Some companies are still trying to reinvent the basic home telephone.
The latest attempt comes from Verizon Wireless, which recently began offering the Hub. Although the Hub won’t go so far as to replace your computer, the Hub can make your home phone into a bulletin board, entertainment center — even a child tracker.
But all this will cost you — the device itself is $200 after a $50 rebate, and it requires a two-year, $35 monthly contract that includes unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada and unlimited texts.
In recent months I’ve tested the Hub and the HomeManager, which is AT&T Inc.’s version of a smarter home phone. The HomeManager retails for $349, but it can be had for $149 if you have AT&T home service and a two-year contract for DSL service.
I liked the Hub better — it offers many more options. It’s also for sale nationwide, while the HomeManager is available in select markets.
Both these phones would have been more compelling before the rise of “smart” mobile phones, which already offer many of the same features as the Hub or the HomeManager. But unlike smaller smart phones, these new devices present a large touch screen for manipulating calling functions and Internet content.
The Hub starts with a simple setup: Once you have a Verizon Wireless account, plug the phone into an electrical outlet and connect it to your home Internet service over Wi-Fi or with an Ethernet cable. It took me less than 10 minutes.
I wasn’t blown away by the quality and clarity of the phone calls, which use voice-over-Internet technology. I picked up a static undercurrent a few times.
But the draw of the Hub is by far the Internet-infused range of options.
From the touch-screen home page, it’s a quick leap to a menu with telephone directories and features that…