Being a Verizon customer, I have seethed with how infrequently they offer new smartphones to their customers. It seems to me that every new smartphone, especially BlackBerry devices, go straight to AT&T. Aside from the BlackBerry Storm – which had its own slew of problems – every new BlackBerry makes its way to AT&T almost immediately it seems. The Bold? AT&T. The Curve 8900? AT&T after T-Mobile had it. The Apple iPhone? Duh, AT&T…
This has caused me to wonder why I am with a service provider that, although the coverage is terrific, the selection of phones is ridiculously limited. It seemed to me that since Verizon is playing the “our coverage is better than [insert competitor here]” card, they should have the selection of new, high-tech devices to back it up.
Verizon claimed, in an email response to me from their customer service department,
“Verizon Wireless will not offer a product or service unless it meets the high standards our customers have come to expect. Verizon Wireless is constantly improving the services, features, and wireless phones we offer to our customers for their communication needs. There are several wireless phones being tested for functionality and reliability with our network.”
Anyway, all my ranting aside, finally some light at the end of the tunnel surfaced today in an Engadget article, where it was made clear that Verizon Wireless will soon (as in next 6 months) be carrying the Palm Pre. Lowell McAdam, a top exec at Verizon and Vodafone, was quoted to say: “Over the next six months or so you will see devices like Palm Pre and a second generation Storm.”
This is huge. While I have been itching to switch over to AT&T to get the iPhone or test out the Palm Pre when AT&T picks it up, but hesitant to do so because of coverage issues with AT&T, this news has certainly made me more optimistic and enthusiastic to stick with Verizon.
What do you think? Any other Verizon customers out there that are excited about the new BlackBerry Storm 2 or the Palm Pre?

