We've been on the trail of the
Verizon Hub since way back when it was called the
Verizon One, in fact, but it's just been officially announced, and there are plenty of details to report now. The system boasts a 7-inch touchscreen display, and will work with Verizon wireless subscribers handset(s) to eliminate the need for a landline (people still have those!?) The idea here is that the hub can sync to your calendar, contacts, maps, traffic and weather reports via broadband. It can also send and receive text messages, and do all kinds of cute little tasks like send driving directions to your phone. Subscribers have to live in an E911-capable area, and will be able to bring any phone number with them if they want to sign up for new service. The hardware's going to cost $200 (after a $50 mail-in rebate) with a subscription fee of $35 per month -- which comes with unlimited minutes and texts to and from the device. It'll be available starting February 1st. Get ready.
[Via
Phone Scoop]
posted Jan 23rd 2009 1:18PM
This thing is really ridiculous, I wonder what features are locked out of it just like their cell phones.
No Thanks.
Seriously, what do you need in a VoIP based phone that could possibly be locked out? That's just a stupid remark right there.
Call me crazy, but I just don't see the point? While I'm all for ditching my landline but most of the people I know that still have a land line have it for one primary reason: EMERGENCY USE...That is it's not effected by power outages, cell tower outages etc...in most situations you pick up the (cheap no power required) phone and it works. This isn't the case so much with this device...Sure, it's "neat" but I'm not going to pay $35/month in addition to my already absurd verizon bill for "neat" hardware costs aside.
And while I'm posting is there NO FREAKIN WAY to reset the assigned engadget password to these forums so I don't have to go do the email confirmation on every post? I don't allow my system ot save passwords for security reasons and XY57HJ3F is a bit difficult to remember and keep handy...PLEASE?
The device seems cool and all but I don't understand what exactly the value of the Hub is. How is spending another $35 a month justified by the features of the Hub?
Is it just me or is this a complete waste of money. Let me get this straight, in order to save money I ditch my land line, go with a phone service that will depend on my broadband access and pay 35 bucks a month and 200 ucks for the device. Are they freakin crazy. If I really want to ditch my land line and go with a broadband offering I will signup with one of the many reliable VOIP offerings out there for far less money. They not only offer unlimited calling through out the US but also to Canada and select EU countries. Like Scott in the previous post said, the whole objective of a land line is for reliable backup and in case I dont care about that why would I pay more to get a service that's essentially a VOIP service? Dumb just plain DUMB.
let's see. this is certainly something that Apple or Sony could deliver but I have to applaud Verizon for thinking a bit outside the box as it were. For one, they control the network so any outage on your Internet connection could result in rerouting incoming calls to the cell phones(s) of your choice. I think it's a great idea given that the majority of laptop's are overkill when a lot of people merely want to quickly check the weather, school lunches and a little bit of email. This is something that has the potential for mass market appeal in another revision or so.
the ACN video phone is the way to go. home phone, voip, and you can see the person your talking to. marktakacs.acnrep.com if you want to check it out.