I swung by the Verizon mall kiosk today to play a bit with the Verizon Hub ($200). Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone with me and wasn’t able to take stellar photographs. But it should be clear (enough) that the promised streaming Internet radio has arrived. Verizon’s initial music source/partner is iheartradio.com, a Clear Channel property. I was able to easily and quickly fire up DC101 for low fidelity music, emanating from the single vertical speaker seen on the right. (Of course, a loud location like this doesn’t make for the best test environment.)
While poking around Verizon’s VoIP & widget station, I also noticed a banner ad (below) for the UPS store. Not sure if this is a one off, maybe a way to integrate package tracking, or if this is what you can expect regularly from a $35/month subscription.
Click to enlarge:
I’d be more inspired if this service was powered by Slacker or Pandora. Also, I wasn’t impressed with the responsiveness of the touchscreen. It’s not iPhone. Then again, perhaps this sample has been abused after a few weeks on display in the mall.
Sounds about right. Verizon is the schoolyard bully who grabs you by the ankles, turns you upside down, and shakes the milk money out of you.
If this will include only traditional radio stations, I have no interest. All Internet Stations show be included.
So what is it exactly that you get for $35/month that you can’t get elsewhere for almost free?