Verizon pulls a Microsoft, runs attack ads against Apple

Droid, a new phone emerging in the mobile marketplace through a cooperative effort with Verizon and Motorola, is turning out to cause quite a ruckus as the first true iPhone competitor. At least that’s what the companies are trying to get at through their clever new commercial that flat out attacks the weak points of Apple’s iPhone. The ad, which is 30 seconds in length, starts off with an Apple-esque song and black text that drops down on a white background reading “iDon’t run widgets,” “iDon’t allow open development,” and “iDon’t have a real keyboard,” and such. It then ends with a strange graphic reading “Droid does” with a date of November. Check it out below.

While some of these arguments are weak, they do sum up the complaints of the iPhone thus far. For instance, it doesn’t have a real keyboard or allow open development, but I wouldn’t say those are show-stoppers. For one, the system that Apple has for developing apps, although flawed, has been both extremely successful and interesting to watch. Furthermore, I don’t quite understand how the iPhone doesn’t run widgets, as that’s basically what apps are (unless the ad means background widgets). Either way, they also mention that the iPhone doesn’t run simultaneous apps, which is a valid argument.

With an ad like this, the Droid phone is really going to have to deliver and put its money where its mouth…err, microphone is. The iPhone is dominating the smart phone market at the moment, and that doesn’t appear to be slowing down. That said, TechCrunch has a post claiming this phone is the “real deal,” and is “the first phone that will pose a significant threat to Apple’s iPhone.” I’ll be watching this one closely.