

A Verizon reality check - anderzole
http://www.marco.org/628763225

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Readmore
A Marco.org Reality Check

"There would almost definitely be a Verizon Wireless logo somewhere on the
iPhone’s case, probably on both the front and back. There may be separate
Verizon music, video, and app store icons that you can’t delete. At least one
major feature may be disabled at Verizon’s request — say, turn-by-turn
navigation — because they want to sell you their own version for an additional
monthly fee. Verizon may want a cut of any iTunes or App Store revenue from
on-device purchases, the cost of which Apple would probably happily pass along
to either users or developers. (My guess: Developers.)"

Apple wouldn't ever let Verizon pull that crap, which is exactly why the
iPhone is on AT&T now. They went to Verizon and Verizon didn't want to play
ball, there is no way in hell Steve would compromise on the user experience
now just to be on Verizon.

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sjs382
1\. My HTC Incredible has 1 Verizon logo on the front, under the earpiece and
it's tiny. 2\. There are no Verizon icons I can't delete. There is a separate
Verizon app store in the Android market, though. 3\. Google Maps offers great
turn-by-turn on my phone. Free. 4\. MP3 stores are available on Android.

 _yawn_

~~~
fragmede

      2. There are no Verizon icons I can't delete.
    

AFAIK, Verizon _does_ have a boot logo on the HTC Incredible. Not the most
intrusive thing, but I'm not aware of a way to delete that icon.

~~~
jrockway
Reflash.

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bobbyi
Our company's office in SOMA, San Francisco has zero AT&T reception. If you
are in our conference room and someone calls, your iPhone will not ring.

The "reality check" should be going to people who think free visual voicemail
and small icons on the hardware are in any way significant issues compared to
the magnitude of how much worse AT&T's network is.

~~~
zavulon
Hear, hear.

Last time I've had Verizon was 3 years ago, and I got service EVERYWHERE, and
I live in the same area as the author - NYC/Manhattan. Of course, everyone's
experience is their own, but I think their network couldn't have become that
much worse all of a sudden.

And as everybody with an iPhone knows, AT&T is hell. Just today, I got a whole
bunch of calls that never made it to my phone. Discovered that there were new
voicemails hours ago. And I'm sitting in my office, right next to a window, in
an area where I usually get 4 bars.

The biggest problem with Verizon and the original reason that I switched is
they (used to) not have any good phones. Now they do, and hopefully once they
get iPhone there won't be any reason to stay on God-awful AT&T network.

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iamdave
* They’ll probably even charge separately for Visual Voicemail. *

Let me be one to mention that this very likely wont be the only thing Verizon
locks you out of for no particular reason. I'm unable to find the link
currently, but a prime example of why I'll never sign up to Verizon again is
just this. A user who owned a Motorola Droid downloaded Skype, and planned to
use it over WiFi in areas where he'd incur roaming fees, or had bad reception.

Verizon actually managed to find a way to disable the voice feature of Skype,
restricting it only to use in areas with network coverage.

That's not an isolated example.

~~~
pyre
> _Verizon actually managed to find a way to disable the voice feature of
> Skype, restricting it only to use in areas with network coverage._

That doesn't make any sense. Why would they want to force a user to use Skype
in network coverage areas? What does Verizon gain when you can't use Skype
outside of the network?

If anything I would think that Verizon would disable Skype when you _are_ in
their network area, and only let you use it outside of that area.

~~~
iamdave
A couple of links

[http://connectedplanetonline.com/mobile-apps/news/verizon-
sk...](http://connectedplanetonline.com/mobile-apps/news/verizon-skype-
android-shutdown-0414/)

[http://www.skypejournal.com/2010/04/skype-on-verizon-
android...](http://www.skypejournal.com/2010/04/skype-on-verizon-android-
requires-you.html)

Now, it's worth noting that while this problem has been somewhat 'fixed'
meaning you can run Skype over wifi for applications like Instant
Messaging/Chat, you still have to use the Verizon Network in order to actually
make calls.

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dangrossman
Why is Verizon the only other carrier in the race here? Is there a reason
Sprint and T-Mobile can't carry the iPhone, or that nobody seems to care if
they do? Sprint has smartphone plans with unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited
text and picture messaging, and unlimited data services for $69.99/month.
T-Mobile has similar for $59.99/month without a contract or $69.99/month with
one. They'd both be far cheaper than anything Verizon would offer.

~~~
jrockway
People like Verizon because they plaster ads _everywhere_. T-Mobile and Sprint
are quieter.

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pkulak
"Give a man a reputation as an early riser, and that man can sleep till noon."

Not that I necessarily agree. I haven't used Verizon in years. But back then I
switched to AT&T (Cingular) because they had better service in my area.

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wdewind
The last two points are fair, the first two (re: data) simply are not. If you
have significant problems with dropped calls in Manhattan you should have your
specific device checked out.

~~~
mattmaroon
Yeah, I'm not sure how you could see a strong signal outside, go inside and
get no reception, and conclude that's due to the carrier. Like Verizon uses
some sort of cheap radio waves that don't go through walls while AT&T uses the
premium ones.

~~~
fi0660
Carries can save money by having less towers but by using higher transmit
power. I have heard that this can show up as the phone reporting full bars,
but not being able to initiate/receive calls due to insufficient transmit
power in the phone.

~~~
pyre
While possible, that doesn't seem likely. Doesn't the phone have to do some
sort of handshake with the tower to even show the bars? Or are you saying that
the phone only has enough power to do the handshake?

~~~
fi0660
My understanding is that when the phone is idle, bars are commonly measured
based only on the quality and strength of the incoming signal. The outgoing
signal might be stable enough for a handshake but not for a call.

Of course the other possible explanation for full bars but no calls is that
the network is busy.

