Topic: Verizon phones

[NWR_insanolord]

Meh. I probably would consider getting one if it supported 4G/LTE...but I find Android to be so much better. Actually...I wouldn't even consider it without some *major* changes to the structure and OS.

What kind of changes? (That's a genuine question; I'm curious to hear what you'd want.)

Also, people have been predicting this for so long that I'm not going to believe anything until I hear it from Steve.

[BranDonk Kong]

Changes as in removable storage (as in additional storage), not being tied down by iTunes (drag and drop), HDMI output, a true 16:9 display (like Motorola uses - 960x640 is not 16:9). That's just off the top of my head. Oh - open market too. Basically...it would have to not be an iPhone.

[NWR_insanolord]

You can do pretty much everything but upgrade the firmware of an iPhone without going into iTunes if you have the right software. HDMI output would be nice, but not really necessary, given the phone's inability to output at a resolution that Component outputs, which are available, can't handle. Removable storage would be nice. As for an open market, I don't really see the need; you can find anything not specifically prohibited by Apple on the App Store as it is, and most of the forbidden things are available on Cydia.

[BranDonk Kong]

So, like I said, they would have to basically change the entire phone.

[Plugabugz]

You can't get charged for anything transmitted over WiFi. They wouldn't even have any idea that you were using it.

I'm a bit late to responding to this but UMA is different to just connecting your phone to your wifi spot. All your calls, texts and data are routed by wifi and its charged according to your existing service plan. While it does mean you're using your wifi to allow this (and a bit of a pain in the bum if you have a data limit on your broadband) it does mean you get perfect coverage anywhere there's wifi.

If you're just connected by wifi (which, all wifi devices can do) then your network operator have nothing to do with it. UMA needs to be either setup or enabled first. I've been using it for the past 3 weeks at work including right right now.

In my case i have 1200 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited data and i have unlimited broadband at home so its win win. And at work it's broadband and works a treat here so i don't care.

[BranDonk Kong]

So Verizon is going to start selling the iPad in on October 28th (it's on their site). Price is the same as buying the AT&T version, but it uses MiFi instead of connecting directly to 3G (unless the MiFi is built-in or something). Either way, I have no interest (Samsung Tab will be better, but I don't want one of those either), but the pricing is a lot better than AT&T's, though it is tiered as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

iPad and no iPhone ... yet?

and the iPad data pricing is tiered like AT&T's?
that could be the source for that tiered pricing rumor. It could have been about the iPad and not the rest of Verizon's phones.

[BranDonk Kong]

Tiered pricing is *only* for the iPad (and netbooks and crap like that), not for phones. iPhone will be out by March, which makes me think it will be 4G.

[NWR_insanolord]

Rumor has it (and you know how reliable they are) the iPhone isn't going 4G until 2012. Given that it didn't even have 3G until the first revision, that's not hard for me to believe.

[BranDonk Kong]

It just seems kind of silly for Verizon to launch 4G, follwed by the iPhone several months later and have it not be 4G...but then again, this would be the decision of Apple, so I can totally see it happening.

[Shaymin]

Apple would want the most people to be able to use the 4G network before they launched on it. I was working for at&t when they launched the initial iPhone - in of all things, data support - and I knew the 3G network was utter bollocks in the summer of '07.

[NWR_insanolord]

It'll take time for 4G networks to expand, and in that time the tech that powers them will become cheaper, smaller, and more power-efficient. Those last two are why Apple would wait: space is at a premium in the form factor of the iPhone, and battery concerns were what kept 3G out of the original iPhone.

[BranDonk Kong]

It won't take that long - Verizon will be covering 100 million people by the end of this year. Verizon will have 4G in more places than AT&T has 3G

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm assuming by "this year" you mean 2011, because as far as I know Verizon has yet to launch its 4G network, and the 4G iPhone will launch in early- to mid-2012. Since I won't be buying a new iPhone until 2012's model anyway, I don't really care about the delay.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm assuming by "this year" you mean 2011, because as far as I know Verizon has yet to launch its 4G network, and the 4G iPhone will launch in early- to mid-2012. Since I won't be buying a new iPhone until 2012's model anyway, I don't really care about the delay.

no, when he says "this year" he means 2010

http://www.crn.com/news/networking/227700273/verizon-tips-its-hand-on-4g-network-launch-plans.htm;jsessionid=ITg7yncQD84lnRl3kQCuow**.ecappj01

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) plans to launch its 4G LTE network in 38 major U.S. metropolitan areas by year's end, in an ambitious rollout that will also drape high-speed mobile broadband coverage over 60 airports.
In a keynote address Thursday at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications conference, Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon, outlined the cities in the initial launch wave, which include: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, New Orleans, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The scope of Verizon's 4G LTE launch is considerably larger than the plans it outlined in March, which called for an initial rollout of 25 to 30 cities covering about 100 million people. With the expansion, Verizon now expects to offer 4G to 110 million people nationwide.

but plans do change....
and that's just the initial rollout of Verizon's 4G. iI won't be fully blanketing the US from coast to coast till 2013.

[NWR_insanolord]

I stand corrected.

Even so, my points about size and power needs of the tech remain true. Also, Apple tends to be either the first company to really get behind a new technology (Wi-Fi, USB, built in webcams in notebooks) or the last (multitasking, right clicking), and it's a bit too late to be the former. There's also the possibility that the rumor isn't true, as crazy as that concept might seem. Either way, I don't personally care, since I'm not buying a new phone until 2012 anyway, and even then I doubt there will be 4G where I live.

[BranDonk Kong]

Well I'd say "rumor," but it's basically been all-but-confirmed by Verizon. Plus, they're releasing the iPad, and no one else is, so that's confirmation to me as well. Still...I don't care, but it's good for Verizon. Hopefully this doesn't hurt Android's momentum (which has been outselling the iPhone for a while now).

[NWR_insanolord]

The rumor I was referring to was the one that the iPhone isn't going 4G until 2012. And the iPhone going to Verizon will most certainly cut into the sales of Android. I know there are people like you who like Android for what it is, but there is a large chunk of its userbase that wanted an iPhone but wanted to stay with Verizon, and Android was as close as they could get. I doubt it's a coincidence that Android's market share is considerably lower outside the United State and that in those countries the iPhone is available on most (if not all) major carriers.

[BranDonk Kong]

I don't think it will hurt the Android platform as much as it will hurt AT&T. I'm sure there will be a bunch of people who have been waiting for one, but a lot of people who were on Sprint, Verizon, etc, jumped ship a long time ago. Android's market share continues to get bigger every month in the US, iOS pretty much stays exactly where it is, and BlackBerry continues to drop. Apple's market share is also considerably lower outside of the US. They're picking up, but so is Google, while Microsoft and Symbian decline.

[NWR_insanolord]

A lot of people have already given in and gone with Android, and they'll probably stick with it, but going forward I expect Android's growth to slow because of this. And yeah, it'll certainly hurt AT&T more than Android.

The thing is, I'm not really sure why Verizon wants the iPhone that much. Sure, if you're only looking at number of users it will help them, but it will also put more strain on their network, and they won't be able to control the platform the way they can with Android. Unless they expect AT&T to be able to dramatically improve their network, I'm not sure why they'd give in and agree to Apple's terms.

[BranDonk Kong]

Money.

[BranDonk Kong]

As you probably have read, Verizon (and probably Steve Jobs) will announce the VZW iPhone 4 on Tuesday. This doesn't matter much to me, the only way I'd consider getting one is if it was LTE compatible. I much prefer Android devices in general, but since you can already run Android 2.3 on the iPhone, it does present a reason for checking it out.

Wall Street Journal, bitch.

I'm more interested in the HTC Thunderbolt, but it doesn't have HDMI (I assume so HTC can sell adapters) natively, so I'll probably wait until some more phones are announced. Contract is up in January.

[BlackNMild2k1]

it better be an iPhone 4G

[TJ Spyke]

Apple and Verizon officially announced the deal this morning. Some of the details:

*Pre-orders will start February 3, then goes on sale a week later in Verizon and Apple stores and online.
*A 16GB model will be $199 and a 32GB model will be $299
*The CDMA iPhone 4 will have a 5 megapixel camera
*The antenna design has been changed to make it work with CDMA networks
*Unlike AT&T, Verizon users will not be able to use the phone and data at the same time (like talking and surfing the web)
*The phone will not be LTE, they said that would have required a redesign of the phone and Verizon wanted the iPhone now
*The deal is for multiple years and is non-exclusive
*Verizon and Apple started talking in 2008 and spent a year testing the iPhone on CDMA networks.

[BranDonk Kong]

3G, lame. I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes, but 4G is the new standard. I'm sure there will be one out in October or whenever it is that Apple always "updates" their product lines, and then you'll be able to talk and use data at the same time. It's a CDMA limitation, not a Verizon limitation. Technically you can talk and use WiFi at the same time though.