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Verizon Finally Unveils Apple iPhone
Velcroman1 writes "The most asked question in all of technology finally has an answer. When will Verizon get the iPhone? The answer: early next month. Verizon COO Lowell McAdam unveiled a new iPhone Tuesday during a presentation in New York that was short on surprises as most of the tech press already knew what was coming. 'If the press writes about something long enough and hard enough, eventually it comes true,' McAdam joked. Nevertheless, the move clears a major hurdle for Apple as they face increasing competition in smartphones, particularly from devices based on Google Inc.'s Android software which has exploded in popularity. Verizon's Lowell McAdam described the unveiling as a 'great day for wireless customers across the US.'"
Want to reference an email in Gmail while on a phone call? Doesn't work. Want to look at Google Maps to give directions while you're on the phone with someone? Doesn't work. Yes, no data/voice simultaneously is a big deal.
The most common(and probably most effective) backpedaling strategy is "Don't".
Just stop saying what you were saying before, scrub it from visible locations where possible, then begin emitting the new party line. Most people have sufficiently short memories, or high enough tolerance for absurd contradictions, that they won't bat an eye. The people who don't fit in this category will never be satisfied, so why bother worrying about them?
What actually happens when a call comes in? Obviously any data streams stop, but if I have a laptop tethered will TCP connections get reset or is it like all of a sudden having dropped packets?
That's exactly what happens. I travel a great deal for business and given that most hotel's WiFi tends towards the sucktastic side of speeds I tether my Droid constantly. When a phone call comes in the radio kills any data coming through it. The connection doesn't get a reset, the packets just stop coming.
That's because GPRS/EDGE baseband doesn't support simultaneous voice+data, because there's only one transceiver. All the UMTS (3G HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA) ones, in order to get higher speeds use channel bonding and multiple data contexts, which requires additional transceivers on additional channels. When a voice call comes it, it's just a control message to shut down a data context, switch a transceiver to the voice channel, and continue. The only thing that you'll notice is the data comes in a bit slower.
As for LTE support - LTE rollout isn't everywhere, and LTE at the moment is only guaranteed for data - the voice path has not been fully ratified yet. No doubt you can run VoIP, but I'm sure the carriers are trying to figure a wya to limit the built-in VoIP to their network only in nice high priority while other VoIP services get stuck with regular data services...
claustrophobia-inducing
You are not supposed to try to live in the box it came in.
They promised to give up the one thing that Verizon has held out on all this time, Verizon branding all over the phone.
It will be verizon free, free of all the extra apps and crap they want installed on the system. It will remain an Apple device, exactly what Apple has always wanted and only AT&T would agree to.
It hasn't been an exclusive agreement or Apple's will that kept the phone on AT&T, it's Verizon's vanity and need for control over a device that is yours to use.
With LTE coming up, they didn't want to miss out on an iDevice for another generation of wireless data.
After the announcement, I called ATT and asked for incentives to keep me on their network. I told them about the Verizon announcement, and offered to renew my contract if they would upgrade me to the iPhone 4 at no cost, and knock $15 off my month rate. They accepted the deal. ATT know the threat Verizon poses, and are eager to stop the bloodletting. I would encourage everyone who is willing to stick around to haggle.
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http://support.vzw.com/faqs/iphone/iphone_faq.html#item12
5. Do I need to sign up for a 2 year agreement? When purchasing iPhone at the 2 year promotional price a new agreement is required. However, you will also have the option to purchase iPhone at full retail price, which will not require you to sign a long-term agreement.