AppleInsider StaffVerizon customers who buy the new CDMA iPhone will find the carrier's custom 3G Mobile Hotspot application preinstalled, offering the ability to share a 3G data connection with up to five devices. The carrier will also offer access to other applications on the App Store like VZ Navigator and V CAST Media Manager.
Update: Though Verizon characterized the feature as an application, it is actually built in to a new version of iOS, called 4.2.5, that is found on the CDMA iPhone. It is possible that the feature could come to other carriers with the same update.
Currently, iPhone 4 customers on AT&T (and other carriers around the globe) must tether their iPhone to a laptop or compatible device via Bluetooth or USB. AT&T first enabled tethering last June after numerous delays, at a cost of $20 per month.
When asked if AT&T would offer a similar mobile hotspot application in the future, a company spokesman said they would not speculate on what they company may or may not do in the future.
While the Verizon hotspot will give it an advantage over AT&T, and allow tethering with devices like the Wi-Fi-only iPad, the company's CDMA network also has one major shortcoming that AT&T was quick to note: It is not capable of concurrent data and voice connections.
AT&T's HSDPA network allows users to browse the Web or load up applications via its 3G network while on a call, but Verizon's CDMA network does not. That also means that the 3G Wi-Fi hotspot feature would be disabled when a call comes in on the new iPhone.
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131 Comments
It may be some HUGE HUGE dealbreaker for some people. I have never found myself in the position of needing to use data while on a call, and obviously ALL current VZ customers will not know what they're supposedly missing SO badly because they have never had it. AT&T didn't even bother to advertise this "incredibly important" feature until a year ago when VZ launched their "there's a map for that" ad campaign. Sure, it's nice to have...and like I said maybe for some people this is something they need to have all of the time, but like Cook said...it's a trade-off. For the vast majority of people out there, not even close to being a dealbreaker.
A far bigger disappointment to me is that they didn't bother to make it a "world phone." Bad for re-sale value, and obviously sucks for international travelers.
A hot mess. I was almost going to do the verizon phone until I saw that there is no simultaneous voice/data. What if I'm on the internet? How do I tell the phone not to work so I can stay on the internet?
HUGE DEAL BREAKER! I'm happy with AT&T. They have been very good to me. Plus, they give me a discount at work for having an AT&T phone.
A hot mess. I was almost going to do the verizon phone until I saw that there is no simultaneous voice/data. What if I'm on the internet? How do I tell the phone not to work so I can stay on the internet?
You... don't buy the Verizon iPhone, then.
You... don't buy the Verizon iPhone, then.
Didn't I just say that already captain obvious.
Apple should've waited until they were ready for a real phone on Verizon. They should've made a LTE/GSM phone for Verizon.
You... don't buy the Verizon iPhone, then.
So basically its a sub standard product compared to AT&T...... Imagine: you get a phone call and everyone connected to the hotspot gets bumped off the internet........