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Verizon has officially launched Verizon Cloud for iOS devices, as well as a broader slate of Android phones. The iOS app is designed primarily for the iPhone, but can still be run on the iPad and iPod touch. Newly-supported Android phones include devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC Droid DNA.
Verizon Wireless has announced a partnership with Jennifer Lopez, hoping to woo Latino customers under the new retail brand Viva Movil. The brick-and-mortar stores promise to deliver a unique customer experience, with play areas for children and bilingual sales representatives, though the devices and service plans will reflect Verizon's standard offerings.
T-Mobile customers wanting to use Google Wallet are out of luck, as the carrier confirmed this week that it's blocking the mobile payment solution. Instead, T-Mobile wants its customers to use ISIS, a carrier-backed standard that is currently only available in two metropolitan areas. The confirmation marks T-Mobile as just the latest of the major carriers to block Google's standard as they prepare to roll out their own.
In a court motion filed earlier today, MetroPCS is dropping its net neutrality opposition lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission. The company filed a motion for voluntary dismissal, leaving Verizon to willingly fight the decree and US government on its own.
[Updated with Verizon confirmation] Earlier today, Verizon briefly posted a $100 pricetag for the 16GB iPhone 5 on its website this morning, a move the company later confirmed was a genuine offer, but only for select customers. The phone typically sells for $199 with a two-year contract, which was also a stipulation for the $100 cost. Verizon quickly reverted the price back to normal, and in response to inquiries would only say it doesn't discuss rumors.
The BlackBerry Q10 is making its way to the US on three different carriers in the summer, after launches in Canada and the UK. T-Mobile states it will sell the smartphone for $100 and 24 monthly installments of $20 or $580 outright, and expects to have it in June. Verizon also claims it will stock the phone in June, though does not reveal how much for, and Sprint confirms it will carry the handset, but it will launch on the network "in late summer" and for an undisclosed price.
Nokia has formally unveiled the Lumia 928, headed to Verizon as a network-exclusive. The smartphone, previously leaked through a billboard and an advertisement in Vanity Fair, has been revealed before its expected launch event in London on May 14th, with the phone manufacturer keen to continue promoting its 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash with another test video.
Verizon will launch a $100 discount on the iPhone 5 sometime in mid-May, evleaks claims. No other information on the sale is available, such as how long it might last and who will be eligible. The rumor may have some merit, however, as Verizon's competitors have made similar efforts.
Business magazine Fortune has released the 2013 edition of its list of the 500 biggest corporations in the US. One of the most significant shifts in the list is the ascendancy of Apple, which has jumped from 17th place to sixth, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Fortune comments that while the company has "maintained more than disrupted" its product line, and even had to apologize for iOS 6 Maps and its Chinese warranty services, it "remains an innovation icon."
An advertisement on a billboard allegedly showing the rumored Nokia Lumia 928 has appeared online. The new image, if genuine, presents the smartphone as having "the best low-light smartphone camera," as well as showing that it is heading to Verizon Wireless, and hints that the device may be launched sometime in the near future
Industry giants Verizon and AT&T are both looking at moving more aggressively into pay-as-you-go phone offerings. Carrier software developer ItsOn will be launching a consumer facing portal later this month, likely under the Verizon umbrella. Additionally, AT&T is readying its "All In One"-branded plan, likely supplementing -- rather than replacing -- the GoPhone network already in place.
Verizon has updated the iOS and Android versions of My FiOS, an app supporting the company's fiber service. Both apps have integrated important FiOS TV functions, namely TV listings, DVR scheduling, and a remote control. Previously the app's video functions were limited to watching video on demand.
An annual report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has declared that Twitter and Sonic.net are the best tech companies for protecting its users from government snooping and requests from courts and law enforcement. Out of the 18 companies examined in the report, MySpace and Verizon were judged the worst, failing to score a single star in any category, while Apple, AT&T, and Yahoo managed to attain at least one star out of a possible six.
Kyocera is looking to release two new phones in the United States, according to a leaked image. The Kyocera Elite is reportedly said to be heading to Verizon, while the Kyocera XTRM will appear on US Cellular in the near future, though details relating to specifications, release dates and prices remain unknown.
Verizon is reportedly forming an offer for British carrier Vodafone, in order to buy out its stake in Verizon Wireless. The rumored proposal would see Verizon taking complete control in the jointly-owned carrier, and Vodafone exchanging its 55-percent share in Verizon Wireless for $100 billion, divided evenly between cash and stock.
Nokia may be launching the Lumia 928 in May, with Verizon set to be the target carrier in the United States for the spiritual successor to the Lumia 920, according to a report. The phone, leaked earlier with a metal body instead of polycarbonate, will appear on the carrier complete with a 4.5-inch display, an 8-megapixel camera, and wireless charging capabilities.
Verizon has managed to secure an extra 677,000 subscribers to its postpaid wireless service in the first quarter of this year. Quarterly financial results released by the carrier show it as having a total of 720,000 net retail connections for the quarter, with its entire wireless subscriber base hitting 98.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent.
Verizon wants to lease spectrum from Clearwire, in order to improve its 4G LTE offering, according to reports. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Clearwire mentions an offer from "Party J," believed to be Verizon, for spectrum in a number of markets for between $1 billion and $1.5 billion collectively.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 may hit retail stores in the US late next week, according to a leaked document from Staples. An in-store training sheet shows the smartphone reaching AT&T well before T-Mobile and Verizon, based on “tentative launch dates,” as well as details concerning Staple's handling of handset pre-orders.
Verizon on Friday appeared to take a step toward countering T-Mobile's recent headline-grabbing UNcarrier pricing structure. The nation's largest wireless carrier announced that it would be extending the parameters of its Device Payment Plan, allowing customers to spread the cost of a device over the course of a year. The announcement came along with news that the carrier would be lengthening its upgrade timetable from 20 to 24 months.
Verizon has issued a revision to its mobile device policy, restricting upgrades even further. With the new terms, customers on a two-year agreement will be eligible for an upgrade only at the very end of their contract, rather than the current "early upgrade" eligibility at 20 months. Verizon claims that the change "aligns the upgrade date with the contract end date and is consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today."
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam says it would be "pretty easy" for the nation's largest carrier to switch to a no-contract structure like T-Mobile recently did. Speaking at a New York event this week, McAdam said he was happy to see T-Mobile trying out other pricing structures, and that he would be paying attention to how well T-Mobile's bid goes. McAdam said that it was possible Verizon could put forward such a structure if consumers started asking for it.
Images of a Verizon-exclusive variant of Nokia's Lumia 920 appeared online on Friday. The images show off the front and back of a black model of the Lumia 928, and reports emerged that the device will hit the nation's largest carrier some time later in April. Additional reports on Saturday said that the Finnish phone maker will debut more high-end handsets in the near future, with the rumored aluminum Lumia among those forthcoming devices.
Verizon and AT&T are said to be working together in order to acquire and then break apart Vodafone, according to a rumor. After purchasing the British carrier, Verizon would in theory take control of Vodafone's 45-percent share of Verizon Wireless, while AT&T would own all assets located outside of the United States, though the rumor already appears to have been dismissed.
Verizon Wireless has updated its messaging application to include integrated messaging over multiple devices. The Verizon Messages service is now cross-platform, with messages able to be sent and received through one phone number via an Internet-connected device, or through a computer using the online account manager.
Verizon is looking towards adding more channels to its FiOS television service, but only if it can pay for shows that its customers actually watch. The proposed system would see Verizon paying channel providers based on how much time is spent by FiOS subscribers viewing the content, instead of its current system where it pays a blanket monthly fee based on subscriber numbers.
After beta testing for nearly four months, the combined Verizon and Redbox streaming media effort Redbox Instant is available to the general public. For $8 a month, or $9 a month for Blu-ray kiosk rentals, the service offers four rental days a month, in addition to computer and portable device viewing of the rotating selections on the online movie service.
Verizon has offered only a few choices for Windows Phone devices, recently adding Samsung's Ativ Odyssey as the fourth option. With a $50 subsidized price tag, the handset sits between HTC's Windows Phone 8X and Nokia's Lumia 822. In our full review, we try to determine if the Odyssey represents a viable competitor among its close peers and in the broader smartphone market.
Mirroring earlier talks between the carriers, Verizon and Vodafone are reportedly looking for ways to "resolve" their relationship in the jointly-owned carrier Verizon Wireless. It is claimed that the two companies are in discussions to either fully merge the two entities or for Verizon to partly or fully buy out Vodafone's 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless, before the end of this year.
Full Control has released the first screenshots for its upcoming digital turn based strategy game that is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Space Hulk, which will be offered for PC, Mac, and iOS, will include a 12-mission single-player and co-operative campaign, as well as cross-platform multiplayer support. An included level editor will also allow players to design their own levels and share them online with other community members.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank 2013 Media, Internet, and Telecom Conference, Verizon Communications Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said that the company has no interest in offering additional commissions for sales staff to sell low-end phones over the free iPhone 4 with contract on the carrier. The CFO also addressed the impact of the FiOS network on the company's bottom line, as well as the impact of tablet sales on the company.
As expected, the Center for Copyright Information's BitTorrent monitoring system has launched, but with all five previously-announced ISPs starting up in one day. Participating ISPs in the measure, also known as "six strikes," include Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, Cablevision, and Time Warner, plus all subsidiaries of the parent companies.
According to reports, the much-delayed "six strikes" copyright enforcement monitoring system will go live over the next week, with Internet provider Comcast launching on Monday. The Copyright Alert System (CAS), run by the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) has no official launch date, and has been held up by implementation issues, and the damaging effects of Superstorm Sandy. ISPs AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon are all signed up for the system.
One of the first Verizon LTE phones is being updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), nearly two years after the phone's release. The HTC Thunderbolt is finally seeing an update to a nearly year-old version of Android, albeit newer than Android 2.3 Gingerbread which most of the Thunderbolt phones shipped with.
The CEOs of AT&T and Verizon have expressed interest in T-Mobile's plan to drop subsidies and offer the option of buying phones through monthly installments, a Reuters report says. "That’s something we’ve looked at on several occasions. I kind of like that idea," says AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson. "It’s something we’re going to be watching."
AT&T has bought $1.9 billion in 700 MHz B spectrum from Verizon Wireless, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. AT&T says that the licenses should cover over 42 million people in 18 states: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. As a part of the deal, it will also get AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum in five of those markets.
Siri -- the voice command technology in Apple's iOS -- was at one point set to become an exclusive to Verizon, a new report reveals. The Huffington Post says that in fall of 2009, Verizon signed a deal with Siri's then-independent developer for the project, with the goal of putting the technology on all of Verizon's Android phones launched during 2010. The deal was so far advanced that commercials were produced, but never aired.
Verizon posted a $4.2 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2012, doubling its $2 billion loss that was posted in the fourth quarter of 2011, despite increased revenues across the company's divisions. Wireless has continued to drive growth, with 2.1 million new postpaid accounts in Q4 and a 10-percent jump in revenue to $20 billion.
Details on how Verizon will allegedly implement its "six-strikes" anti-piracy policy, set to roll out this year, have surfaced online. Warnings, bandwidth throttling, and obligatory viewings of an anti-piracy video will be applied to connections of alleged infringers, before their IP address will be passed over to the MPAA and RIAA, in order for legal action to take place.
RIM has received a boost with the major carriers including Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all confirming that they will be offering BlackBerry 10-powered devices on launch, reports Reuters. Executives from each of the wireless powerhouses were hopeful, and also indicated continued business interest in RIM’s devices for enterprise deployment. If RIM is to enjoy a second coming, after rapidly falling to the wayside following the rise of the iPhone and Android devices, carrier support will play a critical role if it is to have a future.
CEO of RedBox Instant by Verizon Shawn Strickland announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that the highly-anticipated offering will launch before the end of the first quarter of 2013. The service, currently in invitation-only beta testing, was rumored to have launched at the end of December but was held up by unspecified technical issues.
Verizon activated 9.8 million smartphones during the last quarter, the carrier has announced. The data comes from an 8-K filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um notes that in Q4 2011 Verizon sold 7.7 million smartphones, of which about 56 percent were iPhones. If the same ratio were applied to Q4 2012, that would indicate close to 5.5 million iPhones. Verizon is so far only saying that the 2012 quarter showed a "higher mix of Apple smartphones," without clarifying whether that means year-over-year or quarter-to-quarter.
Chicago, IL based US Cellular has agreed to purchase Verizon Wireless' 700MHz A-block license blanketing Oklahoma City and 31 adjacent counties. The sale continues Verizon's process announced last spring to divest itself of its lower 700Mhz spectrum licenses. The transaction shifts providers for approximately 1.9 million people.
A hacker claims to have stolen more than three million customer entries from Verizon's database after hacking the carrier, and he has posted some 300,000 entries to a code-sharing site as proof. The hacker, who goes by the Twitter handle @TibitXimer, says he gained root access to Verizon's customer data servers in July of this year, having worked with an accomplice to identify a security flaw. TibitXimer also says that the customer data -- including account passwords, names, and addresses -- was stored in plain text, requiring no decryption.
Verizon announced today further expansions of its nationwide 4G LTE wireless network, bringing 4G LTE service to 29 new markets across the United States. With the new additions, Verizon's network now covers 470 markets in the US, containing more than 250 million people. It's the most recent LTE expansion since September of this year, which saw Verizon 4G LTE hitting another 19 cities.
Verizon and Redbox have started rolling out Redbox Instant, according to the service's Twitter feed. The service is only deploying "gradually," Redbox says, and the company is asking for people to sign up to a wait list if they can't already subscribe. An account costs $8 a month for unlimited streaming and four DVD rentals; access to Blu-rays raises the price to $9. For streaming, Redbox is promising support for both web browsers and mobile apps.
Comcast announced today that it would be extending the opportunity for its Xfinity TV customers to download content from the Internet to their mobile devices. The Xfinity TV Player App now lets customers watch their favorite content while on the go, without having to be connected to the Internet for streaming. Starting today, customers can download thousands of premium TV and movie content from Showtime, Starz, Encore, and Movieplex.
Verizon models of the Samsung Galaxy S III will begin receiving an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, beginning tomorrow and continuing over the next week. The upgrade will make the phone Global Ready, and it will also bring compatibility with ISIS, the mobile device-based payment system Verizon is currently testing in Austin, TX, and Salt Lake City, UT. Users can manually check if their phone is ready for an upgrade by going to the settings menu, though Verizon will also push out upgrade notifications when a phone is ready.
Redbox and Verizon have publicly announced that Redbox Instant will be launching its streaming service later this month. Offering unlimited streaming of thousands of movies, Redbox Instant has also been confirmed to be offered through the web, as well as iOS and Android portable devices, Samsung and LG Blu-Ray players and Smart TVs, and Google TV.
For the first time, Netflix has published data on ISP streaming performance, showing that Google Fiber significantly outperforms its other nationally-active competitors. Netflix's figures give the average speed at which customers of different ISPs can download movies, and it notes whether ISPs have moved up or down in the rankings in the last month. Google Fiber leads the pack with 2.55MBps, with Verizon's FiOS and Comcast significantly behind.
