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iPhone for Verizon (US) and Orange (FR)

iPhone for Verizon (US) and Orange (FR)

Old Jan 6, 2011, 6:49 am
  #1  
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iPhone for Verizon (US) and Orange (FR)

Okay, this is probably hopelessly stupid (yes, I am totally clueless) but I like the iPhone interface (seems nearly idiot-proof to someone used to iPods) and would like to be able to check my email, check my itineraries on airline websites and do some phoning while travelling in the US and France, using one phone.

At present I have the most basic possible phones: one for the US- where we are tied to Verizon because of the coverage for our area; and one for France- where we are tied to Orange.

I well understand that Verizon uses a completely different system than that used in Europe and so I can't get an iPhone from them that I could use w/my Orange number. But I am wondering if I might be able to buy an iPhone in Europe that would be compatible with both systems.

I really don't want to have to buy and carry 2 phones.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 7:15 am
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Many of us are hoping for the same. Verizon launch rumored Valentines' day. Unfortunately, doubtful it will have both cdma and gsm in one unit....
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 7:53 am
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Originally Posted by dtsm
Many of us are hoping for the same. Verizon launch rumored Valentines' day. Unfortunately, doubtful it will have both cdma and gsm in one unit....
It's not inconceivable that it would have both GSM and CDMA. Vodafone in the UK is part owner of Verizon and uses GSM. And there are already several phones on Verizon which automatically switch to GSM when in a foreign country.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 12:08 pm
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Originally Posted by wiredboy10003
It's not inconceivable that it would have both GSM and CDMA. Vodafone in the UK is part owner of Verizon and uses GSM. And there are already several phones on Verizon which automatically switch to GSM when in a foreign country.
Is having GSM and CDMA the only criterion for use both in Europe and on the Verizon network? I vaguely remember reading about some other difference between US and European networks.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 12:44 pm
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Originally Posted by Tennisbum
Is having GSM and CDMA the only criterion for use both in Europe and on the Verizon network? I vaguely remember reading about some other difference between US and European networks.
Different companies and different countries might use different frequencies. I think that if Verizon were to have a dual mode phone, they'd be sure it worked with their sister system's frequencies too.

Somewhere I saw a list of the frequencies used in different countries. Having a phone with 3 or 4 bands pretty well assures you that at least one of the frequencies will work in a given country.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 12:48 pm
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The general rumor now is an announcement will be made next Tuesday (1/11/11) by Apple announcing a Verizon Iphone for the middle of February. Cnet is reporting Apple is limiting vacation time for store people in anticipation of the rush of business from the last week of january into the first half of February.

Though like any other Apple related rumors, it could be all smoke and mirrors and could be nothing related to the Iphone but a new version of the Ipad or something.

Apple traditionally rolls out something huge during the Consumer Electronics Show to divert attention from the thousands of people there showing stuff.

Or it could all be Apple just leaking enough to stay on top of the press and not going to do anything.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 3:37 pm
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Originally Posted by wiredboy10003
Different companies and different countries might use different frequencies. I think that if Verizon were to have a dual mode phone, they'd be sure it worked with their sister system's frequencies too.

Somewhere I saw a list of the frequencies used in different countries. Having a phone with 3 or 4 bands pretty well assures you that at least one of the frequencies will work in a given country.
Okay, I've done a little more research now, so it looks as if I'd need a quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900mhz) iPhone that supports CDMA & GSM.

Ouch, I've got a headache already.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 4:37 pm
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Steve Jobs has not talked to any of us so we are only guessing, but I just have a hard time believing that the first generation CDMA iPhone will do all those things. Eventually, but not tomorrow. Remember that there is going to be a push to include LTE in this phone as well which will further complicate things.

I think your best solution right now is a Global Android phone such as the Droid Pro. As was discussed elsewhere on this forum, Verizon has an International Data package for $64.99 that will extend your data package to France. If Orange is the only provider in the area, you'll still be covered. Keep your basic French phone and use Android phone for voice/data in the US and data in France. Given the high price of data in France, you may not be paying more than France Telecom would charge you for a comparable amout of data.

Now let me suggest a few additional things. Buy an account with siptraffic, they offer VOIP that will connect to a French Mobile on Orange for less than US$5 a minute. Get a cheap US VOIP phone number and a free account with pbxes.com, voxalot, or the equivalent. Program your new US number to ring to your French mobile.

Now get a Google Voice account, register your US cellphone number and your Virtual US number to the account and give your Google Voice number out as your global contact number. When you jump on a plane, forward your Google Voice number to your virtual number and receive (and make calls) in France for US$0.04 a minute.

How do you make them? By using the callback module built into a million Google Voice clients.
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 5:37 pm
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Originally Posted by cordelli
The general rumor now is an announcement will be made next Tuesday (1/11/11) by Apple announcing a Verizon Iphone for the middle of February. Cnet is reporting Apple is limiting vacation time for store people in anticipation of the rush of business from the last week of january into the first half of February.

Though like any other Apple related rumors, it could be all smoke and mirrors and could be nothing related to the Iphone but a new version of the Ipad or something.

Apple traditionally rolls out something huge during the Consumer Electronics Show to divert attention from the thousands of people there showing stuff.

Or it could all be Apple just leaking enough to stay on top of the press and not going to do anything.

Does Steve Jobs always make the announcement/presentation for new iPhone or other Apple products in the US? The reason I'm wondering is that he is scheduled to be in Japan next week(including the 11th), according to a Japanese electronics website, so I don't see how he'll be able to present the Verizon iPhone? or is the announcement going to be made by the Verizon people? How was the original iPhone introduced? By AT&T people or Steve Jobs? Thanks!
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 6:09 pm
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Originally Posted by wiredboy10003
It's not inconceivable that it would have both GSM and CDMA. Vodafone in the UK is part owner of Verizon and uses GSM. And there are already several phones on Verizon which automatically switch to GSM when in a foreign country.
Question: for phones that have both gsm and cdma, how does it actually work? In other words, with gsm you need a sim card. With cdma, it's built-into the hardware. For dual gsm/cdma, is there a slot for inserting a gsm sim card or does it just automatically just 'switch' from cdma to gsm?
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Old Jan 6, 2011, 7:13 pm
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The dual tech phones have a GSM slot for GSM and the CDMA works on the internal serial number. At least that is how US and Canadian dual tech phones work. Chinese, Hong Kong, and Indian CDMA phones have a SIM card so suppose the SIM drives both.
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 6:50 am
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Dubai stu is totally right. The Verizon global phones have a vodafone Netherlands sim that handles the GSM side of things. But you can't use that sim in a non verizon phone oddly enough.
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 8:29 am
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Originally Posted by cordelli
The general rumor now is an announcement will be made next Tuesday (1/11/11) by Apple announcing a Verizon Iphone for the middle of February. Cnet is reporting Apple is limiting vacation time for store people in anticipation of the rush of business from the last week of january into the first half of February.

Though like any other Apple related rumors, it could be all smoke and mirrors and could be nothing related to the Iphone but a new version of the Ipad or something.

Apple traditionally rolls out something huge during the Consumer Electronics Show to divert attention from the thousands of people there showing stuff.

Or it could all be Apple just leaking enough to stay on top of the press and not going to do anything.
Where did you get that information? Apple doesn't attend CES.

Apple will likely make an announcement in the last week of January. They made the initial iPhone announcement in 2007 and the iPad announcement last year in the last week of January. The calendar being what it is in 2011, it could be the first week of February.

Trust me, once the CES is over this weekend, everyone will be speculating on when Apple's press conference will be.


Originally Posted by dtsm
Many of us are hoping for the same. Verizon launch rumored Valentines' day. Unfortunately, doubtful it will have both cdma and gsm in one unit....
There have been rumors about the world phone capability going both ways. My guess is that it will be a world phone, with both CDMA and GSM.


While Android has been gaining on iOS in terms of popularity, I wonder how much of that is based on iPhone, in the U.S., being available on only one carrier. And the fact that one carrier recently got the worst ratings among major mobile carriers in a recent Consumer Reports poll likely plays into that as well. I would imagine the iPhone4 antenna issue hurt as well.

Android's popularity, I feel, is partially because it's with all four (mostly three, really) major U.S. carriers. I wonder with iPhone going to Verizon that might change things a bit. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have said "to hell with the iPhone" with AT&T's well-documented coverage and capacity issues.

Android seems to be a pretty darn good platform, but I am eager to learn what the next iPhone will have. Also, eager to learn more about the Android phones announced over the past couple of days at CES, specifically the Motorola Bionic and HTC Thunderbolt. Both look sexy....but so did BlackBerry's Storm, and that phone has been just shy of an outright disaster. Personally, I learned my lesson on buying something right on the release date with the Storm, and there are plenty of geeks out there who are willing to spend their money and do initial research on phones for me before I even walk into a VZW store.

Things will be more clear when Steve Jobs gets to don the black mock turtleneck in Cupertino in a few weeks.
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 8:48 am
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Originally Posted by LessO2
Where did you get that information?

Apple doesn't attend CES

Rick Brodia of CNET and dozens of other sources are reporting the CNET story as a possibility. There are 365 days in the year with 7 of them already gone, take away Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, there's probably an equal chance of it being any of the remaining 355 days, so as I clearly stated, it's a general rumor. ZD Net and others are saying February 3, then adds maybe not, that could just be Ipad 2 announced. Until it happens, nobody will know.

I never said they attended CES, but they wanted to announce during it to take away from the people who are announcing stuff at CES.

As reported by CNET:

During this weekend’s 2011 CES, he says, Apple will steal some thunder by announcing a product-launch event on Tuesday, January 11. (That’s 1/11/11, if you’re into numerology.) At that event, the company will finally announce the long-awaited Verizon iPhone. (Cue “Hallelujah” chorus.)

Alas, this is all just hearsay, and while a lot of it seems reasonable–likely, even–there’s still no official word from either Apple or Verizon.


Vendors have pages with Verizon's logo for their accessories, Skype has a help page on how to make video calls on the Verizon iphone, and Verizon has purchased domain names like iphoneforverizon.com.

It's coming, it's just a question of when.

Last edited by cordelli; Jan 7, 2011 at 8:54 am
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Old Jan 7, 2011, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by cordelli
It's coming, it's just a question of when.
AT&T running specials on their 3Gs for as low as $49 for 8 gb. Apple has told their employees no vacation for last week of Jan to mid Feb.

As Cordelli posted, it's only a matter of time....for once I might actually jump from TMO to Verizon
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