Verizon Wireless announced on Oct. 3 the release of four new phones, including the introduction of the LG Voyager, a touch screen phone that will rival Apple's iPhone.
But it's still unclear if it will match the hype the iPhone created among students over the summer.
Along with the touch screen interface, the Voyager will feature high-speed wireless Internet, an HTML browser for surfing the web, and V CAST capabilities for mobile TV, music and video, said Lauren Merritt, public relations manager for Verizon Wireless. V CAST is Verizon's downloadable content network.
"The expectation of the wireless consumer is 'we want the coolest thing out there with all the bells and whistles,' " she said. "The Voyager combines all that."
Gerry Santoro, associate professor for information, sciences and technology, said he expects that the Voyager's success will depend on how Verizon can improve upon the faults in Apple's iPhone.
"I really think initially its going to come down to the specifics of the hardware," he said.
Andrew Marrs (freshman-pre-medicine) said the iPhone will always be more popular.
"iPhone would still be the leader because of the name," he said.
Merritt said that though the Voyager and the iPhone share the touch screen feature, the Voyager is a very different device from the iPhone.
"It's got the full touch screen on the front but that's where the similarities really end," she said.
Merritt said the Voyager will have a built-in keypad and a removable battery, two features she said current iPhone users have complained about.
The Voyager will also have an extra slot for owners to plug in an 8-gigabyte memory card for extra storage.
"It gives the user choices on how they want to use the device," she said.
Nick Weidman (senior-information, sciences and technology) is a Verizon Wireless customer and said he would look into the Voyager.
"Definitely when my contract expires," he said. "[The Voyager] sounds like a good idea."
Merritt said the Voyager will offer high-speed Internet using the Evolution-Data Optimized network. The network will be accessible for any Verizon Wireless customer in any location as long as service is available.
"If you have a device that is capable of working off that network, there's no extra charge for that network," she said.
Santoro said that though the Voyager may have unique characteristics that the iPhone does not, customers will not defect from AT&T, which has exclusive rights to the iPhone.
"I do suspect there will be people who are loyal to AT&T because of the [Apple] brand name," he said.
