Topics: Mobile

AT&T: The iPhone Is Better Than The BlackBerry Storm

Posted by Eric Zeman, Sep 25, 2008 03:15 PM

The war of words between AT&T and Verizon sees its latest salvo from the AT&T camp. A document was caught circulating the Interwebs that spells out "talking points" for AT&T retail reps to mention if a potential iPhone customer mentions the BlackBerry Storm.

This is really cracking me up. Verizon representatives have been taking potshots at the iPhone's troubles all summer via Twitter and Facebook. At the same time, it is using Twitter, Facebook and its own Web site to build buzz about the BlackBerry Storm, the highly-anticipated smartphone from RIM.

Well, it seems that AT&T doesn't want any potential iPhone customers lured away by the luster of the Storm. There's a flier with AT&T branding all over it that reads:

The RIM BlackBerry Storm is anticipated to Launch on Verizon in October of November 2008, prior to the holiday selling season. The BlackBerry Storm is RIM's first touch screen device. Verizon is positioning the Storm as a direct competitor to the iPhone since it has a touchscreen and BlackBerry's popular email service.

The document then spells out the many advantages the iPhone has over the BlackBerry Storm. The Storm won't have a multitouch interface, but the iPhone does. The Storm won't have Wi-Fi, though the iPhone does. The Storm doesn't have access to anything like Apple's iPhone Apps Store. The Storm doesn't have tri-band HSDPA for roaming 3G networks in Europe. The Storm's browser won't compare to the iPhone's browser. And on and on.

The document closes with, "Overall, iPhone offers ease of use, from how you make a phone call with the tap of a finger, to viewing email and attachments to browsing Web pages with Safari - the best browser on a mobile device."

This set of "talking points" from AT&T comes barely a week after Verizon circulated its own "talking points" about how great the Storm is.

Fun stuff, AT&T and Verizon. Keep it up, because the blogosphere is enjoying the shoot-out.

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