So we already knew Verizon was looking to
push LTE out the door and to about 20 to 30 markets in the second half of 2010, but
Tech Crunch's got it on good word that the company's doing everything in its power to get the service ready to go in a number of areas in time for Q1 2010. That's interesting in and of itself, but together with this morning's whispers of
Apple's tablet coming early next year and past talk of an
Apple / VZW partnership, and the tale gets exponentially more intriguing. As
TC suggests, a tablet lacking voice service on the LTE network wouldn't violate AT&T's
not-at-all permanent exclusivity. Its source said there was one LTE device, not a wireless card, that this early launch was being "specifically geared towards," but even if so, that could apply to any number of other non-Apple gadgets (
from Nokia, perhaps?). Of course, much of this is rumor built on rumor, so no matter how well these pieces might seem to fall in place -- or how potentially awesome the idea might seem -- there's a large grain of salt you should be taking with you.
posted Jul 24th 2009 8:41PM
Apple netbook rumors + LTE deployment rumors + Apple thing coming to Verizon... it's pretty much the trifecta, isn't it?
no it's not because now you'll have a expensive device on an expensive network which equals fail.
@jay jay
How's that any different than the current situation with the iPhone and at&t?
Now if youre an apple fanboi you will have to sign two contracts.
I meant the rumor trifecta, not the quality trifecta... do I have to explain everything?
And you can have expensive devices on an expensive network right now, you don't need an Apple device to do that... Apple did not invent expensive, trust me on this one... (At least until they come out with the innovative new iPhone 3G$)
Considering the run up in the stock market we have had lately, I for one will be keeping VZ on my watch list just waiting for a pullback to buy. This new device with future iPhone contract Verizon is definitely going to have growth from this. I read another post saying ATT is going to wait on LTE rollout a whole year because it will be cheaper. Think of all the customers Verizon will make from the upgrades.
At least AT&T knows that all people want from them is access to their network so make calls and access the internet. Verizon needs to realize that all they are is a gatekeeper and stop trying to push their shitty app store and 2nd rate software to their customers. They do have a great network but as long as they keep locking down phones and devices and forcing their customers to use and pay for their music and apps ill stick with other service providers.
Your welcome, I just order a Hawaiian pizza through your dominos add.
Come to think of it, cheese pizza sounds kinda good right now.
don't all pizzas have cheese?
Nah not all pizzas have cheese. I have ordered pizzas without cheese for over 10 year now. I get them with egg as a binder.
...and no it is rather not like an omlette.
If I were Apple and offered Verizon the iPhone in the first place but got denied, I wouldn't allow them the pleasure of hosting any of my future devices. Maybe not a sound business move, but I wouldn't want an iPhone/tablet if I knew it was going to be bogged down with their app store, vz navigator, etc... If Verizon learns to keep well enough alone with the software end of things, this could end up being halfway decent.
yup, and i think Apple knows customers dont want to have a phone on one network and a computer/tablet/netbook on another.. too many bills for their products.
Now if it were a slate tablet + LTE + ebook reader w/ a long life battery. Yes, crush the Kindle my pretty! :P
It's obvious why Apple would want Verizon: If Apple is in fact launching this rumored tablet which is surely going to be every bit as stunning as the iPhone was 3 years ago, what better feature than to say it operates on the newest, fastest data networks available. Plus, it also then allows them to create a CDMA iPhone.
I, for one, can't wait to move back to Verizon AND keep my iPhone.
I doubt you'll ever see a CDMA iPhone. All the big boys are moving to LTE. I doubt Apple is going to go to the pains of creating a CDMA iPhone, only to turn around a year later and have to create an LTE one.
In the US, CDMA is on death watch. After 2010-2011, you'll only find CDMA in rural areas. Of course Sprint might stick with CDMA, but if they have half a clue they will ditch that network entirely and do seamless VoIP with WiMAX.
A CDMA-only iPhone is unlikely- a dual-mode CDMA/LTE iPhone for Verizon, though?
The only issue is that Apple might have issues finding other carriers to sell it- Verizon is huge, though, so maybe the money's there... Apple's number-people would know better than I would, of course.
Other than the BlackBerry Tour, Verizon's smartphone space has been sadly lacking in the last couple of years, but they still manage to haul in massive subscriber numbers. If AT&T can bring in new subscribers with their horrible coverage, an iPhone on Verizon would draw even bigger numbers. If this thing turns out to be a CDMA/LTE iPhone, I will actually contemplate breaking into a store near me and stealing one before they go on sale.
Umm, that's a pretty serious stretch. It's like someone picked two rumors at random and combined them into one SuperRumor.
This just in: Duke Nukem Forever will arrive on the Phantom!
FIRST an iPhone on Verizon would not even be the same! You wouldn't be able to do voice and data at the same time! Imagine listening to Pandora or networking on Facebook and not being able to get a call. You wouldn't be able to talk and quickly send out an email or check something on the Internet without having to hang up.
Besides Verizon may have more customers but their network has not been pushed like AT&T's due to the iPhone (a lot more Data=Bandwith being used). We are not so sure that a Verizon iPhone would be better with less dropped calls cause more Bandwith used=more dropped calls!
You can get a call while using data, but your data connection will stop while the call is in use.
In theory, one can get around this by running the call over VOIP (as EV-DO Rev A has sufficient latency to make this a possibility), but no cellphone has ever done this to my knowledge.
Apple should partner with Sprint for a new device. Sprint really is the best network as of today.
A dual mode mobile phone that supports both tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and CDMA 800MHz networks are starting to be very common. Not a far stretch for Apple to make a CDMA/GSM LTE mobile phone. This will allow them to get more customers onto the Apple/iPhone bandwagon and milking the product for all its worth. It's in their best interest to ensure future profits and growth of the iPhone market. Makes perfect sense to me....but all of this is just talk and prognostication, and only Apple can really answer this question.
Oh, an Apple Tablet on Verizon would be cool too! :)
verizon blows. Apple is sticking with AT&T. Which is the best.
@loon, I don't think so.
Earlier today when the apple tablet was rumored with 3G, I thought LTE was a better choice for a 2010 device. To me, this, the 3G (or LTE) tablet rumor, the statement by AT&T that the partnership won't last forever, the fact that AT&T is lagging FAR behind with it's LTE rollout, are strong suggestions that there will be an LTE Apple tablet and iPhone for Verizon in 2010.
And I'm glad that my AT&T contract will be up. :)
If this is officially announced, AT&T's stock will nose dive, and there'd be a subscriber exodus. If this is true, then you can bet that AT&T executives are in a board room somewhere offering to give Steve Jobs fellatio and a new liver in exchange for extending iPhone exclusivity.
"I've got one of the MacTablet prototype units in hand and am willing to provide photos and specifications, if everyone agrees to keep the information confidential."
(...he turns around quickly at the sound of approaching footsteps)
"NO, NO! Stop! I'll give it back. For God's sake, were on the roof of a five-story building"
Darrell wrote
"If this is officially announced, AT&T's stock will nose dive, and there'd be a subscriber exodus. If this is true, then you can bet that AT&T executives are in a board room somewhere offering to give Steve Jobs fellatio and a new liver in exchange for extending iPhone exclusivity."
LOL - too funny.
I doubt the next gen iphone will be on verizon unless verizon gives up on its app store being included on the iphone. The LTE tablet (still just a rumor at this time) would most likely be on whatever network shows the most promise in their LTE network (at this time verizon).
I'd just like to have an Apple Tablet with WiFi, and nothing else, please. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars a year for even more wireless connectivity than what I already have.
Can someone explain to me how a tablet would work well? I'm just trying to figure out. So would it have to be laying flat all the time to use it? Or would you have to prop it up with your hand all the time?
Either way seems uncomfortable for web browsing.
I can't believe some of these comments. Apple is in the business of selling consumer electronics. I don't think they have allegiance to any phone company, I think they are looking for the highest bidder.
Apple has enough clout to demand that Verizon have 0 control over the App Store. I mean, they've SEEN what kind of heavyweight the iPhone is in the market. One thing companies rarely do is mess with a good thing.
Besides, when have you ever known Steve Jobs to let someone else mess with his baby?
Apple best call this shit the iYeti - cause everyone hears about it, but nobody ever sees it. And on a side note, I think it's amazing how Apple is pimping out the middleman. Take that how you will.
And to go completely left, us Ashevillians despise the Bele Chere crowd. Just send us yer hot girls.
\some of you will know what that meant.
@dagamer43
When he really did have a baby, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, and denied paternity?
Verizon has already selected vendors and LTE tests with NSN, ALU and Ericsson are well advanced. Calls are being made although there's plenty of improvement to be done. And Samsung has provided the only LTE phone for these tests.
On the other hand, AT&T is still doing trials to select vendors. I'll say they are at least one full year behind Verizon.
If you have an iPhone you better hope this news is not true. Think about it. You are under contract with ATT. Do you really want to have to sign up to ANOTHER carrier for a different device? If this tablet thing comes to ATT at least you have a chance of them offering it as a slightly discounted combo plan.
I don't get it. If you are on AT&T with an iPhone and this device comes out you still have to sign another contract. Why would it matter if this additional contract is on AT&T or Verizon?!
All the carriers want to get their hands on Apple mobile products. They're the only products that can bring in major subscribership and revenue for those companies. SoftBank is the third largest network carrier in Japan and once they started selling the iPhone SoftBank began pulling in subscribers by a huge margin from the top two carriers. The carrier is now relegated to be merely a data pipe for the iPhone.
http://www.intomobile.com/2008/10/30/softbank-iphone-3g-helped-boost-profits-and-subscriber-growth.html
Ryan:
AT&T is not "lagging" behind on LTE rollout. They are delaying it because their 3g network is capable of 7.2 mbps. Why would they throw money away on upgrading their network if they already win pretty much EVERY speed comparison test out there? AT&T has their network capped at roughly 2mbps, but as their backend infrastructure grows, they will turn up the speed cap. When LTE comes online for verizon, what speed do you think it's going to be? 10mps? 20? HAHA... No. It's going to be JUST enough to put them ahead of whatever AT&T has. Then if AT&T tries to one up them, they have headroom to turn up the dial. Don't expect amazing revolutions in wireless internet from any American provider. That's not how they do things here, this is a game of strategy, and no provider is going to go all in right away.
AT&T is waiting til 2011 to start their rollout of LTE because the equipment will be drastically cheaper then, and they can perform the rollout for less money, and faster, and they can avoid a lot of the hiccups that come with early adopting a technology. There was a really good interview with Ralph De La Vega a few months back on here where he talked about all of AT&T's 3g/4g rollout plans, maybe you should go watch it.
@Meikat
Have you ever heard someone say "wow, I love the AT&T 3G network, it is so reliable!"?
I have not. All I ever hear about the AT&T 3G network is that when you can actually find it, it does not work. And this is coming form major cities, like Chicago and NYC.
Does anyone know what the 20-30 initial markets for Verizon's LTE will be?
I'm in Orlando, FL and it works great for me. I can tether my Nokia n810 to my phone and get 1mbps MINIMUM at pretty much all times. I almost never have issues with it unless I get near a high school around the time school gets out, but that's to be expected...
@Meikat
http://iphonetouch.blorge.com/2009/07/05/att-reliability-poorest-in-13-major-us-metro-areas/
The highest reliability % that AT&T was able to muster was 90%, with an average of 70.7% reliability. That is just terrible!
Compare that to Sprint- 90.4%
And Verizon- 89.7%
AT&T's reliability, at least in this collection of data, is a full 19.7% WORSE than Sprint.
Heck, the chart even pegs AT&T's performance in your city, Orlando, as the absolute worst they rested, at a dismal 52%. Good luck with your network. See you on LTE (or, Wimax)
i have the laptop and it preforms extremely well. i got an external drive and i leave it at my desk..... best laptop i have had
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@meikat
AT&T's 3G network may be a bit faster than Verizon's in a best-case scenario, but it doesn't matter when it's footprint is so much smaller. In fact, AT&T won't even SHOW YOU their full-size nation-wide 3G coverage map. You actually have to drill down into the local city level to see the coverage because it would be far too easy to see how poor their overall nation-wide coverage is if you could see it all at once.
I actually took the time to put together small regional coverage "tiles" into a coherent map of 3G coverage for the western united states, and its total area was less than half that of Verizon. AT&T's HSPA service is really only available within large cities and a few suburban areas.
Even within areas where AT&T claims to have 3G coverage, the signal strength is almost always worse than Verizon's 3G. I have a Blackberry Curve from Verizon and my girlfriend has a 3G featurephone from AT&T, and she constantly complains about it dropping calls. Additionally, her phone falls back to EDGE in many areas where I have EVDO.
And after the introduction of the iPhone, now there are all kinds of stories about overloaded 3G towers in major cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Los angeles, and New york, with people's internet access slowing to a crawl during parts of the day.
While Verizon may have a bad attitude about their role as a "dumb pipe" in cellular phone service and have pathetic policies that restrict many devices they sell, they do have the best network.
Will it has App Store support?