Verizon rolls-out 4G. Rumours fly about iPhone.
For at least the second time in three days, Verizon grabbed headlines in business and technical publications, announcing it will, by the end of this year, launch faster, more sophisticated internet service for hand-helds.
The fourth-generation network will transmit data at ten times the speed of 3G signals, and it will speed the signal with only half the delay of 3G, making gaming far more responsive than ever before. The Verizon network will out-perform Sprint’s 4G service and T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network; AT&T maintains it will introduce a 4G network early in 2011. Set for roll-out in a total of thirty-eight American cities, 4G service will debut in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta.
Lowell McAdam, newly appointed chief of Verizon Communications, told CTIA delegates, “We’re very excited to be on the leading edge of this with the largest, by far, launch [of this kind]. We have been waiting for years to say that things like machine-to-machine, things like motion video, could be carried over [our] wireless network.”
In fact, the new wireless network puts Verizon’s infrastructure ahead of product development for the first time in several years, challenging manufacturers to develop products capable of capitalizing on its power and speed. Current phones have neither the 4G chip nor sufficient battery life to keep-up with the network’s requirements.
Will Verizon start selling iPhones?
Some news services have elevated a well-educated speculation to the status of full-fledged proclamation. They are sadly premature. But the buzz persists among the technorati, who insist that Verizon will begin selling iPhones and Apple data plans during the first quarter of 2011.
Thursday morning, The Wall Street Journal quoted well-informed sources to support its claim that Apple iPhone will be ready for troll-out in Verizon stores early next year. Specifically, the sources report that Verizon’s Asian chip manufacturer substantially has increased production. With no sudden surge in demand for Verizon’s traditional products, experts conclude that only iPhone applications can account for the increase. Neither Verizon nor Apple has made any official statement, and American sources have remained remarkably quiet as the buzz has intensified.
