Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
kfendick
Newbie

I read somewhere that Verizon will be doing away with the multimeadia catagory of phone and putting then into the Feature phones catagory...and getting rid of the 9.99 data plan.   We should be able to buy a good touch phone without having to pay for ANY data plan.

 

Anyone know if it's true about this upcoming change?

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
budone
Legend

The change is happening. As to what type of phones end up end the feature category remains to be seen.

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader
There have been several added to the feature category recently, some with touch screens, some with qwerty keyboards, cameras are so so. Just keep watching the line up to see what will be added; I'm sure there will be some new additions around holiday time.
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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
Disco63
Contributor - Level 1

Looks like based on this article, the elmination of the MM phone category and the forced $9.99 data plan coincides with the introduction of tiered data plans on 10/28:

 

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/18/verizons-tiered-data-plans-hitting-october-28-smartphones-stil/#d...

 

Looks like there are only going to be 2 categories...Feature Phones and Smartphones:

 

Q: Why did Verizon Wireless eliminate the $9.99/month data option for the 3G Multimedia phones?

A: Verizon Wireless is launching a variety of new Feature Phones throughout the rest of the year. These devices will have text, e-mail, and full multimedia capabilities. While we always encourage our customers to choose a data plan that complements their new phones to avoid unexpected data charges, we also wanted to give our customers the option to choose pay as you go pricing.

 

Q: What are the new 3G data plan options?

A: Customers may choose from the following 3G Device Data plans:

3G Feature Phones -- $1.99 pay as you go or $15 monthly access for 150 or 150 MB ($15/150 MB overage) or $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

3G Smartphones Plans – $15 monthly access for 150 MB ($15/150 MB overage) or $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

 

 

That's great news!  Looks like no more required data plan for non-smartphones!

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
Disco63
Contributor - Level 1

Just went out the the VZW site and the new plans/phones are out there.  What a JOKE!

 

All VZW did was combine the 3gMM and Feature phone categories.  Their two best non-smartphones still REQUIRE a data plan (LG EN-V Touch and Samsung Reality)!  But instead of $9.99 requirement it's a $15 requirement.

 

How in the world can you justify REQUIRING a data plan for a "feature"phone?!

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
budone
Legend

In August a rumor began and  It was based on a 'leaked' Verizon memo, it stated the 3GMM category would be gone, leaving two.

 

But from what I see everything is exactly as was stated. The 3G phone category is history. HOWEVER in that leaked memo, it stated, "ANY CURRENT 3GMM PHONE THAT IS ON THE MARKET WILL STILL REQUIRE A DATA PLAN"  Current owner can stay on the ridiculous 25MB plan or move to the 150MB plan.

 

Any new buyer of what was a phone that was in the old 3GMM category that required data has two choices, 150MB or unlimited.

 

In time these phones will be history and it will be a non issue.

 

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
Zak
Newbie

Can someone honestly tell me how long it would actually take to use up the 150MB of usage? I use their little data calculator and it says for each category you try to figure out for “each day”. So does this mean if I go out to 5 web pages per day I will use 58.59MB of data per month, because this is what the total tells me?

 

Thanks

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader

 


Zak wrote:

Can someone honestly tell me how long it would actually take to use up the 150MB of usage?


Depending on the sites you go to and what you do, you can easily go through the 150 MB in a day.  Check email, send an update or photo to Facebook, you 'll be ok.  Spend time at you tube, download videos, music, visit graphic heavy sites, you'll blow through your data allwance in no time.

 

 

It all depends on how you use the phone; some things are better left for your desktop or laptop, not the phone.

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
Igedit
Enthusiast - Level 2

 


Zak wrote:

Can someone honestly tell me how long it would actually take to use up the 150MB of usage? I use their little data calculator and it says for each category you try to figure out for “each day”. So does this mean if I go out to 5 web pages per day I will use 58.59MB of data per month, because this is what the total tells me?

 

Thanks


If you're talking about a smartphone, it may also depend on how often you use Wi-Fi vs. 3G. Obviously, Wi-Fi doesn't count against your data usage.

 

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Re: Feature phones and multimeadia phone..new catagory
ilrath22
Contributor - Level 1

 


Zak wrote:

Can someone honestly tell me how long it would actually take to use up the 150MB of usage? I use their little data calculator and it says for each category you try to figure out for “each day”. So does this mean if I go out to 5 web pages per day I will use 58.59MB of data per month, because this is what the total tells me?

 

Thanks


 

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell as various web pages are various sizes.  As an example, on game day nfl.com has a "Scores" page that automatically refreshes every 5 seconds.  (meaning that you are re-downloading the entire contents of the page every 5 seconds, or going through approximately 600KB every 5 seconds (or 1 MB in 10 seconds, 6 MB per minute, just over 1 GB in the course of a 3 hour football game).  The site has the ability to alter this setting (and also offers a "Mobile" version of the page which is much smaller), but since the phones have a full HTML web browser, you could easily use the full page intended for the desktop/laptop users. Streaming music sites will also burn through data at a very quick rate as they are constantly downloading data from the internet.

 

Many sites have "mobile" versions which are more "data conscience" and don't download as many graphics and Java applications and thus won't go through data nearly as quickly as the "Full versions", but there is simply no way to tell for sure how much you'll use until you actually use it.  My suggestion would be to get the "Unlimited" plan for the first couple of months and use VZW's site to see how much data you're actually using, and then determine if you can stay under the 150 MB limit of the limited plan.  (Especially since going just a single KB over the 150 MB limit will end up costing you as much as the unlimited plan.)

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