If you live under a rock, you didn’t hear that the Verizon iPhone was released today. Hell, blonde cheerleaders have heard about it. The rundown is, it’s the same as AT&T, except for two major things: The antenna is slightly modified. Here’s a photo comparison. These changes will not carry over to the GSM iPhone. Verizon, being a CDMA network, will not have voice and data consumption at the same time, which frankly, is something you should have already known. CDMA in its original form does not allow you to do voice and data simultaneously, however, more advanced versions of CDMA will allow you to do that, but it requires network support. It is my understanding that Verizon has not rolled this out to many areas.
To the unanswered questions. Apple has been featuring AT&T in it’s commercials by showing the carrier text on the simulated screen images and quickly showing the logo at the end of the advertisement. Will they continue to show AT&T’s, show Verizon’s, or simply show bars and “3G” with no logo of any carrier, or maybe both, at the end of the advertisement?
My guess is they go the neutral route; 5 bars with 3G, and the possibility of both carriers at the end. Knowing Apple, they’d rather put the spotlight on themselves, after all, it is their phone. I can definitely see pressure from Verizon, and now AT&T since they have a competing carrier, to put the logos at the end of every commercial. Verizon and AT&T could also bid for their name to be at the top of the iPhone’s menubar in each commercial. More money for Apple.
Another question I’ve got, maybe even a bit of a prediction, is the effect on Android phones on Verizon. Many people on Verizon are locked into two year contracts with Android devices because they couldn’t get their hands on an iPhone. Those people will no doubt be upgrading to an iPhone as soon as they are eligible, and with Verizon being the largest carrier of Android devices, you’ve got to wonder what Google is going to do about it.
Also, T-Sprint?
Assorted Slices is an editorial-based publication covering Apple Inc. and similar topics.
