N.C. Verizon stores will open at 7 a.m. Thursday as the company officially begins selling Apple's iPhone in its stores. Stores will allow customers to line up as early as 5 a.m. Thursday
Existing Verizon customers were able to pre-order last week online and some have already received their phones, including some locally who have reached out to us via email. Verizon said that the pre-sale was the largest single phone launch in its history, and the launch window officially lasted about 5 hours, from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Thursday's sales figures will be much bigger.
Currently, all customers can pre-order on Verizon's website. But expect many long waiting Verizon customers to line up for the Apple device.
More than 600 Walmart stores will also carry the Verizon phone and accessories beginning Thursday. Best Buy will also carry the Verizon device at launch.
Showing posts with label iPhone 4 to Verizon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPhone 4 to Verizon. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Verizon iPhone tops AT&T iPhone in reliability, not speed
I have not had a chance to get my grubby little hands on the Verizon iPhone, but some journalists have had the opportunity to test the VeriPhone for a few weeks and the results are pretty much the same:
AT&T is faster in download speeds for data (webpages, email) but Verizon is much more reliable. Some of the writers have even canceled their AT&T contracts, or not renewed them, and write that they are signing up with Verizon to get iPhone.
Beginning at 3 a.m. Thursday, existing Verizon customers can get iPhone after four years of waiting. The rest of the U.S. can get one Thursday Feb. 10, beginning at 7 a.m. Verizon stores will open early and allow customers to line up outside at 5 a.m. in North Carolina.
AT&T has bumped up its data packages and all but revealed it will match Verizon's best new iPhone feature -- the ability to make the phone a WiFi hotspot for up to five devices.
AT&T is also trumping the ability of its phones, which run a different operating standard than Verizon, that allows you to make voice calls and surf the web or download email at the same time. You can't do that on Verizon.
On Verizon, if you're using the HotSpot (or data at all) and a call comes in, you can choose to take it, but your data session disconnects. Not really cool if you have others using it at the same time. And as an iPhone owner for two years, I use voice and data quite a bit. But there are 90 million Verizon customers who have no idea what I'm talking about and won't care when they are holding the Apple device in their hand.
And the flip side of this is reliability. A lot of readers here are turned off by AT&T's coverage, saying they drop calls often and can't get service often. I think some of that is true.
I rarely have dropped calls, but I do have them.
Driving up Independence Boulevard, near Matthews? Drop.
Driving anywhere along 485 going from south Charlotte to north? Drop.
Sometimes between my bedroom and living room, in the middle of a really important call?
Drop.
And there are weird places uptown and along Sardis Road or Harris Boulevard that, for me, you can just forget about it.
But AT&T is fast over 3G when you get it. A lot faster, the testers report, than Verizon.
...Decisions. Decisions.
I've gotten a lot of email recently from Verizon customers asking whether they should switch to iPhone or just get a Droid. I have AT&T folks asking if they should break a contract to switch.
I've never had Verizon service here, but have many friends who swear by it. I have used their phones in small towns and gyms and airports where my iPhone just wouldn't work. I believe the service is better. I also believe the iPhone is clearly superior to any Droid I've tested, and I've tested all the exotic Droids that have been released up to now.
Android packs a lot of specs and features. A new one coming out for AT&T will even power a laptop computer. I just can't figure out why I'd want my phone to morph into or power a laptop. I'd just use the laptop.
What makes iPhone superior and clearly so, is the user experience. Android is different on many devices you try and it's kind of techy. It can be hard to figure out and often, for many of my Droid-using friends, it's been buggy (reboot, reboot, reboot).
I can give my iPhone to my decidedly ungeeky 72-year-old Mom and she can navigate around.
It's easy to use and it works and there's a reason, way beyond the "look at me I have an iPhone" thing, that makes people so loyal to it and makes them line up before stores open. I don't see people lining up for the new Droids, many of which are killer devices that will be better than most anything before it.
But my iPhone advice is this: if you are in contract with AT&T, wait. I believe a new iPhone 5 will come out for both AT&T and Verizon in June. If I'm wrong, you'll stay in contract for a few more months which will bring down your early termination fee by then.
If you're AT&T and out of contract and don't mind that a new phone may come soon, go ahead and jump.
If you're Verizon existing, think the same as the out of contract AT&T guy.
Ultimately, I think it may be best to wait. If rumors are to be believed, iPhone 5 will use Verizon's super fast 4G network and allow voice and data at the same time -- and be faster than AT&T.
That's the girl, the gold watch -- and everything.
Can you wait a little longer?
AT&T is faster in download speeds for data (webpages, email) but Verizon is much more reliable. Some of the writers have even canceled their AT&T contracts, or not renewed them, and write that they are signing up with Verizon to get iPhone.
Beginning at 3 a.m. Thursday, existing Verizon customers can get iPhone after four years of waiting. The rest of the U.S. can get one Thursday Feb. 10, beginning at 7 a.m. Verizon stores will open early and allow customers to line up outside at 5 a.m. in North Carolina.
AT&T has bumped up its data packages and all but revealed it will match Verizon's best new iPhone feature -- the ability to make the phone a WiFi hotspot for up to five devices.
AT&T is also trumping the ability of its phones, which run a different operating standard than Verizon, that allows you to make voice calls and surf the web or download email at the same time. You can't do that on Verizon.
On Verizon, if you're using the HotSpot (or data at all) and a call comes in, you can choose to take it, but your data session disconnects. Not really cool if you have others using it at the same time. And as an iPhone owner for two years, I use voice and data quite a bit. But there are 90 million Verizon customers who have no idea what I'm talking about and won't care when they are holding the Apple device in their hand.
And the flip side of this is reliability. A lot of readers here are turned off by AT&T's coverage, saying they drop calls often and can't get service often. I think some of that is true.
I rarely have dropped calls, but I do have them.
Driving up Independence Boulevard, near Matthews? Drop.
Driving anywhere along 485 going from south Charlotte to north? Drop.
Sometimes between my bedroom and living room, in the middle of a really important call?
Drop.
And there are weird places uptown and along Sardis Road or Harris Boulevard that, for me, you can just forget about it.
But AT&T is fast over 3G when you get it. A lot faster, the testers report, than Verizon.
...Decisions. Decisions.
I've gotten a lot of email recently from Verizon customers asking whether they should switch to iPhone or just get a Droid. I have AT&T folks asking if they should break a contract to switch.
I've never had Verizon service here, but have many friends who swear by it. I have used their phones in small towns and gyms and airports where my iPhone just wouldn't work. I believe the service is better. I also believe the iPhone is clearly superior to any Droid I've tested, and I've tested all the exotic Droids that have been released up to now.
Android packs a lot of specs and features. A new one coming out for AT&T will even power a laptop computer. I just can't figure out why I'd want my phone to morph into or power a laptop. I'd just use the laptop.
What makes iPhone superior and clearly so, is the user experience. Android is different on many devices you try and it's kind of techy. It can be hard to figure out and often, for many of my Droid-using friends, it's been buggy (reboot, reboot, reboot).
I can give my iPhone to my decidedly ungeeky 72-year-old Mom and she can navigate around.
It's easy to use and it works and there's a reason, way beyond the "look at me I have an iPhone" thing, that makes people so loyal to it and makes them line up before stores open. I don't see people lining up for the new Droids, many of which are killer devices that will be better than most anything before it.
But my iPhone advice is this: if you are in contract with AT&T, wait. I believe a new iPhone 5 will come out for both AT&T and Verizon in June. If I'm wrong, you'll stay in contract for a few more months which will bring down your early termination fee by then.
If you're AT&T and out of contract and don't mind that a new phone may come soon, go ahead and jump.
If you're Verizon existing, think the same as the out of contract AT&T guy.
Ultimately, I think it may be best to wait. If rumors are to be believed, iPhone 5 will use Verizon's super fast 4G network and allow voice and data at the same time -- and be faster than AT&T.
That's the girl, the gold watch -- and everything.
Can you wait a little longer?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sprint plans major announcement Feb 7? iPhone?
Hot on the heels of Verizon's big iPhone announcement Tuesday, Sprint has sent out invites to its own New York shin dig next Monday, where illusionist David Blaine will be on hand.
Journalists are invited to see what "Sprint has up its sleeve." The event takes place Feb. 7, just three days before the general public can order Verizon's iPhone.
The company promises to show that the impossible is possible. Well, Apple COO Tim Cook did say Verizon had a non exclusive CDMA agreement for iPhone and Sprint's network is CDMA. Could this be a 4G iPhone to run on Sprint's WiMax network? Could it be a new Android 4G phone, though Sprint did show a HTC Evo Shift 4G and the BlackBerry playbook at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Should be fun.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Should you buy the Verizon iPhone right away?
I have a friend, Andre, who has been a Verizon wireless customer since, well, forever. He's been through a series of Androids and Blackberrys and what he really has always wanted was an iPhone. Only he didn't want to switch to AT&T to get it.
Today, Andre got his wish. In three weeks, he can pre-order iPhone 4 on Verizon.
But should he?
The iPhone 4 released today works with Verizon Wireless' existing 3G network. It's quite reliable, but as someone who has tested smartphones on it for the past 18 months on a regular basis, it's not the fastest thing in the world. I regularly get download speeds in town of about 1 MB with Verizon smartphones. AT&T's iPhone (which is pretty reliable locally, too) regularly pulls down 2-3 times that in my tests.
This means webpages via Verizon will load slower, YouTube videos will buffer longer, etc, and maybe that isn't much of a big deal in exchange for better call reliability -- and reception in gyms and hotels and buildings -- especially when traveling to smaller towns where AT&T's 3G reach isn't too great.
Also, remember Apple is widely expected to stick to its annual release date for an iPhone 5 in June. Apple and Verizon wouldn't comment on future release dates at their New York news conference Monday, so we don't know if Verizon will get iPhone 5 in June, when AT&T customers are expected to get it, or whether Verizon customers wouldn't see a new revision until 2012.
With AT&T and Verizon rolling out next generation LTE 4G networks, many industry analysts expect Apple to deliver an LTE iPhone which would deliver the type speeds home broadband users get -- up to 10 MB down and perhaps faster -- on mobile devices.
What if the Verizon LTE iPhone comes in June?
So does Andre want to sign a contract in three weeks with Verizon for two years and then have to watch iPhone 5 users get to use Verizon's new 4G network in a few months? Verizon is allowing customers to purchase the iPhone at full price ($599) and not sign a long term contract.
I'm not sure what the right answer is. Verizon's 4G network will be available to smart phone users in Charlotte as soon as the handsets are available. I've tested Sprint's version of Wi-Max 4G here and found the speeds remarkable, but Sprint charges $10 per month to access 4G and I'm sure Verizon will do the same.
A new iPhone will add some features but I don't think it will be a major leap from iPhone 4, so if you're happy with the speed you get now from Verizon and don't care to pay the extra money for more, well, have at it, because I do think the best phone on the Verizon network is coming early next month and there's so much pent-up demand that people are going to buy it, and Andre will probably be one of them.
Today, Andre got his wish. In three weeks, he can pre-order iPhone 4 on Verizon.
But should he?
The iPhone 4 released today works with Verizon Wireless' existing 3G network. It's quite reliable, but as someone who has tested smartphones on it for the past 18 months on a regular basis, it's not the fastest thing in the world. I regularly get download speeds in town of about 1 MB with Verizon smartphones. AT&T's iPhone (which is pretty reliable locally, too) regularly pulls down 2-3 times that in my tests.
This means webpages via Verizon will load slower, YouTube videos will buffer longer, etc, and maybe that isn't much of a big deal in exchange for better call reliability -- and reception in gyms and hotels and buildings -- especially when traveling to smaller towns where AT&T's 3G reach isn't too great.
Also, remember Apple is widely expected to stick to its annual release date for an iPhone 5 in June. Apple and Verizon wouldn't comment on future release dates at their New York news conference Monday, so we don't know if Verizon will get iPhone 5 in June, when AT&T customers are expected to get it, or whether Verizon customers wouldn't see a new revision until 2012.
With AT&T and Verizon rolling out next generation LTE 4G networks, many industry analysts expect Apple to deliver an LTE iPhone which would deliver the type speeds home broadband users get -- up to 10 MB down and perhaps faster -- on mobile devices.
What if the Verizon LTE iPhone comes in June?
So does Andre want to sign a contract in three weeks with Verizon for two years and then have to watch iPhone 5 users get to use Verizon's new 4G network in a few months? Verizon is allowing customers to purchase the iPhone at full price ($599) and not sign a long term contract.
I'm not sure what the right answer is. Verizon's 4G network will be available to smart phone users in Charlotte as soon as the handsets are available. I've tested Sprint's version of Wi-Max 4G here and found the speeds remarkable, but Sprint charges $10 per month to access 4G and I'm sure Verizon will do the same.
A new iPhone will add some features but I don't think it will be a major leap from iPhone 4, so if you're happy with the speed you get now from Verizon and don't care to pay the extra money for more, well, have at it, because I do think the best phone on the Verizon network is coming early next month and there's so much pent-up demand that people are going to buy it, and Andre will probably be one of them.
It's official: iPhone to Verizon
Lowell McAdam, President and CEO Verizon Wireless, and Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook took the stage at a New York press conference Monday to announce news that the tech world had been waiting for: Apple's iPhone is coming to Verizon.
The Verizon iPhone goes on sale Feb. 10. Existing Verizon customers can pre-order starting Feb. 3. The phone will be $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB. It will act as a WiFi hotspot for up to five devices. The phone will be available at the Apple store, alongside the AT&T version, and well as at Verizon Wireless locations. Verizon said it will also sell iPhone via indirect sales channels, but not at launch.
Verizon did not announce monthly pricing plans.
McAdam said his company's relationship with Apple has developed over the past few years, and that in 2008, the two companies talked about bringing iPhone to Verizon's 3G network. He said Verizon has spent a year testing the iPhone. Apple and Verizon have a multi-year non-exclusive agreement for the Verizon version, which uses a wireless technology called CDMA, which differs from AT&T, which uses a wireless technology called GSM.
The non-exclusive agreement could pave the way for an iPhone on Sprint, which also uses CDMA.
The new iPhone will only work on Verizon's existing 3G network and not its new 4G network which promises higher speeds. Cook said making this phone LTE capable would force design compromises Apple was not willing to make and that customers wanted the phone now. Most companies who are making phones to work with Verizon's 4G network plan to release them in summer.
AT&T executives, whose company has had an iPhone exclusive for three years, have already begun to criticize the competition saying that its 3G network is faster than Verizon's, a fact backed up by many studies.
Expect Verizon to strike back, emphasizing that its network has been more reliable. AT&T has finished last in several reliability surveys and iPhone customers have complained so much about connection issues and dropped calls that AT&T has added huge public WiFi hotspots in cities like New York, San Francisco and Charlotte to try to alleviate the problems.
At Monday's news conference, Verizon officials stressed its network was ready to handle new waves of data hungry iPhone customers.
Apple's Cook said the phone was optimized to work on Verizon's network and asked if any changes had been made to iPhone 4's oft-critized antenna, he said "it's going to work great."
One caveat: Verizon's CDMA network does not allow voice calls at the same time as data. So you cannot surf the internet and make calls like on AT&T's version. Cook said "I think people place different emphasis on things. I can tell you that the number one question I've gotten is when will the iPhone work on Verizon. I couldn't be happier to tell people that. They will make these sorts of tradeoffs."
MORE COVERAGE CLICK BELOW
Should you buy Verizon iPhone right now or wait?
Fight: AT&T vs. Verizon iPhone
Next iPad to Verizon compatible, too
The Verizon iPhone goes on sale Feb. 10. Existing Verizon customers can pre-order starting Feb. 3. The phone will be $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB. It will act as a WiFi hotspot for up to five devices. The phone will be available at the Apple store, alongside the AT&T version, and well as at Verizon Wireless locations. Verizon said it will also sell iPhone via indirect sales channels, but not at launch.
Verizon did not announce monthly pricing plans.
McAdam said his company's relationship with Apple has developed over the past few years, and that in 2008, the two companies talked about bringing iPhone to Verizon's 3G network. He said Verizon has spent a year testing the iPhone. Apple and Verizon have a multi-year non-exclusive agreement for the Verizon version, which uses a wireless technology called CDMA, which differs from AT&T, which uses a wireless technology called GSM.
The non-exclusive agreement could pave the way for an iPhone on Sprint, which also uses CDMA.
The new iPhone will only work on Verizon's existing 3G network and not its new 4G network which promises higher speeds. Cook said making this phone LTE capable would force design compromises Apple was not willing to make and that customers wanted the phone now. Most companies who are making phones to work with Verizon's 4G network plan to release them in summer.
AT&T executives, whose company has had an iPhone exclusive for three years, have already begun to criticize the competition saying that its 3G network is faster than Verizon's, a fact backed up by many studies.
Expect Verizon to strike back, emphasizing that its network has been more reliable. AT&T has finished last in several reliability surveys and iPhone customers have complained so much about connection issues and dropped calls that AT&T has added huge public WiFi hotspots in cities like New York, San Francisco and Charlotte to try to alleviate the problems.
At Monday's news conference, Verizon officials stressed its network was ready to handle new waves of data hungry iPhone customers.
Apple's Cook said the phone was optimized to work on Verizon's network and asked if any changes had been made to iPhone 4's oft-critized antenna, he said "it's going to work great."
One caveat: Verizon's CDMA network does not allow voice calls at the same time as data. So you cannot surf the internet and make calls like on AT&T's version. Cook said "I think people place different emphasis on things. I can tell you that the number one question I've gotten is when will the iPhone work on Verizon. I couldn't be happier to tell people that. They will make these sorts of tradeoffs."
MORE COVERAGE CLICK BELOW
Should you buy Verizon iPhone right now or wait?
Fight: AT&T vs. Verizon iPhone
Next iPad to Verizon compatible, too
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