Thunderbolt Pre Announcement Waiting Room & Availability Thread.

[edoublediz]

lmao. its really sad but perfect timing/marketing by apple with the 4 an 4g craze. i mean att is way behind on the hspa+ upgrading an 4g roll out. an its most likely still goin to be slow.

i was on the fence, i love this phone since it leaked last year. but wasnt sure if 4g would come where i live in nc. they announced charrollotte an thats it. so i was shopping the nexus s or mt4g on tmo, we have great hspa+ here. then all of nc was announced for first half lte including here an every where i visit.

what part of nc?

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

Fayetteville. But I go to wilmington alot for weekends

 

[ythot26]

this is great news if true. I think I'm going to my verizon store today, and I'll inquire some about it as well. hopefully the employees aren't clueless as to what the TBolt is and can shed me some light on the situation

 

[paulmike3]

Fayetteville. But I go to wilmington alot for weekends

Used to vacation at nearby Holden Beach as a kid (near Wilmington that is).

 

[edoublediz]

Fayetteville. But I go to wilmington alot for weekends

10-4 so, east coast . I'm west in the mountains.it doesn't look like we will be getting lte any time soon.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

yeah, i was kinda bummed when only charollotte was announced. but i talked to rep at local store an she said i wouldnt be waiting long, 2weeks later fayetteville, wilmington, raleigh, greensboro, an ect was announced. i might have a month or so with just 3g but thats totally fine.

 

[Dperks17]

LOL @ people who buy iPhones

 

[Raptor007]

I just took a quick look at both Verizon Wireless and Apple's pages for the iPhone 4. Since a lot of consumers are not tech smart, I notice Apple only lists the types of radios in each iPhone, here is what they list.

Cellular and wireless
GSM model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA model2: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology

While they do not list LTE and many have no clue what EV-DO is, means or does, they should be more clear by Saying 3G Data or 4G Data so its clearer to the uniformed, poorly informed, and Fanboy informed.

Apple - iPhone 4 - Size, weight, battery life, and other specs

Just point them to the link above.

 

[ythot26]

when I went in today one of the store employees said they knew nothing regarding a release date for the TB. if 2/11 is the correct date, i guess it just varies on who's in the know and who isn't

 

[craigrn16]

I doubt this is true. If it was coming out 2/11 Verizon would have either made an announcement or announced that they are going to make an announcement about something by now. I suspect late Feb or march.

 

[TBolt2011]

I doubt this is true. If it was coming out 2/11 Verizon would have either made an announcement or announced that they are going to make an announcement about something by now. I suspect late Feb or march.

In all fairness, think what you want.

I'll be going by what I heard in person by an entire staff of people at a store who is, in my experience, perfectly reliable. At least until/unless something else is announced.

 

[Droid800]

I just took a quick look at both Verizon Wireless and Apple's pages for the iPhone 4. Since a lot of consumers are not tech smart, I notice Apple only lists the types of radios in each iPhone, here is what they list.

Cellular and wireless
GSM model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA model2: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology

While they do not list LTE and many have no clue what EV-DO is, means or does, they should be more clear by Saying 3G Data or 4G Data so its clearer to the uniformed, poorly informed, and Fanboy informed.

Apple - iPhone 4 - Size, weight, battery life, and other specs

Just point them to the link above.

With Verizon's marketing push for 4G, they don't need to specify that its 3G. The lack of marketing for it is enough.

 

[bmcclure937]

Let's hope this is true

 

[Raptor007]

With Verizon's marketing push for 4G, they don't need to specify that its 3G. The lack of marketing for it is enough.

Are you serious? If customers are clueless and frankly ill informed by people out to make a buck that is no excuse for a company to make it clear especially given their push with 4G LTE data.

I also believe the date is correct for the 2/11 window, Verizon can push all sorts of marketing info IN the 4G markets. I don't have 4G yet, so I have yet to see a commercial for it. 4G exists just not here yet. Marketing is targeted and likely so is the push for training which also explains the gaps.

 

[DolfanCole]

If true, this would be a terrible move by Verizon IMO. Regardless of what one may think about the iPhone, releasing both the iPhone and TBolt at the same tie will not bring near the sales as releasing them separately. This also goes against Verizon's typical business moves of giving a new phone a few weeks on its own before another is released. That's why an iPhone release of 2/10 and an early to mid-March release of the TBolt made so much sense for Verizon ( not to mention that it goes along with what they said about when the first 4G phones would hit the market).

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

well i see a verizon 4g commercial at least 2x every show i watch on tv. iv been seeing this iphone commercial alot now to. i am in a 4g market. but what kinda ticks me off is on nfl the have verizon 4g droid bionic ads. its like the initial ces presentation no talk about the bolt. i understand its not dual core an droid branded. but give us info an dont kill the phones sales just cause you got the same old iphone. i just dont get that.

 

[Droid800]

well i see a verizon 4g commercial at least 2x every show i watch on tv. iv been seeing this iphone commercial alot now to. i am in a 4g market. but what kinda ticks me off is on nfl the have verizon 4g droid bionic ads. its like the initial ces presentation no talk about the bolt. i understand its not dual core an droid branded. but give us info an dont kill the phones sales just cause you got the same old iphone. i just dont get that.

They're advertising for the Bionic because the Droid marketing campaign has been the most successful campaign since Android's launch. To put it bluntly, the Droid branding will do a whole helluva lot more to get people into Verizon stores than advertising for the T-bolt will. Here's the key to that: There are people for whom the Bionic will not be the best phone. But by getting into them store, they can steer them towards the TBolt or Verizon's other stable of phones.

There's also something else you need to understand; MOST of the buyers of this new iPhone will be coming from AT&T. Yes, there will be quite a few people currently on Verizon or on some other phone that will get it because its finally an iPhone on Verizon. But most of those people wouldn't even consider the Thunderbolt, because it isn't what they want in a phone. The screen is huge, and the LTE plans will undoubtedly be more expensive than similar iPhone plans. For them, the iPhone is a safe choice, and the Thunderbolt will be an unknown. There are a whole host of other reasons why the Thunderbolt's sales could be diminished, some of which are just as influential as the iPhone.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

i agree with you. i understand the marketing. but you would think there would be something since they have officially announced this phone lol.

the only thing i dont agree with is the pricing. the usb pricing is the exact same as 3g usb modems. they have been launched since end of last year. so it would be pretty dumb of them to change prices for phones but not usb modems. just my opinion

 

[TBolt2011]

"Update" to Feb. 11th info

Sorry, this is going to be a slightly choppy read with all the 'making it pronoun agreeable' stuff, haha. Thankfully, it's a short, yet possibly huge, update on the "insider" info I got that forced me to sign up here yesterday . I want to give NO info about the rep I talked to tonight, simply because it's rude. This person was extremely helpful in every way (regular occurrence for me, with Verizon), and I don't even want to potentially put this person on the line for any (un?)foreseeable reason.

-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-

To update (or not-so-much) this issue of a release date, I talked to a CS Rep today because I switched my line to another phone until the Bolt finally comes out.

In closing our conversation, I asked him/her if she could confirm what I heard in-store, but only told her that I heard that date for it; I didn't tell her they mentioned attending a meeting or that multiple people backed it up. She said that she was supposed to be at a meeting yesterday morning, but was excused for Family Reasons, and there was supposed to be an "important announcement" about the newest devices that Verizon plans to release in the coming month.

The Rep said that he/she assumed before hand that it would be primarily about the iPhone, but expected, and hoped for, some big news about the HTC and Moto devices. Understandably, he/she said not to take her word on that because she never got to be there first hand.

Now of course for me to hear what he/she said, it lines up perfectly with what I was told in-store yesterday, although this person tonight said that he/she couldn't and wouldn't guarantee anything because he/she personally didn't know. Which I completely understand, being in retail/CS myself.

Anyways, what I was told today from the CS Rep tonight lines up with what I heard in-store just the night before. I didn't bias him/her answer in saying that the staff I talked to in-store just last night had a meeting about what they told me, so take it as you will, and technically it's not NEW information, or confirmation, but it's strong reinforcement to what I have already found out.

Does anyone else just-so-HAPPEN to need help from VZW tonight, that can potentially try to dig out to a larger sample size?

 

[TBolt2011]

Are you serious? If customers are clueless and frankly ill informed by people out to make a buck that is no excuse for a company to make it clear especially given their push with 4G LTE data.

I also believe the date is correct for the 2/11 window, Verizon can push all sorts of marketing info IN the 4G markets. I don't have 4G yet, so I have yet to see a commercial for it. 4G exists just not here yet. Marketing is targeted and likely so is the push for training which also explains the gaps.

I live in Wisconsin, right outside of Milwaukee. With Chicago already having Verizon 4G, and Milwaukee (supposedly) getting in on it this year, I have seen 4G ads. Pretty often, actually.

YouTube - Verizon Strike with Rhapsody

In my opinion, they should just literally reuse that commercial for the Thunderbolt, but replace the device in the commercial, with the HTC Phone. Lol.

Anyways, that's the commercial I see for Verizon's 4G.... Constantly...