Verizon's iPhone Won't Be Quite the Same

News that Verizon will start selling the iPhone next year comes with a catch, the Wall Street Journal explains. Because Verizon's technology (CDMA) differs from AT&T's (UMTS), their respective phones will differ in certain ways. Notably, Verizon users won't be able to surf the web or send email while making a voice call. A Verizon spokesman plays down the importance of that—though he adds they're working on it—while an AT&T rep calls it a "big deal."

An example would be someone updating a Facebook page while in mid-conversation. The Journal points out two other differences: CDMA isn't widely used overseas, so Verizon iPhone use would be limited in parts of Europe and Asia, and CDMA eats up battery life more quickly.
(More Verizon stories.)