Verizon iPhone: 2/10/10

[Comey]

This was just announced (though everyone knew this was coming for a little while now). The phone will be available for pre-order February 3rd, and out to everyone on the 10th.

The phone will not be LTE (as expected), and will mirror the iPhone 4 for AT&T. No word yet on whether the iPhone 5 (reportedly out in the summer) will be available for Verizon should it be released during the summer.

[Suburban Rhythm]

[Coffee Warlord]

Now if only Verizon would let me upgrade and keep my current plan, instead of having the honor of paying about 15 bucks more a month for the exact same service. Yay for discontinued plans.

[Logan]

I'll just say that this is bad for RIM.

[Butter]

Great Scott!

[Izulde]

Heh. Guess I should have waited before getting my Droid Incredible last week.

[wade moore]

Debating on whether I stall to see what happens with the iPhone 5. Would really much rather have this on LTE. Plus my "New Every Two" isn't until August anyways.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I was planning on getting an iPhone a couple of weeks ago and decided to hold off. Based on the fact that the Verizon phone is using 3G technology, I may just hold off all together and wait for the iPhone 5. I assume that would be on Verizon's 4G, LTE tech.

I currently just have a Blackberry that I got back in 2007 - no clue what kind, but it doesn't even have a camera - for email and a Nokia 1661, that I've had since 2006, which is as basic a mobile phone as there is, using a pay-as-you-go plan.

I can wait a few months longer to enter the modern era I suppose.

[JediKooter]

I'm with Wade and HB on this. Plus, the prices for the plans haven't been announced yet. So, I am cautiously optimistic about getting a Verizon iPhone at this moment in time.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Logan

I'll just say that this is bad for RIM.

I would say Android makers as well.


As to the iPhone 5 discussion:

I haven't read anything surrounding the Verizon rumors (not the announcement, but future plans) but I would assume there is no guarantee that the Verizon iPhone will follow the same dates as the AT&T iPhone. The CDMA hardware may make the phone different enough that it will be delayed. I also have no idea what the plans are for an LTE version, but I don't think it's safe to assume that one will be coming soon.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Heh. Guess I should have waited before getting my Droid Incredible last week.

You probably should have done your research; many reports already pointed to today as the announcement day as early as a few weeks ago, and Verizon scheduled this announcement last week, or the week before.

This has been known by seemingly everyone I know for a long time.

[JediKooter]

I do like the ability to use it as a wifi hotspot. I would think the LTE version is probably a year away since they say they have to change the body of the iPhone itself? Don't really know the advantages of LTE over 3g though, but, I would hate to get a phone in February and then they release a new one in June.

[samifan24]

While I loved Verizon and don't care much for AT&T (I've had an iPhone for two years now), the fact that a Verizon iPhone can't do voice and data at the same time really hurts. AT&T can do that, as bad as their coverage is sometimes, and I'm sure AT&T will tout as much in their new advertising.

Yes the 3G WiFi hotspot feature is awesome but not so much when all five people get kicked off because you get a phone call. (I'm waiting for the iPhone 5 on either service)

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Comey

You probably should have done your research; many reports already pointed to today as the announcement day as early as a few weeks ago, and Verizon scheduled this announcement last week, or the week before.

This has been known by seemingly everyone I know for a long time.

*shrugs* I did do research and I kept coming across conflicting dates. And considering the bullshit rumors and gossip that's been going on for oh, I don't know, 2 or 3 fucking years now, how the fuck was I supposed to know those cocksucking asshats would finally get shit done?

But whatever. Phone reception is probably better on the Incredible, plus my upgrade price ended up quite cheap.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by samifan24

While I loved Verizon and don't care much for AT&T (I've had an iPhone for two years now), the fact that a Verizon iPhone can't do voice and data at the same time really hurts. AT&T can do that, as bad as their coverage is sometimes, and I'm sure AT&T will tout as much in their new advertising.

Yes the 3G WiFi hotspot feature is awesome but not so much when all five people get kicked off because you get a phone call. (I'm waiting for the iPhone 5 on either service)

It's been reported that the voice/data ability will be available in the first half of this year.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by Izulde

*shrugs* I did do research and I kept coming across conflicting dates. And considering the bullshit rumors and gossip that's been going on for oh, I don't know, 2 or 3 fucking years now, how the fuck was I supposed to know those cocksucking asshats would finally get shit done?

But whatever. Phone reception is probably better on the Incredible, plus my upgrade price ended up quite cheap.

Multiple reputable sites reported the same date. Verizon announced the press conference; they even tweeted it from an iPhone.

And the Incredible is probably just as good, if not better, than the iPhone. I find myself conflicted; I'd like to get an iPhone, and I'm due for an upgrade. But I've salivated over the Droid X for a long time, and now the Bionic looks like it would destroy every other phone out there. So, I have no idea what to do...if I do anything.

[Izulde]

And yeah, sorry about the blowup. It just pisses me off because I sat on my phone upgrade for literal years waiting and waiting for Verizon to finally get the iPhone. I bypassed smartphone after smartphone, waiting and waiting with my old LG phone, waiting for the day the iPhone would arrive. And now then I finally cave, *that's* when they finally get it.

[Comey]

Isn't their a window for return? Talk to someone...you may be able to switch it up.

[Izulde]

Yeah I might do that. I'm actually conflicted, too. I do love my Incredible. It's extremely easy for me to use and it gets great reception and clarity for the phone part of it.

[Logan]

They'll be able to do it for you. They have targets to aim for as far as how many Verizon iPhones get sold.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by samifan24

While I loved Verizon and don't care much for AT&T (I've had an iPhone for two years now), the fact that a Verizon iPhone can't do voice and data at the same time really hurts. AT&T can do that, as bad as their coverage is sometimes, and I'm sure AT&T will tout as much in their new advertising.

Yes the 3G WiFi hotspot feature is awesome but not so much when all five people get kicked off because you get a phone call. (I'm waiting for the iPhone 5 on either service)

If it works like my original iphone did, it's actually the opposite. If you have people actively receiving data over your phone, you won't get the phone call that is coming in, they'll get sent straight to voicemail.

[Subby]

I cannot ditch my Blackberry fast enough.

[SegRat]

Everything I have read LTE will not be available with the iphone until 2012.

[DanGarion]

I'll never go back to iPhone. DROID!

[Tasan]

Meh. I'll keep my incredible, thank you.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Yeah I might do that. I'm actually conflicted, too. I do love my Incredible. It's extremely easy for me to use and it gets great reception and clarity for the phone part of it.

Instead of waiting for the iPhone, likely should have waited a couple months for the Incredible 2 (ie, the HTC Thunderbolt). That's on my radar.

[RainMaker]

So does this kill AT&T? They have horrible reception in most of the populated areas. They sort of survived on the iPhone. Now with Verizon having good phones, what does this do?

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So does this kill AT&T? They have horrible reception in most of the populated areas. They sort of survived on the iPhone. Now with Verizon having good phones, what does this do?

I think we need to wait and see if Verizon is telling the truth about their infrastructure. The iPhone killed the AT&T network.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I think we need to wait and see if Verizon is telling the truth about their infrastructure. The iPhone killed the AT&T network.

AT&T/Cingular used to be viewed as perhaps the top infrastructure prior to the iphone. Even today, most of the issues they supposedly have is a combination of overloading thanks to smart phones (such as the iphone) as well as some misleading statements from Verizon commercials and such.

One thing people have to keep in mind about the wireless market, is 90% of what you see on the advertisements are not true. For instance, what everyone is claiming to be 4g isn't even close to 4g standards and more something I guess that could be considered as 4g-lite with only a fractional amount of the bandwidth available in 4g.

I personally don't think Verizon will have a huge initial problem with iphone users killing their network as most current iphone users won't likely move over thanks to the insanely high early termination fees AT&T charges anyways.

What WILL kill the verizon network as well as the other major carriers is their inability to keep up with technology though as none of the major carriers are able to keep up with 4g speeds which clearly will be in demand as early as 2012.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Alan T

AT&T/Cingular used to be viewed as perhaps the top infrastructure prior to the iphone. Even today, most of the issues they supposedly have is a combination of overloading thanks to smart phones (such as the iphone) as well as some misleading statements from Verizon commercials and such.

One thing people have to keep in mind about the wireless market, is 90% of what you see on the advertisements are not true. For instance, what everyone is claiming to be 4g isn't even close to 4g standards and more something I guess that could be considered as 4g-lite with only a fractional amount of the bandwidth available in 4g.

I personally don't think Verizon will have a huge initial problem with iphone users killing their network as most current iphone users won't likely move over thanks to the insanely high early termination fees AT&T charges anyways.

What WILL kill the verizon network as well as the other major carriers is their inability to keep up with technology though as none of the major carriers are able to keep up with 4g speeds which clearly will be in demand as early as 2012.

Its not about over use or killing their network. AT&T doesnt have coverage outside of most municipal areas. I am a phone whore and live on my cell, usually tot he tune of 5000 minus a month. I serve 4 major metro areas with my company. We tried at&t because I wanted an iphone ~3 years ago. There were literally 20 minute gaps on the interstate between say Charlotta and Winston Salem where I couldn't get a signal. I dropped 41 calls the last day I had my at&t iphone, Ive never dropped more than 7 in a day on verizon.

Cingular and AT&T both focused on their phones and having the neatest hardware...then AT&T counters by saying 97% on all homes are covered by AT&T wireless...you dont need a mobile phone in your home, you need it when you are, you know, mobile.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Its not about over use or killing their network. AT&T doesnt have coverage outside of most municipal areas. I am a phone whore and live on my cell, usually tot he tune of 5000 minus a month. I serve 4 major metro areas with my company. We tried at&t because I wanted an iphone ~3 years ago. There were literally 20 minute gaps on the interstate between say Charlotta and Winston Salem where I couldn't get a signal. I dropped 41 calls the last day I had my at&t iphone, Ive never dropped more than 7 in a day on verizon.

Cingular and AT&T both focused on their phones and having the neatest hardware...then AT&T counters by saying 97% on all homes are covered by AT&T wireless...you dont need a mobile phone in your home, you need it when you are, you know, mobile.

Yeah, if one provider doesn't cover your area pretty well, makes sense to find one that does. Where I live, I have several choices that cover all of the major highways well. If you live in a more rural location then your options definitely might be more limited.

I was mainly responding to the infrastructure component that someone else referred to previously. Infrastructure-wise all of the major carriers are going to run into bottleneck issues without major overhauls in the future.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Its not about over use or killing their network. AT&T doesnt have coverage outside of most municipal areas. I am a phone whore and live on my cell, usually tot he tune of 5000 minus a month. I serve 4 major metro areas with my company. We tried at&t because I wanted an iphone ~3 years ago. There were literally 20 minute gaps on the interstate between say Charlotta and Winston Salem where I couldn't get a signal. I dropped 41 calls the last day I had my at&t iphone, Ive never dropped more than 7 in a day on verizon.

Cingular and AT&T both focused on their phones and having the neatest hardware...then AT&T counters by saying 97% on all homes are covered by AT&T wireless...you dont need a mobile phone in your home, you need it when you are, you know, mobile.

That's not the point, though. Before the iPhone AT&T was fantastic in metropolitan areas. Now it is rated very lowly in those same areas -- this is largely due to oversaturation of smartphones on the AT&T network. It is conceivable that this could happen to Verizon as well, particularly inside those same metropolitan areas.

[Logan]

I strongly challenge that statement, for NYC at least.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

That's not the point, though. Before the iPhone AT&T was fantastic in metropolitan areas. Now it is rated very lowly in those same areas -- this is largely due to oversaturation of smartphones on the AT&T network. It is conceivable that this could happen to Verizon as well, particularly inside those same metropolitan areas.

OR you could counter that AT&T was never fantastic, it just didnt have as much of a customer base to register the number of complaints. The iphone brought them an influx of new customers to discover their crappy network.

[CU Tiger]

In 2001 I let a (then cingular) rep convince me to dump nextel for cingular for my business. At that time it was 31 phones. We lasted 3 days before we cancelled and I paid $1100 to get away from them. In the Charlotte, Greenville, SC, and Winston-Salem, NC areas, they have always sucked, can't comment much beyond that.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Alan T

AT&T/Cingular used to be viewed as perhaps the top infrastructure prior to the iphone. Even today, most of the issues they supposedly have is a combination of overloading thanks to smart phones (such as the iphone) as well as some misleading statements from Verizon commercials and such.

One thing people have to keep in mind about the wireless market, is 90% of what you see on the advertisements are not true. For instance, what everyone is claiming to be 4g isn't even close to 4g standards and more something I guess that could be considered as 4g-lite with only a fractional amount of the bandwidth available in 4g.

I personally don't think Verizon will have a huge initial problem with iphone users killing their network as most current iphone users won't likely move over thanks to the insanely high early termination fees AT&T charges anyways.

What WILL kill the verizon network as well as the other major carriers is their inability to keep up with technology though as none of the major carriers are able to keep up with 4g speeds which clearly will be in demand as early as 2012.

Consumer Reports had a recent survey that showed ATT was the worst rated cell service is like 28 of the 30 top markets according to CR/CU readers.

[Logan]

I always find these kinds of discussions funny. People act as if AT&T (or whatever service, piece of hardware, etc you choose) is their child.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

That's not the point, though. Before the iPhone AT&T was fantastic in metropolitan areas. Now it is rated very lowly in those same areas -- this is largely due to oversaturation of smartphones on the AT&T network. It is conceivable that this could happen to Verizon as well, particularly inside those same metropolitan areas.

I just don't see it happening. What caught AT&T was how much people ended up using their smartphones as opposed to what they estimated. That's not going to catch Verizon. They have a lot of people already using Android on their network and have had the iPad for a few months. The rate of new subscribers will be much slower due to high termination fees.

It's also worth pointing out that Verizon's network is miles ahead of AT&T. The money they've pumped into it compared to AT&T is mind boggling. They put their primary focus on the network while AT&T didn't do shit about theirs. You literally can barely use an AT&T cell phone in any major city nowadays. I loved my iPhone but had to switch simply because it became ridiculous to have 20% of my calls drop in 5 minutes.

And those advertisements aren't misleading. They do have 3G coverage in nearly 5 times the area that AT&T does. The only misleading ad I've seen is the ones where AT&T claims to have the fastest 3G network. I think most iPhone owners would laugh at that. AT&T put their money into exclusive phone deals, Verizon put it into their infrastructure. It helped AT&T short term but destroyed their reputation and will likely now kill their mobile business.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Consumer Reports had a recent survey that showed ATT was the worst rated cell service is like 28 of the 30 top markets according to CR/CU readers.

I think you misunderstood what was being said though.

Prior to the iphone, that was not the case, Cingular had one of the higher satisfaction ratings. (The top from a few years ago was technically T-Mobile for most regions though).

My point was that we see what over-saturation and falling behind in infrastructure has done to AT&T. The same is going to happen to all of the major carriers very soon here as absolutely ZERO of them are ready for 4g network requirements in the US.

[RainMaker]

I don't know why you would assume that. Most companies seem to have learned from AT&T's mistakes. And again, that mistake by AT&T was based on how much people would actually use their smartphones. That isn't something that is going to surprise anyone anymore.

AT&T fell behind because they really didn't put much into their infrastructure prior to the iPhone. And even then, they didn't put much into getting it up to par when they had all their customers. They are a horrible example because they basically did everything wrong. These other companies are not that stupid.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know why you would assume that. Most companies seem to have learned from AT&T's mistakes. And again, that mistake by AT&T was based on how much people would actually use their smartphones. That isn't something that is going to surprise anyone anymore.

AT&T fell behind because they really didn't put much into their infrastructure prior to the iPhone. And even then, they didn't put much into getting it up to par when they had all their customers. They are a horrible example because they basically did everything wrong. These other companies are not that stupid.

Your post leads me to believe that you are ok with what the carriers are offering up as "4g" service or soon to come "4g" service even though it technically isn't?

What we are being forced on is the Wi-Max or LTE services instead.

Basically this is the same old song and dance as when Cingular/AT&T tried to tell everyone that EDGE was a 3g network (which is simply laughable).

As early as next year we will be getting equipment that takes advantage of 4g technology, but none of the carriers are going to even have any infrastructure close to being able to take advantage of it.

I don't see any sign that the carriers have learned from their mistakes, they are repeating the same past practices over again.

[RainMaker]

I don't get caught up with the different networks and different speeds. I just want my stuff to work. It works on Verizon, didn't work on AT&T. They can call it whatever they want, I just want to make phone calls and do crap online.

[MJ4H]

^^^^^^^

[Alan T]

For whatever it is worth, I have both AT&T and Verizon service at my house and haven't had any real problems with either to a level of frustration. Both work great for the most part. I have had maybe 2 or 3 dropped calls on AT&T in the past 3 months, which is my only complaint with them. My only verizon complaint is that transfer rates over their network is not as good as it is for me on AT&T, but it seems more stable speedwise.

So I don't really have that much concern about what I have now, so I am more focused for what equipment is coming next and how woefully prepared the providers are for it.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Logan

I strongly challenge that statement, for NYC at least.

Which statement?

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I just don't see it happening. What caught AT&T was how much people ended up using their smartphones as opposed to what they estimated. That's not going to catch Verizon. They have a lot of people already using Android on their network and have had the iPad for a few months. The rate of new subscribers will be much slower due to high termination fees.

It's also worth pointing out that Verizon's network is miles ahead of AT&T. The money they've pumped into it compared to AT&T is mind boggling. They put their primary focus on the network while AT&T didn't do shit about theirs. You literally can barely use an AT&T cell phone in any major city nowadays. I loved my iPhone but had to switch simply because it became ridiculous to have 20% of my calls drop in 5 minutes.

I didn't say it was going to happen. I just said it was conceivable that it could. Perhaps Verizon HAS put enough into the infrastructure, and it's rather possible, but I leave open the possibility that they could be headed down the same path as AT&T.

As for "You literally can barely use an AT&T cell phone in any major city nowadays." that is an incredible exaggeration. I use my phone in a major city (DC) and have spent time in Boston, SF and NYC without having any major problems with my phone. I'm not saying that Verizon doesn't do better, I'm just saying that your statement is a large exaggeration.

[RainMaker]

The average drop rate in New York is 30%. I can personally attest that I was getting around 20% of my calls dropped in the first 5 minutes in Chicago. Many parts of the city had no signal at all. My rate may have been higher if I hadn't completely given up on using it for any important call lasting more than a couple minutes. I also barely had any reception when I was in San Francisco for work.

So yes, as a phone I use for business, I can barely use AT&T. I simply can't get on business calls and have them continue to drop over and over. It makes me look bad and is a huge waste of time.

[McSweeny]

I've had zero service problems with AT&T in and around the Boston area in the 5+ years I've lived here. I can't even remember the last call that was dropped and I always have 3g service.

I do recall being more than annoyed with AT&T dropping calls when I lived in southeastern Connecticut.

So that's my experience with AT&T for whatever it's worth.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I read something, I believe it was on CNN, that mentioned that Verizon's iPhone, because it's on Verizon's CDMA network, wouldn't work very well at all overseas. With other smartphones, like my blackberry, you can put in a GSM chip which allows you to get coverage almost worldwide.

Why I don't travel overseas often, when I do I rely on my smartphone almost entirely as both a form of communicating with friends in Europe and keeping tabs on work.

Conclusion: I will not be getting a Verizon iPhone 4.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I read something, I believe it was on CNN, that mentioned that Verizon's iPhone, because it's on Verizon's CDMA network, wouldn't work very well at all overseas. With other smartphones, like my blackberry, you can put in a GSM chip which allows you to get coverage almost worldwide.

Why I don't travel overseas often, when I do I rely on my smartphone almost entirely as both a form of communicating with friends in Europe and keeping tabs on work.

Conclusion: I will not be getting a Verizon iPhone 4.

If you wait for the iphone 5, supposedly (rumors only for now) it will have LTE based technology available to it (that is if verizon gets an iphone 5 available for it which most seem to assume).

Once that is there, many countries overseas will have some form of LTE provider where that iphone theoretically should work ok overseas. LTE of course is the watered down 4g that many providers are going to be using.

So if that is your only concern about a verizon iphone, just wait for the next generation and you likely will be ok

[CU Tiger]

Moto Bionic due in April...thats the phone to wait for from my perspective.