Telstra softens its iPhone criticism

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Dan Warne28 June 2007, 12:44 AM

Telstra looks forward to reviewing the iPhone, the carrier said today, a marked softening on tech chief Greg Winn's earlier position that the iPhone would be a flop and Apple should stick to its knitting.


Telstra technology chief Greg Winn: initially said Apple should stick to its knittingTelstra technology chief Greg Winn: initially said Apple should stick to its knitting
Telco giant Telstra says it isn't ruling out carrying the iPhone, after all.

Earlier in the year, Telstra's technology boss, Greg Winn, launched a blistering attack on the iPhone, calling it "old hat" and saying that "There's an old saying -- stick to your knitting -- and Apple is not a mobile phone manufacturer, that's not their knitting."

Despite the fact that no mobile phone manufacturer has ever produced a phone that has remotely similar levels of ease-of-use as the iPhone, Winn also said, "You can pretty much be assured that Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and ZTE and others will be coming out with devices that have similar functionality."

Since the enormous worldwide hype for the iPhone, the carrier appears to have softened its stance.

Spokesman Peter Taylor told APC, "Telstra looks forward to reviewing the iPhone as we would all other devices in development."

"Only Telstra runs a nationwide EDGE network in Australia, with other carriers offering services in limited locations."

The three other mobile networks -- Optus, Vodafone and Three -- offer 3G and HSDPA, which the iPhone does not support. It would operate on Optus and Vodafone's older 2G networks in GPRS mode, but its internet functionality would be excruciatingly slow to use, as GPRS is slower than a dialup-modem connection.

However, Taylor repeated Telstra's assertion that customers of its Next-G network could already enjoy the iPhone experience today.

"Most of the iPhone features, such as mobile TV, email, video calling and music, are available today on Telstra's Next G network."


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Phormic:

Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Being firmly in bed with Microsoft, Telstra trashes the iPhone unmercifully until they realize, "Hey. This thing is going to be huge."

Apple should tell Telstra to get stuffed and go with Optus who have had a relationship with Apple in the past. Non-USA iPhones will be 3G anyway.

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random:

Telstra are just greedy, monopolistic pigs




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John Lockwood:

So, in what way does that make them different from any other mobile phone network?

They all suck. Its just some 'Suck Different' (to paraphrase a famous Appleism).

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coolguy:

just like Apple. what kind of a phone manufacturer restricts its device to 1 network, with specific (and expensive) plans to choose from?

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Anonymous123:

"Most of the iPhone features, such as mobile TV, email, video calling and music, are available today on Telstra's Next G network."

iPhone doesn't have mobile TV or video calling... Most of the iPhone's appeal is in the handset design and interface- these things aren't possible on other, traditional handsets. This is Telstra with just another shameless plug for its Next G network!

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BarneyBoy:

I can just see it - with Telstra's love of all things Microsoft, you can bet that the iPhone will never _quite_ work properly on Telstra's network.

And you could bet the house that they'd NEVER offer any support for anything with an Apple logo on it, continuing a long tradition of making it as difficult as possible for anyone with a Mac.

Screw 'em...

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Ivan:

Greg Loser, What am I going to say? Telstra reminds me of Microsoft, greedy for money. Who really cares about your Next G Network, I have never supported Telstra in the first place. Dont get the iPhone, I prefer another network provider to over rule. I support the network providers who suffer from Telstra such as Vodafone. I would really like Vodafone and Optus to get the iPhone and provide it to customers.

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Frank:

Telstra are finally starting to feel the heat and wrath from Australians who are sick of their greed and useless network. Apple should choose Optus as the carrier for the iPhone.

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Tal:

I don't get you people, do you guys work for Optus or something? All companies are greedy and money hungry, thats what a company is! Telstra are obviously doing something right othe wise they wouldn't have the large market share they do, if Optus and Vodaphone are so fantastic they why arn't customers flocking to them? I have never had a problem with Telstra and i have been with other providers who where horrible to deal with I hope that Telstra do get it and that it is on the NextG network, at least that way you'll get good coverage and youtube will work faster then if it was on just 3G and way faster then on EDGE.

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Scott:

agreed, Telstra is isnt any worse than any other company. Optus isnt great, it just tries to look great by slagging other companies and hiding behind strange ways of contractually obligating their customers. The next G network is much better than any other network in the country, especially for regional customers! I mean great sometimes the network screws up a little, but i dont see any other Telco in this country attempting to invest in technology that is providing the coverage and services that Telstra is providing. Since it is also the only telco that has bothered to have the EDGE upgrade on their GSM network I would say Telstra would be the likely candidate to get the iphone. As for a Next G version? i doubt it. They wont be creating an 850mHz version for any other HSDPA carriers in the USA any time soon because of the AT&T obligation, so them producing a 'NEXT G' compatible handset just for australia would seem highly unlikely!
WOW what a rant hehe.

thanks for reading.

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Shaker:

It really surprises me that people don't get what Apple strives for in their products: ease of use, solid performance and aesthetically pleasing. To achieve this they do what many companies do not do...hire people with taste that spend time thinking about design as much as they do revenue.

Mr Winn's comment come across as arrogant. Perhaps Telstra should stick to their own knitting and close down the bigpond music store. (Go on, have a look at --> http://bigpondmusic.com/ and compare it against the iTunes experience).

Clearly the iPhone has been built to provide a better user experience for its device type. If you actually spent some time looking at the demonstration videos on the Apple web site, you'd come to appreciate the thought and innovation that has gone into the design. (And if Winn had actually seen the Macworld footage of the iPhone, he may have had a different opinion).

It targets the most used functions of a phone of its type and makes them easy to use without the need for a stylus or complex menu navigation.

I don't care which carrier gets the iPhone. I'll switch to whoever. I'm sick of battling a poor user interface on phones(I've owned O2, Sony P900, Motorola V3X, Palm Treo 680). They all do a hopeless user interface (though the Treo was the best of a bad bunch).

For me, its the phone that will make the sale or transfer, not the stupid network that carries it.