Verizon Taking Pre Orders For The Samsung Galaxy S5 With BOGO Offer

When the Samsung Galaxy S5 was announced back in February the industry was taken by surprise by its sleek design, 5.1" Super AMOLED display, improved 16MP Camera, and don't forget about the heart-rate monitor...

Shortly after, all the US carriers had a sign up page to be notified when this beautiful smartphone would be available, which was followed by the pre-order of the Samsung Galaxy S5 on AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Sprint.

Verizon has started accepting pre orders for the Samsung Galaxy S5 starting today, with the same price of $199.99 with a 2-year contract (after $50 mail in rebate debit card), or $25.55/month with Verizon Edge. But Verizon is shaking things up a bit by offering the Galaxy S5 as a BOGO, where you can get another Galaxy S5 for free, or choose from the Samsung ATIV SE, or the HTC One (M8), as long as you sign a 2-year contract for each device.

The availability date for all US carriers is set for April 11th. Are you interested in buying the Samsung Galaxy S5, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below...

Source: Verizon Wireless

HTC's All New HTC One Stops By The FCC, With Verizon Bands In Tow

An FCC listing for the “All New HTC One” for Verizon. The listing doesn’t show anything new in terms of specs or features that wasnt previously leaked, however LTE bands 4 and 13, plus global roaming has been confirmed.

Verizon and HTC gave the All New HTC One for Verizon Wireless a model number of HTC6525LVW. Just to throw out some facts the original One from last year was released with a model number of HTC6500LVW. Assuming going for model number 6500 to 6525 seems like a natural progression, or at the least we can hope...

Source: FCC

Shareholders Approve Verizon's Vodafone Buyout

The shareholders of both Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group have approved the sale of Vodafone's stake in +Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and +Vodafone. Vodafone owns about 45% of Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications proposed last year to take full ownership of the joint venture in a deal valued at $130 billion. The companies' shareholders agreed to the terms of the sale and the issuance of new stock to make the financial transaction work. The Federal Communications Commission has already approved the sale, but it still needs the approval of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The companies expect the deal to close on or about February 21.

Source: Verizon

BlackBerry 10.2.1 Update Hits Verizon Z10, Others To Follow

BlackBerry 10.2.1 update getting pushed out starting today for the Verizon version of the BlackBerry Z10, let's take a look at some of the new features that will be coming with the latest BlackBerry 10 build. First, the BlackBerry Priority Hub will learn all about you, curating your important emails, calls, IMs and notifications. This allows you to quickly receive those communications that are important to you.

The BlackBerry 10.2.1 update includes new battery monitoring tools and usage indicators that help you manage battery life better. The update also gives you more options to respond to someone trying to reach you. You can now send a text, email or use BBM to reply to calls. To make responding to text messages and email a lot easier, the update allows you to set up different SMS and email groups so that you can communicate with a large number of people at the same time. And notifications on the lock screen are now actionable, so you can quickly respond to someone without having to unlock the phone and open the appropriate application.
Among other new features coming with the BlackBerry 10.2.1 update is an option that allows you to save a website for viewing later, while offline. Those with the BlackBerry Z30, BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Q5 will be able to use their handsets as an FM radio, even when not connected to a network.

By the end of next month, all U.S. BlackBerry 10 users should have received the update, which is also rolling out to other countries and regions like Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Source: BlackBerry

Motorola Hosting Hour Long $100 Off Sale On Moto X Devices, January 27th

Motorola announced a new sale that is set to take place next Monday on January 27. The deal will only last a single hour online, beginning at 3pm EST and ending at 4pm EST. During that time frame, you can grab an off contract Moto X for $100 off of the full retail price $299 for the 16GB model and $349 for the 32GB model.

Motorola stated if you miss the $100 off fire sale on Monday, Moto X phones will remain at $70 off of the full contract price until Valentine’s Day in February.

Source: Motorola

Motorola Assist Updated With Text By Voice While Driving

Today, Motorola's Assist app on the Google Play Store has been updated with a few new features. Assist can determine your actions, such as driving, sleeping, and perform a pre-specificed command.

Until today, the app could only read you the text messages you received while driving. With the newest update you can now reply to texts while driving by speaking to the phone. Once the text is read to you, you will have the ability to read a response to the app. 

In addition, Assist can also launch your music player of choice when it notices you are driving.

The update is available on the Google Play Store. Motorola Assist is only compatible with Verizon Wireless' most recent Droid line-up, as well as the Moto X.

Source: Google Play Store

Moto G Now Available Online At Verizon for $99

Motorola’s most affordable prepaid phone, the Moto G, is now available online at Verizon for $99.99 without a contract. Keep in mind the Moto G only works on Verizon’s 3G network, not 4G LTE, and also can’t be taken to another network. 

Source: Verizon Wireless

Verizon Moto G Leaked, Rumored At $100 Off Contract

Shared by Google+ user “Josue Joseph“, the above image shows the Moto G in Verizon retail packaging. The blister packaging reveals that the device will be sold with no annual contract and also touts that users will get unlimited talk and text and a choice of one of Verizon’s data plans.

There’s no word on when the device will be released to the public from Verizon. Josue notes in the comments of his post that it “looks like” the device will be sold for just $100 off-contract. That is an amazing value for a phone that was already seen as a value at $179.

Source: Josue Joseph via Google+

HTC One Android 4.3 Update For Verizon Approved By HTC

The HTC One on Verizon is ready to receive its Android 4.3 update this week. HTC’s executive director of product management has approved the update , Verizon has now posted the support documents, making everything official and giving us all of the details surrounding this update, which as been finalized as build 2.10.605.1.

Verizon Agress To Buy Vodafone’s 45% Stake In Verizon Wireless

Verizon Communications announced that it has agreed to buy the 45% of Verizon Wireless that it does not already own from Vodafone Group for $130 billion. Verizon will pay Vodafone primarily in cash and stocks. The deal was agreed upon by the management teams over the weekend and approved by the boards of directors at both firms today. Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said, "This transaction will enhance value across platforms and allow Verizon to operate more efficiently, so we can continue to focus on producing more seamless and integrated products and solutions for our customers. We believe full ownership will provide increased opportunities in the enterprise and consumer wireline markets." Once complete, Verizon will have full control over Verizon Wireless and its assets. Vodafone will use the funds gained through the divestiture to fortify its European and other worldwide business ventures. The deal will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.


Source: Verizon Wireless

Vodafone Confirms Talks To Sell Verizon Stakes

Vodafone today confirmed reports that it is in talks with Verizon Communications to sell its 45% stake of Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone. The companies held talks earlier this year, but no deal was reached. The two firms rekindled their discussions in July due to changes in the financial markets that make the deal more attractive to both companies. Verizon is working with banks to raise about $60 billion to help with the buyout. The total cost of the deal is said to between $100 and $130 billion. Vodafone said that it would use any funds raised by the sale to help with other acquisitions and to pay down debt.


Source: Reuters

Verizon Wireless And Vodafone Discuss $100 Billion Plus Buyout

Vodafone owns a 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. This is a fact that rankles Verizon constantly. Verizon has tried a number of times to work out a deal to buy out Vodafone, but it hasn't been able to make the deal yet. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon and Vodafone have started up talks again to try to arrange a buyout.

The talks between the two sides had said to have fallen off recently, but apparently have gotten very serious. The report says that Verizon is looking to buy out Vodafone for "well over $100 billion"; word has it that the talks have gotten serious enough that Verizon has even been talking to multiple banks about the loans for around $50 billion it would need in order to complete the deal.

Earlier this year, the two sides were quite far apart with Verizon said to be pushing for a deal closer to $100 billion, while Vodafone was asking for something around $130 billion.


Source: WSJ

How Siri Almost Became An Android Exclusive For Verizon

Details on the the history of Siri, including Steve Jobs' move to contact the company just three weeks after the independent app's launch, have surfaced over the last several years, but The Huffington Post has now published an extensive history of the technology and company that reveals a few other interesting details. 

The report outlines how Siri grew out of a Department of Defense project to integrate with 42 different web services to perform its virtual assistant services, many of which were discontinued when Apple scaled back the platform for inclusion in iOS. Apple has been relatively slow to build Siri's feature set back up, but has been making progress on the effort. 

Perhaps most interestingly, the report reveals that Siri was very nearly an Android exclusive for Verizon, but the deal was obviously broken when Steve Jobs and Apple moved quickly to acquire Siri.

In the fall of 2009, several months before Apple approached Siri, Verizon had signed a deal with the startup to make Siri a default app on all Android phones set to launch in the new year. When Apple swooped in to buy Siri, it insisted on making the assistant exclusive to Apple devices, and nixed the Verizon deal. In the process, it narrowly avoided seeing Siri become a selling point for smartphones powered by its biggest rival, Google. (Somewhere in the vaults of the wireless giant, there are unreleased commercials touting Siri as an Android add-on.)
The report goes on to discuss some of the challenges faced by Siri at Apple, including difficulties in negotiating partnerships with content providers, Apple's emphasis on broadening access to other countries and languages over pushing the technology forward for a smaller subset of users, and corporate politics that have resulted in the loss of some of Siri's biggest advocates at Apple. 

Siri is also facing strong competition from the Android platform of which it was almost a part. Google has moved quickly to develop its own virtual assistant capabilities in the form of Google Now, and many are looking for Apple to step up the pace of improvement with Siri in order to reestablish it in users' minds as a key advantage for Apple as it was touted at its 2011 launch on the iPhone 4S.


Source: MacRumors

Verizon Said To Launch Internal Alpha Testing For Redbox Instant

Verizon and Redbox have been working together at least since February to bring an exclusive streaming movie service to big reds network. Happily called Redbox Instant. Alpha testing or the service is set to begin by this afternoon according to Fast Company. How it all works, the number of titles and the monthly cost for it are still being kept under wraps for now at least. With Redbox locations all over the place, it is feasible to believe that you will have an account that will link you to physical rentals, probably via a barcode on your device’s screen, as well as streaming options.

Redbox does a fairly good job of bringing the latest DVD titles to their physical locations, we wonder how that will translate to digital streaming though as that is a whole new monster to deal with. If Verizon and Redbox plan to compete in the streaming media market, they are going to have to make sure they have a phenomenal list of content and  be sure to make it affordable. Will they charge a buck per movie for one viewing or will they go with a monthly plan? We are extremely eager to find out how they put this out there.

As Arstechnica points out though, there is already a red flag popping up that could cause some trouble in the future. That would be the constant fight for net neutrality. Since Verizon is also an internet provider with FiOS, they will need to be certain that they aren’t favoring Redbox Instant traffic over Netflix or Hulu. We doubt Verizon would put themselves in that sort of position, but we are certain it will arise more than a few times.

Depending on the cost and the service they plan to release, how does a Redbox Instant streaming service sound to our Verizon friends out there? Be sure to check out the original press release by Verizon from February.

[Arstechnica]

Say Hello To Rebox Instant By Verizon

At long last, the joint streaming video deal between Redbox and Verizon has gotten an official name. Say hello to Rebox Instant by Verizon.

Verizon and Redbox announced back in February that the two companies would be joining up for a streaming video service some time this year.  Since that time the only other news of the venture was a leak the following day of it possibly being named “Redbox Instant.”

This morning the name turned out to be somewhat official when RedboxInstant.com opened its doors, but the site further down refers to it as “Redbox Instant by Verizon.”  Hopefully that won’t be the full name that is used at all times because it’s just a whole lot of words to say.

Currently the site just says “DVDs at the kiosk + Instant streaming hits, all in one fist-pumping package.”  The most interesting bit of info on the site is that does list Shawn Stickland as the CEO.  He also served as the VP of Verizon’s FiOS service and was heralded as one of the driving forces behind its success.  This, to us, says that Rebox Instant has big plans, and a large portion of that is being driven by Verizon.

There is no indication of how much this “fist-pumping package” will cost you, but you can enter your email address for future updates.

[Technobuffalo]

Motorola DROID RAZR, RAZR MAXX Update Being Pushed By Verizon

It looks like the 6.12.181 upgrade is now making its way out to customers. The 6.12.181 update includes tweaks for improved device stability and enhancements to help extend battery life, among a number of other changes, so this definitely looks like something that RAZR and RAZR MAXX owners will want to check out. If the update has yet to make its way to your neck of the woods and you just can't wait for it any longer, you can check for it manually by heading into Menu > Settings > About phone > System updates.

Verizon Shows Off Droid Incredible 4G On Droid Does Site

Verizon Wireless today revealed the HTC Droid Incredible 4G through its Droid Does web site. As the name implies, the Incredible 4G is an Android 4.0 smartphone that supports Verizon's LTE 4G network. The Incredible 4G runs HTC's Sense 4.0 user interface, and is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM. It features a 4-inch qHD display, 8-megapixel main camera and VGA user-facing camera, Beats Audio, mobile hotspot for up to 10 devices, support for 32GB microSD cards. The HTC Droid Incredible 4G costs $299.99, but availability was not immediately announced by Verizon.

Maintenance Update For Motorola Droid 4

Verizon Wireless has revealed the details of a system update for the Motorola Droid 4. The update does not bump the phone to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but provides a number of tweaks and fixes to the phone's performance. Some of the improvements include better battery life, better Wi-Fi performance, more reliable visual voicemail and messaging notifications, and fewer device lockups. The update can be downloaded and installed over the air. Verizon will push the update out over the next few weeks, though users can initiate the update on their own.

Motorola DROID 2 Maintenance Update Outed

Good news for Motorola DROID 2 owners, as Verizon has posted details of a new software update for the second entry in the DROID family on its support page. The update is software version 4.5.621.A955.Verizon.en.US and brings with it a Google security patch, a reduction in Out of Memory errors and several other enhancements. There may not be any major additions in this update, but it's good to see Motorola and Verizon continue to tweak and improve the DROID 2. As for when the new software will begin rolling out, Verizon says that it's "coming soon." If you've got a DROID 2 and want to check for it right this second, you can do so by heading into Menu > Settings > About phone > System updates.

Verizon Expanding LTE To Nine New Markets

Verizon Wireless announced that it is expanding its LTE 4G network footprint in nine markets across California and Nevada. Markets with increased LTE availability include Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Monterey, Sacramento, Salinas, and the San Francisco Bay area in California, as well as Reno, Nev. According to Verizon, its LTE 4G network will expand in these markets in the coming weeks. Verizon is also launching LTE coverage in Salisbury, Md., beginning April 19.