I know that is supposed to be the case. Given the reputation Apple has about that, I assume there’s no way in hell Verizon will be able to tweak the software to their liking.
Speaking of which, was it the Motorola Razor that got great reviews, but had different software for Verizon (that really sucked)? I remember an LG phone I really liked, but only allowed internet access through a terrible Verizon portal. Also a Samsung phone (previous phone) that was slow and buggy as hell and I assumed it was from all the proprietary crap Verizon loaded onto it.
Does Verizon load crapware onto Android phones? I really need to try one out one of these days.
Not that I’m aware of. My Droid Incredible was relatively free of stupid things. And Apple is way too protective of their user experience to let that happen.
The no voice and data at the same time thing is something that either bothers you to no end, or you won’t even notice. Before getting the Verizon smart phone I was annoyed that this would be something I would have to deal with, but I can’t think of a single time where I’ve even noticed. This may depend on how you use your phone: I’ve never had to attempt to talk and look something up on the internet that wasn’t cached on my phone already. And turn by turn navigation will continue to work on its cached route while you’re in a call. For me, if nobody had told me it couldn’t do voice and data at the same time, I never would have known, even with extensive use.
There was a time a few years back when the iPhone was the only game in town, and every other “smart” phone interface was a joke in comparison, and I was impatiently waiting for the iPhone to come to Verizon. Now I don’t really care that much about this news, and have no plans to switch from my Android phone: its more than good enough.
Technically Verizon’s 3G service is slower than AT&T’s, but the average user won’t notice the difference…in fact, because Verizon has better/more 3G coverage than AT&T, the average user might actually see an increase in speeds.