Why Is Verizon Pretending Skype Doesn’t Exist? [Cover-ups]
The Thunderbolt is just hours away from being available at several outlets. One of their big talking points to get folks to buy the phone was Skype video chat. All of us non-Verizon folks were jealous as they and Skype have a partnership – you’d be the only bunch of people to be able to use the video features for some time.
Unfortunately, we’re all right back at square one: Verizon is doing everything in their power to reverse anything they’ve ever said about Skype on their first LTE device. They’ve sent stickers to cover up mentions of the functionality on in-store promotional materials. They’ve changed online ads to remove any blue logo that still lingered around. And they aren’t even talking about the front-facing camera (though the folks at Tango tell us their app works beautifully with it.)
We understand there may be difficulties in launching new technology, but why won’t Verizon just come out and address the issue instead of trying to cover it up? Is Skype not functioning well over the LTE network? Is the application itself not yet ready? Is there some legal issue to settle first?
I think we’d all be a bit more at ease if a simple explanation is given, but Verizon seems to be hiding an elephant that is obviously visible in a very big room. At any case, start looking for video chat alternatives as it seems Skype with video is yet again a mere wet dream.