Sorry Verizon iPhone Customers: "New Every Two" Ended, Early Upgrade Modified | Techland

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It’s not all good news for Verizon customers who are rejoicing now that the iPhone is going to be available. Although the big announcement about the Apple smartphone dominated the news, a much smaller – yet equally as important – change has almost slipped by. The service provider is ending its ”New Every Two” program, which offers subscribers a $30 to $100 credit on a new phone every two years, on January 16 and will make their early upgrade option a lot more strict, company representatives told the Wall Street Journal. It’s a smart move for Verizon, especially with customers looking to trade-in their old phone for the iPhone. WSJ elaborates:

With the New Every Two perk, a longtime customer with a $100 credit could get the iPhone4 for $99.99 – half off its new-subscriber price of $199.99. When the program ends, new subscribers will no longer be eligible for those discounts. Existing customers will lose the perk when they renew their contracts (unless they renew before Jan. 16—but that date is well before iPhone orders will be taken). And with the end of the early upgrade program, customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail (for the iPhone, that’s currently a difference of $400).

This also means that customers who sign up on release date will not be eligible for an upgrade until September 2012. Apple normally releases a new phone mid-year, so there’s going to be some waiting time. One good thing about the change of plans? Industry analysts say that Verizon entering the iPhone game means more competition, so you can expect good deals to come out in the near future.

More on TIME.com:

AT&T Cases Won’t Fit Verizon iPhone, But At Least There’s No Death Grip

How To Switch Your iPhone Service From AT&T To Verizon

Verizon iPad Also Coming, But Will We Have To Wait For iPad 2?

http://crichton007.wordpress.com crichton007

And thus my temptation to switch to Sprint is born.
pks29733steel

Maybe on Verizon the ‘I-Phone’ will work. But with even discounted prices is the phone really worth it? How many times do people really ‘search the www’ on thier phones? And when they do, what do they get… A web page cropped to fit on a phones display. Most folks just use thier phones to talk and text. I delt with a ‘smart’ phone for one year and found out that I used the ‘web’ function on the phone for such a small amount time it wasn’t worth the cost! A dollar a day to read a ‘phone web page version’ of a newspaper was a neat idea for about a week. I found out that the version (of the newspaper) on my desktop was easier to read and a exact duplicate of the ‘hard copy’. Texting was rarely used, I would text someone if it delt with a phone number or address so there would be no misunderstanding. The new ‘subscriber’ cost of $199 plus the monthly ‘data and talk’ fees makes it one expensive ‘hard to read computer’!!
http://logancyrus.wordpress.com Welcome To…

To the guy above me. Understand this… You are a dinosaur
http://agenthatchet.wordpress.com agenthatchet

pks29733steel what are you talking? Was this “smartphone” you used an LG VX4400 in 2003?
pabloescolar

@pks: Why with all the extraneous quotes all the time? Are you ‘retarded’?
http://lindleyferris.wordpress.com lwferris

@pks: I’m sorry to say I think you just put your foot in your mouth big time. Clearly, you don’t travel frequently, especially not on business. Even for leisure browsing, web access via a smartphone is so ingrained into people’s lives today the younger generation doesn’t even know how to fold a real map. While that has its own concerns, it is even more scary you don’t understand the magnitude of today’s technology and mobile world. Would you say that the discovery of the Internet was a waste of time and money? Mobile is the next platform and you’re clearly years behind. When you say its a page cropped to fit your phone display, you probably don’t realize most pages you read now are created and developed as mobile pages. Your smartphone is smart enough to know to pull the mobile version of websites – imagine that. And when you say its hard to read, perhaps check your settings. There are options for those who are hard-of-seeing. I encourage you to take the time to really read-up on the latest applications for smartphones before you publicly rant and rag on the usability of mobile web access.
http://lindleyferris.wordpress.com lwferris

@pks29733steel: I’m sorry to say I think you just put your foot in your mouth big time. Clearly, you don’t travel frequently, especially not on business. Even for leisure browsing, web access via a smartphone is so ingrained into people’s lives today the younger generation doesn’t even know how to fold a real map. While that has its own concerns, it is even more scary you don’t understand the magnitude of today’s technology and mobile world. Would you say that the discovery of the Internet was a waste of time and money? Mobile is the next platform and you’re clearly years behind. When you say its a page cropped to fit your phone display, you probably don’t realize most pages you read now are created and developed as mobile pages. Your smartphone is smart enough to know to pull the mobile version of websites – imagine that. And when you say its hard to read, perhaps check your settings. There are options for those who are hard-of-seeing. I encourage you to take the time to really read-up on the latest applications for smartphones before you publicly rant and rag on the usability of mobile web access.
http://democritus.wordpress.com/ Aron White

I’m disappointed with Verizon’s move to end the program. Why not just exempt the iPhone from the early upgrade? Don’t punish those who might buy an Android, Blackberry, or Windows 7 phone. I’ve been with Verizon for awhile and have no problem with their network, but policies like this are starting to get really annoying. Smartphones change so rapidly. Why do carriers expect us to want to own the same phone for 2 years? Once a year I can understand, but 2? Come on! Apple or HP don’t require me to own my laptop for 2 years!

It’s bad enough that Verizon never get the coolest new phones first (in my opinion), now they’re becoming tighta$$es about the rules for replacement when a cool phone finally comes along.
Aria

PKS, the iPhone’s websearch isn’t like on old phones that give you some hacked-up version of the a site. While there are versions of websites made for smartphone browsers, you can also view the full, regular sites.
http://prettykatswag.wordpress.com prettykatswag

I don’t really understand this.. Could someone please give me a more simple version..?
Kelley K.

LOL!!! The ‘replies’ to PKS’s comment on here are ‘killing’ me! :D He doesn’t text, he doesn’t use the interwebs, and his ‘house phone’ probably has a cord. Poor guy.

I love my Devour… I’m not sure I am going to rush out and get an iPhone when it comes to Verizon..

Even though I like Droids more, I might go to Crackberry, because everyone I know has one and I’m the only one left out of their ‘conversations’. I constantly have to as my huband, “what’d they say?” when he starts cracking up. :/