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News

16% of AT&T users willing to jump to Verizon. Good or Bad idea?

Finally, all the talk about Verizon getting the iPhone4 has come. The date is not set but it is true that it is coming to Verizon. Reports have said that it is coming out this month. Verizon will be thankful that the iPhone4 is finally coming to them. This means that Verizon will get many new customers because so many AT&T customers have complained about the call quality and such. Reports say that 16% of AT&T customers wouldn’t mind switching over to Verizon. The main reason is that Verizon has better 3G coverage, less dropped calls, and price. AT&T makes new customers pay for a certain amount of data. Instead of giving unlimited data, you have to pay a certain amount for a certain amount of data. Verizon still gives unlimited data but maybe AT&T will change that just to get customers back. Verizon has better 3G coverage even though AT&T has faster 3G. Also Verizon has less dropped calls, 2%, compare to AT&T’s 6% of dropped calls. AT&T is slowly improving on their dropped calls rate but it isn’t even close to Verizon’s. AT&T users have continually complained about the poor reception and dropped calls. Is it really AT&T’s fault because many reports have also said that the iPhone itself has poor signal and quality? Maybe you should think first about switching over.

I am currently with AT&T and I can’t say anything bad about it. I haven’t had that many dropped calls compared to many other people out there. There is a reason to why certain people get dropped calls more than others. It depends on where you are including the amount of people your around. Certainly when you’re in a large business meeting and everybody is on their phone, you will get a dropped call. Verizon has said that their network has enough power to hold all the new iPhone users. If more users switch over to Verizon, maybe AT&T will have less dropped calls because less people will be using less 3G. Look for Verizon to have more dropped calls. Anything can happen this late in the game and the challenge has definitely been thrown down. I personally do not think that it’s worth it to switch over to Verizon. It’s too much of a hassle and AT&T has proven itself to fix the problems that customers complain about. I say wait until more reports come out about Verizon’s iPhone and then make your decision.

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News

The Verizon iPhone

The Verizon iPhone

The Verizon iPhone. We’ve all heard rumors of it. We’ve all fantasized about having it. And now it’s finally here.

The rumors of the Verizon iPhone have been in circulation for as long as I can remember, but now all of the dreams of Verizon customers stuck with Android phones have come true. Sure, it’s great that it runs on Verizon, but how is it different than the AT&T version? Well, there’s a few added features that might make Verizon customer’s mouth’s water. First off, the antenna of the Verizon iPhone is in a different configuration than the AT&T version. Apple claims that this was just because CDMA phones need different antenna configurations, but it also conveniently solves the problem created by “The Grip of Death“. The new antenna design results in the volume and mute buttons being moved slightly up, making iPhone cases for the AT&T version incompatible with the Verizon iPhone. The phone, which runs iOS 4.2.5, also comes with a “personal hotspot” feature, which allows your phone to become a mobile hotspot for up to 5 devices at a time. This feature has been available to iPhone users who jailbroke their iPhone and downloaded MyWi, but now is available without the large price (19.99 through Cydia) or the risks of jailbreaking your device. This feature may not become available to AT&T customers, as the company has made statements in the past saying they will not allow Wi-Fi tethering. The Verizon iPhone will not run on Verizon’s newly unveiled 4G LTE network for now, so we will have to wait for the iPhone 5 for an iPhone that runs on a 4G network.

The Verizon iPhone can be pre-ordered by current Verizon companies February 3rd, and becomes available February 10th. It will cost $200 for the 16GB model on a 2 year contract, and $300 for the 32GB.

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News

Verizon Wireless Offers iPad at Stores Nationwide on October 28

BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey and CUPERTINO, California — On October 14, 2010, Verizon Wireless and Apple announced that the iPad will be available at Verizon Wireless Stores nationwide beginning on October 28. Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles of the iPad. The three bundles, $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi are offered. Verizon Wireless also offers monthly access plan of up to 1 GB of data for just $20 a month. Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad models by itself.

AT&T will offer all three 3G iPad models in stores nationwide. AT&T will offer 16GB for $629, 32GB for $729, and 64GB for $829. AT&T offers data plans that are $14.99 for 250 MB and $25 for 2 GB.

Verizon’s announcement to start selling iPad is very significant. Verizon has been competing with AT&T with the phones like the Motorola Droid X and the HTC Droid Incredible. AT&T has been the only service provider that has sold the iPhone, but there has been rumors that Verizon will finally start selling the iPhone. AT&T has been known for selling the iPhone while Verizon has been known to sell the popular Android-powered phones. If Verizon begins to sell the iPhone, AT&T will lose its competitive advantage that it has by being the only service provider to sell the iPhone.

The fact that Apple is allowing Verizon to sell the iPad shows that there is growing relationship between the two companies. It appears as if there is a nice partnership forming between Verizon and Apple.

What do you think? Opinions? Comments?

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Average Joe's Tips

Google Voice: Making AT&T More Bearable (and cheaper)

I’m going to speak for everyone and say that the worst feature of the iPhone is its exclusivity with AT&T’s overwhelmed, under-loved network. Unless you have the guts to jailbreak (and don’t mind cruising on the vintage Edge network) you’re stuck cursing AT&T, waiting for the day the Verizon/iPhone rumors come true.

Stop reading those rumor blogs (which have been on repeat since 2007) and start setting up your Google Voice number, which will allow you to shave some precious dollars off of your AT&T bill and introduce your iPhone to some next generation features.

Google Voice is free, and lets you create a new number (of your choice) and link it to your current mobile number. Calls, texting, and voicemail are all possible, linked to both numbers. This is all done Google style; call screening, in browser texting (on your PC), voicemail transcription, and contact-assignable custom voicemail greetings make you wonder why no wireless carriers have implemented these great online features.

Now to the money saving- you can actually cancel your texting plan (saving you ~$20/month), and effectively rely on Google Voice and your data/wifi connection; just make sure to give everyone your new number. Another plus – over wifi you can easily text, even without service. By default, Google forwards texts to  your old mobile number (you’d get charged for these) – but this is easily turned off, and you can access your inbox through the Google web App. While an official App Store app would be nice (Google doesn’t play those games), there are no real functionality limitations and it is amazingly fast for a webapp -probably the same speed as the native iPhone SMS app before the 4.0 update. There are no push notifications, but with the ability to email texts to a separate email address, this is not a problem. There is currently no MMS support, but there are many other (more efficient) options for sharing media.

Aside from eliminating your texting plan, Voice greatly enhances your texting and voicemail. Send and receive texts with your browser (using your keyboard!) – and your phone doesn’t have to leave your pocket. With the browser extension, texting becomes possible right on top of any web page. This makes it much more efficient, and much less distracting. While Apple’s visual voicemail is great, Voice takes it a step further, by transcribing and emailing voicemail right to your inbox. The transcriptions aren’t perfect, but they are easily decipherable, and are much more convenient than checking your voicemail traditionally. The audio is even embedded right into the email .

Google Voice is a pretty easy sell, saving you money on top of doing a lot more. When you create your number, make sure you think of a good word or two for your number to spell (you can search for a number by word) – that way you can tell everyone your number is 617-The-Dude (or something along those lines).