Upgrade eligibility for all lines, regardless of cost, will now be 20 months.

As stated in the original article on the upgrade policy update, AT&T followed suit with Verizon and eliminated the extra discounts available for upgrades on higher cost lines.  They didn’t follow suit with changing how quickly those more expensive lines became eligible and kept 13 and 18 month renewals for the more expensive lines.  Well, now they have followed suit.  Mirroring Verizon’s policy change from 2 months ago, all lines become eligible at 20 months no matter what plan they’re on.

Early upgrade policy is also changing.

An early upgrade is something that may be offered to you if you need a phone but aren’t eligible.  Early upgrades aren’t a regular part of upgrade policy.  Prior to the change you would pay $200 more than the upgrade price for a smartphone or $75 more for a nonsmartphone.  Those amounts have now risen to $250 and $85.

We’ve talked at length about contracts, discounts, upgrades, and phone pricing until we got blue in the face.  But there’s one phrase in this business that we have yet to spend much time on:  the “free” upgrade.

With this change Apple is making it so that content providors who compete directly with iTunes and iBooks will no longer find it profitable to offer content on any of their devices. Not only is this an evil move on their part, but in the end it will be consumers like you and I who will suffer for it.  Join us after the break as we go over some of the biggest changes, and what they mean for you and your favorite iDevice

If you’ve received one of these letters or are just curious as to what these campaigns are all about read on to find out more.

At first blush, it just looks like all the other high end “4g” phones coming to carriers this year.  Dual Core Tegra2 processor, huge screen, some cool HDMI features.  But this little device is looking to change how we think about what a mobile device can and cannot do.

Join us after the break to find out about this amazing device, easily the best in show from CES.

After years of demand, and a year of heavy rumor-swapping in 2010, the long-awaited Verizon iPhone is a reality.

Not much is known about the device yet, but given the remarks and answers provided by Verizon and Apple leadership, this iteration of the iPhone is nearly identical to the iPhone 4 on AT&T, with the change coming from adding the CDMA chipsets to the device to function on Verizon’s network.  The most popular features of the iPhone 4, including Facetime, will be included in this device.  Verizon also stated that the device would include mobile hotspot of up to five connections.

The phone will be available for pre-order online on February 3rd, and available in stores, online, or over the phone on February 10.

Expect further coverage as details become available.

There are several sites that have been able to do hand-on inspections of the devices.  Unfortunately, PhoneCan couldn’t be there to do the same, so we’ve got a quick side-by-side of the devices for you to look at.  First, we’ll look at the LTE phones.

PhoneCan has been trying to hunt down one of the mythical unicorns of the wireless industry.  No, it’s not the Verizon iPhone.  That’s referred to as the Magical Unicorn Pegasus iPhone.  This is something else, entirely.

No, what we’re referring to is the Saygus VPhone.  For those familiar with the model, they will immediately recognize a phone that has never truly materialized.  For those unfamiliar with the phone, we will help you understand what the phone was specified to have when it was “announced.”  We will show you how it’s popped up from time to time across the Internet.  And, we will tell you why we think you’ll never actually get to hold one.

Took my son to VZW corp store to price the Droid X at full retail. He wants for Christmas and was giving me half of the price. No upgrades at this time. Rep says “running a promotion. Put another line on your account, get him the X, put an old phone on his existing line and we will waive the $10 fee for the life of the 2 yr contract.” Does this sound legit?? I’ve been scratching my head…

Sounds like a sales rep trick I like to call “the new line switch."  Let me explain…

This evening, the Verizon Wireless 4G (LTE) site appears to have kicked up a notch, with a “Coming December 2010″ teaser.