Verizon Releases Photos of R2-D2 DROID 2

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]flacoman3[/nom]"Jedi Mind" didn't pay anyone, and if I were Lucas I wouldn't let them buy the right to use it at all even if they offered to pay for it after they got caught. They exploited the name once already without asking.It's called the "easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" outlook on life.[/citation]
In practice it worked the total opposite of that though didn't it?
Jedi Mind tried to use it without permission and got blasted.
Verizon asked for permission and now they have a product.

 

[mactruck]

[citation][nom]mlopinto2k1[/nom]So, because it's "Verizon" they can pay to use their name but the company "Jedi Mind" that made controllers can't?[/citation]

Even the original Droid phones had notices on the box that the name was used with permission from LucasArts.

 

[Assmar]

ooo, I'd love different R2 beeps for textx, calls, voice mail, etc. Who needs ringtones, I'm going to learn how to speak to droids.

beep beep doogly beep

 

[haramir]

Yes, because Lucas trademarked the term "Droid", even the original "Droid" phones had to pay royalties to Lucas. I assume it wasn't that much more difficult to get them to agree to an R2-D2 phone.

I wish I didn't have another whole year until I could upgrade my Droid!

 

[joebob2000]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]In practice it worked the total opposite of that though didn't it?Jedi Mind tried to use it without permission and got blasted.Verizon asked for permission and now they have a product.[/citation]

I think you mean "Verizon paid HUGE and now they have a product" to the tune of many many millions of dollars just to use the word Droid. I think this is just the culmination of trying to justify all that money wasted on a marketing gimmick when regular Android phones are selling just fine on their own (by the likes of HTC and Samsung.

 

[distanted]

Backside looks like a cheap decal to me...hope it looks better in person.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]joebob2000[/nom]I think you mean "Verizon paid HUGE and now they have a product" to the tune of many many millions of dollars just to use the word Droid. I think this is just the culmination of trying to justify all that money wasted on a marketing gimmick when regular Android phones are selling just fine on their own (by the likes of HTC and Samsung.[/citation]
Yeah, probably, but even if Jedi mind would still have had to pay huge sums too, as it is they got hit with a lawsuit and had to pay money anyway and at the end of it still didn't get to use the name.
You have to play the game or you don't win and George Lucas always wants his cut.

 

[LordConrad]

[citation][nom]coleipoo[/nom]Only nerf herding hipsters will use this phone.[/citation]
Don't forget "scruffy looking"...

 

[Thilindi]

[citation][nom]joebob2000[/nom]I think you mean "Verizon paid HUGE and now they have a product" to the tune of many many millions of dollars just to use the word Droid. I think this is just the culmination of trying to justify all that money wasted on a marketing gimmick when regular Android phones are selling just fine on their own (by the likes of HTC and Samsung.[/citation]

You know, all modern Android users should thank Verizon for being that wasteful. In the long run, I believe, like you it appears, that Android was on the way in. But, before Verizon paid off Lucas and went off on a marketing blowout, the general public had no clue what Android was. Did people really care about the G1 or the Hero? Oh yeah... they had John Q Public all a-titter. But, with Verizon's large customer base, larger marketing budget, and the willingness to blow George Lucas if it will mean having the chance to give Steve jobs the finger, an"Droid" got pushed out much farther and faster than it possibly would have otherwise.

 

[eddieroolz]

I'm just glad that Western carriers are back into the special edition collaboration thing again. Something done over in Asia on a regular basis - like the SH-06A NERV - and I think it produces unique phones. Never mind that it's Star Wars.

 

[back_by_demand]

Couldn't you just get a 3rd party backplate that has the R2-D2 on it and dispense with all the hype?

 

[kabobb29]

[citation][nom]arterius2[/nom]I can't be the only one who thinks this phone is fugly. I'm a designer myself and this is one of the worst designs I've seen in a long time. Its childish and cheap. imagine pulling this out on a business meeting, just embarrassing.[/citation]

At my place of work, if I pulled it out during a business meeting, people would LOVE it

 

[Guest]

I give it 2 weeks until the R2D2 skins are on the market.