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Verizon Wireless Announces the Hub Home Phone

Article Comments  56  

Jan 23, 2009, 11:34 AM   by Eric M. Zeman

Today Verizon Wireless announced a new product for the home that is meant to replace landline telephones and act as an accessory to wireless service. The Verizon Hub uses a broadband connection to connect to the Internet and provide VoIP-based telephony services. It has a seven-inch touchscreen display that offers a wide range of features such as access to calendars, maps, directions, traffic, weather and movie times. The Hub will synchronize calendar appointments with any Verizon Wireless handsets that are added to the Hub. The Hub can also receive text messages, Chaperone service pings, and can send driving directions to handsets. The Hub will be available through all of Verizon Wireless's retail stores and can use any broadband connection. Users will have to live in an E911-capable area, and will be able to port existing home phone numbers to the new service. The Hub will cost $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate, and will require a $35 per month subscription. That monthly fee gets unlimited national anytime minutes and unlimited messaging to/from the device.

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sechler411

Jan 23, 2009, 12:10 PM

pretty cool

i think this is pretty sweet, besides the fact it looks like even this will have the bland & boring vzw UI. but what else is new? $35/month doesn't seem like a bad monthly price either.
$35 isn't bad but you can get the same thing from T-Mobile without the fancy phone and it's only $10 a month.
...
It actually a very nice looking device. Why wont someone like Asus make the wifi tablet part of it without contract for $200 and maybe it would sell?


Time Warner and Cox offer unlimited calling for 30, so $5/month doesn't seem so excessive excep...
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omjeremy

Jan 23, 2009, 1:52 PM

Epic Fail

$35 a month? No thanks.

The T-Mobile device costs $39.99 plus $9.99 a month.

Verizon is asking you to pay $200 + $35 a month just so you can have an internet connected touchscreen telephone, which is pretty useless considering most people have computers at their homes.
Actually right now the 39.99 router is free at most t-mobile locations. So it would just be a one time $35 activation fee, and then 9.99/month.
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Right, let me spend 250, plus 35.
So I can do something I can already do on my computer for what I pay now.
Heaven forbid you have an emergency, like your kid just swallowed something poisonous, or your spouse just had a heart attack, and you have w...
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tlgreene1021

Jan 23, 2009, 3:12 PM

Someone at T-Mobile should have informed Verizon...

to not even waste their time and resources on this.

Any honest sales reps that work for T-Mobile would tell you that the reason why their aren't many major companies going after this market is.....because their is little to NO MARKET. Each store in the region I work sells maybe 3-4 a month and usually 2-3 of them get returned.
Here's the problem with T-mobile@Home. Most people who have cable or DSL typically don't use or have a home phone. A fraction of the people that do have both high speed Internet and a home phone use it for business, which will usually share the land line with a fax machine. Problem is, getting a fax machine to work with the service either requires you to use an online fax system or spend extra money on equipm...
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There is one flaw in your argument. You assume t-mob customers have the same marketing preferences as Verizon. That could not be further from the truth. T-mob is a value wireless provider similar to the way cricket and metro pcs. There customers are a...
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Wow. you're the most uninformed person i have ever seen on this site. I sell about 10(counting same month returns and from previous months) of these a month myself, the store does between 25-30. I would say 70% of the customers i talk to use ATT/comca...
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You left out the part where the average person is too stupid to figure out how to plug this in and make it work. 90% of these things get returned. Some of those returns are for the reasons you listed. A lot of them are from people that "spent 5 hou...
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rmtp22

Jan 25, 2009, 6:37 PM

EVDO and Broadband Internet Connection "?"

OK,

Promoting the Wireless Revolution and not making the device EVDO?

Skype and other VOIP solutions can run with EVDO, why not do away with the wires completely?
TheBlueCat

Jan 24, 2009, 1:40 AM

GUYS!! its taking over landlines!.. PS.. Grandma!

I would love if my grandparents got this.. i could send them texts.. Pix i hope gez.. and its unlimited long distance.. seriously Verizon is taking down the all powerful local phone company.. this is the begging of the end...

Many, many household still have landlines.. I however don't.. I depend on my cell.. now, if I had a family and wanted to be in touch with whats going on at home this device is nice.. though I rather get stringing text's to my cell.

The base is meant for a mass home message.. and wifey or "partner" message. Also People who want easy access to simple info.

love if gram got it.. and it supported pix..and vid..

thanks,
Darrell Lucas
>^!!^
You can also count me in on the cell only crowd. I have had wireless service from Cingular/ATT for over 7yrs, contract-free for half that, and it's been 7yrs since I had a landline.
...
TheBlueCat said:
seriously Verizon is taking down the all powerful local phone company.. this is the begging of the end...


I hate to rain on your party here Omae. But Verizon Wireless is a partnership with Verizon...
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Azeron

Jan 24, 2009, 8:40 AM

VoIP

Why is Verizon Wireless going after the home phone market? Because it is there. I understand that most of us do not have home phone service. This service is not targeted towards us. Basically, anyone who believes that home phone service is antiquated should not even be bothered by this product. A good sales person uncovers needs and once it becomes clear that you are not interested in the Hub (the giveaway will be either your condescending smirk or irritated grimace or perhaps the simple "I'm not interested in that.") will move on in the sales process.

There will likely be a question in the sales outline which they use in the store that the representative will toss out there. If you are not interested then they will simply move on...
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NEWUSERNAME

Jan 23, 2009, 12:43 PM

Business users

I think this would be great to sell to businesses, this could replace our own $60/ month business line at the store.
This is not targeted towards business users. I am sure that they would still sell it to a business, but they certainly are not targeting them.
crood

Jan 23, 2009, 1:51 PM

Extensions?

It seems a little silly for a land-line replacement to not include the ability to add extra handsets throughout the house. Unless it can hook into existing home wiring or allow connection from cordless handsets, it's pretty much just good for small apartments or a home office.
One can purchase up to three extension handsets for $79.99, I believe.
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johnnj2003

Jan 23, 2009, 3:21 PM

If I glue 2 chumbys to my cordless phone, how would I not already have this????

If I glue 2 chumbys to my cordless phone,
how would I not already have this????

One more "smart" device I have to reboot once a week.
Verizon will charge an extra 35 cents to actually enable CALLING PEOPLE on it.
Hmmm nothing more than a glorified
VOIP phone.
Vonage has nothing to fear.... i hope.
IQ test needed.
Ghosthendrikson

Jan 23, 2009, 12:42 PM

I like it.

I like the looks of it, and I think the features are pretty cool. One more nail in the landline telephone coffin. I wonder how long it will take the the government to realize how much money they are losing in taxes and try to figure out a way to start taxing people's Broadband connections?
I want it.
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johnnj2003

Jan 23, 2009, 3:27 PM

OMG and it doesnt even do video phone calls.

LAME !!!!
If this thing did video phone calls, that would be cool. Just dont answer the phone naked.
 
 
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