AT&T is hoping to convince Apple to show a 4G indicator on the iPhone 4S’s status bar. You know, the one that currently shows your Wi-Fi, 3G, and time at the top of the device.
According to This Is My Next and leaked documents they have obtained, “the companies are indeed ‘working together on it, emphasizing that ‘customers will get 4G speeds from day one’ regardless.” Here’s the problem though. AT&T does not currently provide true 4G access, nor does the iPhone 4S have a 4G chipset. Instead of using the indicator to denote the actual type of wireless connection, AT&T is trying to justify using the 4G indicator because customers will get “4G” speeds from day one.
Studies have already revealed that customers regularly confuse the iPhone 4 as being a 4G device, and a move like this is sure to help further obfuscate the fact that the iPhone, and the service AT&T is providing handset owners, are strictly 3G. Heck, studies show that 4G is nothing more than a marketing ploy at this point for companies like Sprint and Verizon.
Upgraded HSPA+ networks do not in any way, shape, or form, equate to 4G. Describing the technology as such is a dubious marketing ploy by AT&T to confuse customers into thinking that the AT&T network is far more advanced than its competition. The reality is that the iPhone 4S can push data at 14.4 MBPS, up from 7.2 MBPS, which puts it into the 4G range; however, the device is unequivocally HSDPA+, 3.5G if you will.
The next time you’re about to change carriers, or if you think about switching to AT&T, remember this nice little marketing ploy. I certainly wouldn’t be a happy camper with the false advertising.
More importantly, I’ll be plenty disappointed in Apple if the company decides to let AT&T off the hook, and agrees to provide a 4G indicator for a technology that is patently not 4G.
Source: This Is My Next
