Verizon Event Live Blog Coverage This Morning
By Harry McCracken | Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 4:46 am
Greetings from a taxicab in chilly New York. I’m on my way to Verizon’s “Latest News event,” where the company will stun the world–if it doesn’t announce that Apple’s iPhone is coming to its network. Live coverage of the event begins at 11am ET/8am PT at technologizer.com/verizon. (Pssst: I’ll try to be there a few minutes early.)
I’m happy to report that we’ll have two special guests providing color commentary from San Francisco: Macworld Editorial Director Jason Snell and PCWorld Assistant Editor Nick Mediati. They’ll share their thoughts on the news as it develops as I report from the scene here in Manhattan.
If you’re reading this before the event kicks off, feel free to share any last-minute predictions or other thoughts. It’s going to be a weird feeling if nobody ever writes or reads another article longing for a Verizon iPhone or reporting (rightly or wrongly) that one is imminent. Pining for a Sprint iPhone or a T-Mobile iPhone just isn’t going to be the same…
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January 10th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
I have the iPhone 4 on AT&T. IF the Verizon iPhone has a mobile hotspot feature (app)… BYE AT&T. If not, then I will wait for the next iPhone on Verizon.
January 11th, 2011 at 5:12 am
I hope that Verizon releases the iPhone 4 today. Since the release of the iPhone, Verizon customers (me included) have been anticipating this piece of technology to be distributed to other carriers besides AT&T. The only thing that I'm asking of Verizon is to upgrade its services to GSM to that its customers can search the web while on a telephone call. I know that Verizon's service is outstanding, and to me compared to AT&T, that is all that matters.
January 11th, 2011 at 6:22 am
I really hope not only is it an Iphone 4, available in white as well.
HOWEVER it would be hilarious if this was all a conference to announce that the iPad 2 will be available at Verizon.
January 11th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Yeah, that would be pretty nice, but highly unlikely. I have heard from somewhere that Verizon put the restriction of no data and phone at the same time as their network. If a device has a certain piece of equipment in it, then it can handle both at the same time. I'm not sure if that's factual, so don't quote me on that, but it may turn out that not only will Verizon announce the iPhone, but also say that like AT&T the iPhone can handle both at the same time. I'm getting it on Verizon anyways, so it doesn't matter to me either way. That would totally kill AT&T though, I would think.
January 11th, 2011 at 6:36 am
There is also a ton here that we dont know.
1. Who was credible enough to start the "Verizon Iphone" rumors from WSJ?
-was it an insider from AT&T who has a vendetta against Verizon? Telling WSJ that Verizon is gettin the Iphone and knowing there is NO WAY they are getting it? That would put many people in the position that i am in. Im waiting for the official word from Verizon. If Verizon tells me that there is no IPhone on their network, then im moving to AT&T along with the rest of the crowd who has been waiting to upgrade just like me.
2.Where the hell are all the white iPhone 4s? I read a report about Steve Jobs saying that the home button didnt "exactly" match the rest of the phone so he wouldnt ship them. GAY. So i suggest that those thousands of white phones sitting in the warehouses, are CDMA phones waiting to be shipped. (Much less plausible but whatever 😀 )
January 11th, 2011 at 6:50 am
I don't think Verizon will be the big winner in this… they already do pretty well with Android phones. Android phones on Verizon are what is going to lose.
Winner: Apple
Their stagnant market share will have one more huge pool to grow in.
Winners: Customers of AT&T
AT&T will have no choice but to step up their game now. Infrastructure and bandwidth upgrades had better happen soon or else they'll have a lot of customers jumping to Verizon.
Loser: Android
iPhone will cannibalize much Android business on Verizon
Perception of Android vs iPhone could be damaging if Android becomes a "value" alternative to the iPhone
Coming out even: Verizon
I don't think they'll see a lot of growth because of this… people that want smart phones that demand to have verizon have already purchased Android phones. We might see a few percentage points of shift from AT&T to Verizon in these first few months just because AT&T has been abusing their customers. But if AT&T steps up their game quickly (like they have to), that will be mitigated over the longer term.
Verizon will be stuck in an awkward position of what to do with both a huge Android lineup and the iPhone. In most peoples' perception, the iPhone is probably the premium and the Android phones are probably value plays (especially if Verizon plays up the iPhone today)… though for Verizon the cost is probably similar. So will they discount Android phones more heavily to play to the value perception and make less of a profit off of them? Why would they do that when the iPhone would then be more profitable? If they keep them priced similarly, they'll probably sell far fewer Android phones in the future (which makes their huge "Droid" marketing push over the past couple years seem like a colossal waste of money).
I guess we'll see what happens…
January 11th, 2011 at 7:07 am
Yeah, I think you're mostly right on this. I have no idea what Verizon will do with their Android base now, but it wasn't a colossal waste of money pushing the Droid. The only reason they adopted the Droid was to hurt Apple and try to get something to play with so Apple would be forced to release the iPhone to them. Mission accomplished. Apple sees Android sales steadily rising and they decide to cut it off by going to Android's turf. I'm surprised it took Apple so long to do this. They created the Droid and now they must destory it!
January 11th, 2011 at 6:56 am
i'm thinking Iphone 4 CDMA release with LTE upgradeable insert when LTE is avaiable in the customers area. I cant think of a reason why Verizon would hype their LTE so much at CES then not have some way to make the Iphone 4 LTE capable.
January 11th, 2011 at 7:09 am
Does anyone know the chances of this announcement being made today as well as the phone being available in stores? If so has anyone heard of an expected release date that this phone will be available in stores.
January 11th, 2011 at 7:15 am
Probably not today. I've been hearing late January or early February as the most likely time of launch.
January 11th, 2011 at 7:18 am
ii just want it now. enough already.
January 11th, 2011 at 7:20 am
it was on the news last night saying they were announcing it at this event!
January 11th, 2011 at 7:30 am
i hope Verizon DOES get an Iphone, then they can listen to all the whiny lil iphone users who have no clue how to even use the device and shouldnt have it, but want to blame it all on AT&T
January 11th, 2011 at 8:44 am
Verizon released today that it's official we are getting the I phone, will be available for pre-order on February 3rd to exisiting customer and February 10th to everyone else.
January 11th, 2011 at 9:22 am
Verizon today confirmed plans to launch the iPhone 4 on February 10th. Contrary to some rumors the new model will be CDMA-only, forgoing the speed advantages of the carrier's nascent 4G LTE network in favor of 3G. A 16GB phone will cost $199, while a 32GB one will be $299, with each having the distinct advantage over AT&T versions in including mobile hotspot support for up to five devices.
The February 10th date is in fact only a public launch date, as existing Verizon subscribers will be able to pre-order on February 3rd. On the 10th people will be able to order online or at retail, either from Verizon or Apple.
Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/01/11/bre…
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