Verizon Officially Announces UTStarcom XV6700

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060104/sfw119.html?.v=8' target='_blank'>http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060104/...fw119.html?.v=8</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Verizon Wireless, the first wireless company to deliver wireless broadband service from coast to coast, and UTStarcom Personal Communications, a division of UTStarcom, Inc., announced today at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the availability of the XV6700 -- the first device for Verizon Wireless from UTStarcom that utilizes the Microsoft Windows Mobile(TM) 5.0 platform. Recently proclaimed an "Editor's Choice for 2005" by Laptop magazine, the XV6700 runs on Verizon Wireless' EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) wireless broadband network."</i><br /><br />At last! I posted on the impending release <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44440">a few weeks ago</a>, but here's the kicker -- the price isn't half-bad: $299 after $100 rebate with 2-year agreement (the PR doesn't say exactly what the price is for 1-year or no-contract). It's available now for enterprise customers, and will be generally available on January 19.

[Perry Reed]

Wow! That price is significantly cheaper than Sprint's version (which is $499 with the 2-year contract or $599 w/o.)

Granted the Verizon version will most certainly be crippled with regards to WiFi and Bluetooth, but still. I sure hope this pressures Sprint into lowering the price on their version.

[rickmahn]

Hopefully it will also set the pricing tone for Cingular &amp; T-Mobiles version of the HTC Wizard line as well. I think $300 with a contract extension is an acceptable price considering the Treo 700w, and Samsung SCH-i830 are much more expensive, and don't bring any radically new features. Great News!

[whydidnt]

Hmmm, looking at the hardware specs and the price, it really makes me wonder why someone would pay $2-300 more for a Treo 700W. Other than some nice today plugins, what is the Treo bringing to the table? Please don't tell me the Treo name is worth nearly a 75% premium. :wink:

[d-roC]

Hmmm, looking at the hardware specs and the price, it really makes me wonder why someone would pay $2-300 more for a Treo 700W. Other than some nice today plugins, what is the Treo bringing to the table? Please don't tell me the Treo name is worth nearly a 75% premium. :wink:

You would be surprised at how much a name means. Ever wonder why Apple is selling well with iPods despite the substandard hardware compared to others (and not including iTunes for the moment either). A good name always catches the eye and commands more. And trust me, folks have and will continue to pay more, its just the way markets go.

[that_kid]

Granted the Verizon version will most certainly be crippled with regards to WiFi and Bluetooth

Yep any verizon wireles device which does both WiFi and EvDO will be setup by verizon so both radios can't be on at the same time. I was told this was to help with battery life but if I have wifi on and get a call I won't know about it until I turn wifi off. Anyhow I really like the price that verizon is charging for the 6700.

[WorksForTurkeys]

Unlike some of the other new PDAs announced during the last 3 months, this seems to have the right CPU, the right wireless capabilities, and the right price.

Now if they could just get away from this 2-year contract deal (its the main reason I won't be renewing my Cingular contract. the other reason is Cingular's pricing structure), support GSM...and do my laundry :wink:

[Janak Parekh]

Now if they could just get away from this 2-year contract deal (its the main reason I won't be renewing my Cingular contract. the other reason is Cingular's pricing structure), support GSM...and do my laundry :wink:
Verizon does offer 1-year contracts. You typically pay a bit more of an activation fee and, on average, ~$50 more for the phone. Some promos may also not be available.

--janak

[Perry Reed]

Granted the Verizon version will most certainly be crippled with regards to WiFi and Bluetooth

Yep any verizon wireles device which does both WiFi and EvDO will be setup by verizon so both radios can't be on at the same time. I was told this was to help with battery life but if I have wifi on and get a call I won't know about it until I turn wifi off. Anyhow I really like the price that verizon is charging for the 6700.

Not only that, but they usually disable the DUN (modem) and OBEX (file transfer) BlueTooth protocols.

Verizon sucks for doing that.

[l_emmerdeur]

So now I could give up my eensy-teensy V3C and my glorious 4" VGA hx4700 to get a PDA phone that gives me no option to go light (i.e. leave the PDA portion at home) and a 2.8" screen 1/4th VGA (no, it isn't half VGA, it is 1/4th VGA, 240x320 is 1/4th the pixels of 480x640) just to get EVDO on a PPC.

Or, Verizon could avoid having to subsidize another phone, and still earn my $50 a month of gravy profit EVDO fee by letting me tether my iPaq to my RAZR via BT damn it already. Noobs.

Edit: Or, better yet, while HP and VZW are making sweet, sweet love in their new EVDO/hardware partnership, how about a cable and some PPC software to connect my hx4700 and my V3C, then? Why do laptops get all the love? James Earl Jones has betrayed us all.

[whydidnt]

Or, Verizon could avoid having to subsidize another phone, and still earn my $50 a month of gravy profit EVDO fee by letting me tether my iPaq to my RAZR via BT damn it already. Noobs.


Wouldn't that be nice and convenient. Tether to the iPaq when you have that with, tether to a Laptop when you are more permanently nailed down. It seems Verizon is offering a tethering option on the new Blackberry, so hopefully this will trickle down to their other phones as well. Too bad Sprint doesn't really have a comparable phone to the V3, as they have started to realize that tethering can be a good thing and are now allowing for a fee, I believe.

I think the reason we haven't seen a native (non-hacked) tether option on the PPCPE devices is there is no way to tell if the phone is tethered or not when access the internet. As soon as they figure a way to do this on PPCPE devices and/or other EVDO phones we may see more of this option. As it allows them to get their extra $$ each month.

[Janak Parekh]

So now I could give up my eensy-teensy V3C and my glorious 4" VGA hx4700 to get a PDA phone that gives me no option to go light (i.e. leave the PDA portion at home) and a 2.8" screen 1/4th VGA (no, it isn't half VGA, it is 1/4th VGA, 240x320 is 1/4th the pixels of 480x640) just to get EVDO on a PPC.
Yeah -- welcome to my problem. :( The "good news" is that the XV6700 is surprisingly compact, but if you're addicted to VGA, your only "real" choice is the Universal, which will give you 3G in Europe but not here. :?

(BTW, from reading HowardForums, Bluetooth DUN is unofficially possible on the V3C, but only via 1xRTT. If the V3C supported EVDO via either USB or BT tethering, I'd probably have picked one up already. Idiots.)

--janak