Verizon carrying Apple's iPhone
Verizon Wireless announced that it will be carrying Apple‘s iconic iPhone.
On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal announced that Apple will introduce an iPhone for the Verizon Wireless network by early 2011, ending the iPhone's hitherto exclusive deal with AT&T. Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have existed for a long time, but many are taking the Journal report as the most credible yet. Verizon is the largest wireless network in the U.S., and onlookers are already speculating about how an iPhone for Verizon will affect the fortunes of Apple, AT&T, Verizon, and Google, whose Android smartphones have been a runaway success this year.
Verizon's chief operating officer, Lowell McAdam explained that the partnership is one that has been in the works since 2008 when the two media giants talked about bringing an iPhone to the CDMA network. Over the past two years, Verizon and Apple have been working together to design and test to make sure the phone would be up to the standards of Verizon.
The iPhone will go on sale on February 10. Pricing is identical to AT&T’s — $199 for the 16 GB model, $299 for the 32 GB model. The hardware is identical — the A4 chip, the Retina Display, the FaceTime camera and other features are present. AT&T and Verizon iPhones are close to being identical, except for the chipset inside and one minor antenna revision. Additionally, the volume buttons on the Verizon model are slightly lower, meaning most iPhone cases will need a Verizon iPhone-specific model.
The iPhone 3GS (recently dropped to $49) will remain exclusive to AT&T.
Existing Verizon Wireless customers will be able to pre-order an iPhone 4 from Verizon’s reserved quantity before they become available to the general public on Feb 3. The following week, the phone will launch to everyone on Verizon online and at stores.
The Verizon iPhone will be essentially the same as the AT&T phone except for two key differences:
· The Verizon phone will not allow users to use data services while making a phone call. In other words, if you're on the phone and want to look up a Web page, no dice. This is consistent with all of Verizon's CDMA phones.
· Verizon iPhone users will be able to use their phones as wireless hotspots, probably for an additional monthly charge. Up to five devices will be able to connect to the hotspot.
Since the Verizon iPhone was announced, Apple smartphone fans have been wondering how much data plans would cost on Verizon's network, and now they have an answer.The Wall Street Journal reports Verizon Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam has confirmed their network will offer iPhone customers a $30 unlimited data plan.
AT&T iPhone users who are considering switching to Verizon Wireless have been waiting to hear how much the data plan would cost. Some AT&T customers have been grandfathered in with unlimited plans for their iPhone, but new customers currently pay $15 for 200 MB, $25 for 2 GB, and $45 for 4 GB of data per month. If they go over, AT&T also charges $10 for each additional GB of data.
AT&T activated 11.1 million iPhones in the first nine months of 2010. Analysts now expect Verizon to snag some users from AT&T, but the impact will likely be muted because most iPhone users have two-year contracts, and many are on family and employer plans.
Verizon’s iPhone version will work only on the carrier’s current "3G" network even though the carrier has fired up a faster "4G" network in many cities. That super-fast wireless data network is available only to plug-in laptop modems for now, but Verizon will have smart phones for it this summer.
Cook said the first generation of "4G" phone chips would have forced some design compromises, which Apple wasn’t willing to make.
"Secondly and most importantly, Verizon customers have told us they want the iPhone now," Cook said. "I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked and my colleagues have been asked . When will the iPhone work on the Verizon network?"
Of course, the iPhone has been AT&T-exclusive in the US since its launch back in 2007. But today’s announcement is about more than just a new carrier. Since the original model, the iPhone has only supported GSM-powered networks. Most major networks use GSM, with some notable exceptions — Verizon in the US and China Telecom, which use CDMA. While nothing about China was announced, Tim Cook confirmed that the agreement with Verizon is “non-exclusive,” so other CDMA carriers may get the iPhone at somepoint in the future.
