New AT&T iPhone Commercial “Talk & Surf” Fires Back at Verizon
Feb 4, 2011 - 28 Comments
AT&T has released a new iPhone commercial that jabs at the Verizon network. The commercial features a guy making last minute dinner reservations on his iPhone while chatting on the phone to his partner. The point of the commercial is to brag about AT&T’s ability to use voice and data concurrently, ending with “only AT&T’s network lets your iPhone talk and surf at the same time.”
It’s kind of funny watching the two major US iPhone carriers fight it out over commercials, and Apple is happily caught in the middle here since the product being sold is always the iPhone, the competition is between service.
Recently, Verizon’s “I can hear you now” iPhone commercial started airing, which pokes fun at AT&T’s voice and reception quality.
I have iPhone with AT&T. I am telling you… AT&T SUCKS!!!
AT&T is the worst network ever. That is why THE ONLY selling point for AT&T iPhone is the “talk and surf” at the same time. But if the network is so bad, NO talk and NO surf ever!!
I cannot wait for Verizon to have the talk and surf function. Verizon in my area is so strong that you can use iPhone in the subway.
I used to use Sprint for almost a decade. I was very happy with Sprint, but the smart phones from Sprint did not have multi-language functions (I speak several languages), so I switched to iPhone (and back then, only AT&T).
Verizon or Sprint, but NOT AT&T ever.
[…] connect to your sucky iPhone and decide to call the airline directly to schedule your flight… On AT&T only, obviously… After waiting 3 minutes for the phone to start ringing, you finally get connected to the airline, […]
I just got an iphone 4 atat 2 days ago and i didnt even know about this
And if the ads are correct then only idiots and liars seem to be using the Talk and Surf feature at the same time:
1) Lady on the couch lying about the fact she’s never won before and using internet to answer a question she should answer on her own
2) Idiot that forgets his own damn anniversary.
3) Idiot that bets 5 bucks about a song he gets wrong and then lies about the restaurant fire.
Well I disabled my wifi and I was still able to talk and surf using only 3G. I actually performed this feat for one of my AT&T counterparts…. WTF
I am able to search the web and check emails on my verizon iPhone whenever I use my bluetooth.
What about Tethering or using the Hotspot feature. Does this mean that on the Verizon Network that you will not receive calls, or that the data stream will be interrupted with the call? Just curious how that would work…. On my AT&T network, even though AT&T stopped offering unlimited data, we can talk, surf, and share internet with laptops, no problem….
Yes as soon as you get an incoming call you will drop the data connection.
Cdma uses special call codes to connect to the net its like using dial up but way faster.
The statement “talk and surf” isn’t really fair since you can surf on wifi. Does it really matter how your surfing? It led me to believe I couldn’t do it at all until I tried it and it worked. I think the commercial is misleading.
Well most people want to talk and use 3G at the same time!
Only through wifi can you surf and talk on any other provider other than At&t . CDMA can only handle one packet so You Have to be accessing web through wifi. If your not near wifi Verizon , Sprint etc. cannot talk and surf simultaneously. So you Are either Lying or don’t understand the technology.
Not true with no Wifi on I can use my internet and talk on the phone with my Android Samsung Galaxy with T Mobile. The commericial says “on a IPhone” for a reason. My daughter has a My touch 4G and hers does the same thing.
Isn’t T Mobile a GSM network?
Um sorry, I was NOT using WiFi when I tested this, and I talked/surfed on my Verizon iPhone just fine.
Not sure what AT&T’s talking about …
You can’t talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time unlesMs you are on wifi. Dont even start to brag abt thw droid. Everyone that has any intelligence knows that the iphone is way past any other phone out there and will be for a long time. Not to mention it has thw highest resolution screen out of any phone.
I live in Los Angeles, California and AT&T works great over here. Internet is way faster than verizon. People who complain about AT&T service probably live in rural areas. I can surf the web and talk at the same time. My friend just got and iPhone thru verizon and he can’t talk and surf the web at the same time.
I am on the AT&T network for my cell service because it’s a work phone and I have no choice. When I’m at home (admittedly, a rural area) – no service, period, despite living within 5 miles of an AT&T cell tower. When I’m at work in a relatively large city, I get no 3G data connection, tho my phone service usually has 2-3 bars. When I’m in San Francisco – even AT&T Park in San Francisco, ironically – my cell service just plain SUCKS. I get no texts, and can barely make a call that doesn’t drop seconds later.
My husband on the other hand has a Verizon-based cell phone (HTC Incredible in particular) and wherever we go it’s like a commercial. I’m dancing around like a contortionist looking for a single bar of service, and he’s surfing the web and chatting like it’s no big deal.
Rural or not, Verizon’s cell service is like Visa – everywhere I want to be.
I find it funny that as of this posting the iPhone is only available on AT&T in the US (when locked)… so of course its the only network that lets you talk and surf on your iPhone at the same time. That being said, it’s sad that this is a boasting point as there are many phones available that will let you surf mid call (on 3, 3.5 and 4g data networks).
With apple releasing a new iPhone almost every year, and Verizon doing away with the “new every two” promotion because they have decided to carry the iPhone, I would wait to get the next version to roll out before wasting any money on the Verizon one.
I’m an android user myself and got the original G1, and have been hooked since.
This commercial is I think only valid until the first person gets an iPhone on Verizon. My DroidX (Android) can call and surf at the same time and has for a long time. If you notice the commercial says that you can only “Talk & Surf” with an “iPhone” on the AT&T network. I don’t think anyone has a iPhone yet from Verizon (only pre-orders right now) so this statement is valid. If they stop showing this the day the first iPhones ship for Verizon then it is not false advertising.
Sorry, but CDMA does not support this functionality yet – period. It’s currently impossible to talk & surf on the Verizon network, so whatever you think is happening, it’s not simultaneous voice & data usage. Maybe WiFi??
I have a CDMA HTC Hero with Sprint and I most definitely can call you, surf the web, check e-mail, get on Facebook, and text you while on that call, simultaneously.
I have a Motorola Droid with Verizon and I can talk and surf at the same time and I have my WiFi unchecked. I was surprised when I saw that commercial because I’ve been able to look things up on the web while on the phone. The one thing I have experienced is far better customer service with Verizon than AT&T. It went sour when Cingular took them over and to call AT&T and talk to one of their reps for company phone issues makes me cringe.
I agree with multiple people here. My last 2 Verizon phones have been able to talk and surf at the same time with WiFi turned off. One was 3G, one was 4G, with no problems whatsoever. CDMA isn’t as limited as people have been led to believe. AT&T deals with half truths, like implying that their “fastest 4G” and their “largest coverage area” apply to their network simultaneously, when in fact you only get faster 4G than other networks in maybe 1% of the country, and the rest of the 97% of the AT&T network is slow 3G. It’s the same with “only AT&T lets your iPhone talk and surf at the same time” while Android phones have been doing that on Verizon for a few years now.
Iphone is lame, I have droid2 on verizon and I can deffinatly do all that the iphone poor can and probobly more. Only from AT&T. False advertisment I think
Though I’ve never had Verizon, I have no doubt their coverage is better than AT&T. However, AT&T’s coverage in my area is just fine and much faster than Verizon.
Once there is a Verizon 4G and they fix their issue with using the internet while you’re on a call, I’ll revisit it. But for now, I’m sticking with AT&T.
Apple is laughing their way to the bank on the ATT vs Verizon battle
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/04/iphone-verizon-att-apple/
seriously apple wins either way!!!
I just bought an iphone today (on verizon) and I have been able to surf the web and talk at the same time.. Maybe I was on a wifi network and was not aware, but I was under the impression that you would not be able to do it at all.
Y