Verizon Hub headlines carrier's 2008 initiatives, devices
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Mar 30th 2008 12:00PM
posted Mar 30th 2008 12:00PM
We've gotten the inside track on a few dates on Verizon's radar for the next few months, and it looks like the boys and girls in red are prepping an interesting mix of exclusive and Sprint catch-ups to keep customers fat and happy. As handsets go, the Motorola Q9c is planned for April along with the TouchFLO-powered XV6900, LG enV2, and the CDMA rendition of the BlackBerry Curve (so much for exclusivity clauses on this one, it seems), while the Samsung Glyde is currently slated for late April or early May. Centro fans will be happy to hear that the diminutive Garnet phone will finally hit Verizon following Sprint and AT&T launches in the tail end of May or the beginning of June, followed shortly by the Nokia 6205, which apparently isn't either the 2505 or 7205 unless one of those flips have been renumbered.As technology goes, Verizon looks to launch EV-DO Rev. A-based push-to-talk services -- Sprint folks will know this as Qualcomm's QChat -- toward the end of May. We've also caught wind of something called "Verizon Hub," which we're told will go head-to-head with T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service. It's not known whether this'll be a WiFi setup (a la HotSpot@Home) or adopt Sprint's CDMA femtocell strategy, but seeing how Verizon and Sprint seem to be endlessly engaged in a game of cat and mouse, we wouldn't be surprised to see 'em go with femtocells. We don't have a date on Hub just yet, but it's targeting the second half of the year at the earliest.
Update: Commenters are noting that Verizon's do-all FiOS phone bares the "Verizon Hub" name, though it doesn't go head-to-head with HotSpot@Home -- and the Hub we're referring to is showing up on Verizon Wireless roadmaps. Weird. We'll keep a close eye on this one.
I thought that Nextel owened the rights to Qchat and that Sprint was only able to roll out this technology out because of the merger with Nextel, am I wrong?
QChat isn't mentioned by name in Verizon's roadmap, just the fact that it'll be an EV-DO Rev. A-based solution. It could definitely be sourced from another vendor.
Chris
Any exact date on the Curve 8330? Playing the 30 day return game. Thanks!
did you guys did any specifics on release dates for any of these phones- in particular the xv6900 or the curve?
So if this new PTT over EVDO Rev. A does that mean by then they will have their entire network as Rev. A? Or just the major cities like it is now? I am hoping they have the entire network upgraded by then or b4, and the femtocell sounds awesome, hoping it won't burn minutes either would be nice.
The entire network has been rev a for a few months. Only data cards are capable of utilizing Rev A at this point. If you can mod the XV6800 to allow it to work that would be the first phone. I have been unable to get a clear answer as to whether or not the 5800 is going to be rev a capable.
The Entire EVDO network is REV A but not the entire Verizon Wireless Network, they still have 1XRTT is most areas. So, PTT over Rev A will be limited to EVDO coverage.
The new PTT will still work outside of the evdo coverage just at the current VZW PTT speeds, the new phones will work at faster sppeds closer to what Nextel offers, of course nothing can beat the iDEN network for PTT
LordObento is right, I was thinking in terms of having all of evdo rev 0 upgraded to rev a at this point. True enough EVDO coverage is not available in all areas. However it is available in a whole lot of areas that are definitely not large cities.
the hub is supposed to be an interactive home phone that uses VOIP. I believe it gives you free calling and texts to the lines on your acct. more details to come.
Yeah the hub is supposed to use your home networks broadband signal for VZW data services like vz nav, picture messaging, as well as a virtual corkboard and a calander that can be sent to your phone(s) via bluetooth. It is targeted to families.
huh? the hub is nothing like hotspot or femtocell.
http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/Broadband/FiosFone/
Good point. Thing is, that's a Verizon Broadband device, not a Verizon Wireless one... our source tells us that Hub is designed to compete on some level with HotSpot@Home, which this unit (at least in this incarnation) doesn't appear to do. We'll make a note of it in the post and keep a close eye on the situation.
Chris
Hey Chris,
The context that VZW is using the word HUB implies that they are rolling multi services such as VZNavigator, Text messaging, Pix messaging, Calenders and Voice all into a central unit or HUB as it were. You will be able to use it with VZW service or you can bring your own access with your existing service provider. Think Vonage VoIP units. The unit will have a nice large touch display. It will cost $249.99 on a 1yr contact and then if you sign up for 2yrs it will have $50.00 mail in rebate. Yes before everyone ask yes I work for VZW and I was bored the other day and found all this out.
Have fun with it.
Centro! Centro! Centro!
The hub will also support chaperone service. It has a pretty big screen on the phone system.
Its about time they release the Centro!
hey guys, I'm disappointed in Verizon. A friend and I started working on developing something similar to the HUB last year. We went to purchase some prototype parts and came across the Verizon HUB web page you link above. They had a date of Feb 2008, so we junked the idea.
Here we are in early May and still nothing ... sad Verizon sad ... teaches me though to listen to websites.