Verizon finally made their announcement it had its own iPhone on Tuesday during a press conference in New York. According to a report by Boy Genius, all iPhones using the iOS 4.3 operating system will have a personal hotspot. The phone will be able to connect up to five Wi-Fi devices, which will then be able to share the phone’s 3D Internet connection.
The report said the new iOS 4.3 will most likely be out in March. It’s thought the feature may not be immediately supported on AT&T phones even with the new operating system, but will be available on other carriers.
In response, an AT&T spokesperson said that the company will not speculate on whether or not hotspots will be available at this time. No other comment came from Apple.
Verizon’s new CDMA/EVDO iPhone becomes available on Feb. 10 and current Verizon users can preorder it starting on Feb. 3. Users will pay $199.99 for the 16GB version with a two-year contract and 299.99 for a 32GB version with a two-year contract. It will be sold at more than 2,000 of Verizon’s stories, at the Verizon website, Apple retail stores and the Apple website.
Despite the speculation that Verizon’s acquisition of the iPhone would cause AT&T to lose customers, some analysts that might not be what happens.
A Forrester Research analyst said this news is actually something that may help Apple. He believes that users were more likely to keep their current contract and will wait to buy the Verizon iPhone 4 while they wait for the next development of the device.
