Verizon has just introduced Verizon Video, a fresh video-on-demand app for smartphones. It offers current TV episodes from over 250 shows, live sports and events streaming from ABC, NBC, CBS an MTV along with Comedy Central, Animal Planet, CNBC, Disney Channel, ESPN and more. The subscription service is now available (Android Market) for the Android platform only, however.
Verizon on Friday night pushed an update (PDF) for the HTC Thunderbolt to address some common quirks but also to add new features. The 1.70.605.0 revamp solves a chronic problem with rebooting as well as one with data access. Completely new, however, is a desktop cradle app: it can show a clock when the phone is on its side in the dock and presumably is otherwise optimized for the new mode.
Verizon on Monday released a new V Cast music app for Android smartphones. The new unified app lets users buy full songs, ringtones and ringback tones in the same place for the first time. The app also adds a wish list, letting users indicate what kind of music they want to purchase later, along with a "recommendations" button that allows them to send music suggestions to friends.
The upcoming Galaxy Tab that's due at Verizon on November 11 will not ship with the Skype, V Cast Video or NFL Mobile apps pre-installed, according to leaked web training documents posted by Engadget on Tuesday. The plan would come despite despite the NFL's wishes to bring video onto Verizon's tablets and that the carrier's V Cast Video service is available on all of its other Android devices. The three apps are eventually expected to come to the device, though exactly when isn't being revealed.
Verizon today became the first American carrier to commit to a release date to the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Its version of the 16GB Android 2.2 slate should reach stores on November 11 and will cost $600 without a contract. The company also plans to spread its iPad 3G plans and will charge the same $20 per month for 1GB of data, ranging up to $50 for 5GB.
More details have surfaced today regarding Verizon's iPhone plans in a new leak [sub. required] that explain its network support and Verizon's reasons for turning down Apple's plans. Expanding on its earlier mention of Qualcomm supplying chips, the WSJ said the model would only support CDMA and EVDO rather than become a dual-mode device with GSM and HSPA as well. Apple had reportedly considered the option but turned it down for unknown reasons.
Verizon at its developer conference tried to downplay concerns that its upcoming V CAST Apps mobile app store wouldn't undermine Android Market. The network's consumer product VP Greg Haller insisted the carrier-run store wouldn't block Android Market, other stores, or even direct downloads through the browser. He instead portrayed it a way of possibly improving the experience if developers feel they'll have better success than elsewhere.
Verizon is set to launch a new app store, V CAST Apps, for Android handsets. The new portal promises to be a separate entity from Google's official Android Market, which already offers a special section for V CAST content, according to an Android and Me report. The move will likely mimic Verizon's app store launch on BlackBerry devices, despite RIM's own App World.
As expected, Verizon Wireless on Monday made its V CAST Video service available on its lineup of Android smartphones. Programming includes entertainment, news and sports from over 40 providers. Users will have access to videos of college football, college basketball and NHL hockey, as well as 64 live streams of Spanish-language broadcasts of 2010 World Cup matches.
Verizon spokesman Sheldon Jones today teased that the cell carrier's V CAST video service would reach its Android phones on June 7. The approach will give the Droid Incredible and fellow Droid phones on-demand TV shows and other video content over 3G. Jones didn't say how closely it would match the existing lineup for other phones.
The HTC Imagio XV6975 smartphone that will soon arrive at wireless provider Verizon has been spotted again, showing more details and the required Verizon branding. The phone will run on Windows Mobile 6.5, but lacks a hardware QWERTY keyboard. It will also be the first full smartphone offering in Verizon's lineup to support FLO TV broadcasts.
Verizon today gave word of a device it hopes will rework the concept of home phones. Nicknamed just the Hub, the device is meant to sit in place with a cordless handset like a landline phone but to act as a conduit for one or more cellphones; a built-in Ethernet connection gets updates such as calendars and GPS directions and funnels them to family handsets on the Verizon network. It centers around a large touchscreen that itself serves to check calendars, maps videos, the phone book and visual voicemail. Events or other information created on the Hub can be passed on to individual phones.
