Archive for: vzw
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.
It’s that time of the month — time for Verizon Wireless to unleash LTE on more cities and expanding a couple to boot!
New Cities: Glens Falls and Utica, N.Y.; Lawton, Okla.; and Brownsville and McAllen, Texas.
Expanded Coverage: Atlanta, Georgia; Houston, Texas and Spokane, Wash
Did your city make the latest cut.
- 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?
Everybody loves them some LTE. Really. Compared to the alternative, LTE is the tech junkie/road warriors single, saving grace. And today Verizon made sure to cater to that very group with two, new LTE hotspots, or as they call them, “Jetpacks”.
The MiFi 4620L features an OLED display that displays battery life, security settings, and connected devices whereas the ZTE-made Verizon Eu-Fi890 which like the former, features an OLED display to display a bevy of device information as well as integrated keyboard to make navigating and using the Jetpack way easier.
Both Jetpacks can support up to 10 simultaneously connected devices and are global in nature, giving users wireless coverage in over 205 countries, 125 of which are on 3G speeds.
Look for booth Jetpacks to hit Verizon’s website in the coming weeks.
Why, LG? Why?! The LG Spectrum (Revolution 2) is this close to handedly trouncing the ~month-old Galaxy Nexus: 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 and 1.3 megapixel cameras with 1080p video recording, LTE w/ hotspot, and an 1,830 mAh battery. Oh and then there’s the 4.5″ “True” HD IPS display with Gorilla Glass protection — *Drool. So what is “true” HD on phones these days? Non-PenTile tech of course. According to LG, the Spectrum uses a legitimate Real Stripe pixel arrangement which should easily trounce your typical PenTile toting device. For pixel junkies, it’s awesome news.
And then the fun ends. Android 2.3 Gingerbread with LG’s bland in-house skin comes along to whisk away any performance and visual goodies one might enjoy. Here’s to hoping the Spectrum receives a proper root and stock ICS ROM soon after VZW pushes it out the door on January 19th. Price: almost certainly $299 w/ 2-year contract. Biting?
- December 30, 2011 5:25 pm
Wow! Pat yourselves on the back you vigilant, tech savvy internet user, you. After pounding GoDaddy into submission over their ridiculous support of SOPA, it looks like we consumers have earned another checkmark in the W box — Verizon is dropping their $2 “convenience fee”.
The backtracking comes after brief, but fiercely vocal consumer backlash around the web, as well as the FCC publicly voicing concern along with plans to “investigate further”.
Announcing the change of plans, VZW’s Chief Executive Dan Mead stated:
“We take great care to listen to our customers. The best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time.”
Gadgetsteria’s take: We win. Again. Fight the good fight, people.
- 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…
- December 29, 2011 8:39 am
Looks like whatever caused VZW to have widespread and sporadic 3G/4G issues (only on 4G devices) has been fully rectified. One of Verizon’s Twitter accounts, @VZWnews, just tweeted that everything was back up and running.
Unfortunately, Verizon still hasn’t responded to inquiries as to what exactly went wrong. Then again, VZW never fully clarified what happened the other two times their network went down in the last month, either. Let’s hope that this latest network problem is the last one we’ll have to talk about for at least 4 weeks. If not, AT&T will get jealous. Baby steps…
