Corte Madera Bracing for Verizon iPhone Debut

The chance to see the Giants' World Series trophy. A casting call for a Matt Damon movie. The excitement surrounding these recent Bay Area events is a close match to the anticipation of Verizon's iPhone debut.

Drew Henry, the manager of the Verizon store at the , is expecting Feb. 10 to be a big day. The numbers would seem to back him up as the presale inventory of Verizon's iPhone sold out within a day on Thursday.

Verizon's regional managers are rallying the troops, trying to prepare employees for the big day.

"We're going through a lot of training with our employees so they can help our customers," said Heidi Flato, Verizon's employees communications manager for the Northern California and Nevada region.

"We see a lot of excitement for our customers. There seems to be a great demand. We anticipate people will line up early to get the iPhone and we'll try to meet the inventory demand to the best of our ability."

The iPhone isn't exactly new. It's been available for quite a while at the at The Village, just across Highway 101 from the Verizon store. There's also an AT&T store in the Town Center that sells iPhones, so customers can comparison shop. Calls to AT&T were not returned. An Apple Store spokesman said he didn't expect sales to suffer in the long run.

"I like the idea that we're giving out customers a choice," Flato said. "If iPhone customers want to go to Apple to buy a phone, that's great. If they want to come to us, we can help import all their data over from another carrier."

Walking through the , it was easy enough to find iPhone users on Wednesday. An informal census found a level of interest in the new iPhone model, but only a few people were ready to switch.

So, what's the fuss about?

Well, there are a few differences in the features of the iPhone most people are used to and Verizon's new model. The big difference is likely to come when users try to make a call or text, according to experts.

CNet reports Verizon can offer a strong network in select major metropolitan areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area. That means fewer dropped calls and faster connections than rival AT&T, which previously was the exclusive service provider for the iPhone.

AT&T has more global coverage, however, as it's in more than 200 countries, while Verizon is in nearly 44 countries.

"First and foremost, we take pride in our network," Flato said. "We've invested heavily over the years to make sure of our network reliability … We're confident we'd be another great choice for customers who want an iPhone. We'll take care of our new customers and our existing customers."