Verizon’s iPhone announcement at Tuesday’s press conference confirmed pricing and of course launch date, but it omitted mention of the data plans. First Verizon’s iPhone handset itself will ship with no Verizon branding on the device, says news reports. The handset will carry the Apple logo solely.
In a news conference from New York Tuesday, Verizon said its iPhone will come with a pre-installed iOs 4.2.5. But one of the key differences will the voice and data functionality. Verizon execs confirm that you won’t be able to use voice and data simultaneously. Verizon chairman and chief executive, Ivan Seidenberg, told news that it was simply a tradeoff that came to play. “People place different emphasis on things…they will make those sorts of tradeoffs.”
The Verizon iPhone will be ship as a new “6G”, joked Lowell McAdam, president and COO of Verizon today. “With all the renaming of networks and technologies, we thought about naming ours 6G, but that’s not really our style, so we’ll stick with 4G.”
Verizon confirmed a $199 starting price (16 gigabytes of storage, and $299 for the 32) and an arrival (not shipping) date apparently of February 10. Execs did not release data plan pricing today; subsequent news reports claim the an unlimited data plan at $30 per month will be offered. Verizon has yet to confirm that news.
Seidenberg had previously told news that his network has been ready for sometime for a new explosion of data usage, presumedly from defecting AT&T iPhone customers to Verizon.
The Verizon iPhone deal has been speculated, predicted, and analyzed by the news since 2009. Many of the Apple news conferences came and passed last year without the expected Verizon deal. But as Jobs said in June 2010, more customers will get to experience Apple’s latest and best offerings. Today, that will be through two, not one, cellphone carrier. “We think that it’s the biggest leap since the original iPhone. I think you agree that there’s more to it than what meets the eye… This is, without a doubt, the most precise, beautiful thing we’ve ever designed. It’s closest kin is like a beautiful old Leica camera.”
