Ah, the
Verizon Hub. A curious beast this day and age, wouldn't you say? For those of you who spent the better part of
Super Bowl Sunday setting one of these crazy contraptions up in your domicile, we're eager to hear of your experiences. Has it made you want to throw away your cellphone? Are you already regretting the contract you're now locked into? Are the
widgets sufficiently useful? We found ourselves a bit torn as to whether or not the Hub was even a device worth considering given the monthly fee attached, but now that it's sat in your place for well over a month, we're anticipating some better feedback from those who've used it a time or two. Spill your guts below.
Make it so that it fits into my pocket, and make it not verizon. Also, it's Friday and I've been drinking.
isn't that called the tytn?
LCARS
i like how as i clicked the post about the verizon hub, the ads on the site were of the verizon hub. more than one ad, one on the side bar and one right underneath the post
Addblocker Plus
banner ads are so 2003
You must be new to the internet- to be honest I ignore banner adds so much i almost forget they are there
It makes perfect sense; if you find yourself liking the story, there's a link right there to buy it from Verizon, and Engadget gets the money it needs to keep running. Sure, not using adblocker plus means I see a lot of unwanted ads that are frankly eyesores, but the few right ads in the right place make the choice worth it for me.
No monthly service fee, seeing how it mooches your own phone line, and internet service. Since I have Verizon for my cell service, I think service should be free. ( I wish I had FIOS, but it's not available in the Chicagoland area)
YA w000t we need Fios in Chicago I could use that as well
It does not mooch your home phone line, it is meant to replace your home phone line.
Hey guys, I know you want FiOS in chicago, but it isnt going to happen anytime soon. Lucky enough for us Comcast has rolled out Wideband, which has speed tiers and pricing very close to Verizons FiOS. It is in the suburbs right now mainly, but will be rolling out in all areas of Chicago by the end of the summer. Enjoy your 50 mbit :)
put an iphone for the phone part and a windows mobile interface in the screen
...or not.
Actually, Verizon would put a Nagara for the phone, and Storm for the screen!
Am I right?
mastr cake yeh you are
Verizon should stop living in Asgaard and bring peace to midgaard.
Its friday but I have not drank anything yet.
make it do video calling!!!!!!!
its the Effin Future for crying out loud were supposed to have flying cars and jet packs and video calling booths and live high in the atmosphere.
Face it: The phone providers are conspiring to make sure you never get video phone in the States. Never. EVER! Now stop asking.
So in Australia we have video calling - and no one uses it. I used to work in sales for 3 mobile (the first company to launch 3G over here), and all their stats showed that people don't want to see each other on calls! Also, the bandwidth required for video calls vs, say SMS or data services, means that the phone companies will discourage it. For every video call running through the cell tower, they could be sending like 100 SMS or have 50 ppl downloading the latest news (for which they have paid waaaayyy too much for!)...
Actually...it's the present...Sorry.
Video calling is widely available in the UK, but barely anyone uses it, other than for a gimmick. It may have a use in large companies for mobile video conferencing, but given many companies won't even let you have a cameraphone, I doubt it would get adopted that fast. I get 90 free video calling minutes on my contract, but never use them.
Make the phone a touchscreen. This HUB thing is supposed to be revolutionary so why have a phone with phsyical buttons?
Wow. Just, wow.
It is a touchscreen
If I were Verizon, I would hand out $175 cash to pay for other peoples' early termination fees. Then, I would make the device itself cheaper! THEN... I would add a cable jack for TV!
Wouldn't that be just dandy?
put a dual core processor and maybe a 8600gt so I can spend hours talking to my girlfriend and have fun at the same time
Whoa... a phone that has the same specs as my laptop?
And my laptop can run Crysis, too!!!
(no sarcasm, no lies, just the truth.)
It's called Skype, or some other VOIP service that lets you talk to phone users.
Make it go away.
This looks quite cool, but the fact that it is from Verizon and is lacking features isn't shocking to me at all. Verizon can essentially do anything they want to, and sadly they always fuck things up in favor of trying to bilk you for more money rather than offering a solid product that you actually want to buy and use for as long as possible. The commercials make this look like a revolutionary device but the real world consensus seems to be that its mediocre, as most of Verizon's products seem to be.
Well put!
Only reason I passed on the Storm and got the iPhone instead, no wi-fi (deliberately) for the Storm. What kinda shitty decision is that!?
The Detachable phone part should be an iphone or whatever the Verizon equivalent would be. The base should have a touch screen and provide the functions of a netbook. Perfect!!
I'd smash it into pieces in a field somewhere with Die Motherf***er Die playing in the background.
Stillllllllllll.................killinnnnnnnnnnnnnn...........
Make the screen on the phone bigger and move that stupid ass logo somewhere else. And also make the phone a little less ugly in general.
A fine example of taking a fun engineering project and turning into a instant pile of crap, just add a monthly fee to use your own bandwidth vala.
Bundle it with Duke Nukem Forever.
capacitive touchscreen, number routing + gps so it diverts all calls to this when in your house sdk.
capacitive touchscreen, number routing + gps so it diverts all calls to this when in your house,
sdk.
SERO
wow...apparently nobody owns a verizon hub...or at least the people who have commented before this...i was playing with one in the store and the actual phone is kind of clunky and early 2000s-ish...fix that with a shiny slim phone and it wouldnt be half bad...the whole thing should be slimmer too
It should be the communications hub for a multi-faceted household media service.
It should do all of the following:
A) Function as a home communications system. This doesn't just include enhanced POTS style service (PHONE CALLS) and household PBX functionality but also...
A2) Video Calling/Conferencing/Messaging.
A3) Adapters/software for 3rd party device services integration. Use the TV/home Entertainment System/Laptop/Cellphone to answer/initiate calls, including video calling.
B) It should act as a home network/media router, including LAN(wi-fi) and Cellular wireless for the home.
C) It should have home automation integration. - On the way home, use cell phone to turn up thermostat, start coffee brewing, boot up system and load news items, and update my phone with what shows are recently Tivo'd or torrented and are available now to watch.
D) All integrated systems (HUB display, phone handset, home entertainment system, app on laptop...etc) would have a menu to manage lights, thermostat, show me who's at the front door and interact with them...etc.
I think the picture is clear. If you're going to call it a "HUB", make it so.
A3) Adapters/software for 3rd party device services integration. Use the TV/home Entertainment System/Laptop/Cellphone to answer/initiate calls, including video calling.
why is that feature so important? I agree with 3rd party device integration in general...but for answering phone calls? you would have to have a built-in mic on your TV. I understand caller id. And who can comfortably talk on a laptop w/o a headset? Wouldn't it just be easier to pick up a phone even if you had a headset?
And yes, I realize this would require Verizon to work with consumer electronics companies to ensure their protocols/standards, what have you, will integrate.
As a Verizon Business Customer, I think Verizon are idiots when it comes to this device, since Business Accounts can't order one!! So even though I'm willing to pay for the service at whatever per month, and buy the device for a couple hundred bucks if you try to activate on a business account it can't be done.
How stupid is that!!! So my sales guy in po-dunk Kansas is out of luck... and we keep having to cover a regular POTs line re-imbursement in his house.. And yes before you say it he's hooked up with a Cell as well.. if your in sales sometimes you just want that desk phone..
So come on Verizon get it together your missing out on business...
I'd make it easier to tether my Omnia to my freaking computer.
Woops...
NO MONTHLY FEE
I would change the part where it is made by verizon.
Then it couldn't really be called a "Verizon" hub then.