How about some self horn tooting to round out the night, eh? Tonight’s grand display of self love is brought to you by Verizon Wireless. Mind you, their back patting session is could actually be warranted. With AT&T’s less than stellar year, Verizon has been boasting of not only being better coverage wise for 3G, but also being lightyears ahead of the competition when it comes to 4G. Specifically, Verizon claimed that by the end of 2010, 25-30 markets would be fully blanketed with 4G. By 2013: look for the entire 3G footprint to be converted to 4G. Will they deliver?
According to VZW’s CTO, Tony Melone, the 2010 4G goals are “looking better and better each day, not worse”. Well, someone sure is confident aren’t they? Cutting through the PR fluff, VZW does have a robust and massive 3G footprint, so the talk we’re hearing from them now concerning their next gen network is pretty plausible.
If something in the form of a “con” must be taken away from all of this, it’s the simple fact that these early 25-30 4G markets won’t see any form of 4G voice — it’s all data baby. Verizon is up front about it, saying that they’re unsure at the moment if the 4G network will be able to handle both data and voice. Kudos to VZW for not sugarcoating/lying about network capacity. Personally, I never actually “talk” on the phone. Text/email/IM is really the best/only way to get a hold of me. Many people are not like me however and live by the spoken word. Fair enough. Yak it up all you want. Just know that for the foreseeable future, voice traffic on VZW is strictly 3G.
That’s ok though, more 4G goodness for what really matters — data. 
Engadget
- February 15, 2009 3:19 pm
Openwave has long been the household name in WAP browsers. Love them or hate them they have been on pretty much every “dumbphone” feature phone for many years. While they have definitely had the benefit of time on their side, they haven’t really improved much in the whole area of web rendering or progress towards better standards/rendering capabilities. WAP browsers are bare bones browsers that render WAP specific pages OK and full-HTML sites terribly. Verizon Wireless has realized this and is calling for a change, specifically from their technology friend and partner, Novarra. The new Novarra browsers will use a proxy-based system that will dramatically improve speed and eye-candy for the lower end cell phone web users. Verizon says that over time, smartphones will even adopt a form of the Novarra browser. Perks of said browser include support e-commerce sites as well as full Flash support. Wouldn’t that be sad to see some pimply teenie boppers $30 phone render a page with full Flash support while you sit there wondering only what could have been with your $300 iPhone? If this sounds like cool beans to you, Verizon says that more information “will be available soon.” WAP’ers will soon have a new way to browse the web quicker and in style!
Source: Phone Scoop
- February 11, 2009 8:27 am
If you are an avid weather fan or, just like to know whats going on in times of toil and trouble (meteorologically speaking), Verizon and WeatherBug have teamed up to help you out. WeatherBug Protect is a service that you can purchase (it’s Verizon) that will provide you with the most relevant, up to date weather information. Information including: advanced warning of lighting, tornados, temperature extremes, floods, high winds, hurricanes, nuclear apocalypse and so much more all through a text message. Being that it is Verizon they will ding you to the tune of $5.99/month. I understand “dumbphones” and their dumbnesss not having the ability to use WeatherBug by other means such as a mobile website or app, but charging $5.99 for some text messages you already pay for doesn’t seem like the greatest deal in the world. Oh well, you be the judge Mr. Closet weather man. For a lot more words to potentially woo you over check out the product page on WeatherBug’s site.
Source: Slashphone
- January 27, 2009 12:29 pm
In the current economic times, cellular technologies aren’t usually on in the forefront of very many peoples’ minds. Thankfully, Verizon knows what their priorities are and is doing their best to keep LTE’s 2010 launch date a reality. On a company earnings call today, Verizon’s COO Denny Strigl said that he’s hopefull that they can hit the current projected release date. If you’ve been living in a cave the last few months, or honestly don’t know what LTE is, (it’s ok, I won’t judge you), LTE is a faster, newer generation of cellular technology. It will allow you to browser the web, download songs, and send files faster than every before. Clearwire and Sprint (WiMax), the competitor to LTE will start to see their early bird advantage shrinking as the LTE rollout get closer. Currently, only 2 cities have had WiMax deployed with the third, Chicago, being delayed. The WiMax build out has been going on since 2006…though they aren’t exactly moving very quickly. I will cut them a little slack, the parties involved have been involved in varoius patent and monetary disputes. Almost sounds like a bunch of high school girls doesn’t it?
Source: Alley Insider
- January 26, 2009 10:57 am
The LG VX9600 previously mentioned with its detachable goodies and all is set to arrive on February 22nd at your local Best Buy Mobile and Verizon Wireless stores. This modular phone is definitely a rarity in the market and its future is unknown. What do you think? Will this ship sail away a winner? Or sink like a rock with all the attachments you have to carry in your pocket?
Source: Boy Genius
So, are you in one of the 3 places on the planet where Verizon doesn’t have any coverage? You can stop saying “Can you here me now?” and finally start having a normal conversation inside of your house instead of aimlessly roaming around your front yard searching for a signal. Verizon has made good on their promise, (and on time), to release the “Verizon Wireless Network Extender” for the low price of $249.99. What is this new fangled femtocell/range extender you ask? A femtocell uses a broadband internet connection to turn itself into a mini cell tower thereby giving you coverage in areas you previously had little or even none at all. You can expect to take and make calls up to 5,000ft from the mini tower with support for up to 3 lines. A fourth line is reserved for emergency phone calls. So stroll around your house, sit outside, or just feel the freedom that 5,000ft gives you. Now if only The Big Red could come up with a little more reasonable price, I’m sure a few more people would jump.
Source: Boy Genius
