Superbowl Ads Highlight Real '4G' Battle Royal

The adverts run during TV coverage of the Superbowl are almost as closely watched as the game itself, and this year gave some clues to wireless battles ahead. Verizon Wireless scored two hits against AT&T, with its own ad for the upcoming iPhone, and via an ad for the Motorola Xoom tablet, which will run on the Verizon network and compete with AT&T's iPad. And then there was a first official look at the Sony Ericsson 'Playstation' phone, the Xperia Play, which may perhaps bring the vendor a serious US success at last, and provide one of the cellcos with a competitive weapon.

Focal Points:

• Verizon's commercial featured a rotating close-up of the iPhone, with a voiceover saying: "It's beautiful, it's intelligent, even genius, but does your network work?" Then the CDMA carrier's 'can you hear me now' personality picked up the iPhone and said "I can hear you now". AT&T responded with an ad that played up simultaneous voice and data calls on the iPhone.
• Motorola referenced a famous Apple commercial based on 1984, which depicted Microsoft as Big Brother, with an ad for Xoom showing its new tablet in a city inhabited entirely by people sporting Apple's signature white headphones. The slogan was: 'Empower the people - the tablet to create a better world.'
• Commercials aside, the two largest carriers are gearing up for a major smartphone showdown, and it's not all about the iPhone. Indeed, the really interesting devices are the '4G' ones, for Verizon's new LTE network and AT&T's HSPA+. The Motorola Atrix 4G is pushing the goalposts at AT&T by promising a dual-core gadget and a genuine bridge between the PC and handset experience. But Verizon has promised almost a dozen LTE smartphones, and the HTC 4G Thunderbolt could arrive as early as next week. Best Buy is already advertising pre-orders for the superphone, for a $50 deposit, and the retailer's Facebook page for its Grand Rapids, Michigan outlet revealed that the phone should be available on February 14, just a day after AT&T ships its own high end HTC model, the Inspire 4G for HSPA+. The Facebook post also let slip that the Xoom would be on sale on February 24.
• Sony Ericsson does not yet have a US carrier deal for Xperia Play, but it featured in its own Superbowl ad, which saw a surgeon adding opposable thumbs to the famous Android robot, with the slogan 'Android is ready to play'. The handset has a touchscreen and slide-out PlayStation controls, and will run Android 2.3 and PlayStation games.
• But for now the headlines still focus on the iPhone, after Verizon's record breaking pre-sales day. Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said demand "was much stronger than originally expected. We believe this is quite a statement around the pent-up demand from Verizon customers for the iPhone 4. This also provides just another example of why we believe the voracious appetite for Apple products is not yet reflected in the stock price."
• Verizon Wireless has been clarifying its widely reported web site statement saying it could throttle data throughput for those in the top 5% of usage, a move most had associated with the advent of the iPhone with its famously data hungry users. The firm insisted it had not imposed any new caps and that it was merely reserving the right to limit throughput "for a very small number of customers in specific limited locations (near heavy use cell sites) at specific times (when the cell site is extremely busy)".
• Spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson said: "There's no language about caps, no limitation of data to be consumed during the monthly plan. We have let customers know that we MAY limit throughput to ensure that our shared network is available for all our customers." He told Broadband Reports. "We're reserving the right to actively manage the network in specific ways should that need exist--and only for customers who are under contract that includes that provision. Because this is down the road - if at all -it's too early to tell what those triggers might be, or what throughput limitations would look like."

Editor’s Note: There are many points that should be highlighted in this article.

First of all, while Apple is seen as the competitor to beat, 4G is the focus of the new market. However, what’s stopping Apple from coming out with an iPhone that handles 4G? Nothing that Experton Group knows of.

Secondly, there is a lot of pent-up demand for iPhones from Verizon customers. This will be self-evident as early results come in. The Verizon market is comparable to AT&T’s so that their monopoly on iPhones is at an end.

Thirdly, while there is a convergence between smartphone capabilities and notebook/tablet capabilities, the elimination of both in favor of a dual device is less about features and more about the user interface. There is a different look and feel between a small handheld device like a smartphone and a notebook and a tablet. It may come down to personal preference.

Lastly, it should be clear that while Verizon is pleased about the iPhone release, they do not have a complete or adequate infrastructure to support it. The worst thing that could happen to a carrier would be for the network to be shut down because of bandwidth deficiencies. A statement made by Verizon about throttling down their network is not only a CYA, but a definitive comment about their infrastructure capability. In other words, they are concerned about being too successful before they have an appropriately provisioned network in place.