Verizon iPhone Launches with Mobile Hotspot and Redesigned Antenna

[brando123b]

yeah that's not a big deal to you. but a lot of people are on a call and have to look something up at the same time. i receive my texts through data on google voice. when i'm on a phone call it notifies me like a regular text through push. that wouldn't happen on verizon.

just bc YOU don't use it doesn't mean someone else doesn't.

If you polled all 92 million VZW subscribers and asked them how they feel about not being able to recieve data and voice at the same time, the response would probably be: "What?"

The vast majority of people have no idea. Those that do, great, give up being able to actually make a call so that you can browse the web while on one...until it drops.

There is a reason the VZ iPhone has been such a hot topic. It isn't because AT&T has such a great network and we all just want to be a big happy family. It is because a significant portion of AT&T subscribers are unhappy with their ability to use the iPhone as a "Phone".

 

[Consultant]

On the Verizon FAQ Page it states that the iPhone 4 will come preloaded with VCast Media Manager. Now it's been many a year since I've had Verizon, but I'm curious why this would be on/necessary on an iPhone 4. Since everything comes through iTunes (unless jb of course), what good is the Media Manager?

So they can nickle and dime the same people who buy the fake iPhone (Android) on Verizon.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

You will NOT miss calls when using the hotspot. If somebody calls you on Verizon during an active data connection the connection is paused and the phone call goes through like it normally would.

Unless you disable that feature, in which case the call goes directly to voicemail. I would prefer a larger network with the ability to actually MAKE calls and not have them drop. That's far more important than anything relating to data.

 

[black743]

So does it appear that a current iPhone 4 case will fit?

It looks to me like the only change is moving the mute button down a little, which wouldn't hurt, as most cases have a large opening for all 3 buttons.

 

[bpfesq]

I have never seen a bigger group of nancys complain about data and voice at the same time. "I have to browse maps and talk at the same time...it is so imperative to my experience!" You sound like a bunch of fruits spouting off all day about this.

You do understand if you're browsing the web, and a phone call comes in, you get the call. It doesn't block the call. When you hang up you go right back to browsing.

Or when i'm trying to give directions to someone or need to look something up on the internet while on the phone. It happens more that you'd think. I don't think it would prevent me from getting a verizon iPhone (if i weren't already on AT&T), but i certainly wouldn't switch to verizon from AT&T without simultaneous V+D.

I'd say this is like the flash argument--some people care more about it than others. To each their own. At least we now have a CHOICE!!

Please just admit it...Verizon has THE network in the U.S. and now they have THE phone. Stop falling on the data/voice crutch, it is a false arguement.

I'll be interested to see how well Verizon deals with the increased load the iPhone will cause. Personally, AT&T in my area rocks. But when i'm in NYC, it is horrible. We shall see how this shakes out in the end. Again, i'm just glad we now have a choice.

 

[mwp98223]

Free Unlimited tethering.

Goodbye AT&T

They never said it would be free, only that the ability was there. They VZW offers this on some Android phones, but it costs $20.

Also not mentioned, Visual Voice Mail. An option VZW charges extra for on current phones.

 

[Tembrock]

Voice/Data and the Network Capacity

Hey guys, one thing that might be worth thinking about is that for those (like me) who are very reluctant to give up the ability to use voice and data simultaneously (as we can on AT&T) is that when the next version of the iPhone comes out on Verizon it should be for the faster network. I'm guessing you will be able to use voice/data simultaneously on the LTE network? Could be wrong. The mobile hotspot feature is not so appealing to me when:

a) you get disconnected as soon as a call comes in
b) the pricing hasn't been announced yet

as a former Verizon customer I was used to paying a premium. I don't expect that to change here. They have always set their network apart from the others and charged you for it. That and I want to make absolutely sure they haven't mucked with the iOS software and added any Verizon only features while disabling native iOS functionality (I'm relatively sure Apple wouldn't allow that) but after discovering phone after phone that Verizon would hobble (only for their network) while other carriers enjoyed the full functionality of their phones, I'm a little wary.

Don't get me wrong though. The fact that I'd have better reception at work and on the road in Los Angeles is a huge plus. I'm going to let other people be my guinea pigs though. Plus, the older I get the more ridiculous the constant upgrading becomes. I look at the pricing for the 3GS now on AT&T and think, "Good pricing comes to those who wait"

 

[Consultant]

The ability to MAKE a phone call and not have your call drop every 3 seconds is far more important than simultaneous voice/data. Start with the basics.

Not sure where you get that but I rarely have a call drop on the iPhone 4 on AT&T. Maybe once or twice a month, not every 3 seconds.

BTW, CDMA phones uses more battery power.

 

[notabadname]

If you polled all 92 million VZW subscribers and asked them how they feel about not being able to recieve data and voice at the same time, the response would probably be: "What?"

The vast majority of people have no idea. Those that do, great, give up being able to actually make a call so that you can browse the web while on one...until it drops.

There is a reason the VZ iPhone has been such a hot topic. It isn't because AT&T has such a great network and we all just want to be a big happy family. It is because a significant portion of AT&T subscribers are unhappy with their ability to use the iPhone as a "Phone".

Yeah, and people that have never had HD tv tend not to complain about what they haven't experienced either by only having standard def. But the difference is real, and to those whom have had the greater capability, normally appreciated and desired.

 

[deenybird]

it's kind of hard to believe it finally happened...
The hotspot feature is cool, but like most others have said, losing simul voice and data means it's just not worth it to me.
What will this do to the sales of android phones? I'm making a guess of a 30% reduction.

 

[sw19]

The lack of being able to use voice & check email, etc. is a minus on Verizon. If AT&T adds the wifi hot spot function for free it'll be a major selling point.

 

[JSalig]

I find it hilarious that there are people who actually believe that Verizon is going to offer free tethering on an unlimited data plan. VERIZON! On its 3G network! Get real.

 

[MacManTexas56]

If you polled all 92 million VZW subscribers and asked them how they feel about not being able to recieve data and voice at the same time, the response would probably be: "What?"

The vast majority of people have no idea. Those that do, great, give up being able to actually make a call so that you can browse the web while on one...until it drops.

There is a reason the VZ iPhone has been such a hot topic. It isn't because AT&T has such a great network and we all just want to be a big happy family. It is because a significant portion of AT&T subscribers are unhappy with their ability to use the iPhone as a "Phone".

the reason it's been such a hot topic is bc it's not exclusively at ONE provider now. it gives options to consumers...creates some competition.

I have been really happy with AT&T. i don't have any problems with my phone and my wife doesn't have any problems with her's either. I was looking forward to today bc maybe it would lower the price or create more options that otherwise wouldn't be there if Verizon didn't get the iphone.

i certainly have no desire to switch to verizon, but it's nice to see some competition out there.

plus, if i switched to verizon, i wouldn't be getting my text messages on data through google voice while on the phone.

 

[NoExpectations]

If you polled all 92 million VZW subscribers and asked them how they feel about not being able to recieve data and voice at the same time, the response would probably be: "What?"

The vast majority of people have no idea. Those that do, great, give up being able to actually make a call so that you can browse the web while on one...until it drops.

There is a reason the VZ iPhone has been such a hot topic. It isn't because AT&T has such a great network and we all just want to be a big happy family. It is because a significant portion of AT&T subscribers are unhappy with their ability to use the iPhone as a "Phone".

You had no idea how useful Power Windows was in your car until you had them. Would you buy a car without them now? Verizon users have been kept in the dark too long and they don't even know it.

 

[BC2009]

I'm not a hater, I'm just disappointed that my iPhone 4 will pretty much lose coverage if one specific spot is touched. I really like this phone and would gladly use it without a case on. Sadly I cannot.

I don't know a single iPhone-4 owner who was affected by any "antenna issues". The iPhone-4 seems better than any other smartphone I have owned and maintaining signal. My iPhone 3Gs and Palm Treo both gained or lost bars depending on how I held them in my hand and it was never an issue -- no dropped calls. The iPhone-4's I have handled seem to do much better. Don't let the FUD scare you off, you'd be missing out on a great phone. Buy it and use the return policy as your safety net.

 

[STC1709]

So does it appear that a current iPhone 4 case will fit?

It looks to me like the only change is moving the mute button down a little, which wouldn't hurt, as most cases have a large opening for all 3 buttons.

nope!

 

[mallom]

I have a VERY stupid question...

Let's say that they found a way to make a hybrid chip CDMA/GSM. Do yall think they could tweak the GSM chip to work with T-Mobile frequency?
I now it is a dumb question... I was just wondering...

 

[Consultant]

I don't know a single iPhone-4 owner who was affected by any "antenna issues". The iPhone-4 seems better than any other smartphone I have owned and maintaining signal. My iPhone 3Gs and Palm Treo both gained or lost bars depending on how I held them in my hand and it was never an issue -- no dropped calls. The iPhone-4's I have handled seem to do much better. Don't let the FUD scare you off, you'd be missing out on a great phone. Buy it and use the return policy as your safety net.

I got reception on iPhone 4 in a just-landed airplane, while I frequently hear hello...hello...hang up all around.

I use iPhone 4 with case though.

 

[jason2811]

1-year agreement

Does anyone know if Verizon will be offering 1-Year plans? I currently have one for my Droid and the price for a 1-year agreement is usually $70 more than the 2-year agreement. So the price would be $270 for 1-year, rather than $199. Any one have any info on this?

 

[cvaldes]

I have a VERY stupid question...

Let's say that they found a way to make a hybrid chip CDMA/GSM. Do yall think they could tweak the GSM chip to work with T-Mobile frequency?
I now it is a dumb question... I was just wondering...

Probably.

 

[MarximusMG]

+1

For the most part... don't buy ANYTHING NOW... everything will be outdated at some point! So you might as well get what you need/want and enjoy it.

Agree 100%.

 

[painter28]

iPhone 4

I am a little confused? I have been an iphone user since the first model came out and have since changed to Verizon and have been very pleased with the droid x; which is just as good as the iphone. Why would anyone at this point in time want to buy a iphone that can only offer 3g speeds when Verizon is rolling out LTE phones this year? Apple states that they are listening to what the customer wants? I hardly believe that, it means that apple would have had to remodel the phone to allow LTE(4g speeds), just for verizon. Apple makes an excellent product no doubt, but they dangle a small piece of carrot (little improvements) in front of the consumer knowing that they never have to give the whole carrot. It is fairly safe to assume that apple next phone will be 4g. Maybe someone can explain this to me?

 

[DougB541]

I can't believe how much negativity/sour grapes there is in this thread.

The iPhone 4 is on Verizon. We all win!

Except for those of us who got the Droid X six months ago after the iPhone 4 was announced exclusively for at&t...


I'm hoping/PRAYING Verizon lets us have an early opt-out for iPhone 5 without a penalty.

You act like the Droid X is a bad phone?

 

[thecypher]

GSM is older than CDMA.

It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with engineering decisions made early on during the development.

Also, Verizon had a choice to go with EVDV...which did voice+data. They chose not to. In fact, all CDMA carriers chose not to. Must have been buggy or too expensive.



You are obviously clueless about wireless technologies.

Well enlighten us oh great one! Or I think I will just wait another couple of months and just watch all the Verizon iPhone customers bitching and whining about their slow data connections and limitation of not being able to access any data service while on a call (sucks big time!! no matter how much Verizon koolaid drinkers try to justify it doesn't). I am in the NY metro area and I get over 2 Mbps download speeds and close to 2 Mbps upload speeds consistently. Lets see Verizon beat that and we will talk.

The bottomline is that the iPhone is the ONLY device on the market today which drives data usage like no other smartphone. That is the nature of the device. It is so easy to use and so fantastic, I think it is life changing as far as your mobile phone usage is concerned. Your data usage pattern just changes completely once you are on an iPhone. I see people who have never used a mobile phone for accessing any kind of data service in their life just get hooked on to the iPhone and use data services all the time that they never dreamt they would before. I have practically stopped using my computer. Verizon has not had this smartphone before and they have not had anywhere close to the data usage on their network that the iPhone drove on AT&T's network. Just wait till they sell enough iPhones (I am sure they will. A vast majority of people are unaware of CDMA vs GSM vs HSPA+ vs LTE blah blah vs simultaneous data and voice. People want the iPhone and they will get it) and then watch what happens.

 

[Jon the Heretic]

Meh Every Two

Thanks! I'm ecstatic!!

New Every Two was reduced to a measly $50 from $100 end of last year. Might be a few people grandfathered at $100 but I sure wasn't, and I hit eligibility for a new phone almost a full year ago. They cut my credit in half and laughed.

Some people get just $30 credit.

meh