Verizon, Motorola take on iPhone with iDon't ads

Jake Widman
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 00:52

Your IT - Mobility

In television ads and on the Web, Verizon is positioning its new Droid smartphone to take on the iPhone directly. The ads start with an "iDon't" list of what the iPhone can't do, followed by a list of what the Droid can.

The Droid runs on Android 2.0 and is assumed to be the Motorola device previously known as the Sholes and the Tao.

According to the Wikipedia entry , the phone features WiFi, a 5-megapixel camera with flash, a 3.7-inch 854-x-480 touchscreen, 16 GB of memory, and a physical keyboard.

Whatever the final specs, Verizon certainly seems to think it has something that can challenge the iPhone.

Last weekend saw the debut in the U.S. of a TV ad that directly targets the iPhone's failings.

The ad opens with a sequence of "iDon't" statements in clean black text with a reflection against a white background, an immediate visual reference to Apple marketing.

Without identifying who "i" is, the ad says "iDon't have a real keyboard," "...run simultaneous apps," "...take 5-megapixel pictures," "...customize," "...run widgets," "...allow open development," "...take pictures in the dark," or "...have interchangeable batteries."

For more on Droid, see Page 2.