Verizon Wireless will offer the new Verizon Hub on Feb. 1. It's a new touch screen home phone system
with a souped-up home
communications system, bridging wireline and wireless connectivity using a broadband connections.
Out of the box, the Verizon Hub has advanced calling features
plus visual voicemail
and contact list management. Verizon Wireless has also added messaging options, including text message, calendar alerts and
audible turn-by-turn directions delivered to Verizon Wireless phones
from the Verizon Hub - with just a few simple taps on the screen.
Services offered in through the Verizon Hub:
- Check local traffic and weather in the morning before leaving the house.
- Update your calendar and automatically receive a text when an appointment changes or as a reminder not to be late.
- Get directions to the new site when the location for soccer practice is moved.
- Find the number of the new pizza parlor to order a pie.
- Preview the trailers from an upcoming movie that you might want to
take the family to over the weekend, then purchase tickets using the
Verizon Hub.
Families on the go can access all the information and functionality
of the Verizon Hub remotely from a companion website, even adding
calendar entries for family members and inputting new contacts from the
Web site. The home-based Verizon Hub is instantly updated.
Verizon Wireless customers who bring the Verizon Hub into their homes can connect to popular applications including VZ Navigator and Chaperone,
as well as incorporate their wireless devices through text, picture and
video messaging between wireless phones and the Verizon Hub. New and
exciting V CAST content will also be available on the Verizon Hub, and
when not in use, the Verizon Hub doubles as a digital picture frame
displaying all of your favorite photos.
The Verizon Hub will cost $199 after a $50 rebate, require a two year
contract -- and will require a $34.99 Verizon Hub and Digital Voice
service plan.