$500, no carrier subsidy, and they expect to sell these things to North Americans? I've heard of the iphone, at at $199, at that is the death of North American nokia sales.
(and yes, I know, the extra $15 a month hurts. So does five bills out of the pocket. If you're price sensitive, take a quick guess on which hurts more)
$15 per month over the life of a two-year contract is $360, which is quite a lot of money. I paid a little under $400 for an e61 when it was first released and I'm still using it, although I'll be the first to admit the keyboard is atrocious and it's pretty sluggish. I'd pay $500 for a thinner device that remedies the issues of it's e61 predecessor, especially if it'd save me $360 in monthly data usage over two years. Potentially more than that if have an older unlimited (data) Blackberry plan that you can use with Blackberry Connect.
Comparing the e71 to the iPhone is like comparing apples and poodles, anyway. The iPhone isn't a great smartphone, whereas the e61 (and hopefully e71) beat Palm's offerings any day of the week with regard to durability and call quality (and in my opinion, the S60 OS is preferably to Garnet and WinMo < 6.0). HTC's newer devices and the X1 look compelling though.
Well, Nokia sales were pretty much already dead in North America, so this doesn't particularly *hurt* them. However, there are still consumers in the US--such as myself--who would rather buy an unlocked phone at full price than have to be locked into a contract.
If at&t carried it with a subsidy: -they'd rape the OS with their customizations -neuter the bluetooth capabilities -disable java applications -charge $30 for data
An unlocked and unbranded E71 can use the $15 media net unlimited data plan
Think about this:
iPhone 3G $200 $40 for voice + $30 for data $70 x 24 = 1680 total cost is $1880 (minus taxes)
E71 $500 $40 for voice + $15 for data $55 x 24 = 1320 total cost is $1820 (minus taxes)
Of course, you could subsidize the cost of the e71 by buying an iPhone 3G and then selling it on ebay.
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You've got to be kidding me.
$500, no carrier subsidy, and they expect to sell these things to North Americans? I've heard of the iphone, at at $199, at that is the death of North American nokia sales.
(and yes, I know, the extra $15 a month hurts. So does five bills out of the pocket. If you're price sensitive, take a quick guess on which hurts more)
$15 per month over the life of a two-year contract is $360, which is quite a lot of money. I paid a little under $400 for an e61 when it was first released and I'm still using it, although I'll be the first to admit the keyboard is atrocious and it's pretty sluggish. I'd pay $500 for a thinner device that remedies the issues of it's e61 predecessor, especially if it'd save me $360 in monthly data usage over two years. Potentially more than that if have an older unlimited (data) Blackberry plan that you can use with Blackberry Connect.
Comparing the e71 to the iPhone is like comparing apples and poodles, anyway. The iPhone isn't a great smartphone, whereas the e61 (and hopefully e71) beat Palm's offerings any day of the week with regard to durability and call quality (and in my opinion, the S60 OS is preferably to Garnet and WinMo < 6.0). HTC's newer devices and the X1 look compelling though.
Well, Nokia sales were pretty much already dead in North America, so this doesn't particularly *hurt* them. However, there are still consumers in the US--such as myself--who would rather buy an unlocked phone at full price than have to be locked into a contract.
If at&t carried it with a subsidy:
-they'd rape the OS with their customizations
-neuter the bluetooth capabilities
-disable java applications
-charge $30 for data
An unlocked and unbranded E71 can use the $15 media net unlimited data plan
Think about this:
iPhone 3G
$200
$40 for voice + $30 for data
$70 x 24 = 1680
total cost is $1880 (minus taxes)
E71
$500
$40 for voice + $15 for data
$55 x 24 = 1320
total cost is $1820 (minus taxes)
Of course, you could subsidize the cost of the e71 by buying an iPhone 3G and then selling it on ebay.