The Verizon Unicorn: The iPhone 4
And here it is. The iPhone4 on Verizon in the flesh. This is a day that people have bantered about for literally years. The only thing that could make techies and gadget-a-holics more giddy would be if they had announced an LTE iPhone4.
As a little history, it was revealed in a court case some years back in California that the AT&T exclusive was a 5 year exclusive, leaving everyone hanging until 2012. This public document became the bible when people spoke about a Verizon iPhone. Many people, myself included, doubted a 2011 launch of an iPhone4 for this very reason, but lately the rumors became so solid that the Wall Street Journal flat out said the 1.11.11 event was absolutely, without a doubt, for the VZW iPhone. With the day finally here and all the details fleshed out, WSJ has proven, yet again, that they have a VERY solid inside source at Apple HQ who is giving them real, current information.
I was really hoping for a 4G iPhone, but in light of all the 4G devices VZW just launched, it seems obvious that they are giving Android a competitive advantage on their network for a year. Additionally, by pushing 4G, they will guarantee more bandwidth for the iPhone on CDMA/3G. This should make for a solid, much improved service offering over AT&T's current debacle in large cities.
Does this mean the death of AT&T? I doubt it. Does this mean Verizon will gain a competitive advantage? Not really, it just allows them to now level the hardware playing field with their biggest rival.
What it means to me is that I'm about to get an iPhone, finally.