New Verizon handset tunes out mobile video

The Chicago Tribune reports Verizon Wireless news otherwise lost in the hubbub over the carrier's mobile video pacts with YouTube [1] and Revver [2]: The company also introduced a new feature-free handset, the Motorola W315, designed specifically to court consumers with absolutely no interest in mobile video, music downloads or any other bells and whistles beyond voice and simple SMS. The Trib goes on to note growing subscriber frustration with increasingly complex handset interfaces and cites a recent Jupiter Research report that found only six percent of Verizon subscribers have surfed the mobile web.

It stands to reason some percentage of the mobile subscriber population will never desire functionality beyond voice and text, but one still must question Verizon Wireless' decision to release such a low-end handset concurrent with its headline-grabbing mobile video deals. It suggests a number of interpretations, none of them positive--like maybe the carrier isn't so bullish on mobile video after all, or that it has conceded video is a niche app and nothing more. If nothing else, it implies Verizon's right hand has no idea what its left hand is doing, and vice versa.

For more on feature-free handsets:
- read this Chicago Tribune article [3]