Archive for: Verizon
In case you hadn’t heard, details regarding AT&T’s upcoming data plan revamp were leaked last night. For those that didn’t see it:
Smartphones
- 5 GB – $50/month (With mobile hotspot + tethering)
Tablets
While we’re slightly upbeat that we can now pay $5 more every month for 3 GB of data instead of $25 + $10 when we go over, it’s hardly a vicotry. What most people will gloss over is the fact that AT&T just made it $5 more expensive to own a smartphone on their network…
The 3G/4G tango VZW (and pretty much every other LTE operator) must endure is reportedly coming to an end, according to sources of Light Reading. By “early 2013″, Verizon will begin rolling out nationwide VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) across their LTE network. The beauty of this: No more data/cellular (SMS + Voice) separation. Everything will effectively be transmitted and counted as data.
The same sources also say that VZW is currently doing wider scale testing in two U.S. cities.
The above report is somewhat disappointing depending on how you look at it. On one hand, 2013 isn’t really that far away. Conversely, previous VoLTE rumors involving Verizon claimed the carrier would begin rolling on said service in the 2H of 2012.
We’re eagerly waiting for the day that we can go into full data mode and drop the stingy minutes thing.
- January 10, 2012 11:28 am
You can only do so much to a hard drive to make it unique — up storage capacity, use some new fancy type of memory, or simply shrink down the tech to unbelievable levels. Or you could be like Seagate and something truly “out there” such as stuffing an LTE modem inside of an external hard drive’s enclosure. The as of now unnamed prototype also features a battery tucked away inside that reportedly allows for up to 5 hours of 802.11b/g/n streaming.
Here’s to hoping this mystery device doesn’t end up as another piece of CES vaporware or, that any attached data plans don’t cost more than the GDP of some developing countries. Agreed?
- December 29, 2011 12:27 pm
A growing thread in Verizon’s support forums seems to touch on another problem for VZW customers, bringing the total service snafus to four this month.
The problem: Activations on new and used phones are giving people grief by not allowing the phones to actually activate on the network. The end result is a user without a usable phone, and for many people, any way to be contacted quickly.
At this time, it’s unknown if the activation issue (if there truly is one) was caused by the LTE issue that started sometime yesterday and ended early this morning, or if it is a problem entirely on its own. From the time stamps on the initial posts in the thread linked to above, it appears that the activation issue is going on 24 hours old itself. Either way, VZW is ending 2011 on a horrible note. Let’s hope their 2012 is better.
Stay tuned…
Update: 12/29/11 3:27pm (EST)
Still waiting for a response from Verizon…
Since 12:01am PST meant 12:41am in Tim Cook time, pre-ordering the latest and greatest iPhone took some time. But a short 25 minutes later the reserve email landed in my inbox. I was worried, because after the reserve, the progress wheel in Chrome kept spinning. I wasn’t sure if it had actually worked. But for all of you wondering the same thing, the proof is above.
We still want to know how the experience went for you guys out there. Personally, could of gone better. I am honestly wondering if I should of even attempted this process at the second pre-orders were up and running. The design didn’t change, so Apple shouldn’t of had a problem.
We’ll try to keep our ears to the ground on when locations are all out of units allotted for pre-ordered. We’re expecting an abundance this model, well, at least more than previous years.
Update
It looks like the ‘Complete Your Order’ emails are arriving as well. I just received that, but the completion process is still getting nailed since it is hosted on Apple’s servers. It seems that people are still bombarding the site grabbing the latest phone. I guess the lack of a design change didn’t keep people away. For those ordering this morning, it seems we have until 5pm PST Friday the 8th.
- September 15, 2011 10:59 am
How insanely devoted is Verizon to stomping the competition? Very. Today Praveen Atreya, director of network technology for Verizon mentioned to LightReading that the company is not only working feverishly to get LTE coverage nationwide, they’re already looking towards LTE’s replacement — LTE-Advanced (read: the original, “real” 4G before marketing buzzwords took over). Atreya admitted that such network upgrades were still in the very early stages.
Meanwhile Verizon’s director of technology applications, Larry Rau, told LightReading that VZW is still testing Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) in two pre-commercial markets and that public launches are unlikely until later in 2012. If you recall, one of the original market points of the LG Revolution Android device was that it was supposed to support VoLTE. Unfortunately as we now see, the network just isn’t ready quite yet.
With all that said, we don’t see LTE-Advanced going live until mid-2013(ish) at the earliest considering VoLTE (and data-based LTE) will need to be widely available and robust if VZW is serious about moving away from CDMA in an effort to free up more spectrum for LTE. Multi-year waiting aside, we’re eagerly anticipating LTE-Advanced’s 1 Gbps potential.
- September 14, 2011 12:48 pm
Fridays may be the best day of the week, but it is Thursdays (specifically tomorrows) that will have Verizon Wireless fans filled with school girl excitement. Today the LTE juggernaut announced 26 new and expanding markets set to go live tomorrow, September 15th. Full list after the break…
Numerous reports from around the web point to a potential bump in upgrade eligibility dates on Verizon Wireless. According to Kellex over at Droid-Life, an active line of his that was “no where near” being ready for upgrade eligibility (20-month terms on VZW) was “rewarded” today with the chance to upgrade early. We already know there’s a DROID Bionic coming September 8th. The HTC Vigor is also more or less “imminent”. And then of course there’s the iPhone 5 which could hit shelves anytime within the next 1-2 months. All of these phones are big ticket items on their respective platforms that will likely make Verizon lots and lots of money. And they want to maximize every dollar they can get, hence early upgrades. Will you bite?
While everyone else stands around and plans to make plans for future LTE rollouts, Verizon is…welll…doing. Today the carrier announced several new LTE markets as well as an updated market scheduled to go live September 15th, 2011.
New Markets
- Illinois: Bloomington/Normal, Champaign/Urbana, Rockford, Springfield, and Quad Cities
- Ohio: Canton, Lima, and Mansfield
Updated Markets
