Now it’s official: The iPhone 4 comes to Verizon

English | En español: [http://blogs.impre.com/piensa-digital/2011/01/11/ahora-si-llega-el-iphone-4-a-la-red-verizon/].

Now it’s official. The famous iPhone is no longer an exclusive device for AT&T.

Starting today, Verizon Wireless becomes the second mobile service provider for the Apple smartphone in the United States, but this does not mean that everything will go wrong at AT & T from now on.

At the Verizon presentation earlier today, Lowell MacAdam (chief operating officer of Verizon) announced the arrival of the iPhone to Verizon. According to MacAdam, “today we’re partnering with a giant of the industry, and that’s Apple. Our relationship with Apple has developed over the last two years. In 2008 we started talking about bringing the iPhone to a CDMA network. We spent a year testing.”

According to Tim Cook, chief operating officer at Apple, the iPhone 4 comes with all the same features that have become popular: FaceTime, retina display, HD camera, etc.

The chief executive of Verizon Wireless, Dan Meed, said the  company’s network is ready for the iPhone 4, in reference to complaints byAT&T users.

Prices for the iPhone 4 at Verizon will be the same: $ 199 for the 16 GB, and $ 299 for the 32 GB, with 2-year plans.

Verizon customers can order the iPhone 4 in advance on February 3 and the smartphone will be available at all Verizon stores starting on February 10th.

So far, the only downside to this specific version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon is that users can not get to use applications that require transmission of data while making calls at the same time. Verizon has taken this into account and mentioned that will be corrected in the near future. No such problem occurs with AT&T.

The iPhone became the modern and exemplary smartphone for a new generation of mobile phones after its release 4 years ago. The sales of Apple’s  iPhone along with  the mobile services offered by AT&T raised the satisfaction of both consumers and businesses at first glance. The usability of simple functions via touch and the diverse range of applications turned the device over the years into a winner. However, that victory did not come that easily for AT&T and Apple. The constant drop of calls on a very congested network, and the technical problems with the antenna (specifically for the iPhone 4) were the main complaints of many users.

With the arrival of the iPhone to Verizon, Apple could increase the number of sales of its mobile device. A few months ago, smartphones based on Google’s operating system, Android, took the lead, and the Apple operating system, the iOS, currently is in second place.

Sources: Live from Verizon’s iPhone event [http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/live-from-verizons-iphone-event/?sort=oldest&refresh=0], Liveblog of Verizon’s special event: CDMA iPhone ahoy! [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/01/liveblog-of-verizons-special-event-cdma-iphone-ahoy.ars], Anticipation builds for Verizon iPhone at 8 a.m. PT event (live blog) [http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20028073-266.html?tag=cnetRiver].