Bye Bye Hub

9/30/2009

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5:15 PM -- Chalk this one up as a swing and a miss for Verizon Wireless . The operator has killed its "Home Hub" VOIP phone/tablet/digital picture frame, which was introduced on Feb. 1 this year. (See Verizon's Home Hub-Bub (But No Femto).)

The intended landline replacement device was always a bit of an odd fish. Some had initially assumed it would be Verizon's first femtocell when details started leaking, but that was not the case. In fact, Verizon launched a CDMA femtocell just days after the Hub debuted.

Pricing was probably a factor too. The operator wanted $199.99 for the Hub, with a $50 mail-in rebate. Users needed to sign up for a $34.99 monthly service charge for two years with the device. Kind of steep for a home phone, even one as "souped up" as the Hub.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung