Adding the iPhone 4 to the Verizon Wireless smartphone lineup brings to mind LeBron James teaming up with fellow hoops icon Dwyane Wade. In my judgment, the iPhone 4 is the biggest of all the smartphone superstars. And plenty of people also believe Verizon’s wireless network is the cream of the crop.
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But just as James and Wade’s Miami Heat has struggled at times while still posting one of the NBA’s best records, it’s reasonable to question whether the Verizon/Apple juggernaut can live up to near-impossible expectations once buyers can finally get their hands on the Verizon iPhone on (or, in some instances, before) Feb. 10. Current Verizon Wireless customers can pre-order the phones online now for delivery.
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A winning outcome is a slam-dunk as far as I’m concerned, at least based on my six days of testing a Verizon iPhone in New York City and Northern New Jersey. Though not every call was crystal clear — this is a cellphone, after all — I haven’t experienced any of the dropped calls, so far anyway, or other frustrating hiccups during my tests that have been driving some owners of the ATT iPhone bonkers during the 3 1/2 years that the carrier has had iPhone exclusivity in the U.S.
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Apple has sold more than 80 million iPhones overall since its 2007 launch, 16.2 million in the last quarter alone.
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There are only subtle differences in the design of Verizon’s iPhone 4 compared with the ATT version that has been selling like gangbusters since June. Both can shoot high-definition video. Both have rear- and front-facing cameras that permit the cool FaceTime video-calling feature over Wi-Fi. Both have identical supercrisp Retina Displays, fast A4 chips and attractively thin glass-and-stainless-steel bodies. And both can tap into a downloadable apps reservoir that exceeds 300,000, about triple the total number…