The Verizon iPhone 4

http://daringfireball.net/2011/02/verizon_iphone_4

by tortilla • 15 years ago

89 54 15 years ago

Think it's interesting that John Gruber got a review device provided by Apple. I don't recall them ever really reaching out to bloggers in the past.

I wonder if Gizmodo got one?

marcc• 15 years ago

MG Siegler over at TechCrunch did. He just published his review, which was pretty much the same as John's. But Gizmodo... ha. That'll be the day!

nightshowerer• 15 years ago

No problem, but she's a he.

mqt2• 15 years ago

It seems that a bunch of bloggers received pre-release Verizon iPhones for review. It's probably because expectations have already been set for the iPhone 4 and Apple doesn't need to worry about reviews negatively affecting initial sales.

It's not often that you see two reviews for essentially identical products from the same source. This was a pretty smart move by Apple.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/02/verizon-iphone-review/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/technology/personaltech/03...

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/02/verizon-iphone/

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/02/verizon-iphone-review/

Jonnyrealed4• 15 years ago

Apple invited Gruber as press to the iPhone 4 Antennagate conference last year. He was also invited to the opening of the Philly Apple Store. Apple isn't the only one reaching out to Gruber — Google sent him a Nexus S for review as well (which I don't think he ever got around to writing).

37prime2• 15 years ago

But Grubber was not invited to the Verizon iPhone announcement. https://twitter.com/gruber/status/24937327675580416

BigZaphod2• 15 years ago

Could it perhaps have been supplied by Verizon instead? They'd be the ones with the most to gain right now in terms of PR - get all the bloggers to talk about how much better the network is since the hardware itself is a non-story (which is exactly what the ones I've read have said so far).

UPDATE: The footnote in Gruber's article actually says "supplied by Apple" so... guess not. :)

flyt• 15 years ago

Apple has warmed to Gruber in the last year. One of Steve Jobs' replies to a customer email quoted him directly and said that he was "very insightful"

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/10/steve-jobs-responds-to-ipho...

Jonnyrealed4• 15 years ago

"and positive" don't forget that ;)

nhangen2• 15 years ago

I had bad service in NC (just south of Raleigh, near Fort Bragg), but was astonished to find that moving to Tampa made my service worse. I drop calls, can hardly hear, and lose data signal constantly. I'm ready to switch, even though I just bought a brand new iPhone 4 a few months ago.

My only concern is this - why buy an iPhone 4 on Verizon when the next model is due in a few months? Will be interesting to see if this pisses people off.

ugh3• 15 years ago

My only concern is this - why buy an iPhone 4 on Verizon when the next model is due in a few months? Will be interesting to see if this pisses people off.

That’s one of the downsides of having such a simple product line. Who (except for a tiny minority) even knows when HTC or Samsung release a new phone? The announcement of a new iPhone makes headlines and it’s also introduced as a replacement, not just another different model. (Technology progresses. Blaming any tech company for introducing a newer, better and cheaper model is stupid. A phone you buy today will be just as good in three years.)

My guess would be that people will not be very pissed. There will be lame jokes but not much outrage. I think that Apple will go for a two-year rhythm when it comes to major iPhone updates and that the next iPhone will consequently mostly receive a speed and RAM bump, maybe some nice software features and some cool hardware thing (NFC?) and that the case and other specs will stay the same. (Except for changing the case I don’t even know what they could conceivably do to make this a major update.) Current iPhones would obviously equally benefit from software updates (well, mostly – hopefully).

Apple will definitely continue to sell the current iPhone even after the next model has been introduced – just like they are still selling the 3GS now.

nhangen2• 15 years ago

You're probably right, but I distinctly remember buying my first Apple product, which was a 3G. I just returned from Afghanistan and was stoked to have an iPhone. 31 days later (1 day post-return option), the 3GS came out and I watched with horror as all of my friends had a much better phone than I bought just weeks prior.

I got over it, but I learned that I had to keep an eye on release cycles to avoid having that happen again. I believe many Verizon iPhone users will learn the same thing.

khafra• 15 years ago

AT&T has horrible service on MacDill AFB; they have impeccable coverage in the rest of the Tampa Bay area except the exact middle of the 275 bridge to Pinellas. I'm not sure how other carriers do on MacDill.

iqster• 15 years ago

In the next few days we'll find out if the problems were with the network, with the phone, or both.

glhaynes2• 15 years ago

Nope. iPhones have for a long time now been available on tons of carriers all over the world. The phone's fine (though not great).

guelo• 15 years ago

What I wonder is if Verizon will continue with their massive Android advertising, without it Android's U.S. numbers might slow down. It is very interesting that Motorola's best new Android phone, the Atrix, is an ATT exclusive.

Fun times!

BigZaphod2• 15 years ago

They probably will. AT&T seemed to spend a lot of time and effort promoting other non-iPhones. The people who want iPhones are probably already sold on them. Apple is also advertising it, too. The networks likely still feel a need to reach out to the people who don't care about the hardware itself and just want the services they offer, so they can use the other phones for that purpose.

asnyder• 15 years ago

I care very much about the hardware I use, I just don't care very much for the iPhone hardware. Your phrasing makes it seem like all those ruffians that don't care about hardware are relegated to the Android bin. In practice, I would say those that care about their hardware are more likely to choose an Android phone as they actually have a choice over their phone and its hardware, not to mention the better customization of their phone if they're into that sort of thing.

neild• 15 years ago

Verizon advertises the Droid, not Android. And the Droid brand belongs to Verizon.

The fact that "Android" and "Droid" are becoming synonymous for many people is very, very good for Verizon.

glhaynes2• 15 years ago

The fact that "Android" and "Droid" are becoming synonymous for many people is very, very good for Verizon.

Is it? It seems to me that people (correctly) see them as equivalent so what's the value in owning the "Droid" trademark?

"I want a Droid."

"Come to T-Mobile, we have Androids!"

"OK!"

gamble• 15 years ago

I'd love to see whether the average person realizes that Droid and Android aren't the same thing. It always seemed like a huge concession for Google to let Verizon essentially own the public face of Android, but I guess they were feeling the pressure when they made that call...

kenjackson• 15 years ago

Can Verizon label a non-Android phone as a Droid?

robterrell• 15 years ago

Consumer confusion between "Droid" and "Android" goes deep. I developed an Android app version of an existing iOS app, and the client wanted the splash screen & all marketing materials to refer to it as the "Droid" version. I explained to them that Droid is a trademark of Lucasfilm licensed to only Verizon, and both Lucasfilm and Verizon would probably not like to see it appearing on any old Android handset running the app. The designer said I was being needlessly pedantic and refused -- "Droid" was aesthetically more pleasing -- and the marketing people thought "Droid" was more commonly used.

I had to escalate it to the top to get them to drop it. And they still think I was wrong.

dangrossman• 15 years ago

From an article I read a few weeks ago, the Atrix is just the name of the version they're selling AT&T, while the Bionic is the name of the version they're selling Verizon. One has more RAM, the other has more ROM, and the Verizon version supports LTE, but otherwise the same phone...

ZeroGravitas• 15 years ago

The media, desktop and laptop docks (and accompanying settop & webtop software) appear to be exclusive to the Atrix version.

yesimahuman• 15 years ago

I can't help but feel like not having data while using voice would be a bigger annoyance to me than Gruber found it. I often look up maps while on the phone with someone. Also losing wi-fi during a call could be frustrating.

SoftwareMaven• 15 years ago

I completely agree. I use data fairly regularly when I'm on the phone. That is enough of a factor for me that I don't think I could switch until it gets resolved with Verizon's network updates.

mqt2• 15 years ago

WiFi and calls work simultaneously, it's only 2G/3G data that's affected.

pyre• 15 years ago

I think that yesiamahuman meant the hotspot tethering functionality by 'WiFi.'

thecasper• 15 years ago

I had a 1st gen iPhone the day they came out. Loved that phone. Sadly I couldn't stand AT&T's customer service. So I went to verizon and bought a Droid. Loved that phone too, but anymore I just want a iPhone again. I miss having my easy integration with my contacts, iTunes, and iPhoto

Anyways I will be waiting till this summer for when the next generation supposedly comes out.

acqq4• 15 years ago

> it could be that the GSM iPhones have hardware or driver problems that the CDMA iPhone 4 does not. But, alas for AT&T, GSM iPhone users around the world do not share in the problems of GSM iPhone users in the United States.

Certainly not true. Writing from Europe: I've had all the iPhone 4 dropped call problems in the middle of the city whenever I've forgotten how to "safely" hold the phone until I've bought the bumper case. My provider here is T Mobile.

ugh3• 15 years ago

I haven’t seen any widespread coverage about problems with the iPhone in Germany.

acqq4• 15 years ago

I consider it natural to the way of the coverage in German speaking countries. Don't forget that it was "old news" for Europe since iPhones 4 were first available in the U.S. I own the iPhone 4 and I can easily repeat the "death grip" whenever I want. However I also almost never see anybody using the 4 without the bumper case.

halostatue• 15 years ago

The problem here is not related to the "death-grip." The problems with AT&T's network affect all versions of the iPhone, not just the iPhone 4.

As a Canadian, I never get to see how well the AT&T data speeds are on an iPhone (the prices are insane for roaming), but on the times where I've needed to do voice calls, the AT&T experience is—at best—not great. I don't have that problem here in Canada.

pmjordan• 15 years ago

I'm curious about the wifi tethering. Ad-hoc wifi networks created on a Mac are only WEP-"protected"; I wonder if the iPhone's is a true WPA(2) access point. I wouldn't be comfortable walking around with an effectively wide-open WEP AP attached to my mobile data connection.

I also wouldn't be too presumptuous about getting the AP feature in previous hardware, if it is a true access point - 'master' mode isn't supported by all wifi hardware, although it may well purely be a firmware ("baseband") issue. I don't expect to get the feature on my old iPhone 3G, though it would be a nice bonus on the iPad.

doki_pen• 15 years ago

  Verizon sells phones. They will continue to sell phones. They will continue to own and push (and control) the Droid brand. The iPhone, though, is a phone they don’t need to own, push, or control. Apple will sell it for them. Verizon just needs to sell their core competency: cellular networking.

That it's exactly what verizon does not want

sambeau• 15 years ago

Why? What is your reasoning?

robin_reala2• 15 years ago

Traditionally (and to this day) mobile connection providers don’t want to become ‘mere’ data pipes, as it becomes difficult to differentiate yourself from competitors. To this end the mobile companies have been furiously ‘value-adding’ for the past 15 years (given a certain definition of value). In the UK at least this has lead to operator branded phones, an operator defined catalogue of phones available to buy, operator ‘enhanced’ phone firmware, operator apps, highstreet operator-run shops and plenty more failed projects including music stores, walled content gardens, etc etc.

recoiledsnake2• 15 years ago

The reasoning is that what would happen if and when AT&T's (or another carrier's) service becomes the same or better than Verizon's? They would lose ALL their edge right at that moment.

They would want to differentiate themselves by having exclusive phones, apps, services etc. that they can bilk money from. Though I think carriers/OEMs of both phones and computers can add more value by NOT shipping the crapware, it's almost universally bad and crash prone.

I think AT&T will be hard hit by the lack of iPhone exclusivity. Their Android offerings suck(perhaps intentionally) and their network has been getting real bad press over the past few years compared to even Tmobile or Sprint(which do have some very nice Android options).

The Verizon iPhone 4

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