The iPhone is finally coming to the Verizon network. Announced today by Lowell McAdam fromVerizon and Tim Cook from Apple. It will be available for pre-order for existing customers on February 3rd with general availability on February 10th.
As I expected, this initial Verizon iPhone is basically the same as the current iPhone 4, but works on Verizon's CDMA network instead of a GSM network like AT&T. So why just release the same old iPhone 4 on Verizon without some cool new features, like LTE support? There are a few reasons. First and foremost, as Tim Cook pointed out, they wanted to get this out on Verizon as quickly as possible and sticking with the existing design allowed that to happen. Also, when the new iPhone 5 comes out (presumably this summer) the new features will be available for all carriers and Verizon will have something to offer at a lower price point, assuming the iPhone 4 will drop to $99 when the iPhone 5comes out.
There was one surprise in the announcement and that was Verizon's inclusion of their Mobile Hot Spot feature. Many Verizon smart phones offer this feature which allows the phone's 3G data connection to be shared with up to 5 other wi-fi connected devices. Pricing for this option was not announced but is typically an additional $20/month for 2GB of data.
Showing posts with label Verizon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Verizon. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Friday, October 22, 2010
Verizon Data Plans, are the iPad plans a trial for future smartphone plans?
On October 28, Verizon will begin selling the iPad bundled with a MiFi mobile hot spot. The prices for the bundles will be the same price as the iPad WiFi+3G models ($629, $729 and $829). The big difference will be the pay as you go data plans Verizon is offering. For $20/mo you can get 1GB of data, for $35/mo you get 3GB of data and $50/mo gets you 5GB of data. If you exceed your data usage you will be charged $20/GB on the $20 plan, but only $10/GB on the other 2 plans. This pricing structure looks more realistic than AT&T's 2-tiered plans. While the cheapest AT&T plan is only $15/mo, you only get 200MB of data, the $25/mo plan gets you 2GB of data usage. Any plan less than 1GB of data just doesn't seem like enough to me. I hope the carriers move towards more tiers with more options, like Verizon's offering.
I just wonder if maybe Verizon isn't using the iPad data plans as a test market for future smartphone data plans? There have been rumors that Verizon will be moving to tiered data plans, probably when the Verizon iPhone is released. I, for one, would welcome a pricing structure more like this for smartphones... but only if they allowed me to use that data for tethering and mobile hot spots without charging an additional fee. If I am paying to have access to 1GB of data / month, what device I use that data on shouldn't matter. Extending that thought even further, they should allow me to share my data plan with all of the phones in my family plan the same way minutes are shared. It is very hard to justify $20/phone/month for data plans, put $20/mo for shared access to 1GB of data, that would be reasonable.
I just wonder if maybe Verizon isn't using the iPad data plans as a test market for future smartphone data plans? There have been rumors that Verizon will be moving to tiered data plans, probably when the Verizon iPhone is released. I, for one, would welcome a pricing structure more like this for smartphones... but only if they allowed me to use that data for tethering and mobile hot spots without charging an additional fee. If I am paying to have access to 1GB of data / month, what device I use that data on shouldn't matter. Extending that thought even further, they should allow me to share my data plan with all of the phones in my family plan the same way minutes are shared. It is very hard to justify $20/phone/month for data plans, put $20/mo for shared access to 1GB of data, that would be reasonable.
Now that Apple has gone "Back to the Mac", what's next?...
With the conclusion of Apple's Back to the Mac event, where they released iLife 11, new MacBook Airs and previewed the upcoming Mac OSX 10.7 Lion; what is next on the agenda?
The two most likely candidates are the Verizon iPhone and new iPads. Based of AT&T's better that expected iPhone activations and Verizon's lower than expected subscriber adds, I think the Verizon iPhone will be next and will be announced sometime in January.
The new iPhone will probably be in the same form factor as the current iPhone 4, the primary difference will be its ability to work on the CDMA standard used by Verizon, and other international carriers. The big question is, will it use the new dual mode chip from Qualcomm that will allow it to be used on either CDMA or GSM networks? This would be a big bonus for Apple if they only needed a single hardware platform that supports both Verizon and AT&T. I highly doubt this first CDMA model will do this, and even if it does, will the carriers allow Apple to sell a phone that allows the users to change carriers at will? Although Apple probably does have the clout to pull this off. If this iPhone is not dual mode, I would expect the next version will be and may even support LTE as well, though it is likely Apple will hold off on LTE support until 2012 when it is more widely available and load tested. Remember, 3G was rolling out with the original iPhone, but Apple chose to hold off 3G support for the next model.
And what about the next iPad? I would not expect the iPad to be updated until spring, and this will probably be a minor update. I expect a front facing camera for FaceTime and maybe a new dual core version of the A4 processor as well as some minor cosmetic and/or material changes to make it lighter and easier to hold, maybe some form of liquid metal enclosure?
The two most likely candidates are the Verizon iPhone and new iPads. Based of AT&T's better that expected iPhone activations and Verizon's lower than expected subscriber adds, I think the Verizon iPhone will be next and will be announced sometime in January.
The new iPhone will probably be in the same form factor as the current iPhone 4, the primary difference will be its ability to work on the CDMA standard used by Verizon, and other international carriers. The big question is, will it use the new dual mode chip from Qualcomm that will allow it to be used on either CDMA or GSM networks? This would be a big bonus for Apple if they only needed a single hardware platform that supports both Verizon and AT&T. I highly doubt this first CDMA model will do this, and even if it does, will the carriers allow Apple to sell a phone that allows the users to change carriers at will? Although Apple probably does have the clout to pull this off. If this iPhone is not dual mode, I would expect the next version will be and may even support LTE as well, though it is likely Apple will hold off on LTE support until 2012 when it is more widely available and load tested. Remember, 3G was rolling out with the original iPhone, but Apple chose to hold off 3G support for the next model.
And what about the next iPad? I would not expect the iPad to be updated until spring, and this will probably be a minor update. I expect a front facing camera for FaceTime and maybe a new dual core version of the A4 processor as well as some minor cosmetic and/or material changes to make it lighter and easier to hold, maybe some form of liquid metal enclosure?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)