Hop-On readying six new 1800 series phones, including $125 smartphone

It looks like Hop-On isn't resting on its laurels after letting is $10 "anti-iPhone" loose last month, with the budget-minded company now also set to release no less than six new handsets in its 1800 series, all of which will come in under $125. At the top end of that lot is the HOP1801 smartphone, which the company says will be the lowest cost smartphone on the market, although it unfortunately doesn't seem to be ready to provide any more details than that just yet. That'll be joined by the HOP1803 "Ultra Low Price" GSM tri-band phone, the HOP1805 model for emerging markets, and the HOP1810 GSM dual-band cameraphone, all of which are equally light on specifics at the moment. Boasting a few more details are the HOP1808 cameraphone, which will boast support for dual SIM cards and optional Bluetooth, and the HOP1809 3G cameraphone, which will apparently come with Bluetooth as standard and boast Java support. No indication of a release date for any of 'em just yet though, nor is there any word as to exactly how each will fall in that $10 to $125 bracket.

[Flashpoint @ Jun 6th 2008 4:34PM]

>?????

For just $5 more I could have a prepaid phone that actually lets me see what the number I'm dialing is.

You just can't trust these goddamned Kangaroos.

[Fernando @ Jun 6th 2008 4:42PM]

a $15 bucks prepaid phone? where?

[Billy @ Jun 6th 2008 5:47PM]

ATT gophone c168. Also, Virgin Mobile has the marbl for $12.99.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 4:49PM]

From the article: "This way, if you drop your 3G iPhone in the water, you can use the backup to call Apple for anther $500 phone. They can call it the Back-up iPhone!"

I don't know what that guy has against Apple, but that's the worst justification I've ever heard to buy a cheap phone that barely does anything. There are reasons to buy a cheap phone like that, like because maybe all you need to do is make a call now and then, but seriously WTF?

Is he hoping to sell phones that barely do anything by creating Apple backlash? This is all just a little too familiar, it's the same flawed backlash-fueled marketing gimmick Open Computer is using to sell their cheap, loud, ugly, half-functional OS X boxes.

You would think if he really wanted to sell these phones, he would try to sell them to the people who actually want them - not to people who own much better phones already.

[eggothewaffle @ Jun 6th 2008 4:58PM]

Because you know, a $10 phone is a real and immediate threat to a device which is priced and marketed like the iPhone.

Is your irrational love for a massive corporation *that* insecure?

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 5:25PM]

Eggo, you're just flat out dumb, aren't you? Did you even read what I wrote? At all? Did you not get the whole "he's wasting his time" thing? Where in anything I said did you get a sense that I thought it was a threat to the iPhone?

I like how you just pull stuff out of your ass to try to make it look like I'm hating for no reason just so YOU can hate for no reason. How about you try to counter what I said with actual points, using actual reasoning instead of just calling me a fanboy?

What's the matter, is that too tough for you? Little over your head, maybe? Apple haters are seriously getting dumber by the day.

[Chris @ Jun 6th 2008 5:54PM]

@ Zak:

Do you have a job, or a hobby maybe? Don't you have anything better to do than feverishly defend everything apple with the most asinine reasoning and call "apple haters" dumb all day? Go play outside or something.

[Onetruebill @ Jun 6th 2008 6:07PM]

You guys need to give Zak a break...
The poor guy paid $500 for a phone.
Zak man, I am sorry.
Now you are all ganging up and attacking Zak for his corporate loyalty...
It's a sad, sad world.
Zak man, I am sorry.

PLUS, those of us in the know have proven that the entire iphone line is just a plot by the FBI to collect fingerprints.
Zak man, I am amused.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 6:50PM]

Chris - Yet another e-tard who can't come up with a response to my points so you insult me instead. Way to prove my point.

Onetruebill - When did I pay $500 for a phone? Can you show me the reciept? Also, you should direct your sympathy towards people who bought Nokia N95s. Those things cost $800, you know.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 6th 2008 6:55PM]

My N95 cost me £50 on an 18 month contract.

And stop crying. Seriously.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 7:06PM]

Mark, seriously. you need to learn to pay attention and read before commenting. What exactly am I "crying" about? Furthermore, how does your £50 phone change the fact that it still costs $800 in America?

Oh, that's right. It doesn't. Care to try again?

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 6th 2008 7:23PM]

@Zak

At the time of buying the iPhone cost £269 for the same contract. Since I live in the UK the price in the US is completely irrelevant to me.

But fair enough - Nokia N series are expensive in the US so I take that point.

As for crying, well that's simple: They're humorously stating the obvious - this phone is a back up and because it's a back up and not a primary unit it needs to be cheap. You on the other hand seem to take it as an affront to your own personal gods and go off at a tangent about (presumably) Psystar.

So please, stop crying about irrelevancies: They're not having a dig at Apple, they're just pointing out the phone is cheap.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 7:34PM]

Mark, you are really not paying attention. Maybe you should read my original post again. There is no personal affront whatsoever, I'm saying it's a stupid way to advertise that phone. That's it. Why do you automatically assume I'm taking it as a personal affront? There's nothing in what I said that indicates I am personally insulted by it, you're pulling that directly out of your ass.

And that's because you assume I'm some rabid Apple fanboy and automatically color anything I say with that in mind - without actually READING what I say.

Look below, at my example of what a similar advertising campaign would be like for Hyundai. Is that not a stupid idea for an ad campaign? That's what I'm saying. That's it. Pay attention please.

[Jake @ Jun 6th 2008 4:53PM]

http://www.zazzle.com/no_hop_ons_shirt-235740083353276872

-jp

[Andrew DeLisa @ Jun 6th 2008 5:03PM]

Come on, Donald Melanson. You used "boast" three times in one sentence composed of two clauses. In the last two days, you've posted the word "boast" 8 times.

[teej @ Jun 6th 2008 5:37PM]

he's "loosing" those "boasts."

[John Sullivan @ Jun 6th 2008 5:14PM]

Coming soon: the iHOP waffle phone!

Anti-glare, maple syrup-resistant carrying case optional.

[ADG @ Jun 6th 2008 6:00PM]

These Hop-On guys are total con artists. Hop-On's market cap is less than $200k, which doesn't say much for their ability to get anything done. They pump out a PR or two just to get people riled up, but no real, products are ever really released. Why do we even bother giving them press?

[kidcanuck @ Jun 6th 2008 6:39PM]

Zak, you're just flat out dumb, aren't you? Did you even read what you wrote? At all? Did you not get the whole "joke" thing? Where in anything you quoted did you get a sense that he was being sincere?

I like how you just pull stuff out of your ass to try to make it look like eggothewaffle is hating for no reason just so YOU can hate for no reason. How about you try to counter what he said with actual points, using actual reasoning instead of just calling eggothewaffle stupid?

What's the matter, is that too tough for you? Little over your head, maybe? Open Computer haters are seriously getting dumber by the day.

[kidcanuck @ Jun 6th 2008 6:40PM]

That rant is directed at Zak's comment thread.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 6:52PM]

Nice try, but no dice. If you want to address my original comment, feel free to do so. The continued stream of insults towards me is doing nothing other than proving my point that none of you can actually argue against what I'm saying so you just insult me instead.

Also, you seem to have missed the sarcasm in eggo's post, which might be why you thought it was a 'joke".

[kidcanuck @ Jun 6th 2008 7:03PM]

I wasn't insinuating that eggo's post was a joke, I was commenting on the obvious insincerity in the quote from your original post. You quoted: "This way, if you drop your 3G iPhone in the water, you can use the backup to call Apple for anther $500 phone. They can call it the Back-up iPhone!", addressing it as this man's -sincere- effort to sell that phone. He's obviously simply commenting on the fact that the phones he advertises are so cheap and easy to afford that you could conceivably have one as a backup to you iPhone- as a joke. He means that anyone can afford it. I caught the sarcasm in eggo's post, his comment is getting at the exact same thing mine is trying to. This phone is clearly not intended to replace, or compete with, an iPhone. It's for people who can't have an iPhone. I don't really think I am insulting you, either, unless you perceive everything as a slight towards your intelligence.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 7:12PM]

Obviously the "drop in the water" thing wasn't serious. Come on. And yet that's the only thing he's said about it. If you were trying to sell that phone wouldn't you try to sell it to the people who would actually buy it? You know, without any iPhone references? Marketing a situation that will never happen involving people who are not his phone's target market doesn't seem too smart to me.

Do you market Hyundais by advertising it as the car you can buy to have as a backup if you crash your Ferrari? Gosh, I wonder how well that ad campaign would fly.

And of course I don't think everything is a slight towards my intelligence. Although it's pretty hard to misinterpret "Zak, you're just flat out dumb, aren't you?" And yes, I know you were trying to make a point in your own snarky way, but you failed - and not because I didn't get it.

[kidcanuck @ Jun 6th 2008 7:19PM]

You know what, Zak, I hate arguing, and I actually agree with your last post. I was being snarky by changing your post out with my words, because I genuinely disagreed with what you initially said, but now I feel so much better just agreeing with you after reading Edward's comment- clearly there are people better suited to arguing with you than me. You win.


(truce?)

[Edward @ Jun 6th 2008 7:13PM]

&*(^&*( shut the(*&^(&* up, Zak, piss off, most of what apple sells is marketing, its also the reason the sell.
You are pissed off at this guy using the same tactic that apple is using against Microsoft.
Jack a$$.

[Zak @ Jun 6th 2008 7:26PM]

Yeeeaaahhh, I'm gonna go with "stay in school". Come back when you are A) coherent and B) able to read what I write and actually understand it.

[garfep @ Jun 6th 2008 7:16PM]

Anyone else immediately think of Arrested Development?

[phanbouy @ Jun 6th 2008 11:28PM]

yer gonna get a few hop-ons

[drumstyk1 @ Jun 6th 2008 8:26PM]

Zak just needs a hug, thats all.

[Phoenix @ Jun 7th 2008 10:53AM]

a $125 smartphone? It might actually be more of a smartphone than the iPhone....