Verizon has announced its second 4G LTE Android smartphone, the Droid Charge. This Samsung device will be launching on April 28th, with reasonable specs. The price, however, may be a sticking point for some perspective buyers. The Droid Charge will be going for $299 on a two-year contract. That's $50 more than the recently released HTC Thunderbolt.
Verizon on Monday said that it is getting rid of early termination fees for its DSL service as part of an attempt to simplify its plans for broadband service with easy-to-understand bundles. High-speed DSL customers can now build upon two double-play pricing tiers, the first being an entry-level service that supports 500Kbps to 1Mbps speeds for basic tasks like sending emails and photos. The second tier kicks things up to 1.1Mbps to 15Mbps for more advanced tasks like online gaming and downloading movies.
PC purists might contend that the joke's on all iPad owners who bought into iOS and the Apple ecosystem rather than invest in Android or hold out for any number of promising tablets on the horizon, like RIM's PlayBook and HP's TouchPad. But the real joke is on Verizon iPad 2 owners who report problems connecting to Verizon's 3G network, only it's no laughing matter to those affected. After blowing up Apple's support forum, the Cupertino outfit finally acknowledged the problem, but doesn't yet have a solution.
Verizon Wireless has confirmed today that as of April 17th, customers will no longer have the option of signing up for 1-year contracts. According to Big Red, the change is being made to simplify choices and because most people choose the 2-year option with larger phone subsidy anyway. Mont-to-month, prepaid, and 2-year contracts are continuing unchanged.
Some sad news from the land of Android tablets today. The Motorola Xoom, often lauded as the first real iPad competitor, isn't doing terribly well with consumers. Estimates from Deutsche Bank indicate that only 100,000 Xooms have been sold thus far. For reference, the first iPad sold 300,000 units on day one.
Sprint had a good long run being the only carrier in the US with a real next generation 4G network. But with the launch of Verizon's LTE network, Sprint's WiMAX waves are looking a lot less wondrous. BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk performed 1000 speed tests using the HTC Evo 4G (Sprint) and HTC Thunderbolt (Verizon) in New York to see which network delivered the best 4G speeds. The result: Verizon destroyed Sprint.
What's that you say, you want faster Internet speeds? No problem, assuming you live in the right area. If you do, good things are coming your way. That's because Verizon plans to upgrade certain sections of its U.S. Internet backbone to support 100 Gigabit Ethernet by the end of the second quarter.
AT&T's proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile would put the wireless carrier in first place, followed by Verizon in second, and Sprint in a distance third. One way Sprint could go from the biggest loser in this deal to one of the winners is if Verizon Wireless bought the company out. That isn't going to happen, Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead said earlier this week.
In the wake of the surprise AT&T deal to buy T-Mobile USA, many have speculated that Verizon Wireless might want to get hitched to Sprint. Big Red has gotten out ahead of the rumors and shot the idea down pretty handily. "We're not interested in Sprint. We don't need them," said Verizon CEO Mead at CTIA today.
Verizon has just gotten its very first 4G LTE handset out the door, and the reception for the HTC Thunderbolt has been good so far. Though one major gripe users are complaining about is that that new LTE radio really gulps down power. PC Mag reports that their own testing only resulted in 2.5 hours of LTE streaming. The solution? A big honking battery apparently.
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