All you iPhone freaks can stop complaining about AT&T’s network now because you can switch to Verizon if you don’t like it.
“Can you hear me now?”
I think I’ve heard just as many complaints about the reception that iPhone owners get from AT&T as much as I’ve heard unbridled praise for Apple’s gadget. I get it. AT&T sucks, Steve Jobs is a genius, yada yada yada. Well, now I never want you Applephiles to complain ever again. After months (or is it years) of rumors and speculation, a version of the iPhone 4 that’s compatible with Verizon’s network has been officially announced and will be available on February 10th, 2011. The bad part is that it will ship using outdated technology instead of the 4G LTE Network that Verizon has been pimping recently.
“The first gen LTE chipsets force design changes we wouldn’t make,” said Tim Cook, COO of Apple. “And Verizon customers told us they want the iPhone now. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been asked, ‘when will it work on Verizon.'”
You can buy an iPhone in $199 – 16gb or $299 – 32gb varieties when you sign a two year contract with Verizon. That’s on top of the monthly service cost and Verizon has yet to disclose just how much that’s going to be.
The Verizon iPhone is pretty much the same as the AT&T version, with the ringer/mute switch slightly moved to accommodate the chip that makes it work with Verizon. That means that all after-market cases won’t fit on the new units.
About the only feature that I’m impressed with is that the Verizon iPhone can act as a wifi hotspot, allowing you to run your laptop and up to four other devices off of the network connection supplied by Verizon’s radio waves. Is the connection good enough to play WoW? We’re going to have to wait until February 10th for some very important field-testing.
Of course, we’ll have to use someone else’s phone. There’s no way I’m buying into the cult of Apple.
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