Josh OngAfter drawing record preorders last week, the Verizon iPhone 4 launched to modest lines Thursday, with one report calling the lines "laughably short."
Though iOS 4.2.6 was first available as a direct download for review units in January, Apple issued official release notes Thursday to coincide with the launch of the CDMA iPhone 4. iOS version 4.2.6 "fixes a bug to ensure Personal Hotspot data usage is accurately reported (for Verizon iPhones)," according to the notes.
The Personal Hotspot WiFi tethering plan, which supports up to five WiFi devices, costs an additional $20 a month for 2GB of tethered data. Each additional gigabyte used will cost $20.
The promptly released fix could be an effort by Apple and Verizon to head off a public relations nightmare from any billing errors as a result of the bug. Verizon has previously come under fire for its billing practices. In 2009, the FCC initiated an investigation of a hard-wired "Wireless Mobile Web" button that would charge Verizon users $1.99 when pressed.
Last October, Verizon began refunding to customers up to $90 million in erroneous "data usage" charges.
However, Verizon is not alone in receiving accusations of overcharging practices. Apple's long-time partner AT&T was recently the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging that the carrier measured data "like a rigged gas pump," routinely overcharging customers.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
7 Comments
I'm a little confused... My VZW iPhone came with 4.2.6 out of the box. I didn't need to download an update through iTunes at all... I did about a week ago download 4.2.6 to my computer in preparation for it, but it already came with it and didn't need to be updated.
In this day and age any line is desirable and hardly laughable! Has there ever been any line outside a Verizon store before except someone waiting for the store to open wanting to return something?
Best
The line won't be "laughably short" for the iPhone 5. This iPhone is mid-cycle so of course it won't generate as much buzz but there will be just as many outside Verizon (if not more) than outside AT&T for the iPhone 5 launch.
The article says the bug fix was to correct a data reporting error. It just assumes the customer was the one penalized but I didn't see anywhere that said whether the fix was would be favor of the customer or Verizon.
The lines may have been short, but Apple still took many, many sales away from Google this week.