5 phones walk into a bar…

In case you missed it, a gaggle of smartphones was introduced yesterday — a trio of Motorola RAZR Android devices, and a pair of Nokia Windows Phone Lumia handsets. And they generally look pretty good (although it is somewhat perplexing that a Google-owned company can’t deliver the latest Google software). But without a single release date in sight, you have to wonder if these showy displays were simply meant to head off Apple’s iPhone 5 announcement next week.

From Moto’s press release

  • “available before the holidays”
  • “More details on timing and pricing will be made close to availability dates.”

From Nokia’s press release

Both phones will be available in pentaband LTE and HSPA+ variants and are expected to start shipping in select markets later in the year. Nokia will announce pricing and specific roll-out dates country by country when sales are due to begin.

Compare that to Apple’s likely approach of providing international pre-orders along with their product unveiling. Of course, being first to market doesn’t make you best. Just ask Apple who was arguably late to the smartphone party. But it seems no other company is in their league when it comes to launching a product.

As to my plans, I’m upgrade eligible in about 6 weeks and quite interested in the Samsung Galaxy Note II… yet there we have another device without a release date. And, so, I’ll probably take the safe and timely iPhone 5 upgrade as my daily driver.

5 thoughts on “5 phones walk into a bar…”

  1. True. But Moto and Nokia are notable as they once owned the mobile space… and now play catchup. I also left out HTC who felt left out and announced they’d have an announcement in two weeks. But, speaking of Amazon, I wish they’d scoop up the remnants of webOS as the basis of their tablet and phone initiatives.

  2. Motorola may be Google owned, but that just got final approval, and anyone who has worked for a large company knows they most likely had their own dev timelines and they can’t just turn on a dime.

    Plus Google has said they aren’t giving Motorola any special attention over other manufacturers regarding Android, so it kind of makes sense that they do not have any upper hand over the other players.

  3. That’s likely true (and I’ve worked for my fair share of large and/or dysfunctional companies), but they compete in a certain marketplace where others aren’t similarly inhibited. By the by, it’ll be interesting to see who picks up Motorola’s set-top business. Hm.

  4. You touched on one of the things I love most about Apple’s product launches: They give firm retail dates (usually withing weeks) and usually meet them. In fact, sometimes products are available the same day they announce them! I wish more consumer electronics companies did this. I hate hearing about a product, drooling over it, only to hear that it MAY be in the future. I’d rather not hear about the product until they knew when it would be ready. Same thing goes for all of the Apple rumors.

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