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New AT&T Commercial "Answer"

totally weak response. i was really looking forward to something that was aimed more directly at Verizon. This was really missing the oomph we were all waiting for.

Personally, I use voice and data all the time. MANY times have I been tethering to my laptop, using the phone, running reports on the web while on a conference call with business partners. For that very reason, Verizon would be absolutely useless to me. I'm frequently outside of a Wifi area and using voice and connected to the internet via my laptop.

my summary...

AT&T: faster network, and can use the phone and web simultaneously at very decent speeds

Verizon: better coverage, but can't use their slow data network while on the phone

No brainer for my purposes…and I used to be a huge Verizon fan and MAJOR MAJOR AT&T hater
 
unwinded said:
Jeeez.... The amount of people split down the middle is so weird.

Look, I would also pass off simultaneous data/voice as a useless feature..... UNTIL YOU FRIGGIN USE IT.

For example, your spouse is lost. Pull up the maps app and find out where they are. Guess what, there is a use for it. Butt-hurt Verizon subscribers can disagree all they want. I'll be over there in the corner adding up my roll-over minutes. Oh and reception on AT&T for me was spotty in the past but totally fine the past few months. Even in San Francisco. You mad!
Click to expand...

According to an AT&T tech he said San Francisco should be fixed and service should be great. Is it?
 
meh

This ad fell short IMO for several reasons. Regardless of whether you think its a worthwhile feature (I happen to think it is) it should have been executed better.

1- From a story standpoint, as others have said, he should/could have just waited until he got off the phone. A better way to execute this would have been for the wife to ask him where the reservations were, and at what time, and what should she wear, to which he could answer those questions with his ability to talk and surf.

2- he's in a seemingly modern looking office building. Surely its got Wifi which makes this whole concept moot.

3- as mentioned before, his phone was certainly on lock and popped immediately into the answer/ignore screen that shows when a phone isnt locked and receives a call. This should have been caught by someone before this ad was released.

4- why didnt he have a computer anywhere near him, you know, like most people do in modern looking offices?

5- from a filmmaking standpoint (and I can speak to that bc its what I do) this looked rushed and forced. Basically it used 2 angles. Not enough cuts. Sub par lighting. The actor himself was fine... just the execution and blocking of everything was not good... the fact that the frame on the medium shot was partially obscured by a large beam (an indication that they probably just cropped in from the wide shot to make the medium shot) indicates hasty production. Not something we should expect from AT&T.

This is such a non issue for so many people, which is why I think they are grasping for straws here. Pick a new thing AT&T... this thing, while pertinent to some, isn't that relevant to most, and it makes you look foolish.
 
He's in his office and he doesn't have wifi? :p

Personally I know I'm from the UK so this whole AT&T vs Verizon argument doesn't apply to me but simultaneous voice and data does come in handy from time to time.

For example I was listening to my iPod when my girlfriend rang me. She was at work and wanted to know if we should go to the cinema that night. I checked the times whilst still on the phone to her because she had to get back to work quickly. I have to admit it does come in handy but it isn't the main dealbreaker. Network coverage in your area should be the main factor when deciding on carrier.

EDIT: Damn my first point was made by the poster above me haha.
 
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Considering one of the reasons I am thinking of switching is because my calls in my area are constantly dropped with ATT, I can live without the simultaneous call and net. I'd be happy if i could just keep a call connected. Otherwise, I have one of those 'smart' phones that does everything...except make calls :rolleyes:
 
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Are you kidding me? Why would any of you think this is an useless feature? Someone using Verizon for years said it never found useful? How could you find a feature you never had useful in the first place? It's like 100 years ago most people would also said their horses are perfectly fine, or 80 years ago trains are perfectly fine no need for plane.

Let me tell you how critical this feature is to me:

I fly weekly and often when I call airlines to reroute my flight, I can check flight space inventory myself via expertflyer or seatcounter.com so I can directly tell agent exactly what flight I want to take to get the right upgrade. I also can check the best seat via seatguru while the agent tell me the model of the plane. I cannot do any of these things because I don't know much information such as irregular ops situation, or plane model until i speak to agent, and definitely can't hang up and say let me check something and call them back. I must be able to speak and surf at the same time. This is especially needed during irregular ops (misconnect or cancellation).

I work for a company (100,000+ employees) that everyone spends hrs a day on webex. The WebEx client for iPhone allows me to attend teleconference globally maybe I be on a cruise ship in the middle of pacific. I simply launch the app, type the mtg number, receive a call back so I can join the voice session, then the WebEx app will show me the desktop and PowerPoint being presented. In essence this feature allows tens of thousands ppl using WebEx daily to have conference call with presentation capability. How can u say it's useless?!?!

Or when i am on hold for those hour long wait with tech support or court or DMV or CIS, you can't use your phone for an hr just cuz you are listening to some elevator music?! You tell me you don't find the ability to surf while you are on hold for an hr useful?!?!

Or when you have to check anything during the call: flight status, direction, movie time, weather omg you tell me this is not useful?!

Please don't kid yourself just cuz u r ignorant everyone else is not an idiot.
 
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Sorry for my rant I am typing on iPhone (traveling so no pc right now) excuse the grammar.
For more reference just google
"WebEx iPhone demo"
To see how WebEx utilizes iPhone to talk and have meeting with tens of ppl at same time. U can view ppt or screen in real time.
 
saving107 said:
I just saw this new Ad over at 9to5mac.com and I thought I would share.

screenshot20110204at511.png

(This is a screenshot, click on the link below for the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M5u6ES7BBo&feature=player_embedded

I like 9to5mac.com's question, Is This Too Little, To Late?

Its obvious that this is in response to Verizon's Ad "Yes, I can hear you now." But to me it seems kind of lame, and yes, Verizon's Ad was so much better.
Click to expand...

If you can get a decent signal ? Waiting till Feb 10 and beyond to see if all the thousands of people leaving AT&T will help there network.

And once the Verizon's LTE network is up and a iPhone is built for it, you'll probably see even more people leave.

Anyone know if you can jail break an iPhone 4 and put it on T-Mobiles network?
 
So glad that we don't have to put up with this kind of crap in the UK / Europe...All our networks, just...work!

I have to say that I found BOTH commercials pretty lame and childish. Instead of spending millions attempting to stab each other in the back, focus on making your own services better.

In the UK (Granted, a MUCH smaller coverage area) all operators use the same technology, so all phones are inter-operable. All are 3G based and all have pretty much flawless connectivity. Granted, there's the odd dead spot, but you can live with that when you get a full signal and full 3g everywhere you go. Seriously, the US seems to suck majorly with regards to phone networks...shocking really considering!

We generally are also able to pickup free (or very cheap) wifi in every major city. O2 (our largest mobile network) has hotspots all over the place, many of which inside places like Mc Donald's are free to use. IIRC O2 customers get access to the hotspots for free too.
 
Vihzel said:
That is a pretty weak response. He could NOT wait for the phone call to end. There's absolutely no need to have voice and data at the same time. Verizon smartphone customers have been doing for how long now and we survive easily without it. What are the chances of this happening in real life? Extremely slim to none.

Sorry AT&T... Verizon's massive coverage (important for me since I travel a lot and AT&T 3G coverage is very spotty in my area) > voice + data. You should focus on the 3G speed over Verizon using data gathered by tech sites. That would be far better than trying to convince people that the need for voice + data outweighs 3G coverage.
Click to expand...

AT&T would have better been served in that commercial had they done it this way...

Allow the audience to hear the phrase, "Can you hear me now?" coming out from the ATT iPhone. And the man replies, "Why, yes. Yes I can hear you now and I'm looking up that information on my phone even as we speak!" :D

That's how I would have created it.
 
AT&T speeds and coverage is great in my area

No complaints at all about AT&T speed, never drop calls.
Use voice and data all the time. On the bus when talking to people about a certain email, or on the phone and someone asks you to look at a picture on Facebook. Simultaneous voice and data is a feature I think completes the iPhone experience, especially if you've previously had an AT&T iPhone, you know how great the feature is, but I guess of you're one of those people on verizon who never had voice and data, you'll never miss what they never had. In my area AT&T is THE BEST, especially with data speeds.
 
Here's an idea for AT&T, they show a dial-up modem dialing and:

Remember the days when a phone call
used to block your internet connection?

Although we liked the 90's we're happy that AT&T's
network lets your iPhone talk and surf at the same time.
 
Rot'nApple said:
AT&T would have better been served in that commercial had they done it this way...

Allow the audience to hear the phrase, "Can you hear me now?" coming out from the ATT iPhone. And the man replies, "Why, yes. Yes I can hear you now and I'm looking up that information on my phone even as we speak!" :D

That's how I would have created it.
Click to expand...

Is the Verizon commercial hype or is it truth?

The Verizon iPhone has Qualcomm chipset which from my research shouldn't have any 3G issues. However the current AT&T iPhone doesn't have Qualcomm chipset. From talking to an AT&T tech this makes a huge difference as he says if the current AT&T iPhone has the Qualcomm chipset he's positive there wouldn't be as nearly as many issues.
 
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rmwebs said:
So glad that we don't have to put up with this kind of crap in the UK / Europe...All our networks, just...work!

I have to say that I found BOTH commercials pretty lame and childish. Instead of spending millions attempting to stab each other in the back, focus on making your own services better.

In the UK (Granted, a MUCH smaller coverage area) all operators use the same technology, so all phones are inter-operable. All are 3G based and all have pretty much flawless connectivity. Granted, there's the odd dead spot, but you can live with that when you get a full signal and full 3g everywhere you go. Seriously, the US seems to suck majorly with regards to phone networks...shocking really considering!

We generally are also able to pickup free (or very cheap) wifi in every major city. O2 (our largest mobile network) has hotspots all over the place, many of which inside places like Mc Donald's are free to use. IIRC O2 customers get access to the hotspots for free too.
Click to expand...

Yes our networks seem to be better than the US ones, which is great. However, there are still problems!

The biggest advantage to all carriers using the same tech is agreements to use each other's. My gf is on Three, but where there us no signal from them they have an agreement with Orange that they can use their network. So coverage is great.

However, the networks can still be slow. I'm in Bluewater now (one of Europe's largest shopping centres) and browsing is fine, but not what I would call quick. Takes 8-10sec to load MR front page.

Still I'm on O2 and rarely get dropped calls or internet that is completely unusable so I won't moan too much out out of respect for our American cousins.
 
Vihzel said:
That is a pretty weak response. He could NOT wait for the phone call to end. There's absolutely no need to have voice and data at the same time. Verizon smartphone customers have been doing for how long now and we survive easily without it. What are the chances of this happening in real life? Extremely slim to none.
Click to expand...

Well I disagree, sometimes my mother calls me and asks me for info, and I'll just surf the net and tell her.
Happens on other occasions too, I can't believe verizon doesn't support voice and data at the same time. I mean even Vodafone in Greece supports it! Although our 3g signal here sux, voIP is impossible but the surfing's not bad.
 
Vihzel said:
That is a pretty weak response. He could NOT wait for the phone call to end. There's absolutely no need to have voice and data at the same time. Verizon smartphone customers have been doing for how long now and we survive easily without it. What are the chances of this happening in real life? Extremely slim to none.

Sorry AT&T... Verizon's massive coverage (important for me since I travel a lot and AT&T 3G coverage is very spotty in my area) > voice + data. You should focus on the 3G speed over Verizon using data gathered by tech sites. That would be far better than trying to convince people that the need for voice + data outweighs 3G coverage.
Click to expand...

I use data and voice at the same time frequently as well. A better response would be to show someone playing an online game, or searching the web when they receive a call and lose their connection.
 
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No one is talking about the purple elephant in the room.

Voice and data is great, but the main problem with At&T in the first place is there is so little voice (dropped calls, poor coverage, etc.) for so many of us that the point is moot.

Selling voice and data is cruel when a great deal of your users are beyond frustrated at their lack of ability to use the iPhone for it's #1 intended purpose.
 
does all this drivel about adverts really constitute so-called 'macrumors'? i mean, we all know about the differences between the services they offer, but what does their respective marketing efforts have to do with it? boring.
 
rmwebs said:
So glad that we don't have to put up with this kind of crap in the UK / Europe...All our networks, just...work!

I have to say that I found BOTH commercials pretty lame and childish. Instead of spending millions attempting to stab each other in the back, focus on making your own services better.

In the UK (Granted, a MUCH smaller coverage area) all operators use the same technology, so all phones are inter-operable. All are 3G based and all have pretty much flawless connectivity. Granted, there's the odd dead spot, but you can live with that when you get a full signal and full 3g everywhere you go. Seriously, the US seems to suck majorly with regards to phone networks...shocking really considering!

We generally are also able to pickup free (or very cheap) wifi in every major city. O2 (our largest mobile network) has hotspots all over the place, many of which inside places like Mc Donald's are free to use. IIRC O2 customers get access to the hotspots for free too.
Click to expand...

We wouldn't be Americans if we weren't quarreling against something! :D

You need to add a few more "MUCH"es into that size sentence of yours! My mother, God rest her soul was the same way. Being born in Nottingham and raised in Bedford, I visited my Aunt and Uncle who live off Springfield Avenue in Bedford, anyway, they took me on a tour and showed me the home my mother grew up and the school my mother attended which was almost down the block and across two streets but to hear it from my mother, "When I was your age, we had to walk to school, in the snowl!". She made it sound as if she were on a Mount Everest trek! :eek:

Anyway, UK similar in size to the state of Louisiana or Alabama in terms of total square miles. That leaves another 49 states to go to provide infrastructure for the network and adequate mobile coverage.

Just for further size comparisons... Germany is about the size of Montana, and France which boasts being the biggest in Europe is smaller than Texas. Again, what about the other 49 states that need cell tower coverage.

Yep need to add a few more, for emphasis sake...

"Granted, a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH smaller coverage area"... :rolleyes:
 
That there in the advert is not necessarily the best example but I do find it very useful to be able to talk and surf at the same time. There's lots of times where I'm out and about and on the phone to my girlfriend when she needs directions or I need to check something out quickly related to our conversation. It comes in very very useful.
 
Not meaning to offend anyone as i understand this is a contentious issue for some, but...

Is this really a front page 'Mac' rumor?
All i can see is posts of adverts from different networks in the US.
Its not a rumor and has no impact on apple if were honest.

Surely this should just go to the 'iphone' section?
 
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