7 ms·

Pretty 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.

Pretty 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 ago
I wonder how AT&T will respond to the hotspot feature. Here's hoping they relax a bit on tethering plans.
- treblig 16y ago
  Agreed, 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 ago
    For 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 ago
Incoming 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
    The CDMA Development Group announced provisions for SVDO, or Simultaneous 1x Voice and EV-DO Data in 2009, but there hasn't been much news on it since. My guess is that Verizon will just continue upgrading its network for LTE instead of making this interim upgrade.
    - detst 16y ago
      They stated at CES that they'll bring simultaneous voice and data; I'm assuming that's SVDO but perhaps they're doing it some other way. From Q&A at CES: "Q: What about simultaneous voice and data? A: Some devices will. Q: Just some devices, not all? A: Not ready to comment at this point."
- schammy 16y ago
  > Incoming calls will interrupt data activity. I don't see why people make a big deal out of this. How often do you really need to talk AND use data at the same time? I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever had to or even had the inclination that I wished I could. I think it's one of those features that sounds cool, but in reality no one really uses.
  - tortilla 16y ago
    Maybe you're using the hotspot (downloading something, streaming, skype) and you get a call.
  - lusis 16y ago
    Actually it's one limitation about CDMA that I hate. I would love to use one of the reverse lookup apps to get details about unknown callers but I can't because the operation of receiving the call means it can't simultaneously do the lookup. I also hate having some sync operation get stopped because I get a call. It's more annoying than you think but not a total deal breaker.
  - haribilalic 16y ago
    I've often gone through the steps of saying "hold on" while on a call and launching Safari, Mail or some other app to check something that was being discussed (e.g. "Did you get my email?" "Not yet, I'll check now"). It'd be worse if you're using it as a hotspot and you're sharing the hotspot with other people. It's not essential, but it's not useless either.
  - bluegene 16y ago
    Let's say you have 5 people connected to your phone's wireless hotspot and a call comes, everyone lose their connectivity
  - modoc 16y ago
    I use it all the time. I'll often be on the phone (using a headset) and pull up information online, or send out an e-mail to someone on the con-call, or pull up a new document in DropBox, or..... Add in using it a Wifi hotspot, and getting your VPN connection/download/SSH session/whatever interrupted every time your phone rings would be REALLY annoying.
- kemiller 16y ago
  Perhaps the skype announcement that was floating around will ameliorate that somehow.
- dhimes 16y ago
  love this: #Ironically, ATT service here at the Time Warner Center for a Verizon event is excellent. by jtimmer at 1/11/2011 4:30:14 PM11:30 AM
- mziulu 16y ago
  Could someone please explain how this hotspot feature usually works for smartphones? I'm having a discussion with a friend about this, but we're going nowhere since I don't own a smartphone and thus I'm not really sure what's the default here and how this iPhone does things differently. [edit] what I expect is this: if I'm connected to a wifi hotspot to browse the Internet and I receive a telephone call, I should not drop the connection to the hotspot (am I wrong in understanding that this is NOT what this iPhone does?).
  - brown9-2 16y ago
    "You can use it as a WiFi Hotspot" means that you can use the phone to broadcast a WiFi signal for nearby computers/devices to use to access the Internet. The phone acts as a WiFi access point, using the cellular network to relay the devices connected to it to the Internet.
    - mziulu 16y ago
      Yeah, this is ok, but how does this iPhone behave differently than the usual here? Do the other phones (when acting as hotspot) keep broadcasting the WiFi signal when receiving data over the cellular network?
      - InclinedPlane 16y ago
        This is basically what is called "tethering", using the 3G internet connection of the phone for other devices (such as your laptop), except that the "tether" is no a physical connection but just a wifi connection. In other words, you put your phone into this mode and you can connect to it through wifi and have wireless internet anywhere you have 3G coverage. AT&T does not offer the same service.
        orangecat 16y ago
        AT&T does not offer the same service. Of course, it's worth noting that tethering isn't a "service" that carriers have to build or support. It's an inherent capability of a sufficiently advanced computing device that has access to two networks simultaneously. But in a textbook case of non-neutrality, AT&T (and others) prevent you from using that capability unless you pay them to remove the entirely artificial restriction.
listic 16y ago
Is Verizon's CDMA network technically compatible with anywhere else in the world? (e.g. so that you can us the same phone in U.S and elsewhere, provided it is not locked) Specifically, which frequency band does U.S. CDMA use?
- rmc 16y ago
  No I don't think so. Everwhere else on the world is GSM. That confused me when I first read about USA mobile phones, I wondered what this CDMA thing was.
  - dboyd 16y ago
    Worldwide CDMA coverage: http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/ http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/
    - cstross 16y ago
      Looking at their map, it's highly misleading, implying there's CDMA 3G coverage in a bunch of places where there is no, or minimal coverage. (They're a trade body promoting CDMA -- what would you do in their shoes?) CDMA2000 aka EV-DO isn't compatible with W-CDMA, aka UMTS -- the 3G standard used just about everywhere -- and has about 10% of the market worldwide: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Comparison_of_mobile_phone_standards https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Comparison_of... Here's a list of CDMA2000 operators. You'll notice a lot in the Americas, especially the USA, plus others scattered elsewhere: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_CDMA2000_networks https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_CDMA2... And here's the giant table of UMTS (aka W-CDMA) operators worldwide: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_UMTS_networks https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_UMTS_... If you're American and don't have a passport, then by all means get a Verizon iPhone 4. But if you expect to travel widely it'd be much more sensible to get a GSM/UMTS iPhone 4, even if it means putting up with AT&T at home. (More sensibly, buy an unlocked one from Apple on a trip to, say, the UK or Ireland: claim back the VAT and buy a micro-SIM on the network of your choice and you're golden.)
shade 16y ago
I've been thinking of dropping my AT&T iPhone 4 for a Droid Bionic on Verizon later this year. Given that, I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot feature like they do with Android, or if they're not, making it free for Android users as well. (edit: To be clear, the liveblogs I've glanced at haven't specifically said if it will be free or not, and Verizon apparently won't talk about plan pricing...)
- ugh 16y ago
  I don’t really understand why you hope that they will charge iPhone users for the hotspot feature. That seems wholly unrelated to your purchasing decision.
  - carols10cents 16y ago
    because it's not fa-airrrr
- biot 16y ago
  > I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot > feature like they do with Android If they don't end up charging extra, I'll be happy to charge you for it so that you're not disappointed.
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  > I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot feature like they do with Android, or if they're not, making it free for Android users as well. Meh, root your phone like every other hacker and you can get free tethering on Android as well. I use it all the time with my Droid.
- mdolon 16y ago
  Send me a message if you end up selling your iPhone, I'd be willing to take it off your hands. (username at gmail)
stevenbedrick 16y ago
I wonder how much they'll charge for the mobile hotspot feature? Earlier last year, when they were desperately trying to unload Palm Pres, they were throwing that capability in for free... but I somehow doubt that that will be the case with the iPhone. But I'd love to be proven wrong, as it's been an incredibly useful feature.
irons 16y ago
... with a puzzling lack of pricing information about hotspot usage, or even basic data.

ben1040 16y ago

I wonder how AT&T will respond to the hotspot feature. Here's hoping they relax a bit on tethering plans.

treblig 16y ago
Agreed, 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 ago
  For 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 ago

Incoming 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
  The CDMA Development Group announced provisions for SVDO, or Simultaneous 1x Voice and EV-DO Data in 2009, but there hasn't been much news on it since. My guess is that Verizon will just continue upgrading its network for LTE instead of making this interim upgrade.
  - detst 16y ago
    They stated at CES that they'll bring simultaneous voice and data; I'm assuming that's SVDO but perhaps they're doing it some other way. From Q&A at CES: "Q: What about simultaneous voice and data? A: Some devices will. Q: Just some devices, not all? A: Not ready to comment at this point."
schammy 16y ago
> Incoming calls will interrupt data activity. I don't see why people make a big deal out of this. How often do you really need to talk AND use data at the same time? I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever had to or even had the inclination that I wished I could. I think it's one of those features that sounds cool, but in reality no one really uses.
- tortilla 16y ago
  Maybe you're using the hotspot (downloading something, streaming, skype) and you get a call.
- lusis 16y ago
  Actually it's one limitation about CDMA that I hate. I would love to use one of the reverse lookup apps to get details about unknown callers but I can't because the operation of receiving the call means it can't simultaneously do the lookup. I also hate having some sync operation get stopped because I get a call. It's more annoying than you think but not a total deal breaker.
- haribilalic 16y ago
  I've often gone through the steps of saying "hold on" while on a call and launching Safari, Mail or some other app to check something that was being discussed (e.g. "Did you get my email?" "Not yet, I'll check now"). It'd be worse if you're using it as a hotspot and you're sharing the hotspot with other people. It's not essential, but it's not useless either.
- bluegene 16y ago
  Let's say you have 5 people connected to your phone's wireless hotspot and a call comes, everyone lose their connectivity
- modoc 16y ago
  I use it all the time. I'll often be on the phone (using a headset) and pull up information online, or send out an e-mail to someone on the con-call, or pull up a new document in DropBox, or..... Add in using it a Wifi hotspot, and getting your VPN connection/download/SSH session/whatever interrupted every time your phone rings would be REALLY annoying.
kemiller 16y ago
Perhaps the skype announcement that was floating around will ameliorate that somehow.
dhimes 16y ago
love this: #Ironically, ATT service here at the Time Warner Center for a Verizon event is excellent. by jtimmer at 1/11/2011 4:30:14 PM11:30 AM
mziulu 16y ago
Could someone please explain how this hotspot feature usually works for smartphones? I'm having a discussion with a friend about this, but we're going nowhere since I don't own a smartphone and thus I'm not really sure what's the default here and how this iPhone does things differently. [edit] what I expect is this: if I'm connected to a wifi hotspot to browse the Internet and I receive a telephone call, I should not drop the connection to the hotspot (am I wrong in understanding that this is NOT what this iPhone does?).
- brown9-2 16y ago
  "You can use it as a WiFi Hotspot" means that you can use the phone to broadcast a WiFi signal for nearby computers/devices to use to access the Internet. The phone acts as a WiFi access point, using the cellular network to relay the devices connected to it to the Internet.
  - mziulu 16y ago
    Yeah, this is ok, but how does this iPhone behave differently than the usual here? Do the other phones (when acting as hotspot) keep broadcasting the WiFi signal when receiving data over the cellular network?
    - InclinedPlane 16y ago
      This is basically what is called "tethering", using the 3G internet connection of the phone for other devices (such as your laptop), except that the "tether" is no a physical connection but just a wifi connection. In other words, you put your phone into this mode and you can connect to it through wifi and have wireless internet anywhere you have 3G coverage. AT&T does not offer the same service.
      - orangecat 16y ago
        AT&T does not offer the same service. Of course, it's worth noting that tethering isn't a "service" that carriers have to build or support. It's an inherent capability of a sufficiently advanced computing device that has access to two networks simultaneously. But in a textbook case of non-neutrality, AT&T (and others) prevent you from using that capability unless you pay them to remove the entirely artificial restriction.

listic 16y ago

Is Verizon's CDMA network technically compatible with anywhere else in the world? (e.g. so that you can us the same phone in U.S and elsewhere, provided it is not locked) Specifically, which frequency band does U.S. CDMA use?

rmc 16y ago
No I don't think so. Everwhere else on the world is GSM. That confused me when I first read about USA mobile phones, I wondered what this CDMA thing was.
- dboyd 16y ago
  Worldwide CDMA coverage: http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/ http://www.cdg.org/worldwide/
  - cstross 16y ago
    Looking at their map, it's highly misleading, implying there's CDMA 3G coverage in a bunch of places where there is no, or minimal coverage. (They're a trade body promoting CDMA -- what would you do in their shoes?) CDMA2000 aka EV-DO isn't compatible with W-CDMA, aka UMTS -- the 3G standard used just about everywhere -- and has about 10% of the market worldwide: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Comparison_of_mobile_phone_standards https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Comparison_of... Here's a list of CDMA2000 operators. You'll notice a lot in the Americas, especially the USA, plus others scattered elsewhere: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_CDMA2000_networks https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_CDMA2... And here's the giant table of UMTS (aka W-CDMA) operators worldwide: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_UMTS_networks https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_UMTS_... If you're American and don't have a passport, then by all means get a Verizon iPhone 4. But if you expect to travel widely it'd be much more sensible to get a GSM/UMTS iPhone 4, even if it means putting up with AT&T at home. (More sensibly, buy an unlocked one from Apple on a trip to, say, the UK or Ireland: claim back the VAT and buy a micro-SIM on the network of your choice and you're golden.)

shade 16y ago

I've been thinking of dropping my AT&T iPhone 4 for a Droid Bionic on Verizon later this year. Given that, I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot feature like they do with Android, or if they're not, making it free for Android users as well. (edit: To be clear, the liveblogs I've glanced at haven't specifically said if it will be free or not, and Verizon apparently won't talk about plan pricing...)

ugh 16y ago
I don’t really understand why you hope that they will charge iPhone users for the hotspot feature. That seems wholly unrelated to your purchasing decision.
- carols10cents 16y ago
  because it's not fa-airrrr
biot 16y ago
> I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot > feature like they do with Android If they don't end up charging extra, I'll be happy to charge you for it so that you're not disappointed.
w1ntermute 16y ago
> I'm really hoping they'll be charging extra for the wifi hotspot feature like they do with Android, or if they're not, making it free for Android users as well. Meh, root your phone like every other hacker and you can get free tethering on Android as well. I use it all the time with my Droid.
mdolon 16y ago
Send me a message if you end up selling your iPhone, I'd be willing to take it off your hands. (username at gmail)

stevenbedrick 16y ago

I wonder how much they'll charge for the mobile hotspot feature? Earlier last year, when they were desperately trying to unload Palm Pres, they were throwing that capability in for free... but I somehow doubt that that will be the case with the iPhone. But I'd love to be proven wrong, as it's been an incredibly useful feature.

irons 16y ago

... with a puzzling lack of pricing information about hotspot usage, or even basic data.