Jan 18th 2008 12:36AM]

uh.. maybe it's just because you have crappy sprint (I used to), but over here at verizon, you can change your phone, for free, in 2 minutes flat, whenever you want. just punch in the ESN on the my account page, and dial *228 from the phone, press 1 and PRESTO. I do it often.. 3 lines, upgrading all the time, never lose contacts, don't have to worry about breaking a sim card, and unlike GSM, I get signal in my house.

depending on your area, GSM may offer you better signal than CDMA.. but don't knock CDMA devices for something that they ARE actually capable of, just because you don't want to research before you open your cake hole.

as for choices? sprints choices suck.. not ours. we have the voyager, the enV, the chocolate 1 and 2, the venus, several blackberry's, some of the new motos, a couple palm devices, some HTCs (including the new 5800), the mogul, the samsung sch-i760 (keypad, winmo pro, slider qwerty)... the list goes on and on.. you guys have the rumor and the touch.

not verizon's fault that you chose the WRONG cdma carrier... don't blame choices in cellular phones on the fact that your carrier is ghetto and stale.

/rant over

(ps. no, I don't work for verizon, I'm just a well-informed consumer that looks up information before he posts and has had an excellent experience with verizon.)

[Green @ Jan 18th 2008 12:40AM]

No, the mistake I made was picking a CDMA carrier period. Sprint and Verizon both have some good phones but you missed my point. You are still stuck with their selections and can't switch up whenever you want to w/o having to call them and get the new one activated and deactivate the old one.

Does Verizon allow you to buy a phone from Korea or anywhere else that will not get released in the US for several years?

[UBONG @ Jan 18th 2008 12:20PM]

Why wait....you can ditch sprint now if you really want to...they changed everyones terms and conditions effective Jan 1 2008, call up cancellation and tell them that they have breached your agreement (the original terms and conditions you agreed to) and therefore you contract is void and you will not pay the early termination fee. I was charging people 85 bucks to get them out their contract with no fee...if only they knew my little secret lol. I mean i didnt do this to any of my friends or nothing, only to the other suckers and a hand full of people on criags list..lol. And i got them to put a note in my account stating that as of jan 15 2008 i was now on a month to month contract and would not have to pay any cancellation fees as my contract was void (but of course in the system im still under contract since there is no way to take that off, with out actually canceling your line) but you only have till the end of the month to do this unless they will tell you that you by default have agreed to the new terms if you are paying ur bill and have made no complaint...o and the touch is pretty wack, i had it since it came out, and went through like 3 of them, looks cool, hot for factor, but extremely wack device. Windows mobile and touch based usage shld never be put together at least not until they decided to make an OS that is designed for that, and not HTC just trying to add some touch features to it. Other than that insane memory and ram (compared to mogul) the touch is really crap. And good luck on dealing with that bug that plagued the mogul in which the phone at times wont wake up to alert you of text messages or incoming calls. I sent HTC a long message about that..only for them to tell me they are aware of the problem but its not their fault, they said it was sprints fault cause of the stuff sprint decided to add to it...lol..what a response that was..O and this part of the response is not for the above post..more for the people down below that said they are waiting for the touch, and for engadget for saying "If it's simply the same Sprint hardware we know and love repackaged in white"...LOL YEA RIGHT!!!!

[Prokanda @ Jan 18th 2008 1:51AM]

will that phone be able to use the advanced systems on that network? like the TV I have on my voyager? will it properly be able to receive messages that are over 160 characters? will it be able to properly send/receive video/picture messages? will you be able to understand the foreign characters on the menus? I mean, I'm all for having a phone that you can change often, I'm all for a phone with a high MP camera, I'm all for a phone that's slimmer.....

but the prices on imported phones are rediculous, don't have a warranty (they'll replace mine for nothing, and I pay 7 bucks a month for the super warranty/insurance), and they can't interact with the special features that every provider has.

not to mention.... I DON'T GET GSM SIGNAL IN MY HOUSE. My point was to illustrate that it's not everyone's bag.. you didn't say "there aren't enough phones that IIIIIII like" you said "where you are stuck with a particular phone". So I was just posting my opinion because I figured a retort on what YOU think that some of US want in the way of phones, is incorrect.

so F' off.

[Prokanda @ Jan 18th 2008 1:58AM]

and you still didn't read what I wrote.. I don't have to call Verizon for JACK. I get on my verizon page from ANY computer, put in the esn of the phone I want to switch to, dial a 3 digit number from my phone and BAM, I'm using that other phone. No gold contacts on a sim card to wear out, no card to lose all my contacts on, and no "SIM card won't register on network" error like I used to get with crappy SunCom (what AT&T used to be in my area).

so, what you're talking about is trading one list of problems from your provider... to ANOTHER list of problems with another provider.... but the way you worded it made it sound like you were trying to account for someone other than yourself.

also, as I previously stated (and you skimmed over)... you were wrong about me being able to change my phone in 2 minutes on a whim. I do that all the time, 24 hours a day, without having to talk to a single person at verizon (not that I would mind, they're the best cell phone customer service I've ever had to speak with).... and I've had T-Mo, Sprint, Prime-Co (previous name of Ntelos in my area), AT&T (in the form of SunCom), and now Verizon. So, two GSM and three CDMA carriers and out of all of them, Verizon is the best in my area (and in Rhode Island where I travel once a year).

You're welcome to your opinion, but base it on facts... not what you know over at sprint.. they're not run the same way as Verizon and shouldn't be held to the same issues that sprint has given you.

[DanFunky @ Jan 18th 2008 10:14AM]

I was with Verizon for 8 years and yes, their service is far better than Sprint or AT&T, but the crap they do to disable features on their phones forced me to leave. I've been with AT&T for three months and I have dropped more calls than the entire time I was with Verizon, but I can do everything that was built into my phone from HTC and/or MS. Verizon needs to learn to bring phones out that aren't six months to a year behind the curve, and then lacking in features (bluetooth, WiFi, etc. disabled).

I'll also give Verizon credit for the insurance option on any phone for a few dollars a month. AT&T doesn't offer insurance on smartphones as "they are too expensive." WTF?

[Prokanda @ Jan 18th 2008 12:34PM]

true about the features... but with winmo phones, it's easy to fix.. thanks to microsoft. all verizon can do with a smartphone is make registry entries that black out the features.. on my xv6700 I was able to find a registry entry using howard forums and turned dial up networking back on so that I could tether to my laptop over bluetooth.. I also had WiFi on that phone (it wasn't disabled....), I also had a treo 700w and I was able to turn the GPS feature and the dial up networking back on with that one as well. with both of those smartphones I was able to tether over bluetooth (so no wires) and with my voyager, I have dial up networking enabled, I can't tether over bluetooth but having the cable going from my voyager to my laptop keeps it charged when I'm riding passenger in the car.. and the speed/signal is great.

so with the smartphones running winmo, it's just a registry entry away.. as for their "dumbphones" it's still possible to get some of the features back (and sometimes it's pretty easy). I upload all of my own free ringers over the cable THEY supplied, with bitpim and I have over 200 wallpapers that I made from some of the awesome work over at deviantart... so I still get the features that I want.. and no one else has the voyager. ;)

[DJDevine @ Jan 18th 2008 1:52PM]

hey the blackberry 8830 and rizr are world phone capable. you can use a sim card with them and hop on another network

[Brian @ Jan 18th 2008 12:24AM]

As a sprint customer / htc touch user... I hope they enjoy it.

But if they have to get the white one, they should switch carriers. That is butt ugly.

[Tony C @ Jan 18th 2008 9:51AM]

Agreed! White is an awful color for the Touch! And it looks especially ridonkulous with the huge black border around the LCD display and high contrast buttons across the bottom. I was hoping for at least silver or gray if it ever migrated to VZW.

To top it all off, even in the crappy photos posted on Howard, you can see that the finish is GLOSSY -- look at the shiny spots on its backside for proof positive.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z248/hekidnappedher/0117081548a.jpg

Too bad the pics don't show it being held sideways, because it actually *does* look like it might be thinner. Or is that just a slimming effect of the white plastic? But then again, that might just be a side effect of the awful photography.

[roflercopterer @ Jan 18th 2008 12:36AM]

More like getting in touch with its ugly.

[Gamer90 @ Jan 18th 2008 12:51AM]

WOW horrible color choice...sorry Verizon got the shaft. I am a Sprint customer and I will admit that our phone selection is horrid at the moment however I still stay with them for these reasons:

A) Phones are open to download any java program including web browsers (I personally use Opera Mini and love it)

B) Data is $15 for ANY phone even PDAs(excluding Blackberrys which have the cheapest plan of $30 which includes unlimited internet/texting to any carrier/and GPS navigation through Telenav)

C) Phone features aren't removed like on Verizon which tends to remove various Bluetooth profiles and disable other features such as GPS.

D) SERO Plans rock any and every provider.

I just pray Sprint's line up gets better which it will but it's just a matter of time.

[hello @ Jan 18th 2008 12:56AM]

sprint with SERO plan > verizon with any plan

[UBONG @ Jan 18th 2008 12:23PM]

Lol your def right about that..the touch sucks. Verizon can have it

[DP @ Jan 18th 2008 12:59AM]

Touch-- Sprint or Verizon-- is a crappy phone.

[Jim Charles @ Jan 18th 2008 1:09AM]

I put my hands on one in the Sprint store and hated it.

[Jeff @ Jan 18th 2008 1:17AM]

My roommate has it on Sprint... Neat, i guess, but "Windows Mobile 6 Professional dressed up to be about as finger-friendly as it possibly can be" is really not worth a shit at all. It's about as finger friendly as a toaster. Doing anything other than looking at it requires the stylus, and reveals the crappy little OS behind the pretend finger-friendly UI.

I know i'll get voted down and yelled at for mentioning the iPhone, but he got this hoping it would be a decent alternative to an iPhone, and it just isn't - in any way whatsoever.

[DT @ Jan 18th 2008 1:43AM]

You have every right to mention the iPhone...it IS the standard that every smartphone manufacturer is now trying to meet. Amazing to think they've been out for only 7 months or so, and how the entire industry has been shaken in that time.

[blevay @ Jan 18th 2008 1:21AM]

Glad to see the flame wars going at full force...

Bottom line for me, there are no phones or carriers i really want. Everything is a compromise.

[Reader @ Jan 18th 2008 1:49AM]

Your avatar almost looks like the comic questionable content. Is it?

[Za @ Jan 18th 2008 2:42AM]

Yeah, agreed. I'd really like a Nokia N81...but that's not happening. Also, is that Marten?

[blevay @ Jan 18th 2008 10:32AM]

heh, yes it is marten.

[Tyler Jones @ Jan 18th 2008 1:23AM]

Ive been with Sprint for 10 years waiting for the perfect phone. Of course being on sprint, that was kind of impossible for nine years until I hear about the HTC Touch which I received this last Christmas.

So not meaning to sound like a jerk or anything, but why is it that finally when the company that sucks the most finally gets a phone worth staying on contract for, it becomes available to more services that already have nice phones.

[DT @ Jan 18th 2008 2:01AM]

Hey, VZW's smartphone lineup has sucked majorly for quite a long time...there just now making up for over 2 years of crap.

[mhuang03gt @ Jan 18th 2008 1:43AM]

Alltel also has had their CDMA version of the HTC Touch for a while now too.

[wud_e @ Jan 18th 2008 1:53AM]

I've been with Sprint since 2002. I still love them. I chose good phones with each of my switches. Samsung has been a good choice on Sprint IMO. I know some people live by Sanyo on Sprint but as a Gadget Head Samsung phones are better IMO. I can't wait to get the Touch next month for Sprint. That Verizon white one is BUTT ugly. Plus I bet the Verizon one will be crippled by Verizon like most of their phones. What I love about Sprint is the freedom to do whatever the hell I want to my phone.

[Nathan @ Jan 18th 2008 2:27AM]

It's thinner because of all the features Verizon took out of it! (What!? How did this GPS chip get in here, and who the hell let WiFi in!?"

[kyle @ Jan 18th 2008 9:49AM]

this phone is not as good as people say.i am a proud sprint customer. I got the motorola Q 9C over the touch. The keyboard just sucks on the touch.... i am sorry everyone should just wait till the touch screens get better cuz the iphone is the only one that is good right now. But unless the touch gets a better keyboard it is trash. sorry. It is also selects the wrong thing when you go for one thing. o well

[mc-fine @ Jan 18th 2008 11:24AM]

Seriously who cares who else gets the phone? If you had a choice between Sprint and Verizon and you wanted a Touch why the hell would you go pay $45 a month for data instead of $15? You can also rest assured that VZW will price the phone higher.

The whole excitement and innovation around these phones is 3G data and the many mobile uses it creates. Yet you have people excited about wifi and how fast they can browse on their phone in Starbucks or in the Home/Office where they have real computers.

Carrier loyalty is for the birds. I'm loyal to my wallet. Hopefully Google will crack open the silly U.S carrier restrictions in the next few years.

[Glitch @ Jan 18th 2008 11:31AM]

I think I'll be passing. Currently, I'm stuck with Verizon since they're really the only reliable carrier in Montana (Don't even talk about alltel to me). I have the vx6700 (which Prokanda recommended to me when I went to visit him) and have just gotten all the features unlocked by installing WM6 onto the main ROM and removing the verizon "customizations". Until Verizon gets their stuff together and moves to the 4G network, I'm half tempted to keep my current unlocked device for as long as it takes.

[Al @ Jan 18th 2008 1:31PM]

you can do the same thing with the 6800 you know get a cooked rom to unlock it.

[brad @ Jan 18th 2008 12:02PM]

verizon is coming out with the touch because a local verizon corp. member recently came in to my friday's i work at and showed it to me 3 and a half weeks ago it should be out in late feb early march and has a 20 key on screen keyboard not a full qwerty one

[Teo @ Jan 18th 2008 12:08PM]

Alltel has had the touch for a few weeks now... beat VZW to the punch.

[UBONG @ Jan 18th 2008 12:23PM]

Dont even sweat it guys in no time neither verizon nor sprint will have the upper hand in phone selection, cause they will all have to be unlocked which means you cld use it on any of the two, i was just speaking to one of the sprint reps and he was telling me about how bum'd out sprint is over the fact that a person can simply get a phone from verizon and use it on their network and vice versa, this is right around the corner according to the rep. All providers are going to start copying each other..it was funny how i was saying to my self i bet in 08 sprint will have some form of "my fav fives" lol, and funny enough i was on the phone with a rep and he told me they have it now...its called pick 5 and its $5 lol. I started cracking up on the phone..O and once more the touch sucks lol.

[Al @ Jan 18th 2008 1:26PM]

Anyone know if the Altell model is slimmer than the Sprint version?

[DJDevine @ Jan 18th 2008 1:57PM]

i dont see alltel and smartphone in the same sentence... they get their network space from sprint and verizon anyways and they don't work in every state, which makes the company meaningless. I don't like the WM6 based phones. or the Treos, they lock up and freeze and need to be reset often. Ask anyone who has had one. Blackberrys are better and it's no wonder RIM has the market locked down on the biggest piece of the pie. When you have something that is common is is uncommonly good, people want that. Windows sucks on computers *cough* VISTA *cough*, so why would you think it can do better on a phone?

[michael @ Jan 18th 2008 7:21PM]

Vista sucks that bad on computers? Maybe I'm, among other users, very oblivious to that 'fact'.

And anyways, WinMo is practically the most extensible mobile platform there is. I find a ton of downloads for my phone, and don't have a problem with it. It does the job and it works real well. It also doesn't cost a ridiculous price and come cut down.

Maybe you should try using a WinMo phone without an attitude, and maybe you can see for yourself why anyone would want to use a WinMo phone.

[Skyxena68 @ Jan 26th 2008 12:09PM]

"Does Verizon allow you to buy a phone from Korea or anywhere else that will not get released in the US for several years?"

VZW will NOT activate an unlocked version of this phone from Korea, Europe, Uranus or anywhere else. According to the VZW reps (at two stores and Tech Support on the phone) all VZW phones have to be built specifically by the manufacturers for the super special, secret squirrel VZW Network. That forces the uniformed consumer to buy stripped down versions of really great phones - like the HTC Touch from Sprint and Verizon that have had their 802.11 wi-fi network cards removed and keeping you on their web system all the time. This forces the consumers hand when it comes to data usage, making the carriers more money for overages, but also bogging down their systems with too many people pulling down too much stuff from their propriatary music and video services.

btw, unlocked phones from Europe have Skype mobile, loaded on and ready to go. All you need is a wi-fi and you're making "free" calls and saving on your cell minutes and data usage - no wonder they don't like it!!!

I will get another carrier and likely go to T-Mobile who will activate it with a SIM card. Sure it may be a little slower or whatever, but I will have full usage of a great device, no problems with cell signal or roaming charges when I travel abroad, and the choice to use ALL of the functionality I would have to buy three phones and a PDA from VZW to get.

Good bye Verizon, it's been great. But I've outgrown you.