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Help Milestone for UK? Where are you?

celios said:
They are going to struggle to compete with Android.

Nokia are trying to create world class services (like Maps, Email, Calendering and Contacts) from scratch with Ovi.

In Google, Android already has a full suite of free services that are market leaders in many areas and have years of experience running huge data centres required for 24/7 99.999% availability.

Nokia have a stable and well understood platform in Symbian, that currently has a poor touch screen user interface and is hard to develop for (although they are attempting to address that with Qt). The problem they have is that the UI needs radical changes - they almost need to scrap what they have and start again from scratch... any radical changes however will render their back catalogue of apps incompatible.

Android has a stable and well understood platform, that has an up to date touch UI and is easy to develop for using standard tools like Java/Eclipse.

Android is being used by the world's leading handset makers, with the exception of Nokia and Apple. There are now multiple handset releases each month, with different form factors, levels of specification and price points.

Symbian is being used by Nokia with a few token handsets from Samsung and Sony Ericsson. There are new handset releases every few months with different forms factors, levels of specification and price points.
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@celios

Agree your software comments and that Nokia will struggle to compete. I see Nokia attempting to lower its R & D/Bill of Materials through greater outsourcing to the Taiwanese ODMs. If they can cut BOM costs, they will have more money to reinvest in software/apps while attempting to improve margins. These component makers will become increasingly involved in the design process in areas such as microphones, vibrators, QWERTY keyboards, lenses, helping N reduce module costs. More ODM outsourcing possibly combined with asset light strategy--ie, factory disposals.

Actions will speak louder than words.
 
celios said:
They are going to struggle to compete with Android.

Nokia are trying to create world class services (like Maps, Email, Calendering and Contacts) from scratch with Ovi.

In Google, Android already has a full suite of free services that are market leaders in many areas and have years of experience running huge data centres required for 24/7 99.999% availability.

Nokia have a stable and well understood platform in Symbian, that currently has a poor touch screen user interface and is hard to develop for (although they are attempting to address that with Qt). The problem they have is that the UI needs radical changes - they almost need to scrap what they have and start again from scratch... any radical changes however will render their back catalogue of apps incompatible.

Android has a stable and well understood platform, that has an up to date touch UI and is easy to develop for using standard tools like Java/Eclipse.

Android is being used by the world's leading handset makers, with the exception of Nokia and Apple. There are now multiple handset releases each month, with different form factors, levels of specification and price points.

Symbian is being used by Nokia with a few token handsets from Samsung and Sony Ericsson. There are new handset releases every few months with different forms factors, levels of specification and price points.
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@celios and all posters

Celios.....you could have written this article I post below!! Here is link to article today in Daily Telegraph about the Milestone. Says Expansys very reputable. Mentions no network in UK has picked it up. I am still surprised that Motorola could not convince network after 800k Droids sold in US already since release on Nov 8! Obviously there must be an argument about the amount of subsidy networks are prepared to give towards this phone----when in doubt, think money! I would have thought that Motorola, to re-establish its reputation in UK, would have launched an advertising blitz like they did with Verizon in US.....the "iDon't" commercials, the taking over Times Square with voice search using Google on giant screens, etc, etc. Maybe we will see this still.

The Motorola Milestone: will Google Androids take over in 2010? - Telegraph

Comments?
 
celios said:
Wow! Bit of a showstopper that. So any of the Milestones that eXpansys are selling won't be able to buy a lot of the apps from the Android market as even the ones sold with a T-mobile contract will in fact be 'SIM free' models?

There doesn't seem to be any logic to blocking SIM free devices from the market that I can see.
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@celios and @dendrite

Agree with both of you. Will continue to follow the blog on Android Market with interest. Thanks for keeping us posted. I would imagine that Google will fix all of this in due course.
 
deadite66 said:
oh ffs!, expansys order tracking : Estimated 5 Days

release has gone back another week.
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I spotted that as well - although it's not as bad as you might think, their counter just counts down every day (not just working days) so 5 days takes us to next Wed / Thr. It does destroy confidence in their estimates however.
 
celios said:
I spotted that as well - although it's not as bad as you might think, their counter just counts down every day (not just working days) so 5 days takes us to next Wed / Thr. It does destroy confidence in their estimates however.
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@celios

Thinking some more about your suggestion earlier about how you are able to write off cost of phone (self-employed) but in particular your resale via a site like Ebay, I understand how this lends itself nicely to the SIM free purchase--ie, larger, relative up front. For the non-self employed, where write off for tax purposes not an option, but thinking about buying phone SIM free rather than waiting until say January when it might appear on T Mob or Vodafone network on contract deal (although I am not sure Expansys deal even permits that??), what resale value do you think I could achieve after say 6 months of use and monthly contracts with network provider? Just trying to work out economics. Have not heard good things about T Mob network being used by expansys currently.

Appreciate your comments or those of others.
 
modelportfolio2003 said:
@celios

Thinking some more about your suggestion earlier about how you are able to write off cost of phone (self-employed) but in particular your resale via a site like Ebay, I understand how this lends itself nicely to the SIM free purchase--ie, larger, relative up front. For the non-self employed, where write off for tax purposes not an option, but thinking about buying phone SIM free rather than waiting until say January when it might appear on T Mob or Vodafone network on contract deal (although I am not sure Expansys deal even permits that??), what resale value do you think I could achieve after say 6 months of use and monthly contracts with network provider? Just trying to work out economics. Have not heard good things about T Mob network being used by expansys currently.

Appreciate your comments or those of others.
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Stopped by Orange shop in town this morning and was told by saleman that they expect to get Motorola Milestone in by January. They had very good experience/strong sales from Motorola Dext and were open to this Motorola device.

Anyone else hearing same?
 
We canadian across the border is getting the Milestone in early 2010 through TELUS and is official.Maybe,UK is going to be the same.I am sure is coming.Droiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!!:D
 
can anybody tell me how much I can do with 500 mb of data ? Up here in Canada the data plan are very expensive,the minimum data is 500mb.I am anticipating the arrival of the Milestone in early 2010 and I am going to get it.I was across the U.S last week to play with the Droid and I liked it alot, just like my Laptop.It even looks like a MINI laptop too. I am putting my toy iphone 3g on ebay and hoping a dad will buy it for his 12 yrs old son or daughter. I have no time changing 1 application at a time,even a simple phone call, i have to shut off what I am doing to take the call.Now that I can have a phone with the capability of a laptop, why not? I know, the phone is new and is going to have alot of software issues.Many features obviously begged problems and software updates could and will addresssed all that.When the iphone first came out it had the same issues and look how it turned into?
Given the Droid, with such advanced capability and times it is going to be an amazing device.I bet on my bottom dollar, it is going made the iphone into a inferior product as already is.(I hope 100,000 apps is not going made a perfect phone) Soon the iphone will only be catered to children and young adults.The last time I counted,maybe,10,000 FART apps alone,lol'
Btw,I am sick and embarrassed everytime I used my iphone whether in the airport or elsewhere,kids will come and asked,you've an iphone,can I play with it? Most of the time,I fell like telling the kids to ask their parents to get them the iphone at TOY R US.LOL'
Anybody would like to put more insights on the Droid?I know I still got alot to learn about the phone and that's the best part of all, to see it mature into a perfect phone. I can relate to people that I meet whenever I use my phone to tell them what is so good about it.Maybe, even in technical smartphone jargon that I acquired through this Droid community.Don't you agree?
I think people like the Droid Users are the people who are going to make the Droid a better device by addressing the big and small issues, in this way Motorola can retify any problems it arises.For instances,take the camera issues, you think they like to put out a inferior products? no companies does.You'll see when they update the Camera, it is going to be a very awesome feature,especially!
Sorry that I sound like I have already own the Milestone.It's my ANTICIPATION !!!
 
Just spoken to eXpansys customer services...

They are now not expecting to send them out until this Friday (12th Dec), which means I guess that they will arrive on Monday / Tuesday since most delivery services don't do Saturdays unless you pay extra. :rolleyes:

I am starting to wonder if this will be in my hands by Xmas... :(

Not quite the smooth roll out hitting delivery dates that we saw in the US for the Droid.
 
deadite66 said:
so they lied to T3.com
Motorola Milestone to arrive UK Tuesday | T3 magazine
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Maybe... they certainly sounded like they were expecting it yesterday when I spoke to them. I have no idea what is going on now, but their exclusive period is slowing getting eaten up by this delay.

Interestingly, it appears that expansys don't want any discussion of the delays, as they are now closing any thread on their forum that mentions it... hmmm :confused:

Motorola MILESTONE Android 2.0 Smartphone Support Forum - eXpansys UK
 
celios said:
Maybe... they certainly sounded like they were expecting it yesterday when I spoke to them. I have no idea what is going on now, but their exclusive period is slowing getting eaten up by this delay.

Interestingly, it appears that expansys don't want any discussion of the delays, as they are now closing any thread on their forum that mentions it... hmmm :confused:

Motorola MILESTONE Android 2.0 Smartphone Support Forum - eXpansys UK
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@celios

I wonder if this delay by expansys is really as it seems. IMO, Motorola might have struck a deal with one of the bigger networks here and decided to go slow with the "back door" approach of expansys. I doubt if expansys would have been given guarantees by Motorola of Milestone numbers.....more like, as and when, particularly if they are storing devices for a bigger launch soon with lots of advertising behind it? Obviously this depends on the contract between the two which has not been made public.

As mentioned yesterday, Orange salesman in London told me they are expecting news about the Milestone at the end of the month. I would love to see a really big advertising campaign behind this phone, like with the Droid, which would vault Motorola in the UK and Europe. You probably heard about Google's releases yesterday....real time search with indexing from FB, Twitter, MySpace....you can check it out on Google Trends and pick a Hot Topic.....like Tiger Woods, Copenhagen, etc. Also check out Google Goggles which will allow you to take a picture of something and Google will search for it and provide info based on their image library/algorithm. All in real time. And the barcode idea they are posting to shops to invite them to stick them on window that will allow your mobile device to access and read comments---eg for a restaurant, etc.

Nokia PR yesterday say Android uptake slow in Europe. Perhaps with this kind of blitz of innovation Google will get behind adverts in Europe to really boost sales.

Comments?
 
modelportfolio2003 said:
@celios

I wonder if this delay by expansys is really as it seems. IMO, Motorola might have struck a deal with one of the bigger networks here and decided to go slow with the "back door" approach of expansys. I doubt if expansys would have been given guarantees by Motorola of Milestone numbers.....more like, as and when, particularly if they are storing devices for a bigger launch soon with lots of advertising behind it? Obviously this depends on the contract between the two which has not been made public.
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It would be good if they have signed up with a UK network, but it would be better if Motorola could just ship some blinkin' SIM free stock to expansys and their paying customers! ;)
 
celios said:
Yeah, eXpansys always offer a T-mobile contract, but it's not official - you won't get this from a T-mobile shop - they do the same thing for every device, essentially bundling SIM free devices with SIM only contracts!
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@celios and @carl c

Thanks for the link to Phandroid article which states that the expansys exclusive runs through December only. I suggest that Motorola used this as an interim step until a network picked it up. Given the success that the Cliq/Dext enjoyed at Orange, I suggest that they may be interested in the Milestone. Agree with celios that walking into a T Mob shop gets a "What's a Milestone? Never heard of it" reply from salesman. When you tell them about expansys, and no one has ever heard of them in a shop, they tell you that T Mob does third party deals with their network but they never see info about it.

Comments?
 
celios said:
It would be good if they have signed up with a UK network, but it would be better if Motorola could just ship some blinkin' SIM free stock to expansys and their paying customers! ;)
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@celios

Sure. Agree. But I suggest there is a bigger issue for Motorola here.....re-establishing their name in Europe with the networks. Typical response from a salesperson at Carphone of Phones4U or O2, etc....."we have not had a Motorola product for a long time".....hinting that you are a fool for opting for one of their products and that these salesman know best! God help us.

Sadly, a backdoor approach through expansys is just not going to boost Motorola, despite their lack of product!!

Motorola probably waiting to launch big campaign behind a network would be my guess. Love that iDon't ad in the US by Verizon. As our earlier poster from Canada suggests, multitasking on an iPhone non existent.

By the way, did you hear that Verizon CFO today strongly hinted at 1 million Droid and Eris sales in the 7 weeks from Nov 8 launch. Motorola would be fools to leave this device with expansys for any length of time after December. And they are no fools.
 
Just to let everyone know, I have just spoken to Expansys and they say that the Milestone stock has arrived. I was told that the orders will be shipped out today, hopefully to arrive tomorrow.
 
c0m47053 said:
Just to let everyone know, I have just spoken to Expansys and they say that the Milestone stock has arrived. I was told that the orders will be shipped out today, hopefully to arrive tomorrow.
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Yep, mine has been shipped via Royal Mail Special Delivery and should be with me tomorrow before 1pm... the waiting... the waiting! :)
 
Had my Milestone since Friday... loving it so far, and will post my detailed thoughts later this week.

One thing that I thought I should share before then - this morning I can access ALL Android Market apps (including 'protected' apps that were not visible to me on Saturday). :)
 
celios said:
Had my Milestone since Friday... loving it so far, and will post my detailed thoughts later this week.

One thing that I thought I should share before then - this morning I can access ALL Android Market apps (including 'protected' apps that were not visible to me on Saturday). :)
Click to expand...

@celios

As mentioned I am waiting for contract deal or lower SIM free price in January or beyond for the Milestone, but have been following the news leaks on the so-called Google phone, the Nexus One. Have you been reading about this non-slider device which appears to be an HTC phone ("Passion") running Android 2.1 and having been given to Google employees to test? If press reports are to be believed, Google may try to stir up wireless market pricing model with a subsidised handset running a pure Google experience phone (no HTC interface--pure Google designed software), and selling phone esp in US SIM free from its own website (ie dealing direct with consumer) or with a contract from T Mob. While in UK you are used to buying phones SIM free (like Expansys/Milestone), this is unusual in US---for ex, iPhone in US sells for $200 plus $80 monthly data and voice plan after ATT subsidises handset for probably $300 up front. The handset manufacturter makes 30% gross margins on the smartphone, which translates into 5-10% operating margins but that will change soon as ACER and other OEM's expect to be able to generate same operating margins on 20% gross margins. This 10% cut in gross margins will allow Google to pass along this developer subsidy to consumer. In addition, if mobile ad revenues take off, Google will be able to subsidize phone further from its ad revenues.

Do you remember when Eric Schmidt, Google CEO said in famous 2006 Reuters interview that mobile phones should be free to consumer, supported by ad model? He cited newspaper industry where ads subsidize cost of newspaper.....now even getting some free newspapers! 2010 should be an exciting year and a good one for end prices to the consumer.

Comment?

ps Google now says over 16,000 apps in Android Market. Have you explored the Market yet and found good ones?
 
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