Why Verizon Crippled the Touch Pro

[holo]

CDMA carriers have to approve the ESN of any device going onto their network. GSM users have the luxury of just popping a SIM card into any GSM device that will run on the network. CDMA carriers right now (at least in the US and I'm sure many other countries) generally do not let unbranded/unapproved devices on their network (except for cricket and probably some other regional carriers).

[ajm144k]

Originally Posted by holo

CDMA carriers right now (at least in the US and I'm sure many other countries) generally do not let unbranded/unapproved devices on their network (except for cricket and probably some other regional carriers).

and soon, the biggest carrier in the US will also allow us to buy any cdma phone and use it with them!

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=38599

[justinm0424]

My bet is that Sprint is paying a lot more per phone to get the better one and its not verizon crippling them. But with Verion opening their network and Sprint on the edge of bankruptcy. Sprint is looking more short term trying to attract the customers with better phones where as Verizon is paying less for the phones and planning on Sprint going under so they'll reap the benefits without paying a hefty price for them.

[holo]

Originally Posted by justinm0424

My bet is that Sprint is paying a lot more per phone to get the better one and its not verizon crippling them. But with Verion opening their network and Sprint on the edge of bankruptcy. Sprint is looking more short term trying to attract the customers with better phones where as Verizon is paying less for the phones and planning on Sprint going under so they'll reap the benefits without paying a hefty price for them.

Telus already has more or less the same model as sprint, so this really doesn't hold much ground. I'm still not convinced the verizon model will truly be crippled like this as they seem to release the same versions only at most changing (uglifying) the casings, but you probably can't do a whole lot worse than the red sprint one....

[PdaOd]

As Verizon moves to LTE and away from CDMA, what kind of phones will be available to Sprint as the lone CDMA US carrier? By that point it may be a moot point considering Sprint's financial situation. The Sprint Touch Pro may be my next phone, but I can't help but wonder if it will be my last CDMA device. The original 500 min SERO plan is a great deal but may not be worth it if Sprint starts to fall far behind on their offerings. Sprint is probably too committed to WiMax at this point to change directions.

[willpower101]

Originally Posted by JoeBobOneHalf

...but I think I know why Verizon wants to cripple the Touch Pro... ...This time around I think they intend to re-use Touch technology or use different hardware from the Sprint version so that we can't/it makes it harder for us Sprint people to help help out our brothers under Verizon opression.

They have crippled ever pda since back before the ppc-6600.

[JoeBobOneHalf]

Originally Posted by PdaOd

As Verizon moves to LTE and away from CDMA, what kind of phones will be available to Sprint as the lone CDMA US carrier? By that point it may be a moot point considering Sprint's financial situation. The Sprint Touch Pro may be my next phone, but I can't help but wonder if it will be my last CDMA device. The original 500 min SERO plan is a great deal but may not be worth it if Sprint starts to fall far behind on their offerings. Sprint is probably too committed to WiMax at this point to change directions.

That point I would disagree with you on. it will take a LONG time before Verizon "moves away from" CDMA. It would be like Sprint moving people from Nextel, except there would be no incentive for people to leave CDMA seeing as it's a good network. You're acting as if Verizon will eliminate CDMA in the next year or two. Just my two cents.

m

[EtherealRemnant]

Originally Posted by JoeBobOneHalf

That point I would disagree with you on. it will take a LONG time before Verizon "moves away from" CDMA. It would be like Sprint moving people from Nextel, except there would be no incentive for people to leave CDMA seeing as it's a good network. You're acting as if Verizon will eliminate CDMA in the next year or two. Just my two cents.

m

Yeah. There is no way in hell Verizon is just going to flip the switch on their LTE network and shut off the CDMA network... It will be at least another 5 years before they give their CDMA network the kill switch.

[nosmohtac]

I'm not defending Verizon, in fact I left them for their crippled phones and crippling data prices on PDA phones. But, VZW is expected to get the diamond before the Touch Pro, and their version of the diamond is better IMHO than the one on Sprint. It won't have the built in 4gb of memory, but it will include a MicroSDHC card slot.

To some this might seem like a negative, but I'd rather have the ability to stick one of the new 16gb Sandisk Micro's in my phone.

As far as the touch pro goes, I would imagine the specs will be identical to Sprints, but they may keep the GPS locked so you have to use their nav software. I believe that's what they've done with their version of the 6800.

BTW I switched from VZW to Sprint SERO and hope I don't ever have to go back.

[nickf126]

nosmohtac,
Where are you located, and do you see a difference in service quality?