Hasta La Gadget!

The Verizon iPhone and AT&T iPhone have gone head-to-head in thousands of broadband tests, and the numbers tell the story you’d expect: AT&T’s network is much faster.

Ookla, creators of the Speedtest.net broadband test, compiled data from tests run by iPhone customers using the Speedtest.net app on both AT&T and Verizon. On average, the reported AT&T iPhone transfer rates were roughly two times faster than the Verizon iPhone’s.

The AT&T iPhone’s average download speed was 1,769 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 730 Kbps. By way of comparison, the Verizon iPhone’s average download speed was 848 Kbps, and the average upload speed was 506 Kbps.

The results come from 43,000 AT&T iPhones and 14,000 Verizon iPhones all over the United States. Most Speedtest.net app users ran the tests multiple times, totaling 106,000 results from AT&T iPhone users and 49,000 results from Verizon iPhone users.

The Speedtest.net results did not provide data on coverage reliability or dropped connections.

From my benchmarking of the Verizon iPhone versus the AT&T iPhone, I also found that the AT&T iPhone’s 3G transfer rates were much faster than Verizon’s. However, the AT&T iPhone sometimes could not complete tests because it did not have a connection, whereas the Verizon iPhone successfully completed every test. In short, I found the Verizon iPhone to be slower with network transfers but more reliable with coverage. Reviewers at other publications had the same results.

“I think that’s the story I expected to see,” said Doug Suttles, co-founder of Ookla. “Verizon has never talked up their speed, but they always talk up coverage and reliability…. I think the story is quality versus throughput: What are you after?”

Speedtest.net’s nationwide results back my verdict: You should get a Verizon iPhone if you really care about voice quality and calls, but the AT&T iPhone is better as a media-consumption device (Netflix movies, photo downloads and uploads, etc.) because of its faster speeds.

Speedtest.net download link [iTunes]

The only thing conspicuously missing here are the differences that actually count.

Apple details call-related differences between CDMA and GSM iPhones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid X 2 leaks, more details emerge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Courting the largest carrier in the United States is probably at the top of any phone manufacturer’s to-do list, and it’s starting to sound like Nokia — on the strength of its just-announced Windows Phone gamble — has an uphill battle ahead of it. Verizon CTO Tony Melone has gone on record out at Mobile World Congress this week saying that he’s skeptical Micosoft has the capability to meet its lofty volume goals for Windows Phone — a little odd, considering that Verizon is on the verge of launching its first Windows Phone 7 model — and that he doesn’t think “Verizon needs the Nokia and Microsoft relationship.” Referring seemingly directly to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s desire to make the smartphone war a “three-horse race” between Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, Melone says he thinks that “right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM.” Of course, just like the iPhone, we’re sure Melone’s attitude could change in a snap if Windows Phone picks up enough steam — but even in the best case, that’s going to take a while.

Verizon CTO: we don’t ‘need’ the Nokia-Microsoft partnership; Android, iOS, and BlackBerry are the big three platforms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There may not be a native LTE network live in Barcelona yet, but that didn’t stop Big Red from hauling a 700MHz demonstration to Spain for the purposes of gloating at Mobile World Congress. We heard just days ago that the LG Revolution would be one of the first phones to support voice over LTE (VoLTE) on Verizon, and today we were given quite a bit of extra information about the rollout. For starters, Verizon’s hoping that other carriers adopt their VoLTE platform, even going so far as to encourage it. It’s sort of comical to hear the company that once crippled Bluetooth on dumbphones and still makes you buy a month of data just to activate a tablet talk about “openness” when it comes to communications, but we suppose the tables are turned somewhat when it’s VZW that stands to gain. At any rate, VoLTE essentially acts as a VoIP lane, giving a specific amount of bandwidth to the call (which ensures call quality, unlike Skype, which is at the mercy of shared applications that are using the same bandwidth) and also enabling the phone to use data whilst the call it ongoing.

The Revolution, which is slated to launch in March, will eventually gain VoLTE support, though VZW’s not expecting the feature to go live in America until next year. Bilal Wahid, Verizon Wireless’ Associate Director of Product Development, told us that at least initially, you may see VoLTE voice and videocalling available on Android smartphones, but there’s no reason that the same apps couldn’t be developed for other platforms. The call quality was on par with some of the high-bandwidth VoIP calls we’ve encountered, and the videocalling was particularly impressive. The resolution was tremendous, and there was essentially no lag whatsoever. Of course, this all happened over a locked, modular LTE network, so results will almost certainly vary out in the real world; regardless, it’s a beautiful start, and it certainly makes the wait to 2012 that much more difficult. Hop on past the break for a demonstration as well as a lengthy explanation of the technology, where it’s going, and when it’ll be implemented.

Continue reading Verizon VoLTE voice and video call demo at MWC 2011 (video)

Verizon VoLTE voice and video call demo at MWC 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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