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Verizon iPhone 4
- adolph 16y agoIt appears to have an extra break in the metal above the mute switch, just like the recent video.
- ben1040 16y agoAnd as in the video the mute switch is positioned differently, meaning it won't line up on all the cases out there already. Looks like Verizon is acknowledging this on their FAQs: Most accessories should work, however you may find that cases and covers could be different depending on the product manufacturer. http://support.vzw.com/faqs/iphone/iphone_faq.html http://support.vzw.com/faqs/iphone/iphone_faq.html
- mkinsella 16y ago"On February 3rd our existing customers will have an opportunity to pre-order... on February 10th, everyone will be able to order online, in stores, or in Apple stores." For once, a telecommunications company gives perks to existing customers. For far too long have cell phone and broadband companies pampered new customers with deals rather than existing customers (and rightly so but still frustrating).
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- edd 16y agoIn the UK O2, the original iPhone network, have in the past held off letting any new customers buy the new iPhones for the first month to make sure their existing customers can upgrade first.
- mikeryan 16y agoI think this is a perk and a landslide mitigation strategy.
- johns 16y agoT-Mobile used to do this with every new Sidekick release so it's not completely unprecedented.
- steverb 16y agoI'm honestly confused why the opportunity to pre-order is considered a perk.
- ecuzzillo 16y agoDepending on demand vs. production, being first in line might mean a difference of weeks or even months in when you actually receive the phone.
- steverb 16y agoMakes sense.
- suninwinter 16y agoIt gives you first crack at a limited supply.
- uxp 16y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_scarcity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_scarcity Though, not a digital good, its a psychological way to increase it's appearance of being good.
- rmc 16y agoThere's a chance they might be sold out.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- TomOfTTB 16y agoPretty much what everyone expected. The same phone on Verizon's CDMA network. The only a few things I noted were... 1. You can use it as a WiFi Hotspot 2. Redesigned antenna (obviously) 3. Verzion isn't getting the 3GS (which is probably why AT&T was so quick to drop it to $49)
- ben1040 16y agoI wonder how AT&T will respond to the hotspot feature. Here's hoping they relax a bit on tethering plans.
- treblig 16y agoAgreed, but they've got some serious time on their side. For me (and everyone else who just picked up the 4), about a year and a half.
- ben1040 16y agoFor those who are locked in on contract, sure, but I wonder how AT&T's tethering terms versus Verizon's are going to affect AT&T's ability to attract new customers.
- mey 16y agoIncoming calls will interrupt data activity. (Will interrupt hotspot) ArsTechnica has an excellent live blog going of it. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/liveblog-of-verizons-special-event-cdma-iphone-ahoy.ars http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/liveblog-of-veri...
- roadnottaken 16y ago>Incoming calls will interrupt data activity. (Will interrupt hotspot) Wow, this reminds me of being on dial-up in the 1990s.
- berberich 16y ago
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- adolph 16y agoWhat do you mean? How can Apple release the next one when they haven't even released the white one yet?
- arthurschreiber 16y agoI think it's very unlikely that there will ever be a white version of the iphone 4, anyway.
- brudgers 16y agoAt least not with a glass case from what I read. Apparently it was difficult to make the white case opaque. http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/white-iphone-4s-biggest-problem-is-light-leakage-20100728/ http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/white-iphone-4s-biggest-...
- radicaldreamer 16y agoThat's really unfortunate. I love the aesthetics of the white 3GS and was looking forward to a white iPhone 4.
- glhaynes 16y agoIt makes one wonder whether they'll stick with the existing once-a-year update schedule. Or, even if they do, maybe the next upgrade will be like the 3G->3GS jump or even less... maybe just double the storage across the line? I don't imagine they'll change the body style significantly for a while yet.
- Tyrant505 16y agoI'm wouldn't be so sure of Apple's phone pipeline... The iPhone4 is still high spec and without much competition. Why not sell as many as possible then drop the next one at a better time?
- redial 16y agoIs it both CDMA and GSM or just CDMA?
- nopal 16y agoCDMA.
- hvs 16y agoIt needs a different antenna configuration for CDMA, so I'm guessing that it doesn't support GSM.
- mdasen 16y agoAntenna configuration has more to do with the bands supported than the technology used. It does require a different chipset to support CDMA. There are CDMA/GSM phones available by implementing both technologies (and Qualcomm does provide hybrid chips). The Droid 2 Global is the best example right now. It supports CDMA 850/1900; GSM 850/900/1800/1900; UMTS 850, 1900, 2100.
- bho 16y agoI'm surprised that there's no LTE. Isn't Verizon's new network supposed to be up and running soon?
- TomOfTTB 16y agoTim Cook's (non)response (via TechCrunch's live blog)... Will not comment on the roadmap." No promise of a new CDMA iPhone in summer. Tim Cook: We chose CDMA because the LTE chipsets forced some design concepts that we would not make. When will be able to see an LTE-enabled iPhone? A. We're not commenting on unannounced product.
- ergo98 16y agoThat would be a significant engineering change (above and beyond CDMA that they have been working on for years, and for which chipsets are mature) and would essentially make it an iPhone 4.5. LTE will certainly come to the iPhone 5, due in just a few months.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- shawndumas 16y agoIf you are concerned flag it. If you don't like Engadget ignore it. And no: There is no new trend regarding Engadget; it's in the top 25 of most submitted domains [1] here at HN. ---- [1]: http://top.searchyc.com/domains_by_number_of_submissions http://top.searchyc.com/domains_by_number_of_submissions
- jedsmith 16y agoGod forbid HN readership and participation increase.
- ayb 16y agoSince Apple normally releases new iPhones in June, does this mean the Verizon iPhone 4 will be obsolete in less than 6 months? It will be lame if Verizon has the iPhone 4 and then AT&T gets a new GSM-only iPhone 5 in June.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- hvs 16y agoDepends on what your definition of "obsolete" is. Even if they release a new one, it doesn't instantly cause all of the older ones to stop working.
- listic 16y agoAlso, they may not release an update for CDMA version so soon, so it won't be obsolete in the sense "you can't get anything better wor CDMA anyway"
- kmfrk 16y agoJust like the 3GS? :)
- roc 16y agoProbably. Though no less-so than an ATT iPhone 4 purchased in the next six months. And much less-so than an ATT 3GS purchased in that same window.
- siglesias 16y agoThey'll just launch the new phone on AT&T (as good will, a concession) and do the Verizon version in time for Christmas, then sync back up during the next refresh cycle. EDIT: Justification is that off the top of my head Apple has never refreshed a major product in six months, except for speed bumps. Apple had to move quickly by launching the iPhone 4 now and not waiting for summer to launch both versions of iPhone 5, as Android is gaining a lot of steam. This should satisfy impatient buyers who would be very upset if their new purchase would be outdated in just six months. Meanwhile Apple has had no problem refreshing after Christmas (Macworld, new iPad launch impending) because they are obsoleting mostly gifts. Secondly the staggered iPhone 5 launch would provide Apple good negotiation leverage with AT&T without giving a lot up. This could be good for higher monthly kickbacks or iPad data prices. It also lessens the work load on antenna engineers. Given this, it's very likely that the Verizon iPhone 5 will have pent up demand by the September music event, will cause a bigger splash in the media, and have it be the top phone on both carriers in time for Christmas. And it won't cheese of Verizon customers who went for the 4 in February.
- neovive 16y agoHopefully there will be a reasonably priced unlimited data plan, especially with the WiFi hotspot support.
- aneth 16y ago"Verizon's CDMA network doesn't support simultaneous voice and data as with the GSM version" This is probably a deal killer for me. I do this quite frequently. I also remember on the old edge network data activity sometimes sent callers to voicemail, which is unacceptable. Hopefully Verizon does not have that issue as well. My biggest hope is that competition forces AT&T to be less ridiculous about data pricing for people with multiple devices, tethering, hotspots, etc.
- metamatt 16y agoOn other CDMA smartphones, I've never seen data activity send callers to voicemail -- the call goes through, the data connection stalls until the call ends. Not optimal, surely, but nowhere near as bad as sending calls to voicemail without ringing like the old iPhone on EDGE.
- code_duck 16y agoI had noticed this on my Verizon phone but didn't realize there was a technical reason. It's pretty annoying to be waiting on hold, and not being able to fribble on the internet in the meantime!
- haribilalic 16y agoI'm in Australia, where all our carriers are GSM and have the iPhone (in addition to it being sold unlocked directly from Apple), so I don't care about Verizon or CDMA, but I would love to know if the hotspot feature will make it to the standard iPhones, even if AT&T doesn't like it.
- billjings 16y agoOne thing is a huge surprise here: wifi hotspot. If you follow Gruber, he's made the point that Apple doesn't consider this a new device, and that Apple will probably sell it as the exact same device to customers. This is one significant area where it's not, though - if you buy an iPhone on Verizon, you get this feature. If you buy one on AT&T, you don't. Apple to date has stood pretty firmly against the idea of carrier differentiation. There is nothing about the iPhone on AT&T that reminds you that it is an AT&T device, no preinstalled apps, no logos, nothing. So that's why the hotspot is a surprise to me. I'm sure that Apple has been pushing for this on AT&T all along, but it seems to be a chip in the carrier fragmentation armor.
- davidedicillo 16y agoI'm sure all the carriers will be able to implement this feature, but it's up to them, just like tethering.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- tolmasky 16y agoSo which one will Steve be using now?
- kenjackson 16y agoCurious, how big do people think this will be? Will Apple double its US userbase or will it be an incremental bump? I tend to think incremental. The people in the US today who really want an iPhone have moved to ATT. The holdouts are those that: 1) Hate AT&T. 2) Are on a business plan who is tied to Verizon. 3) Those on a family plan, but aren't calling the shots. For most of the people in 1-3, they already have a Verizon smartphone, and likely a relatively new one. So they'll trickle over the next year to 18 months. Completely new accounts will go to the store and look at the phones. The iPhone looks less good, side by side, compared to the Droid X. With that said, there's no brand like the iPhone brand. In any case, I think the sales on Verizon will be telling. Did people move to ATT to get the iPhone, or is there still tons of demand on the other carriers for the iPhone (obviously there's demand, but is it proportionate to the amount of demand that exists on ATT).
- slouch 16y agowho knows? my brother switched to ATT for the iphone, while my GF is holding out for it to come to verizon. neither are on company or family plans.
- metamatt 16y agoPeople moved to AT&T to get the iPhone, but a lot of them think the experience is subpar, and will prefer not to renew their contracts as things stand. I expect there's a decent chunk of holdouts who'll have a good appetite for the VZW iPhone immediately, and there'll also be a steady stream of people switching from AT&T to Verizon as their contracts expire.
- kgermino 16y agoBut kenjackson is looking at it from Apple's perspective. Sure a number of people may switch to Verizon from at&t but if they already had iPhone's Apple doesn't see any increase.
- boucher 16y agoBut, they'll still need to buy another iPhone. They're basically going to convince a bunch of their best customers to pay twice for the same product.
- cpr 16y agoDamnation, now I'll have to get a Verizon iPhone so I can replace my Mifi (for which I'm paying the same monthly amount for a wifi 5-user EVDO hotspot).
- dpcan 16y agoIn my opinion, this will either slash the current price of Android phones or slow down Android growth considerably. I just can't help but to think, if I were a non-geek consumer, and it was the same price to walk out of the store with an iPhone over a Droid - I know I'd choose iPhone. Does the Droid have a silver-bullet marketing point that I'm missing, or is it all over for Android?
- code_duck 16y agoIf people wanted an iPhone, they could have just gone to AT&T and bought an iPhone. While this will probably reduce sales of Android phones through Verizon, I certainly don't think it means it is 'all over'. I agree prices may drop on Android phones, and manufacturers may have to step up their game a bit more especially in terms of software. With Android phones you have a choice of prices, different hardware configurations including physical keyboards, easily replacable batteries, expandable memories (i.e. buy a 32GB card for $50 vs. paying Apple an extra $100) and not least, the freedom to run whatever software you choose. While some nice things like game emulators are available for Android, though, it's true that iOS has a wider range of software for now. Another issues is that many people are turned off by the Apple brand, for one reason or another. HTC, Samsung and Motorola have some impressive offerings of their own, hardware wise, and I'm sure they'll continue to sell plenty of phones.
- Anechoic 16y agoIf people wanted an iPhone, they could have just gone to AT&T and bought an iPhone. My sister really wanted an iPhone but she absolutely did not want to switch from VZW (she travels a lot and voice calls are a priority), so she got a Droid. The Droid has been good enough, but she's been asking me about iPhone on Verizon ever since the rumors started; a couple of weeks ago when the rumors started to heat up, she told me she was going to switch. (the fact that her 13-month-old Droid is essentially considered "obsolete" in terms of being able to buy accessories locally helped her decision). I know anecdotes aren't data but I doubt she's unique in this regard.
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- RickRoll 16y agoWhat is the reason Verizon has better coverage than AT&T? More cell units, better range of CDMA vs. GSM or something else?
- rdtsc 16y agoThey are hands down the most reliable cell voice provider with the greatest coverage. Their customer support is not great, their prices are too expensive but they are reliable. I don't have a smart phone and use my cell only for voice so Verizon works great for me. Sometimes I travel in US and my wife's AT&T phone loses coverage while Verizon still has a strong signal. It is almost never the other way around. Hardware-wise, I believe, Verizon own most towers as well. Often other carriers rent space on a VZ tower.
- WesleyJohnson 16y agoI'm seriously debating pre-ordering one on February 3rd as I'm an existing Verizon customer. My only hold-up is whether or not they'll release and LTE version in June. Assuming Apple does have the hardware ready by then, what's the likelyhood of Verizon having a substantial LTE presence by then as well? Does anyone know what their LTE coverage looks like or how soon it'll match their 3G coverage? I'm under the impression LTE is only in major cities at the moment.
- m104 16y agoI highly recommend (as I do to all interested family, friends, and coworkers) that you wait, just a few months, until Apple has launched the new iPhone. The worst case is that the iPhone 4 will be half the price of what it is today and you waited a bit (assuming no beneficial upgrades; unlikely) and the best case is that you'll get the new phone, with all of its features benefits, for the same price of today's iPhone 4 (much more likely).
- Lewisham 16y agoI really hope this year is the year iOS also gets a refresh too. Apple has really let it stagnate and let their hardware do the talking. Windows Phone 7, I think, is a much prettier interface. Android has some killer features, like Navigation. Apple has the apps, which I guess is a perpetual motion machine for them, but iOS feels old. I worry that that won't change, as Mac OS has stayed fairly stationary from a UI perspective since 10.3, despite obvious and continually complained about problems, such as Finder. I think the thing that turns me off is that Apple don't really want to make a communicator or a dumb terminal, they want to make a small computer. That the notification system has been so broken for so long, and the cloud integration has been non-existant, shows that Apple really aren't all that interested in the "phone" aspect. I think that's a real shame. Android does it right: "What's your Google Account?" taptaptap "Oh hey, great. Here's all your contacts, all your email, all your calendar appointments. Good thing the Internet exists. Have fun."
- ohhmaagawd 16y ago
- there 16y agofrom http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/verizon-iphone-has-relocated-buttons-will-require-new-cases/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/verizon-iphone-has-reloca... as you can see in the photo above, the newly revised CDMA antenna notch has pushed the volume and mute controls down a hair from GSM version. That means a lot of cases -- Apple's current bumpers included -- won't fit properly on the Verizon version
- EGreg 16y agoNow that the iPhone is on the Verizon network, the competition with Android will heat up. Until now, Apple had to field unnerving questions about the total # of Android units sold vs iPhone units sold. But there was always a very relevant factor holding it back: to get the iPhone in the US, you had to be on AT&T. Until now. Now that the iPhone is no longer married to AT&T and will be offered by Verizon as well, millions will flock to get it. Now we can truly answer the question: do more people like the iPhone than Android phones? My prediction: yes.
- pohl 16y agoNow we can truly answer the question: do more people like the iPhone than Android phones? Really? Does that mean that Android is only available on 2 carriers in the US?
- EGreg 16y agoOkay, it's still not a fair fight, but at least the iPhone is now on the two BIGGEST carriers, which means that it's less handicapped than before :) Something tells me that if the iPhone was neck-and-neck with the Android phones for a while, now it will outpace them. ONE COMPANY beating a combined set of companies based on brand and quality (rather than lock-in effects). Go Apple!
- benofsky 16y agoI'm not sure about that, I don't know what pricing is like in the US but here (Ireland) Android phones are significantly cheaper. Most people I know who buy an Android phone, do so because it was a cheap phone, not because it's a 'smartphone' (excluding the more technically inclined friends of mine) — while the iPhone and Android are certainly competitors, I don't think people buy Android for the same reason. If I'm making sense...
- shizcakes 16y agoI really, REALLY hope Apple prevents Verizon from "verizon-ifying" this phone. They constantly put un-removable bookmarks, bloatware apps, and other bullshit on their phones. That will be a total deal breaker for me, if they do.
- msbarnett 16y agoFrom Ars Technica[1]: Apple’s own Phil Schiller assured the press that Verizon would not be loading up the device with crapware, too. “We want the experience to be the same for every iPhone user. So there are no special Verizon Apps preinstalled,” Schiller told Ars. “AT&T offers customers some apps via the App Store. I’ll let Verizon comment if they are working on anything for that.” [1]: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/01/pics-of-the-new-antenna-wifi-sharing-prefs-on-verizon-iphone.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/01/pics-of-the-new-an...
- Sidnicious 16y agoPersonal hotspot support is awesome, but will all this extra bandwidth, I'm surprised Verizon is not one-upping AT&T with over-the-air FaceTime as well.
- tibbon 16y agoIs there any real price difference between the AT&T and Verizon plans for the voice + date plans? Is Verizon doing the silly 5GB data cap as well? And does using the hotspot cost more (like teathering?)
- rbritton 16y agoApple has posted a page in their store for checking upgrade pricing for those already on Verizon: https://buyiphone.apple.com/WebObjects/IPACustomer.woa/wa/IPAToolAction/checkUpgradeEligibility?carrier=verizon_US https://buyiphone.apple.com/WebObjects/IPACustomer.woa/wa/IP...