You heard me right: Verizon is getting its own iPhone 4. They’re not wasting any time with it, either, as preordering begins in early February and the decision was made to not waste time developing for the new 4G network (it’ll stay on the 3G network). AT&T is the largest wireless provider worldwide, but Verizon is the largest within the U.S. and still has the best coverage within the country. Assuming that your next phone will be a smartphone—because being able to do business on-the-go is of utmost importance now—and possibly on the Verizon network, will you go for a new smartphone on the super-fast 4G network or go for the popular iPhone? Note that right now, Verizon will be the first to provide service on a 4G network. (Yeah, I’m a little biased.)
A high-definition full-length movie that might have taken 4.5 hours to download on a 3G network will take less than 4.5 minutes on 4G, he said. [Lowell McAdam, COO of Verizon Wireless]—from The New York Times
No Simultaneous Voice & Data and Not as Many Countries Covered
These, being the only two negative differences found between the Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T iPhone 4, aren’t a big deal in my own opinion. Having a phone meeting with a client while reading through the emails you’ve exchanged is very convenient, but how necessary is it? And of course, international coverage is only important if you make more than a few international calls each year.
Supplying a Wi-Fi connection to 5 laptops
Nervousness sets in when I see the term “unspecified monthly amount,” but this is still a very cool feature that Verizon will offer while AT&T does not: Connect up to five computers via a Wi-Fi connection from the wireless network.
Is 4G all it’s cracked up to be?
To help me answer that question, I’ll ask this question: How many times have you wanted to throw your computer out the window for taking too long to download content? AT&T says that “customers don’t care about G’s [Glenn Lurie, the company’s head of emerging devices],” but I think that’s a cop-out. To think that people don’t care about speed is counter to anything we’ve said and done in other facets of our lives. Our cars, our computers, even our relationships are all going faster and faster these days. It seems to me that 4G is part of the natural progression that we’ll follow without realizing it.
In the end…
Well, there is definitely no end in sight, but that is hardly a bad thing! Which way do you see yourself going – iPhone 4 or 4G network? Personally, I’m thinking the Droid Bionic, which is set to be the first 4G phone released by Motorola for Verizon, is more appealing than the iPhone 4.
Read these two articles from The New York Times about Verizon’s plans for 2011. There’s a ton of information available within:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/technology/12phone.html?ref=technology
