Apple's iPhone may be the darling of the consumer smartphone
market, but the phone is not without its faults. One of the problems
facing the iPhone doesn't come from a limitation of the device
itself, but rather from the network that is uses in the United
States: AT&T.
Verizon pounced on this weakness and decided
to pour more salt in the wounds with its "There's a map for
that" ads. Verizon went even further with a second round of ads
which were highlighted by the "Island
of Misfit Toys" commercial.
Up until this point, Apple has remained quiet on the sidelines as
both its cash cow and its exclusive U.S. service provider were
battered by Verizon. Now Apple has stepped up with two new
commercials of its own according
to Engadget.
The new commercials will air tonight and will tout functionality that Verizon phones lack --
the ability to make 3G calls and receive/transmit cellular data at
the same time. The commercials point out the iPhone's ability to not
only talk to people on the phone, but also do things such as check
email, check restaurant reservations with the OpenTable app, get
directions using the Maps app, and surf the web.
Unfortunately, the two ads still don't address the issue of AT&T's
3G coverage or quality in the U.S. And the ads of course don't
mention that simultaneous talk/data isn't possible when used with
AT&T's EDGE data service -- a service that many iPhone users have
to fall back on when their 3G coverage falls short.
