The Dodge Retort

A Verizon TV ad pushing a free Compaq netbook caught my attention today. I only caught the tail end of it, but apparently my ears were not decieving me. Verizon has a promotion that started Saturday giving away a free Compaq netbook (said to be a $299 value) to new FIOS customers. Or customers have the option of selecting a free Flip mini flip camcorder instead.

The netbook looks exactly like the HP Mini I bought earlier this year for $399 and returned once I finished reviewing it for eWeek.com. Now, they’re giving them away… sort of. They’re free only when you commit to either Verizon’s $120 or $130-a-month Triple Play TV/Internet/Phone plans. With the $110 a month plan, you still have to fork over $100 for the netbook or camcorder.

The deal also includes free HBO and Cinemax for three months, according to some folks kibbitzing about it on Verizon’s site. If only I could get FIOS in my neighborhood!?

My full review of the HP Mini Model 1151NR bundled with Verizon mobile broadband is now up at eWeek.com. In any case, I give it a B- given the inconsistent bars I got, but it pretty much works as advertised.

A better option for Internet ubiquity is the MiFI 2200  mobile hotspot which I also reviewed for eWeek. The full review was filed yesterday and I will link to it when it is posted.  In a nutshell, the device – smaller than an iPod Touch – is mobile broadband in one end and up to five WiFi connections out the other. And you don’t have to deal with Verizon Access Manager on the host after the first mobile broadband connection is made. After that, you simply switch on the unit and it automatically connects to Verizon’s 3G network.

The WiFI worked well once I understood you have to unplug the MiFi from host where the mobile broadband was the connection was initially made (For a host, I used a netbook running Windows 7 release candidate which worked fine). The device costs $100 and $60 or $40 a month for the ususal Verizon two-year service commitment. If I spring for mobile broadband  given its relatively high cost, it will be for this.

Verizon MiFi charging

Meanwhile, I am blogging away about at SmartPlanet.com which covers its namesake “smart” technologies. Check it out. Today’s topic was cameras implanted in a prosthetic or bionic eye.

I’ve been playing with HP Mini Model 1151NR that come bundled with Verizon Mobile Broadband for a couple of weeks now and the convenience is growing on me.

It’s much slower than Wifi and cable Internet and the Verizon Access Manager that you use to find the network and connect is a minor imposition. One problem is in my office I only get one bar ( four is tops) so connecting can take a little longer. You can track you speeds from a Statistics tab. Verizon says average speeds are around 500 Kbps with bursts up 1.4 Mbps and it generally delivers as promised.

Video downloads take several minutes, but it’s fine for browsing, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, email, visiting The Dodge Retort and other standard apps.

I’m going to return the loaner to Verizon soon and am going to miss it. Next decision is whether to spring for the unit at $200 and a two year commitment at $60 a month. I have a full review of the HP Verizon bundle  coming up at eweek.com.

Also, Verizon just gave me a Mi Fi mobile router with Mobile broadband in the back end and Wifi out the front so I don’t have to decide right away. It’s about two thirds the size of an iPod Touch and connects via USB to its host. I will report back in a week or so on that. Meanwhile, stay connected.

I am cruising in the passenger seat along I-95 in Maine ready to post thanks for my Verizon VZAccess mobile broadband. It’s the version that comes bundled with and built into an HP Mini 1000 Model 1151r. No card or gadget to plug in.

Quite honestly, I’ve had some problems with it so stay tuned for the full review next week.

Damn, that tractor trailer is close!

Many exciting things are on tap for The Dodge Retort and yours truly, John Dodge. From the top:

– Tomorrow, I will post my First Look at the Windows 7 Release Candidate running on a netbook. The review will also be promoted in the PC Pitstop newsletter (circ. 900k!) that goes out Tuesday so it should get great exposure.

– Dell has promised to send me an evaluation unit of its education netbook, the Latitude 2100. I will do a no-holds barred review. Trying to nab a Mini 10v, too.

– The buzz today is that Apple will do a tablet of some sort as opposed to a traditional netbook. Check out the coverage.

– I’m supposed to getting the Storm and LG Versa phones from Verizon for review. The Storm has been out a while, but I want to see why folks are opting for the Curve like I did instead of the Storm.

– On June 1, I will be blogging for ZDNet’s on smart technologies. Stayed tuned for more details in next week or two.

Have great long weekend everyone!

Verizon pitched me recently on doing a post on its Friends & Family calling program launched in February. That’s where qualifying customers can exclude five or ten numbers from counting against their plan minutes.

So I asked Verizon how many have taken advantage of the “free” program and what does Verizon get out of it. Verizon New England spokesman Mike Murphy didn’t answer either question, but did extol the benefits of F&F. So I am left to speculate.

My guess F&F sweetens the pot for customers to upgrade their basic plans to the $60 a month Nationwide Single Line plan which is required for the five F&F package or the $90 Nationwide Family SharePlan for the ten. Or to switch to Verizon from another carrier (a quick check of AT&T plans shows it still only has unlimited inter-network mobile to mobile by comparison). While Verizon says F&F is “free,” the company isn’t giving away anything because you have to sign up for the qualifying plans.

Still, F&F for minute gobblers is a good deal and should not be overlooked especially if you already qualify (Shame on me – I qualify for the ten, but have yet to take advantage of it).

Murphy did have a few interesting things to say about what Verizon has invested in its 3G network in New England -$240 million last year and $2.4 billion since 2000. The motive here is spread the word about the huge capital investment it takes to build these networks to assuage the sting of $40 or $60 a month for 3G wireless broadband, for example. Hey, these networks don’t grow on trees so we all have to pay.

Indeed, Verizon is on a roll with its 86.6 million wireless customers which makes one other of Murphy’s comment all the more intriguing. Besides things like its network and F&F, Verizon, he says, has curried customer favor with the company’s aggressive lawsuits against spammers.

“Maybe some of that loyalty is due in part to these lawsuits against spammers!?!” Murphy says. In early May, the company filed suit against a mortgage company for allegedly sending 800,000 spam text messages to Verizon customers.

The Boy Genius Report claims it has received “firm confirmation” that the HP Mini 1151NR netbook has started arriving in stores and will sell for the discounted price of  $199 if the customer signs up for two years of Verizon Wireless Broadband. I couldn’t find the 115NR on HP’s site so it may a model unique to Verizon although Boy Genius didn’t say which stores where the mobile broadband unit is showing up. Launch of the unit with mobile broadband is slated for May 17 or next Sunday. Boy Genius did not identify its sources.

My Verizon PR contact would not confirm the report. “We don’t respond to rumors and as soon as we have news share, we certainly will pass it along to you,” she said.

Such rumors often prove to be in error. A report last week said an Acer Aspire One discounted with two year’s activation of AT&T mobile broadband would start showing up in Costco stores today. As of now, such a deal had not shown up on the web site except its $350 Acer Aspire One without mobile broadband. An administrative person at my store in Danvers, Mass. (which has a manned Verizon kiosk, by the way)  said no netbook-mobile broadband bundle had appeared in her store today. “I have not seen anything like at all.” Nor was there any such announcement at Costco Corporate press release web site.

If true, the Verizon-HP bundle is more a story about a bigger discount for netbooks with mobile broadband than HP’s and Verizon’s first joint netbook offering. HP is already selling the Mini 1000 Mobile Broadband WWAN Series for $429.99 with built-in wireless broadband radio modem with a $100 debit card for agreeing to two year’s activation of the Verizon service. The new bundle would seem to increase the netbook discount to $230 (or $350 if the customer goes with HP-s recommended WAN Series configuration at $550).

It’s still unclear what’s in the 115NR model, exactly, but the differences in the WWAN Series are slight – 8.9 or 10.1 inch display, 512KB or 1GB memory and three tiers of storage – one 80GB hard disk and 16 and 32 BG flash options. I did locate a 1110NR and 1120NR both with mobile broadband so possibly the 1i51NR is some approximation of those two models.

HP Mini 1000

You know those “live chat” support and sales folks at humongous companies like Comcast and Verizon? Ever wonder how informed they are? My one live chat support experience with Comcast I would rate as excellent. I’ll let my Verizon experience tonight speak for itself.

I asked Verizon if it had notebook discounts if I signed up for wireless broadband for the typical two year contract. Indeed, Verizon has promotions through June 30 on Dell, Sony, HP, Lenovo, OQO and the Panasonic Toughbook notebooks. I wrote about these notebook promotions and similar ones from AT&T in an April 17 post.

He got the answer half right — nothing public on netbooks yet. I substituted Verizon for the person’s name as given (you never know if it’s their real name). Here’s how it went.

You: do you have deals on netbooks or mini-notebooks if I sign up for wireless broadband?
Verizon: I’d be happy to help you with that.
Verizon: Unfortuantely, we do not.
You: how about deals on notebooks?
Verizon: We do not sale Notebooks.
You: but don’t you have discount coupons on notebooks if i sign up for wireless broadband?
Verizon: Unfortunately, we do not.

It's all the Palm Pre's fault.

The plot thickens with Verizon’s next move in touch screen iPhone sweepstakes and the latest story says it doesn’t even involve the iPhone as we know it. After the WSJ reported earlier today that Verizon and Microsoft are working together on an iPhone knock-off of sorts, BusinessWeek fires back that Verizon and Apple are working together on an “iPhone lite” and a “media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos.”

One analyst quoted in the story threw cold water on the idea because Verizon’s network is CDMA-based which is different than AT&T’s GSM technology supported on today’s iPhone. Building two different types of iPhone-alikes would increase Apple’s costs. The story also posits that Apple is trying to get Verizon with its whopping 86.6 million subscribers to steer away of Palm’s much-hyped Pre due in June.

In any event, the cell phone market by the end of the year should be chock full of slick new models, helping to rouse the Sleepy economy out from its slumber.

Pardon me if I don’t get excited about a rumored Verizon-Microsoft partnership to develop a touch screen cell phone that challenges the  iPhone-AT&T partnership. Microsoft doesn’t have much of a track record here in considering what the Zune has done to the popularity of the iPod. That’s nothing except reinforce Apple’s reputation for superior engineering, design, marketing, sales and performance.

Verizon is crazy to bet on Microsoft’s consumer device prowess  even though it’s frustrated with archrival AT&T’s lock on the iPhone. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Verizon and Microsoft are in talks to develop an answer to the wildly popular iPhone (I have an iPod touch and love it. As for a phone, I prefer Verizon service to AT&T and getting an iPhone is not enough to lure me away. That said, I sure would like to see Verizon carry the iPhone.).

The WSJ says work on the device and software that goes with it is being designed by staffers from Danger, Inc., which developed software for the popular Tmobile Sidekick which always felt a bit cheap to me. Danger was bought my Microsoft last year. I never used a Sidekick and talked my forever-texting daughter out of getting one. No way was I going to convert to Tmobile.

Verizon, says the WSJ, was in talks with Apple about getting the iPhone given that AT&T’s exclusive on it ends next year after an initial extension went into force last year. And AT&T is seeking another year-long extension after selling more than 17 million iPhones  during the past two years.

Certainly, the exclusive makes life very predictable for Apple and lucrative for AT&T. The bobbing and weaving in this negotiation is far from over. Apple has to be behaving like Scott Boras negotiating baseball phenom Mark Teixeira’s free agency, but Verizon could still end up with the iPhone.

Really folks, the AT&T exclusive  amounts to a restraint of trade and I blame Apple for that. If it’s developing insanely great technology, why wouldn’t it want it in as many hands as possible? Ahhh, the lowly consumer and business user lose again.

As for any forthcoming phone and software platform from Microsoft, I welcome the competition and let’s hope it’s a smash hit so AT&T ends up eating its exclusive that has denied the iPhone to millions. Maybe, just maybe Microsoft will come up with that perfect broadband fueled netbook-handset hybrid I’ve been writing about and praying for.