iPhone 4G?

Rico · January 13, 2011, 07:28:33 AM

Really good story here about the AT&T vs. Verizon iPhone battle with some very interesting points. I think it's mainly going to come down to who is the better carrier in your area and what plan you now have, but for those not on either this is a good set of info to review...

For more than three years, iPhone owners have grumbled about dropped calls and slow service on AT&T (T), the exclusive cellular network for Apple's (AAPL) transformative device. Now they'll have the chance to see if Verizon (VZ) can do any better. The company recently announced it will start selling iPhones on Feb. 10. (Existing customers can preorder the phone on Feb. 3.) For those who still haven't chosen sides in the AT&T vs. Verizon showdown, consider these points before signing a contract:

Price: Verizon customers will pay the same as AT&T's—at least for the device itself. A 16-gigabyte iPhone costs $200, while the 32-gigabyte model is $100 more. The more important retail factor, however, is the monthly service charge, and Verizon hasn't released any details yet. The industry scuttlebutt is that the company will offer an all-you-can-eat data plan, which AT&T stopped doing last year to keep data hogs from straining its network. Verizon currently charges $30 a month for the unlimited plans on other smartphones, with voice and text messages costing extra. That's $5 more than what AT&T charges its heaviest data users, who can download up to 2 gigabytes of data per month. For those who like to stream The Daily Show with Jon Stewart while in line at Costco (COST), $5 may be a small price to pay.

Quality: It's hard to know whether AT&T deserves the battering it has received for poor network quality. Each carrier's coverage differs from area to area. AT&T increased its investment in wireless infrastructure by over $2 billion in 2010, and says it's improving. As of last August, however, the percentage of dropped calls on AT&T's network had risen to 5.8 percent, compared with 2 percent for Verizon, according to a survey by Changewave Research. Infonetics Research co-founder Michael Howard says AT&T is more conservative with its network investments and took longer to upgrade from copper wires to fiber-optic cables and other cutting-edge gear. "Verizon planned its network with greater foresight than anyone else," says Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner. "They have a very well-built network, and they don't cut corners."

Features: The carriers' iPhones are nearly identical, but where they differ, AT&T has the advantage. Verizon's network is based on a technology called CDMA, which runs voice and Internet over different tracks. That means Verizon's iPhone owners won't be able to surf the Web or use apps while on a call. AT&T users can, and the company says that more of its customers use the simultaneous talk-and-surf capability every day than watch videos or use GPS navigation.

Verizon users can, however, pay extra to transform their iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, and share its cellular signal with up to five other gadgets. AT&T's iPhones currently link up with only one other gadget, and connect with them via a more limited Bluetooth signal.

Speed: A big part of AT&T's promotional pushback against Verizon is that its network is faster. Thanks to recent upgrades, AT&T boasts speeds of 6 megabits per second—fast enough to download a song in four or five seconds, and roughly three times what most Verizon subscribers see. Yet that speedy connection is available only in regions where AT&T has finished upgrading the wires that connect cell towers to the Internet, a process that won't be finished until at least 2013.

Future Proofing: The Verizon iPhone will likely have a short stint in the spotlight. Every year since 2008, Apple has announced a new, upgraded iPhone in early summer. Buying a Verizon iPhone in February likely means missing out on a sleeker version in a few months' time—although that's always a worry when buying gadgets.

Both AT&T and Verizon are building next-generation 4G networks with turbocharged speeds. Neither existing iPhone works on them, but analysts expect Apple to introduce a 4G iPhone within a year or so. Verizon is much further along—its 4G service is already available in 38 cities—so its service is a better bet for those hoping to upgrade to 4G speeds as early as possible.

Of course, the iPhone matters not just to Verizon's customers but also to its investors. No one doubts that winning Apple's "Jesus phone" will increase Verizon's subscriber base. UBS Securities (UBS) expects the company to win 3.5 million new customers in 2011, while AT&T, Sprint (S), and T-Mobile will lose around 1 million between them.

Managing that growth won't be simple. Verizon is expected to pay $5 billion or so to subsidize new iPhone owners this year, which could drag down profit margins. Walter Piecyk, an analyst at brokerage firm BTIG, expects the opposite. He says the iPhone bonanza will allow Verizon to spread fixed costs like stores and TV ads across more units, boosting margins from 46.4 percent last year to 48.1 percent in 2012. If Verizon's network can handle the new subscribers, he says, it will further damage AT&T's brand. "They've had the iPhone for four years, and they're still trying to catch up with demand."

The bottom line: AT&T must now compete with Verizon for iPhone customers. The latter offers a more reliable but slower network.

Burrows is a senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, based in San Francisco.

source:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_04/b4212032854327.htm

Rico · January 13, 2011, 09:22:33 AM

Be careful with that iPhone 4 in below freezing weather. The glass can shatter. See below...

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/01/13/baby-its-cold-outside-so-your-iphone-exploded/

billybob476 · January 13, 2011, 09:25:26 AM

Yeah I had fran put hers in a somewhat beefy case when we go skiing. No damage as of yet.

Rico · January 13, 2011, 09:26:39 AM

Good man. Glass is a liquid. It will freeze and can stress crack very easily then.

Bryancd · January 13, 2011, 09:27:52 AM

Quote from: Rico on January 13, 2011, 09:22:33 AM
Be careful with that iPhone 4 in below freezing weather. The glass can shatter. See below...

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/01/13/baby-its-cold-outside-so-your-iphone-exploded/

In a related PSA, be careful with that iPhone while you are walking in space!!!! ;)

Rico · January 13, 2011, 09:33:20 AM

Well, that's not too likely. But walking around on the phone in below freezing weather at this time of year certainly is pretty common.

billybob476 · January 13, 2011, 09:42:31 AM

Quote from: Rico on January 13, 2011, 09:26:39 AM
Good man. Glass is a liquid. It will freeze and can stress crack very easily then.

Yeah, it's one of those thick silicone cases. I figure that's a good way to go to absorb any shocks. Fran doesn't fall often on the slopes (she's been skiing since the age of 4) but when she does go down, it tends to be spectacular.

Rico · January 14, 2011, 07:16:43 AM

Looks like one big benefit for the Verizon iPhone is an antenna redesign. Read on...

Computerworld - Apple has redesigned the iPhone 4's antennas for Verizon, perhaps to foil the "death grip" problem that roiled AT&T customers last summer, an expert said today.

"They've moved things around, and my guess is that they went to a dual antenna," said Spencer Webb, an antenna engineer with nearly a dozen patents to his credit, and president of AntennaSys, a mobile device antenna design and consulting firm.

Webb was reacting to photographs that have been published on the Web which show a different configuration for the slots in the external stainless steel frame, which houses the phone's antennas.

Shortly after the introduction of the AT&T iPhone 4 last summer, customers complained that holding the device in certain ways or touching it in specific spots lowered signal strength and dropped calls......

Full story here:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9205038/Verizon_iPhone_antenna_redesign_may_thwart_death_grip_says_expert?taxonomyId=15

billybob476 · January 14, 2011, 10:08:16 AM

Well just got my iPhone 4 in the mail. Activation when I get home. I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about.

Rico · January 14, 2011, 10:09:57 AM

Quote from: billybob476 on January 14, 2011, 10:08:16 AM
Well just got my iPhone 4 in the mail. Activation when I get home. I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about.

Joe - I thought you already had one? So Fran had version 4 before you?

billybob476 · January 14, 2011, 10:13:28 AM

Quote from: Rico on January 14, 2011, 10:09:57 AM
Quote from: billybob476 on January 14, 2011, 10:08:16 AM
Well just got my iPhone 4 in the mail. Activation when I get home. I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about.

Joe - I thought you already had one? So Fran had version 4 before you?

I'm still running my now-ancient iPhone 3G. We could have done the swap with me taking the iPhone 4 and giving Fran my old 3G but I decided against it. The 3G has been so frustratingly slow since iOS4 came out (no matter what I do) that I figured that Fran should have the good experience and I'd tough it out.

Rico · January 14, 2011, 10:34:33 AM

Makes me really wonder why Apple pushes a new OS on old hardware. Is that something you have to do? Even in the computer world they don't do this. Why upgrade the OS if the hardware can't handle it?

billybob476 · January 14, 2011, 10:38:06 AM

You don't have to but I think if you were still on OS3.x a lot of apps wouldn't be working for you. The main issue with my phone is whenever the GPS would engage, the phone would become very, very unresponsive.

Bryancd · January 14, 2011, 11:16:30 AM

Quote from: billybob476 on January 14, 2011, 10:38:06 AM
You don't have to but I think if you were still on OS3.x a lot of apps wouldn't be working for you. The main issue with my phone is whenever the GPS would engage, the phone would become very, very unresponsive.

Right, the issue Apple has to contend with is by allowing developers to create 1000's of Apps, they can't always ensure an operating system upgrade won't impact some of them, it would be like herding cats. :)

KingIsaacLinksr · January 14, 2011, 04:00:09 PM

Well, just an FYI: It looks like the 3G iPhone will no longer be receiving future updates after iOS 4.2. However, we won't know until the official version of 4.3 comes out later. So if this is true, it means Apple is done dealing with the old hardware. Not that I can blame them....3G is ancient compared to the 4th Gen.

King