I'm up for a new phone from Verizon and am considering the iPhone. Good article why I might wait.

Five reasons not to buy the Verizon iPhone ... yetBy Wilson Rothman

By now you may be overcome with excitement that the ever-inevitable-but-not-quite-tangible Verizon iPhone is here. Yes, finally, for the love of Pete, it's arrived. Time to buy it, right? Not so fast, hot shot. Before you buy the thing (and by the looks of it, it's quite a worthy phone), there are five reasons why you might want to wait, at least until June.

1. Verizon is pushing 4G, but iPhone is 3G
Verizon's chief priority for 2011 is to launch a 4G network that's faster and more reliable than the competition. Their showing at CES proves that they have the momentum and wherewithal to do this, and so far, the network itself seems to live up to the hype. Best of all, there are four Android phones slated to arrive by mid-year intended to navigate the waters of Verizon's LTE network like cigarette boats. So why do you want to stay in a 3G canoe?

2. Verizon's 3G is actually slower than AT&T's 3G
While I can state from years of testing and field experience that Verizon offers a more reliable 3G network, it really isn't as fast as AT&T's. Speed isn't everything, and what good is speed when the connection is poor? But still, you should know this, especially if you love streaming Netflix to your phone.

3. The iPhone might have inherent phone flaws
The iPhone has never been a great "phone." Its dropped calls are the stuff of legend. Its acolytes ignore the flaw with a stiff upper lip, instead praising its more reliable data-rich features. But the dropped calls are real. So, the question is, are they a network thing or a device thing?

Apple is content to let the blame fall on AT&T, but last summer's "Antennagate" showed that there's plenty of finger pointing to go around. I suspect it's a little of both, which is why I intend to test the Verizon iPhone carefully before letting any loved ones buy in.

4. The iPhone can't run voice and data simultaneously
While the technical separation of Verizon's voice and data networks may end up being a reason it drops fewer calls, this is viewed as a flaw by some people who wish to browse the Web while chatting. It's not as anti-social as it sounds: What if the person you're talking to really wants to see a movie with you ASAP? Someone's gotta Fandango that bizness.

5. iPhone 5 is due in June
Like Pavlov's tinkling bell, Steve Jobs' last four early summer iPhone news conferences have programmed iPhone enthusiasts to salivate as the weather gets balmier. This year won't be any different, given the financial power of the annual refresh for Apple, not to mention the fact that carriers all over the world literally bank on it.

The only mystery here in the United States is whether or not there will be a radio chipset in the fifth iPhone that lets it run on both the Verizon and AT&T network. A unified iPhone 5 makes sense, especially if it also supports 4G LTE data. But it would also make a whole lot of early Verizon iPhone buyers angry enough to grab pitchforks and torches. How Apple and Verizon will address this, maintaining both sales and customer confidence, is a true puzzlement.

Now that you know the five reasons not to buy one now, feel free to get in line, money in hand. Believe me, for gadget lovers who swear by Verizon's network, there's no shame in lusting, provided you enter into the transaction as an informed consumer.

My Verizon LG EnV3 keyboard is worth a lot. Nice size, good feel. Plus other stuff.


LG EnV3 Review (slate blue, Verizon Wireless) - Cell Phones - CNET Reviews

Gezzz. :rolleyes: What would you expect? iPhone has been AT&T's cash cow since its launch. The best Android phone they would carry was the Captivate. While a good phone, it is arguably a second class citizen to some of the Android phones on Verizon, Sprint, and even Cellular One!

Now that they are loosing the exclusive, AT&T is rolling out some kick @ss phones like 3 Windows Phone 7 devices and 3 (I think) of the best Android phones shown at CES. Clearly, you would not have seen that last year.

This stunned me. I thought for sure, Verizon would insist on an iPhone 4G for debut on their network.

... does win 7 have Facetime, there in catch up mode . Android, not for me. They put a 400$ + price target on Apple today, guess we'll see. I don't want a copycat, I'll take the real thing, no reason not to

As a confirmed iPhone fan I will say:
- the android phones will get better and better. If not now, soon they will be every bit the equal of the current iPhone - with two differences. First, Android is a less controlled environment, meaning carriers have freedom to add their own hardware, software overlay and default apps to Android, phone makers ditto, and users ditto, and the result may be better or may be worse than what Apple does - and Apple sets the bar high, for clean and intuitive systems. Second, Google doesn't try as much (maybe at all) to control what apps can be used on Android or what they can do, which means you will be able to load ill-designed stuff that crashes the phone just as easily as good stuff that works smoothly.

So it will be like the Windows vs Mac difference, in a way.

And some people love Windows. More choice is good.

Until, that is, Apple comes up with the Next Big Thing. Having control over the hardware and the o/s and the main apps allows Apple to make things happen that are harder when dozens of different companies have to agree and design the thing in many interlocking pieces.

Suppose, for instance, it is a good idea for the phone to track your eye motion so that if you stare at one part of the screen, that part of the application automatically magnifies, thus making it as easy to use a 4" screen as a 10" screen. Apple could do this - put the necessary eye-tracking camera in the hardware, include the software in the o/s, and adapt the browser, mail client, etc to work with this feature. The Android ecosystem would have a harder time doing it - or doing it first. Just an example, that feature might be a terrible idea actually.

Which you will pay for of course. I actually will have 3 phones up for contract renewal and will be getting my daughter the iphone when it comes out. I currently have the first Droid and it does everything I want, but would consider the next generation android phone in 4g when it comes out in a few months.

Update on Verizon data plans for iphone - "unlimited" for $30/mo and hotspot for $20/mo, but they will restrict bandwidth for the heaviest data users. Unlimited plan is presumably to attract the ATT iPhone users still on unlimited plans (like me). Verizon has said the unlimited plan will not be available indefinitely, they will eventually switch to only metered/tiered plans.

As a iPhone 4 owner I can say it is a great device.

BUT

I have to admit it is a 100% Apple device. The best description I have ever heard is "Apple makes most difficult tasks very easy, and a few simple tasks impossible."

On a regular basis friends send me email with an attached .wmv movie clip or a link to a video clip. I can't watch them on my iPhone. I have to use my regular computer to see the clip. A very simple task that is impossibe. :mad:

It doesn't matter if you have that ability if you don't have a connection.

Its a phone... I bet the android phones wouldn't view the .wmv file either.... ;)

I can view email attachments on my Motorola Droid phone with ease. :)

I can too, just not .wmv

If I jailbreak the phone it will play wmv and flash. It is not the hardware, just the OS.

For android phones, there is an app to convert the files to a playable format. I imagine there is an app for the iPhone too.

I can watch .wmv files on my driod incredible without converting them.

Cool, I just checked and .wmv files work on my Droid as well. :)

For Android, get Rock Player. Very nice media type player.