The tech world has been holding their breath for the final announcement of when Verizon will begin carrying and servicing the iPhone 4 and this week, Verizon has officially announced February 10 as the launch date with the phones starting at $199.99.
While people are excited and ready to either dump AT&T for Verizon or to dump their current Verizon phone for the iPhone, PCWorld.com has shown in 3G performance tests that the Verizon networks uploads and downloads at nearly half the speed of AT&T and insiders complain that on the Verizon version, you cannot use data and voice at the same time so speed is barely the worst factor.
Gizmodo questions whether or not the iPhone 4 antenna issues have been resolved and we have learned that the mute button has been moved which may address Gizmodo’s concern, however, this changes the phone shape a tad which makes it incompatible with existing iPhone cases.
As an upside, the Verizon iPhone 4 will be a mobile hotspot which will likely attract new users despite the added cost on top of the $30/month data plan required for iPhone use. Now that the iPhone is not exclusive to AT&T it has yet to be seen which will get preferential treatment or first service from Apple. Statesman reporter Omar Gallaga noted, “Apple has not said whether the next version of the iPhone (likely to debut in the summer based on its product cycles) will be available to Verizon customers when it debuts or if it will be AT&T-only at first.”
Despite any complaints, the launch will be successful as the Apple cult swarms to stand in line. Will you pre-order the Verizon iPhone? What are your thoughts about the announcement?
Fred Romano
January 12, 2011 at 9:07 am
I think Verizon missed the boat, since Android phones are so popular now, and IMO are way better than the iPhone!
Rob McCance
January 15, 2011 at 7:23 pm
What a cluster with the new mute button position, half speed 3G and no simultaneous voice and data.
The latter is huge. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve responded to an email or text while on a call. Also, I am routinely on the phone and keeping an eye on the map, which also requires simultaneous voice and data.
Good luck with all that Verizon iPhone users. A pretty limited and low speed device to be locked into for the next two years. A period when smart phones are going to keep getting smarter exponentially. Bad timing.
SteveBeam
January 16, 2011 at 10:57 pm
I think many of us were hoping that when V picked up the iPhone all our issues would be solved…we’ve all waited, wondered and speculated about this date and now it’s here and we are no better off than we were last week.
My AT&T service still sucks and V takes a cool phone and limits the features that I use everyday. Only added value is the wifi hot spot.
SteveBeam
January 16, 2011 at 11:01 pm
One more thing…when we all know or at least feel confident that they will be rolling out a new version of the iPhone this summer why would you jump in now?
Rob McCance
January 17, 2011 at 11:39 am
I agree. Good point and that’s a huge one.
Who wants to buy a iPhone 4 when the iPhone 5 will come out 3-6 months later?
Bad timing ALL around by Verizon/Apple on this one.