Verizon News & Discussion

[Thump]

Verizon unveils iPhone rival for holiday shoppers - Yahoo! News

[bucknutz]

wow, how much I hope this is true.

iPhone heading to EVDO/Verizon for 2009?

We've fielded a couple of tips (some more sketchy than others) about EVDO iPhones floating around Cupertino in the past, but today's tipster seems a little bit more sure of himself. Besides having some Verizon insider credentials, he seems to know way too much about Verizon-Apple politics. According to him, Apple will be announcing iPhones for Verizon Wireless in 2009, perhaps as early Macworld 2009. Negotiations between Apple and Verizon are ongoing but they expect to hammer out agreements by the end of the year.

9to5mac

[redbenn]

Originally Posted by bucknutz

wow, how much I hope this is true.



9to5mac

verizon will try to ruin it, by installing vzw software on it

[Jimmy Carter]

Think of it as a Wi-Fi-enabled home VoIP phone complete with smartphone features?well, some smartphone features, anyway, including customizable weather and calendar widgets, mapping and searchable directories, streaming videos, and more. Read on for my hands-on impressions............

Hands-on with the touchscreen Verizon Hub : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

[jwinslow]

The VZW rumors popped up in Sep 08, and have not died down yet, despite no new evidence. Here's the backstory:

Verizon iPhone around the corner? | Crave - CNET

Correction 11:56 a.m. PST: We messed up. The 9 to 5 Mac blog we cited below is in fact from September 2008, so it turns out this is an old rumor. Because it showed up in our RSS feed Saturday, we, like a number of other publications, took it as a recent post and went from there. Apologies for the confusion.

There have been rumors buzzing around the Internet for some time Apple is secretly preparing a CDMA version of the iPhone, probably headed to Verizon Wireless, and probably by the end of this year. It's no secret Apple has been advertising jobs that require experience in the CDMA wireless standard, which Verizon Wireless and Sprint both use, and is the competing standard to GSM, which AT&T and T-Mobile use, as well as the standard the current iPhone uses.

What's unknown are the exact terms of Apple's deal with AT&T. Neither company will confirm rumors that AT&T's exclusivity ends this year or other rumors that the original deal has been extended to sometime in 2010.

The Web site 9 to 5 Mac offers a few compelling reasons why a non-AT&T iPhone in the near future might be likely, including Apple COO Tim Cook mentioning that the iPhone maker wasn't "married to the one carrier/country model."

In addition, it's known that Verizon was the original preferred carrier for Apple but wouldn't give up the control AT&T eventually did to Steve Jobs.

With Sprint having exclusive rights to the Palm Pre for the year, and T-Mobile's commitment to the G1 and Android, it would make sense that Verizon would push for the iPhone, including giving up distribution to Apple, as AT&T did.

This would give Apple a much larger user base than it currently has, as many people are tied to carriers other than AT&T due to contract restrictions. Eventually it's likely that every major carrier will have the iPhone.

[Folanator]

I am torn right now. Dump my Blackberry 8830 world edition, (who's contract has been up) or wait to see if the IPhone comes to Vorizen.

I am not a casual or social user. I use my cell to have all my biz calls roll over it, e-mail, text messaging and some international calling. 4,000 + min user. Infrequently use apps like word or excel. I constantly use my PDA. I travel all over the country.

Not thrilled with going to ATT just to get the IPhone. I like the new Skype on Apple. Like the capabilities. Heard that the phone is just OK.

Might wait till the new IP in June.

Thoughts?

[jwinslow]

Fol, it's spelled verizon.

Absolutely wait until June. If nothing else, you can buy the current iphone at a discount when it becomes last generation.

The current one can't even copy and paste. Even if there aren't many big changes, the potential additions of skype, copy & pasting, flash, etc is enough to wait.

[Folanator]

Originally Posted by jwinslow

Fol, it's spelled verizon.

Absolutely wait until June. If nothing else, you can buy the current iphone at a discount when it becomes last generation.

The current one can't even copy and paste. Even if there aren't many big changes, the potential additions of skype, copy & pasting, flash, etc is enough to wait.

JW, you should know that I'am the world's wurst smeller.

I'll wait. But I think I have made the descision to dump VERIZON and switch to ATT.

Doing my research, it just looks like ATT is doing a superior job when it comes to equipment on the high end. I might drop by the ATT store and reserve one of the new IPhones and start the contract when they deliver.

[jwinslow]

VZW has the network, so they don't feel the need to entice folks with equipment. ATT lures customers with phones. Sprint has an inferior network and customer base, so they offer cool phones and great plans.


One thing worth considering, you can sign up for a temporary number... try out ATT for 30 days (during which you can cancel and refund), and then move your VZW number over to that ATT phone. I liked this idea, because I only need a week to test the iPhone network, but didn't want to lose my number, "new every two" and longevity with VZW in case the ATT network was inferior.

[jwinslow]

Verizon promises 4G wireless for rural America | CTIA show - CNET Reviews

LAS VEGAS--The new 4G wireless broadband network that Verizon Wireless plans to launch in 2010 could be rural America's answer to its broadband access prayers. But extending the network to every nook and cranny in the U.S. will likely take years.

Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Verizon Wireless, said during an interview at the CTIA Wireless 2009 tradeshow here Wednesday that the new 4G network that the company is building will blanket the entire continental United States, including the far corners of rural America.



"The licenses we bought in the 700MHz auction cover the whole U.S.," Melone said. "And we plan to roll out LTE throughout the entire country, including places where we don't offer our CDMA cell phone service today."

Because the spectrum is in a lower frequency, it can transmit signals over longer distances and penetrate through obstacles. And because the signals travel longer distances, Verizon can deploy fewer cell towers than if it used spectrum from a higher frequency band, which means it can provide coverage at a lower cost.


Even though Verizon is primarily building the 4G wireless network to provide faster service for mobile devices, Melone said the network could also be used to provide fixed broadband access to rural homes.

[jwinslow]

Any sliver of hope for the iphone-vzw-09 rumors are getting beaten down by the day:

Gizmodo - Wi-Fi-Enabled BlackBerry Storm 2 Coming to Verizon in September? - blackberry storm 2

[jwinslow]

Gizmodo - Verizon CEO Admits They Want iPhone, Won't Happen 'Til iPhone 4G - Verizon

Hey guys, want a Verizon iPhone? Well, leave it to Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg to completely crush all of your hopes and dreams for the next few years.

He does basically admit to the WSJ that he wants the iPhone on Verizon (just like his customers!), saying that, once Verizon goes to its 4G LTE network, Apple would be willing to work with them.

See, he says Apple never seriously considered making a CDMA iPhone. Meaning you should flush all of your hopes for a CDMA iPhone forever. LTE, though, is not forever away—just a few more years until the iPhone 4G.

Some pretty interesting details in the last link quoted above, posted here for visibility:
Gizmodo - Giz Explains: Why WiMax and LTE Wireless 4G Data Will Blow Your Mind - WiMax

[jwinslow]

Gizmodo - Apple In 'High Level' iPhone Talks With Verizon Wireless - Apple

Apple In 'High Level' iPhone Talks With Verizon Wireless
By Jack Loftus, 11:08 PM on Sun Apr 26 2009, 13,140 views

Will Verizon ever wrest away iPhone exclusivity from AT&T? We don't know for certain, but tonight we do know that the wireless carrier is working hard to make it so, possibly by 2010.

The revelation comes to us by way of USA Today, where we also learned that Steve Jobs was involved in the negotiations when they first began a few months ago. The year 2010 is a magic number of sorts too, as that is when the super secret exclusivity contract between Apple and AT&T is rumored to expire. You can bet AT&T is working equally hard to extend its contract and keep Verizon at bay.

In remarks made to USA Today, Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen, said "breaking the (iPhone) exclusivity with AT&T is a huge thing. That would send shivers into AT&T's stock and senior leadership."

It would also send shivers, of the positive kind, through the spines of current Verizon customers that really, really want an iPhone. Choice is good.

Apple and Verizon consider iPhone deal - USATODAY.com

[BoxCar_Willie]

Originally Posted by jwinslow

Gizmodo - Apple In 'High Level' iPhone Talks With Verizon Wireless - AppleApple and Verizon consider iPhone deal - USATODAY.com

Screw Verizon

[jwinslow]

Microsoft, Verizon in Talks to Launch iPhone Rival - WSJ.com

Microsoft Corp. is in discussions with Verizon Wireless to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone on the carrier's network early next year, in a bid to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPhone, people familiar with the matter said.

Microsoft's project, which is code-named "Pink," is aiming to produce a phone that extends the tech giant's Windows Mobile cellphone operating system, adding new software capabilities. It would also likely include Microsoft's new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a mobile application store along the lines of ...