Verizon Hub Launches For $199.99
Verizon haveofficially launchedthe Verizon Hub, the company’s “communications command center”. Built around a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen base-station and cordless home phone, the Hub connects to a broadband connection (which can be Verizon’s or from another provider) and offers on-demand access to information and entertainment. That can include family calendars, directory enquiries, traffic and news, theater times (and ticket booking), streaming video, photos and music, visual voicemail and more.
The Verizon Hub also integrates with a family’s Verizon Wireless cellphones, including direct photo message display, locating family using the Chaperone service, and exchanging GPS locations and directions with VZ Navigator phones. Contacts and calendars are synchronized across the Hub and different associated cellphones, automatically updating, plus there’s also full land-line functionality including diverts, simultaneous ring and on-screen voicemail control.
The Verizon Hub itselfcosts $199.99after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year agreement; additional cordless handsets will be available for $79.99 each. You’ll also need at least one cellphone with Verizon Wireless service; an optional extra is the Verizon Digital Voice plan, which offers unlimited calling in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories and Canada, and unlimited messaging to and from Verizon Wireless phones with Unlimited Messaging for $34.99 per month.
Press Release:
New Verizon Hub Puts a Communications Command Center in the Home; Available in More Than 2,500 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores
BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Households across the nation can now experience for themselves the most talked-about new consumer electronics device on the market, the Verizon Hub. The Verizon Hub is an intuitive device that puts a communications command center in the home that bridges wireline and wireless connectivity and runs on any broadband connection – whether supplied by Verizon FiOS Internet or DSL or any other high-speed service provider.
Starting Sunday, Feb. 1, all Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the nation will have live Verizon Hubs available to test out. The Verizon Hub, the first-ever VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) home telecommunications system featuring fully integrated connectivity with family members' wireless phones, gives busy families information at their fingertips from an easy-to-navigate touch screen with clear icons. With the Verizon Hub, adults and kids get on-demand access to customized and family-specific information and entertainment by just touching the screen:
The Verizon Hub’s Web management site gives families the freedom to view customized information and share content on their Verizon Hub from any Internet connection. By logging into the Web site, family members can check missed calls, listen to voicemail and quickly upload favorite pictures to display on the Verizon Hub’s digital photo frame.
Full Integration with Verizon Wireless Phones
The Verizon Hub is the first VoIP phone designed from the ground up to be integrated with popular Verizon Wireless services: messaging, Chaperone® and VZ Navigator functions are all available on the Verizon Hub. For text, picture and video messaging-happy families, users can send and receive multimedia messages between the Verizon Hub and messaging-capable Verizon Wireless handsets and other Verizon Hub devices.
The Verizon Hub makes it a snap to use and manage the company’s Chaperone child location service. Parents can view a list of family members using Chaperone directly from the Hub’s home page, and hit “Locate Now” to see a map showing the Chaperone device’s location. Then, by hitting “Send to VZ Navigator,” a parent immediately has directions to that Chaperone phone sent to their own mobile phone. A subscription to Chaperone is required.
Several VZ Navigator-based services are available – after looking up an address, it’s easy to send a place message from the Hub to any VZ Navigator-enabled mobile device. Verizon Wireless customers without a VZ Navigator subscription receive just a text message with the location information, but not GPS turn-by-turn directions.
A True Communications Command Center
The Verizon Hub is a family communications command center, helping busy families manage their lives. From the touch screen, there’s access to:
The Verizon Hub has added features that make it the go-to consumer electronics device in the kitchen: a full-screen calculator, intercom and handset paging, a variety of screensavers and custom slideshows for customizing when the base is in an idle state, wallpapers, plus time and date shown on the home screen with a shortcut to the calendar. Family members can use call logs to view missed, incoming and outgoing calls, look up contact information with reverse number lookup, call control for managing popular calling features and settings, and message status to get alerts for new calls, voicemails and messages.
Voice Features
The new Verizon Hub reaches beyond plain old voice, but families still need a reliable way to make and receive calls at home. With a Verizon Digital Voice plan, Verizon Hub customers get unlimited calling to numbers in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada, as well as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, plus access to many features available on traditional home phones or phone service. The Verizon Digital Voice plan includes call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, caller ID with name, caller ID block, incoming and international call block, anonymous call rejection, remote access to voicemail, 10-number speed dial, and three-way calling.
In addition, the Verizon Hub offers a variety of advanced options and features for voice calls:
Pricing and Availability
To get and use the Verizon Hub, potential customers need:
The Verizon Hub costs $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year agreement; additional cordless handsets, which can be used throughout the home, will be available for $79.99 each. For customers who do not have a wireless router, Verizon Wireless will also offer one for $69.99.
