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After a few days of testing, we can report that Verizon's network offers discernable improvements over AT&T's.... We had more success with placing calls in problem areas, and the calls connected faster.

The Verizon model did much, much better with voice calls. In numerous tries over nine days, I had only three dropped calls on the Verizon unit, and those were all to one person who was using an AT&T iPhone in an especially bad area for AT&T: San Francisco. With the nearly identical AT&T model, I often get that many dropped calls in one day.

Does the phone exhibit more favorable behavior in regards to dropped / failed calls? The answer is yes -- with a caveat.... After a couple of days of use, the fear that normally sets in about five minutes into a connected call with an AT&T iPhone all but disappeared.

Now I really know what “network congestion” means. Switching from an AT&T iPhone to a Verizon iPhone is like finally being able to breathe clearly after years of battling allergies. People can hear you better, and you can hear them better. It’s that simple.

Verizon iPhone has more bars in more places. (Hey, that might make a good slogan! Oh, wait...)

In six days of use, I find call quality noticeably superior on the Verizon iPhone 4.

We also enjoyed watching movies on the iPhone 4, despite not offering the latest and greatest display technology on the market.

As it does for photos, the latest version of iTunes gives you the choice of down converting all higher bit-rated AAC and MP3 files to 128 Kbps AAC for use on your iPhone. We were able to save nearly 4GB of space by doing this, with no real loss of headphone sound quality.

Video playback on the iPhone 4 was nothing short of beautiful – especilly when its “Retina Display” makes those 720p captured videos look good. Playback is extremely smooth with no evidence of lag whatsoever, which naturally highlights its prowess in this arena.

With the iPhone 4, Apple continues to show that it positively shines with mobile music and video. This is one area where the company beat its competitors hands down. For the most part, the iPhone 4 iPod player is unchanged, but we were glad to see a few new offerings.