Verizon iPhone Launches with Mobile Hotspot and Redesigned Antenna

[roland.g]

I can't wait for my 3GS contract to end in July, just in time to get the Verizon version of the iPhone 5.

I expect the iPhone 5 or 4S or whatever in July to be HSPA+ still, as Apple will not have an LTE handset before summer 2012. Likewise, with the iPhone 4 coming to Verizon now, it is quite conceivable that AT&T will get the new iPhone in June/July with Verizon being delayed 2-6 months.

 

[Dusky600]

I wonder if the new antenna design will slip over to the other iPhone 4????

Q: Did you change the antenna?
A: Cook: We've optimized things to work on CDMA, but I'm not commenting on anything beyond that.

i get the feeling there's something were not being told about the new antenna.

i get the need to readjust to cmda, but did they need to redesign it ?

i feel like there hushing up the fact that they've just implemented a new antenna, time will tell if non verizon iphones start rolling out with this antenna design.

Also, its gonna suck that apple is not gonna give older iphone 4's any antenna support if this new design is a better one.

if they were, theyd have mentioned it by now.

Also firmware 4.2.5 ... wonder what the implication will be for the JB community

 

[EricStriffler]

i'm surprised there weren't any rumours of a verizon iphone before this announcement. This is entirely left field.

hahahaha.

 

[MacBird]

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.

This means if someone uses the iPhone as GPS with Navigon or TomTom and receives a call, the GPS software pauses or quits?

 

[nylonsteel]

ok - so now vz has the iphone - but sounds like not 100% what alot of people were looking for - in terms of capability

 

[wingsabr]

Ok folks did my research here is the off contract pricing if you are not eligible 16GB $599.00 32GB $699.00 OUCH! Very surprised they didnt go the ATT route and make everyone eligible right off the bat.

Was just about to post the same. No way am I buying an off contract iPhone 4 @599 when a new one is coming around the corner in a few months. I was hoping that Verizon would do something for their current customers, but I guess not.

Truthfully they don't owe it to us, but it would have been nice.

 

[hp200lx]

they are trying to avoid cannibalizing current phones. Early upgrades would do that. Their biggest target is pulling new customers from AT&T.

"Will Verizon Wireless be offering an early upgrade promotion?

No, Verizon Wireless is not offering any early upgrade promotion at this time."

there is a chance but as everyone has said wait for the iphone5

 

[Lailoken]

Agreed

A WiFi hotspot sounds good until you have to disconnect to make or receive a call. No thanks!

The countless phone calls I missed on my old ATT iPhone 1 ... ahh the good old days.

Yea, I don't think people realize what this means... I hope your voice mailbox is free and does not annoy people with a long-winded prompt!

Because either you will miss a lot of calls while online -or- you will get disconnected gracelessly on an incoming call... neither of these will be acceptable to me when using tethering for work.

 

[nagromme]

I despise AT&T for a variety of reasons. (Coverage and reliability aren’t among them: I’ve had no complaint about those factors.) But I use voice and data together all the time, for really basic, useful things like getting restaurant details. I don’t think I’d use the mobile hotspot enough to justify the loss of voice + data.

But I’d sure love to have both! Tethering for a (hopefully) reasonable cost, AND voice+data. Someday.... Maybe if Verizon LTE is better developed by the time my iPhone 4 contract is up!

 

[benson304]

Just a thought, but the iPhone is such a data-centric device that users tend to use it more for mobile data than anything else. With that said, what good is the Verizon network for calls if I can't get through to you because you're surfing the net, using mobile hotspot, or downloading data throughout the day?

This is a RIDICULOUS overstatement of the impact of the no data/voice at the same time thing. Just because I'm hanging out on facebook throughout the day does not mean my phone will never receive phone calls. The phone will give precedence to phone calls, if I'm surfing the internet and someone calls me, the data is interrupted and the call comes through. It's pretty simple.

Now for the mobile hotspot this is a little more annoying if you use it constantly, but the other things, you won't even see the impact.

 

[mrial]

Mobile wi-fi hotspot?! (aka tethering)

Count me in! So long AT&T!

I think of tethering as a direct physical one-on-one connection. Mobile wifi hotspot would have up to 5 wireless connections.

 

[goobot]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Mmm so it begins. Not like i couldnt use mifi alreay tho.....

 

[kdarling]

This means if someone uses the iPhone as GPS with Navigon or TomTom and receives a call, the GPS software pauses or quits?

Standalone GPS software would continue while you're on the phone. That's just regular background multitasking.

(People were using TomTom on Verizon WinMo phones like this for years before the iPhone came out.)

 

[Aatos.1]

I wonder if the new antenna design will slip over to the other iPhone 4????

Not a chance. Apples going to get our money again. They're not about to make things right.

 

[geenosr]

Something just froze over!

Wow, I hear that Verizon has the iphone so hell must have frozen over!

Oh wait, I'm in the Atlanta area and when I looked out the window everything here is frozen over. Is that a coincidence?

I'm hoping for ATT defectors to increase my iphones ability to work everywhere.

Good luck with the Verizon customer "no-service" record.

 

[TurnerMan]

Why would anyone rate this negatively? Some want it, and AT&T lovers want a lot of people to switch to Verizon. It's a win-win for everyone.

 

[ruckus]

I have to agree. There is no such thing as 'future-proofing', even in the world of gadget predictions.

I don't know for sure, but I am guessing data stops and your phone rings. It really is a simple and elegant solution. Just like if you are using the wifi hotspot. Data stops, phone rings. Either answer it or and the call and keep on tethering...

 

[D1G1T4L]

The technology exists for CDMA, just that there aren't phones that utilize the radio.

In the end, it's not really as big a deal as people make it out to be in my opinion, I've never had an issue where I couldn't get online or something while on a call that really was a situation where it impacted me. I think people just use it as a ridiculous argument personally.

To me it is a big deal. There are MANY times where I'm on a call and have to look something up on the net. Also like I said I have had problems where voice wasn't the priority. Now no it won't be a issue for most but this is one of the main reasons I went with GSM.

 

[benson304]

This means if someone uses the iPhone as GPS with Navigon or TomTom and receives a call, the GPS software pauses or quits?

The GPS antenna is NOT the same as the phone antenna. But I'd imagine the phone call would come through, pausing the app just like most any other app, then you could go back after dealing with the call. I think that in most cases phone calls on any network take precedence over anything else. It is a phone after all.

 

[STC1709]

Will existing customers be able to redeem their New Every Two credit?

Yes, existing customers will be able to take advantage of their New Every Two credit if eligible, and use it towards the purchase of iPhone (may not be available at all agent locations).




YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOT $50 my contract was up in june 2010 lol

 

[karichristensen]

Finally. I haven't been very happy with AT&T 3g.

 

[pittisit]

"Will Verizon Wireless be offering an early upgrade promotion?

No, Verizon Wireless is not offering any early upgrade promotion at this time."

there is a chance but as everyone has said wait for the iphone5

Maybe I wasn't very clear with my post. Early upgrades would cannibalize current Verizon phones rather than pulling customers from AT&T which is what they want.

 

[edenwaith]

Irony

I found this to be amusing -- seeing an Android/Sprint/WiMAX advertisement on the same page as the iPhone for Verizon is being reported.

 

[thetexan]

This means if someone uses the iPhone as GPS with Navigon or TomTom and receives a call, the GPS software pauses or quits?

It'd still provide navigation, depending on the software I assume. Any good GPS program fetches all the data it needs when navigation begins, and the GPS chip will continue to function during a call.

 

[celo48]

"you won't be able to use your 3G internet connection and Voice at the same time."

I use this a lot with my current iphone/AT&T. This would be a deal breaker for me. I guess CDMA cannot technically offer this?