The Apple Beat: The importance of the Verizon iPhone, Motorola's ad aiming for iPad

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

In a few days, the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available in the US for the first time, giving users the very first CDMA iPhone and also offering Americans some real choice of iPhone providers since the device launched in 2007. The world will be watching as the first CDMA iPhone hits the market.

AT&T has enjoyed iPhone exclusivity in the US since the first generation iPhone came out. it was, for the longest time, the only game in town for iPhone users. The AT&T and Apple team up wasn't always a match made in heaven.

Through the years, there have been countless complaints about dropped calls, garbled conversations, and even delays with voice messages and voice mail being inaccessible. We've experienced these problems firsthand while using iPhones in the US, something that rarely happened under Telus or Rogers in Canada or elsewhere in the world. 

While it will be interesting to see Verizon customers talk about their experience with their long awaited iPhones, the more intriguing story will be how the iPhone 4 fares on its new network.  The SIM-free iPhone 4 should, in theory, manage faster data speeds event though it can't manage voice and data at the same time although a subsequent upgrade should allow this in the future. Can Verizon's network manage the iPhone better than AT&T did, only time will tell. How will a second option affect AT&T overall and is an exodus to Verizon imminent? These are all viable questions that will be answered in the next few months.

The bigger story for Apple's CDMA presence goes way beyond US shores and rests in Apple's potential growth areas in China and Asia where CDMA is the dominant cellular system.

China, in particular, is potentially one of Apple's biggest markets and as evidenced by their retail and product sales success in 2010, this success is going to continue. CDMA capable iPhones and iPads in these emerging markets would help secure Apple's global position in the mobile segment.

Motorola going after iPad, Apple's ecosystem in Superbowl teaser ad

We Remember when Apple and Motorola were actually partners in the PowerPC consortium. When each Mac was powered by a Motorola PowerPC processor and the time when they even made the first iTunes phone (the failed MOTO ROKR) together. Well, those days are long gone and the gloves are off.

Motorola Mobility, the new smartphone and tablet arm of Motorola, started theyear by revealing the first really viable 10"inch iPad competitor, the Android powered Xoom.

The above ad, a teaser slated for the Superbowl, attacks Apple on numerous fronts. It recalls the iconic "1984" Macintosh Superbowl advert and insinuates that in 2011, Apple is the new IBM. The Xoom ad calls out Apple's ecosystem and asks for "more choices," and says that it is, "time to live a free life."

We got a sneak peek of the Motorola Xoom during CES 2011 and it is an impressive device all around. We didn't get to play with it since it was looping a demo video of its features. Aside from a tablet-specific Android OS, that fast dual-core 1Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, dual cameras and SD expansion features, it also offers HD playback capability. 

The issue we have with the Motorola Xoom as an iPad competitor is its price which is expected to ring in at around US $700. A proper iPad competitor needs to go to to toe with the iPad in price, not just in features.

An awesome tablet, at least on paper, the Motorola Xoom is clearly aiming for the current generation iPad but we have a feeling  the real competition will be between the Xoom and the next iteration of the iPad which is expected to be launched during the first half of 2011.

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Gadjo Sevilla is a long time Mac user and technician and has been covering Apple's business and products for over 15 years. The Apple Beat is a weekly opinion column focusing on the latest Apple news.