Apple That

The big news for the past couple of weeks has, without a doubt, been the deal made between Apple and Verizon which saw the very first iPhone on a carrier other than AT&T. Apple’s one-of-a-kind smartphone has been on AT&T exclusively since the original iPhone debuted in 2007. A mere four years later we now have the iPhone 4 and the first iPhone to be released on a carrier other than AT&T.

People have been eagerly awaiting the physical release of the iPhone 4 at Verizon stores across the country and it appears that they may be getting them sooner than expected. According to insider reports, Apple has begun shipping their first online orders for the smartphone an entire week earlier than initially expected.

Orders that were placed on February 9th were slated to be delivered on or before February 18th. However, shipping notices are now being sent out, specifying a “deliver by” date of February 16th. According to reports, Apple supposedly stockpiled an initial production of two million CDMA iPhone 4 units in December and January, reserving an unknown proportion of the initial phones to give to its existing customers as pre-orders on February 3rd. The initial batch of phones was sold out on the first day.

Apple began accepting web orders on the 9th of February offering either reserved in-store pickup or free delivery for those patient enough to wait a week or two for their new phone to ship and arrive. The initial orders estimated a five day shipping delay after the initial ship date.

This appears to be a more efficient ordering process that is capable of handling the demand for this new iPhone 4 and the new carrier. It prevented the long lines that plagued the initial iPhone 4 release for AT&T last summer.

Source: Apple Insider – Apple begins shipping Verizon iPhone 4 web orders one week early

It’s happened. The one thing everybody has been waiting for and the one thing AT&T has been dreading, the iPhone 4 is now available on, in my opinion, the best network available, Verizon. There were a lot of naysayers out there that kept touting their babble about how the iPhone would never see release on any other carrier than AT&T, but all their crap has been put to rest and thank God for that!

After talking up his new LTE network, Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon, confirmed a CDMA (non-LTE) version of the iPhone 4 will be coming to Verizon Wireless next month. These talks began way back in 2008 (nothing like three years of anticipation to really boost sales right?) and the actual phone has been in testing for a year which means Verizon and Apple were determined to get this one right.

Pre-orders for existing Verizon customers will start on February 3rd for your standard $200 for the 16GB model and $300 for the 32GB model, both on a new 2-year agreement. Everybody else will have the ability to get one February 10th. In case you were wondering, the Verizon iPhone 4 is Verizon 3G (EV-DO) only, no 4G data or GSM roaming. This isn’t a world phone or an AT&T + Verizon phone, it is simply a Verizon phone.

Aside from the Verizon connectivity, the phone is virtually exactly the same as the AT&T version although Verizon’s CDMA network does not support simultaneous voice and data as does the GSM version. It does, however, have the new antenna design that was being thrown around last week but only because CDMA requires a different configuration of antenna. This also equates to a slight bump where the volume and mute buttons are which means Apple may need to design a new case. When it comes to software, there is a big innovation via five user WiFi hotspot functionality. This is standard on all Android phones whereas Apple has limited the iPhone to only being able to tether directly to one computer.

Millions of dreams have come true with this agreement between Apple and Verizon. I, for one, am extremely pleased as, being an avid Verizon customer myself, I will no longer have to listen to the iPhone lackies touting about how AT&T, which was recently rated as the worst carrier in the country, is “so much better” because they have the iPhone. Well, you AT&T pawns, all I can say is now Verizon is better than you in EVERY way possible.

Source: Engadget

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