Can you expand upon this? I wasn't aware Verizon had -anything- to do with the software installed on the HTC handsets.

Are you suggesting that they've crippled the Wifi or BT or something?

As for why Nokia isn't doing well in the US, I suspect it's because Nokia is largely unwilling to compromise their brand and play second fiddle to the worthless carriers. But since they're not a high profile US company like Apple, they feel content to sideline Nokia. Personally, this is only bad for us as it constrains the market and forces companies to do stupid crap like what Samsung had to do with their hardware.