Tag Archives: VerizonWireless

​Reuters: Verizon’s $130 billion bid for Vodafone stake to be voted on this weekend

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Vodafone and Verizon might finally be "resolving" their business relationship, according to Reuters: the pair are said to be striking a deal this weekend. The typical folks "familiar with the matter," say that the firms' respective boards are voting on a $130 billion buyout that would put Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the network back in Verizon's hands. The price has gone up since we last heard about this deal, though the plan is essentially the same -- Verizon will finance half of the purchase through bonds and bank loans while covering the rest with cash on hand. Neither Verizon or Vodafone were willing to comment on the report, Reuters stated, but it's no secret that the two companies have mused over breaking their partnership in the past. We'll let you know if we hear anything official; until then, check out the source link to get the story from the horse's mouth.

Update: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the deal has been finalized behind closed doors, reiterating that an official announcement could come as early as Monday.

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Source: Reuters, WSJ

PSA: Verizon’s Motorola Droid Mini begins shipping tomorrow, not August 29th

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Product delays are often talked about (and judged) around the interwebs, and thus it's only fair to give a company credit when it plans to deliver something ahead of schedule. As such, those who pre-ordered a Motorola Droid Mini for Verizon will be happy to find out that the 4.3-inch handset will begin shipping tomorrow, August 22nd, instead of August 29th as was originally planned. PhoneArena was the first to spot this tidbit earlier on the network's website, however a Verizon representative has since confirmed to us that the change in dates is indeed true. It's not clear whether the Kevlar-wrapped Droid Mini's also going to be on sale at Verizon's brick-and-mortar stores, but we'll be updating this story if we hear anything.

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Via: PhoneArena

Source: Verizon

Verizon’s HTC One sign-up page is live, still no confirmed ship date

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Back in June, Verizon gave us fair warning that it would start selling the HTC One "later this summer." Well, we're just about halfway through August, and while you can't buy a VZW One just yet, you can at least let Verizon know you're interested. The carrier has added a sign-up page to its website, where eager beavers can put in their e-mail addresses so that they'll be the first to receive more information as it becomes available. Unfortunately, that splash page says nothing about when the device might ship or what it will cost with the usual two-year agreement. So for now, then, this page is really just for the most impatient of HTC fans.

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Source: Verizon Wireless

Leaked photos: Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Mini is headed to Verizon

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Leaked photos show Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini heading to Verizon

Here is it: the Galaxy S4 Mini... for Verizon? As of now, Samsung's smaller Galaxy S4 sibling is an international-only device; in other words, no US carriers have officially signed on to offer it. That said, a Samsung SCH-i435 recently made its way into the Bluetooth SIG's website, and those who follow VZW's classifications of Samsung products are all-too-familiar with the "SCH" prefix. Of course, a handful of leaked photos can't confirm a release date nor a price, but if it's already popping up with that label on the rear, surely the wait won't be much longer. Hop on past the break for a side-by-side shot with an iPhone 5.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

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Verizon Wireless lowers the bar with 500MB Share Everything plan

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Verizon Wireless lowers the bar with 500MB Share Everything plan

Ah, the wonderful world of wireless carriers. You can almost guarantee that if one makes a move, the others will soon follow. We're still hoping that AT&T and Verizon will succumb to peer pressure and resume offering unlimited data plans, but until that day comes, you can look forward to lots of fine tuning of their tiered share plans. The latest move comes from Verizon, which has introduced its lowest cost offering yet: a 500MB shared plan that runs $40 per month. This rings in at $10 less than its 1GB shared data plan, but when combined with a single smartphone, you're looking at paying $80 per month for unlimited talk, text and 500MB of data that's subject to overage fees. Compare this to AT&T, which just announced a 300MB share plan that costs $70 once bundled with a smartphone. Either way, this presents a cheaper option for some, but it won't be fun keeping such a close eye on the meager data allotment.

Update: This article previously drew a comparison that was based on the price of a feature phone at Verizon, which costs $30 per month. We've updated the article to reflect Verizon's $40 monthly charge for smartphones.

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Via: @VZWNews (Twitter), WSJ

Source: Verizon Wireless

‘OK Google Now’ comes to Verizon’s 2013 Droid trio

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'OK Google Now' comes to Verizon's 2013 Droid trio

If you're anything like us, you've been wringing your hands jealously at the few thousand Google Glass-enabled humans wandering around commanding "OK Glass" as their bidding is done. We'd like to say that the solution we've found is to give everyone a free set of Google's latest indulgence, Oprah-style, but that's not the case -- instead, Verizon's new trio of Droid phones enables very similar voice-powered functionality on its Droid Mini, Ultra and Maxx handsets.

Employing Google's popular (and delightful) Now app, Droid owners can enact a variety of (unnamed) operations, including waking up the Droid by saying "OK Google Now." It's also targeted at folks who are prone to losing their mobiles, as the command, "OK Google Now, call my Droid" will do just that. It's also possible that people nearby will think you're a crazy person, but perhaps they already did considering you're prone to losing such an expensive and important device to your life, eh?

The Verizon-created software enhancements don't stop there, with the trio also getting "Touchless Controls" and "Active Display"; the duo apparently work together to "let users make calls, send texts, get directions, play music, set a reminder and preview notifications hands-free without having to unlock the phone, giving Droid users a whole new way of interacting with their phones." All three phones are available for pre-order starting today and arrive at Verizon starting on August 20th (the Mini lands August 29th).

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Source: Verizon Wireless

Verizon debuts the Droid Maxx, the successor to the RAZR Maxx HD (updated)

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Verizon debuts the Droid Maxx, the successor to the RAZR Maxx HD updated

Fans of Kevlar and long battery life will be happy to hear that Verizon unveiled its latest Maxx, the Droid Maxx, this morning in New York City, and it sports a massive 48-hour battery life. It's apparently 9 percent thinner than last year's counterpart, the RAZR Maxx HD, and it starts at $299 (with the standard two-year contract, naturally) on August 20th. Specifics about which CPU and GPU being used weren't given, though the latest Maxx is reportedly 24 percent faster in the CPU department and 100 percent faster in terms of graphics processing (all on a single SoC, it sounds like). It also features a 10-megapixel camera out back that's capable of shooting 1080p HD video.

The new Maxx was unveiled alongside the Droid Mini and Ultra, effectively replacing the RAZR line that debuted last fall. All three new phones come pre-loaded with Google's VR game Ingress, and seemingly all run on Motorola's newly announced X8 computing system. We're still waiting on more detailed specs, but we'll have a hands-on directly from the NYC event coming up shortly.

Update 1: Reps at the event tell our on-site staff that the Maxx has a 5-inch screen, and a press release from VZW says it has wireless charging and a 3500mAh battery. Additionally, it can apparently be woken on voice command by saying, "Ok Google Now."

Update 2: And now we've got full specs: a 1.7 GHz dual-core CPU with quad-core graphics powers the Maxx, with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory rounding out the list. It's an LTE-enabled phone (naturally) and weighs just under five ounces. Software-wise, it runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.

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Source: Verizon

BlackBerry Q10 available for pre-order on Verizon, $200 with a two-year contract

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BlackBerry Q10 available for preorder on Verizon, $200 with a twoyear contract

For those of you who wouldn't touch a tactile screen if we gave you one, Verizon's just put a smartphone up for pre-order that might be preferable: the Blackberry Q10. Big Red will carry the regular black model and has exclusive dibs on the dapper white Q10 we saw earlier, both of which are on pre-order for $200 with a two-year activation, or $600 sans commitment. On top of real QWERTY chiclets, you'll get a 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 Super AMOLED touch display, dual-core Qualcomm CPU, 2GB of RAM and Blackberry 10.0. As a bonus, Verizon's estimated ship date of June 6th might even line up nicely with the imminent arrival of a certain new version of the OS, too.

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Via: CrackBerry

Source: Verizon

Survey says Verizon is best at customer satisfaction… among the big four, anyway

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Survey says Verizon is best at customer satisfaction among the big four, anyway

The results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index are in, and parroting a recent study by Consumer Reports, Verizon Wireless is named the front-runner with the most happy subscribers among the big four carriers. The survey takes a number of factors into account, such as call clarity, dropped calls, network coverage, data speeds, helpfulness of in-store staff, diversity of plans and the quality of the carrier's websites. As the dust settled, Verizon notched a three-point gain to chart a score of 73 (out of 100), whereas ACSI's previous front-runner, Sprint, held steady with a score of 71. AT&T is portrayed as "in a statistical dead heat with Sprint," which climbed one point to chart an ACSI score of 70. Meanwhile, satisfaction among T-Mobile customers fell a point, which caused the carrier to pull up the rear with a score of 68.

On the whole, ACSI suggests that subscribers are generally more satisfied with regional providers and MVNOs, as the little dogs hold an aggregate score of 78. Speaking in broader terms, the ACSI reports that the wireless industry has reversed its two-year trend of sliding customer satisfaction to hit a benchmark score of 72, which matches the industry's 10-year high. Naturally, improvements still need to be made across the board, but at least things seem to be moving in the right direction.

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Via: FierceWireless

Source: ACSI

Reuters: Verizon lining up $100 billion bid to buy out Vodafone’s share of VZW

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Word that Verizon would like to buy out Vodafone's 45 percent share of Verizon Wireless is hardly new, but Reuters reports it may finally be financially ready to take that step. According to unnamed sources, it's hired bank and legal advisers to prepare the bid, raising $50 billion in bank financing plus $50 billion in its own shares. Friendly discussions are said to start "soon," but if Vodafone is not interested it could take its bid public. It's probably no coincidence that the news is leaking just before Verizon's board meets to discuss a buyout before its regular shareholders meeting, but there are some potential complications. One holdup has been a potential hefty tax bill, but the Verizon CFO has been quoted saying he thinks that can be avoided, giving it more flexibility based on the cash generated by the wireless business.

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Source: Reuters