Wifi Calling on Unlocked Phones?

@pgrey

Thank you.  I actually needed it subscribed.  I was missing it all until I logged in earlier looking for the something unrelated....

If you add potential net work relief, then consider the number of possible new customers, or preservation if existing customer, it's all positive for ATT.

For once, please copy T-mobile!

I don't know enough about how much resources are put into carrier branded phones each year, but think on it.....

Advance ordering, paying extra for apps and programming....it's a significant chunk of change.  

T-mo went simple.  Stop fussing with phones and spend money on expanding coverage.

While I make fun of it, it's no joke.  T-mo is coming up fast in ATT rear view mirror in my area.   They have the 3G call coverage.  They have the nicest, most responsive customer service.  Their boots on the ground last year was smart.  (And the Xmas Carol spoof video was hysterical.)

@lizdance40Yeah, you gotta' wonder, how much "hidden" support time and such goes into differentiation.  It'd be one thing if there was an actual premium experience, but realistically, consumers seem to be asking for the opposite; good basic phones that they can choose their apps for, and that support all the (now becoming) basic features, such as this.  

While 3-5 years ago this might have been called "Advanced features", it's now almost impossible to purchase a device without the support.  I'm sure a lot of grey-market phones will struggle with this, but having broad carrier support will likely only enhance adoption, nothing like bad-consumer-reviews (not to mention bad trade rags reviews) to spur vendors to fix stuff.

Take a poll...

Would customers rather have faster software updates?

Or customized carrier software with options like Number sync?

my bet is 90 % or more will take the software updates and would prefer no carrier software.  

Like, um.... iPhone.  Full access to all services, but never a wait for updates.  

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@nate.0 wrote:
What does it take to get the iPhone like treatment? 🙂

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A powerful single entity organized behind your platform, and a large market segment.

Android has a big segment, but the manufacturer base is pretty fragmented, IMO, so it's tough for them to leverage things like iOS, unfortunately...

The technical base isn't fragmented, at least the parts that count for these features, as evidenced by pretty much the whole rest of the world, and some US carriers, who use them without much issue (at least no more issue than branded devices).  You can also look up the specs for these, it's pretty cut-dry, this part of the OS is not changed per an OEM implementation (most core OS is the same, it remains the same as its released OS base).

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@nate.0 wrote:
What does it take to get the iPhone like treatment? 🙂

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That's what we want to know!   

The hope is that Google is going head to head and the Pixel 2 might get equal treatment.  

BUT....  will Apple pitch a fit and try to sink the deal?

I'm recruiting new folks   @Wmnole.  Join us!

@pgrey   I've barely scratched the surface of what the Pixel can do, and I'm already lusting after another huawei model.   

https://www.cnet.com/products/huawei-honor-magic/preview/

Wrap Cortana, Google assistant and your momma all in one, the phone is supposed to be predictive.  And face recognition allows for glasses.  Something Samsung failed at.