Topic: Verizon phones

[nickmitch]

I wouldn't call 4G the new standard just yet. It's still in its infancy as a standard. And it makes sense. They said it would require a redesign, and I'm sure Apple isn't gonna go through the trouble to redesign the iPhone and continue to let Verizon have all the attention.

The most interesting part is that there was no mention of any pricing plans today. I really wanna know if they'll really continue their unlimited plans.

[bustin98]

Yeah, I heard that in order to differintiate themselves from AT&T they will continue to offer unlimited data plans. Of course it will change in the future as the Verizon execs have said the industry should move forward with a tiered pricing structure.

[that Baby guy]

I don't really see why anyone other than perhaps a medical Dr. that uses medical apps for convenience would buy an iPhone at this point.  Android has better options and many more choices.  That's just me.

Anyway, my brother-in-law that is a Dr. will be switching to Verizon on or around February 10th.  He's fed up with the service he's had on AT&T.

[TJ Spyke]

Verizon also announced that they will also start selling a version of the iPad with a chip built in that lets users connect to their network (currently you need a extra device to do this).

[NWR_insanolord]

No bloatware, no Verizon branding. Apple finally got Verizon to agree to their terms.

Since AT&T's service is actually pretty good where I live, I'm in no hurry to switch to Verizon. Unless the iPhone 5 offers me something I can't refuse, I'll be waiting til my contract's up next summer to even begin to consider it.

[TJ Spyke]

I wonder if Apple will let Verizon do pre-paid phone plans for it. The biggest reason I haven't gotten a iPhone is because I refuse to be locked into a phone contract, especially one as expensive as AT&T.

[vudu]

Word of advice, Verizon's prepaid rates are highway robbery.  Unless they're the only carrier that works in your area you can save a lot of money by going with just about any other carrier.

Also, I'm not sure about Verizon, but with a wireless carrier that uses SIM cards you can use a prepaid plan on any phone on their network.  I have a T-Mobile G2 on a prepaid plan.  I imagine you can get a Verizon iPhone to work on prepaid, but you might have to pay the wireless store extra to do so (and they might not be willing to until launch shortages have been addressed for contract customers).

[BlackNMild2k1]

Just buy the phone outright and you don't need a contract. problem solved.

I would wait till after summer when the iPhone4G using LTE is announced before anyone switches over for the iPhone. then it should match AT&T feature for feature(talk & surf) and have superior coverage.

[BranDonk Kong]

It already has superior coverage to AT&T. AT&T's coverage sucks (I don't care if it's good where so and so lives), and Verizon's is the best. This is fact.

Edit - I guess I was kind of reading your post wrong, as you're saying the same thing it appears. Either way, it's true.

Anyway, I still don't want one. I was sold on the HTC Thunderbolt, but then I read about the LG Optimus and the Motorola Droid Bionic, and now I want one of those instead. MDB has a bigger screen (4.3" 960x540), but LGO can do 1080p video.

[Adrock]

I'm on AT&T and the coverage is pretty crummy. I can't putz around at work on my phone as much as I want to. I'm stuck with them until October then I can switch to Verizon. I haven't decided which phone ti get but I'm sure something will come up this year. If RIM can get on the ball and come out with a new Blackberry that uses their QNX developed Playbook OS on it, I'd probably go with that.

[BranDonk Kong]

You should look to see home much your ETF would be with AT&T. I'm pretty sure it goes down $10 each month, starting at $375 initially (might only be with iPhones that it's so high). I'd wait for 4G LTE though.

[Adrock]

I think it's $325 and goes down $10 every month your on the plan. Apparently, LTE isn't expected until like the middle of the year. Assuming that's like June, I can wait a few more months to not pay anything at all. AT&T's Early Termination Fee used to be $175 and prorated at $5 per month. If that was still the case, I would have strongly considered it.

Also, for relevance: Louis C.K.: "The Shittiest Cell Phone In The World Is A Miracle". Your life sucks around the phone. Lulz.

[BranDonk Kong]

LTE came out last month. There aren't any LTE phones yet, but they'll be out in the "first half" of the year.

[Stogi]

I was thinking about grabbing that Motorola Atrix 4G. Since I'm on a family plan with AT&T, I figured that I'm stuck with them unless we all change (or I'm willing to shell out more cash from my pockets). Plus, I kinda like the fact the AT&T allows the ability to call and surf at the same time. It's come in handy before while using my brother's iPhone.

Anyone have an opinion of the Atrix? It looks pretty sweet from what specs I can gather and it's moderately priced when subsidized (a buck fifty).

I don't need a super powered phone though it makes it future proof. Plus anything I can't imagine I would need right now, I might like having heard of them. But I'm more interested in the fact that it has HTML5 support. That'll allow me to run GrooveShark in the background while I need to do other things (which is a huge plus cuz then I won't even need to fill up the memory with music). I also like the fact that I can plug it in a TV directly with a mini HDMI or through a cheap dock (in price: bout 60) that has 3 usb outs. If I can plug in my external soundcard with an optical port, I don't even need to lug my laptop around anymore. Milkdrop (a visualiztion) can already run in the background on andriod and be projected through the HDMI port. So again, no need to lug around my laptop to broadcast visualization through my projector and music through my speakers. That's pretty sick.

I also like the fingerprint scanner. My brother has an app that locks down everything personal in his iphone. I hope android can do the same except nonchalantly by just scanning to see if it's my fingerprint opening up the phone or not. I'd also like it to be able to register other peoples fingerprints in order to "cater" to them. So if your girl grabs the phone, it'll put a pic of you two in the background. If that hasn't been made yet, I'll probably make it myself.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I also like the fingerprint scanner. My brother has an app that locks down everything personal in his iphone. I hope android can do the same except nonchalantly by just scanning to see if it's my fingerprint opening up the phone or not. I'd also like it to be able to register other peoples fingerprints in order to "cater" to them. So if your girl grabs the phone, it'll put a pic of you two in the background. If that hasn't been made yet, I'll probably make it myself.

Now that is GENIUS!!  To take it even further, makes certain pics and videos invisible, including certain numbers on the call log/contacts and text conversations(entire conversations or just specific messages). All of this happens as the phone is being held and accessed. All happens in the background and the non-owning user wouldn't even be aware that certain accesses haven't been granted to them. That would be a #1 selling app. 

as a matter of fact, I'm c0-copyrighting that idea right here in this post. Stogi my man, lets get rich brotha.

[BranDonk Kong]

You should also make one that makes it look like you just smeared a booger on the screen, or turns the speaker volume up and says your finger smells like ****. You know, practical stuff.

You should know, however, that none of this is actually possible because it's just a touchscreen, not a camera. All of the fingerprint scanners for the iPhone and Android are fake, and are for "entertainment purposes only."

[Adrock]

Anyone have an opinion of the Atrix? It looks pretty sweet from what specs I can gather and it's moderately priced when subsidized (a buck fifty).

About the only fun thing I can do at work is browse tech websites since IT hasn't blocked most of the big ones. I read about phones all the time though I'm no expert. The Atrix got a lot of buzz at CES, mostly because it can dock to a computer or laptop shell. That's cool and all, but maybe a little ahead of its time. I'd probably never use any of that, but that's probably the direction we're heading in. Phones need faster processors and faster memory and an OS that's specifically built for that. The Motorola Atrix 4G oddly runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) which came out mid-2010. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) came out in recently so I find it strange that a major brand new yet to be released phone, especially one boasting a dual-core Tegra 2, would be running an older version of Android. I think Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) is coming within the next few months. Hopefully, Atrix ships with Android 2.3.

[Stogi]

I also like the fingerprint scanner. My brother has an app that locks down everything personal in his iphone. I hope android can do the same except nonchalantly by just scanning to see if it's my fingerprint opening up the phone or not. I'd also like it to be able to register other peoples fingerprints in order to "cater" to them. So if your girl grabs the phone, it'll put a pic of you two in the background. If that hasn't been made yet, I'll probably make it myself.

Now that is GENIUS!!  To take it even further, makes certain pics and videos invisible, including certain numbers on the call log/contacts and text conversations(entire conversations or just specific messages). All of this happens as the phone is being held and accessed. All happens in the background and the non-owning user wouldn't even be aware that certain accesses haven't been granted to them. That would be a #1 selling app. 

as a matter of fact, I'm c0-copyrighting that idea right here in this post. Stogi my man, lets get rich brotha.

Hahaha we think alike. We won't get rich but I have no problem being well off.

You should also make one that makes it look like you just smeared a booger on the screen, or turns the speaker volume up and says your finger smells like ****. You know, practical stuff.

You should know, however, that none of this is actually possible because it's just a touchscreen, not a camera. All of the fingerprint scanners for the iPhone and Android are fake, and are for "entertainment purposes only."

Not this one. The fingerprint scanner is on the top of the phone and is the same button used to open and shut the screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuD-8wyzHjY#t=01m56s

Anyone have an opinion of the Atrix? It looks pretty sweet from what specs I can gather and it's moderately priced when subsidized (a buck fifty).

About the only fun thing I can do at work is browse tech websites since IT hasn't blocked most of the big ones. I read about phones all the time though I'm no expert. The Atrix got a lot of buzz at CES, mostly because it can dock to a computer or laptop shell. That's cool and all, but maybe a little ahead of its time. I'd probably never use any of that, but that's probably the direction we're heading in. Phones need faster processors and faster memory and an OS that's specifically built for that. The Motorola Atrix 4G oddly runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) which came out mid-2010. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) came out in recently so I find it strange that a major brand new yet to be released phone, especially one boasting a dual-core Tegra 2, would be running an older version of Android. I think Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) is coming within the next few months. Hopefully, Atrix ships with Android 2.3.

Yeah that is weird but I think it has to do with the Webtop application it has running on top of Android. Also, I could give a damn about the laptop case. Though nice, I wouldn't find any use for it, since the majority of my web browsing can be done from the phone itself. And when I do need a computer, it's either to access my media collection or make music.

[NWR_insanolord]

iPhone 4 Breaks All Verizon First-Day Sales Records in Two Hours

Keep in mind, Verizon Wireless and Apple opened preorders at 3 a.m. ET Thursday morning, and even then, only to existing Verizon Wireless customers. While the iPhone 4 broke Verizon Wireless’s sales records just two hours later, preorders lasted until Thursday afternoon, when both Verizon and Apple had to stop accepting them.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Still not gonna make Apple the #1 phone platform in America, but that's still pretty damn impressive.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/31/canalys-android-overtakes-symbian-as-worlds-best-selling-smart/

[ShyGuy]

Can you hear me now? Guy has put on a little weight.

[that Baby guy]

Which guy?

[BlackNMild2k1]

that guy.

[ShyGuy]

PB AND JASON

[that Baby guy]

I have a confession.  I'm that guy, ShyGuy.