Verizon

No Voice or Text Overages for Hurricane Sandy Victims on Verizon Wireless

One of the side effects of hurricane Sandy here in New Jersey were widespread power outages. As a result, phone lines that ran through cable went offline, people didn’t have easy access to Facebook or email, and even voice calls over cell phones became very spotty. The only quasi-reliable way to get a message to family and friends was texting. This led to a problem: people with capped text and voice plans were getting nastygrams from their cell companies informing them they were close to or over their limits. Not a great situation to be in when you have no…


In Defense of Landlines

This week had a rough start here in New Jersey. Something like 80% of the state lost power, and we were no exception in our household. While we don’t have a landline, we do have cell phones, and were extremely grateful to never lose signal, even as cable and then electricity dropped. Our neighbor across the street wasn’t so lucky, and she barely had enough signal to send text messages. My parents somehow managed to keep both cable and AND electricity, but they had intermittent landline and cell phone issues all day. However, the one lesson I took from this…


The Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Review

all photos by Kevin Stanford It’s hard not to get excited when a new phone shows up for review, especially when one boasts all of the bells and whistles found in the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE. This particular Droid model was announced earlier this year at CTIA, and I have been using it off and on for the past month. What I’ve learned during this time is that while the Incredible has a slightly smaller build than most of the higher-end Android phones we’ve seen lately, you won’t be compromising too much with this device, and there’s much to…


Just say NO to Verizon Add-On Services!

My cubemate at work asked me a question about his wife’s phone, a Samsung Android device. See, his wife dropped her phone and her screen shattered, of course.  When the replacement arrived, we switched the SIM over, and everything was set … or so we thought.  All of her contacts were missing.  To make sure this doesn’t happen again, he told me that he was looking for apps to prevent this.  I told him he shouldn’t need anything for contacts beyond the syncing that happens with Gmail.  That’s when I checked his phone and realized it was set up to use Verizon’s…


AT&T Joins the Shared Data Game

So I’m working though my latest summer sinus headache and I see the news – AT&T has finally announced (as expected) that they are going to follow Verizon in offering shared data plans.  And, like Verizon’s offering, the plans all include unlimited voice and texting plus a fixed amount of data.  The primary difference you notice between the AT&T and Verizon offerings is that Verizon charges a fixed $40 per smartphone and AT&T lowers the per smartphone cost as you increase the amount of data you purchase.  But Verizon’s “base” charges tend to be lower (per GB) as you get…



Open Letter to Verizon: When Silence Is a Bad Thing

Dear Verizon, First, before I go on, let me say that I am pretty pleased with my Galaxy Nexus.  I want to say this before I go into this short, but justified, rant.  I say this because what I am about to say may be considered negative towards the device itself.  That’s not the case.  It’s a great device even with some of  the issues I have.  Verizon, my issue is squarely with you. Since the release of Android 4.0.4, it’s been swirling around the Android blogs and forums about when this version will, if ever, get to the users…


Sometimes Verizon Expands LTE into Areas Not Listed on Updates!

Each week Verizon expands their massive high-speed LTE network into new areas and buildt out existing areas. Unfortunately for me, neither my home nor my main work office is in LTE coverage, though my office in our main engineering building offers me a tease of high speeds once every week or two. This week as usual I checked out the Verizon page and found the following updates (as compiled by Droid-Life): Introduction cities: Lake Charles, La. Hyannis/Mid-Cape, Mass. Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich. Biloxi/Gulfport/Pascagoula and Oxford, Miss. Atlantic City/Toms River, N.J. Dickinson and Williston, N.D. Ashtabula, Bucyrus and Defiance, Ohio Eugene/Springfield,…


HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Revealed at CTIA

Were you under the impression that most Droids were made by Motorola? I’ll admit that for a while, when I heard Droid that was my first thought — probably because of the Motorola Droid commercials that used to constantly be on. But as you can see by the title (and by the past HTC Droid models), Motorola doesn’t have a lock on the name … evidently Verizon does, because they licensed it from LucasFilms. But I digress. CTIA kicked off with a bang this morning; not only did HTC announce their One S, they’ve also confirmed the internet rumors and…


Hands on with Motorola Droid 4 Pre-ICS ROM Update!

Verizon and Motorola are notoriously slow at getting updates, which was something I knew when I bought my Droid 4. They laid out their plans for the Ice Cream Sandwich Android operating system for their various phones, which is reportedly about to start. As a preliminary step, Verizon has started seeding updates to several phones getting the ICS update in the coming weeks. A friend at work just got the update for their Droid Razr earlier this week, and I subsequently got the one for my Droid 4. As usual, the download showed up on Android fan-sites well before most…


Buying an iPhone, Despite Verizon’s Best Efforts!

Dan’s wife Elana was not the only Gear Diary spouse to give in to the iPhone pressure this weekend-Sarah replaced her HTC Incredible with a 16GB 4S! However, the Verizon salesman betrayed his Android fanboy colors during our sales experience. You see, the salesman approached us and asked Sarah what she was looking to purchase. She said she was looking to replace her phone with an iPhone, and when he found out she was moving from Android to iOS, he proceeded to give her the hard sell. First, he informed her in a very condescending tone that “Android is different…


News Flash – You Can Use Up Your Data Plan Faster on Your iPad With 4G Speeds!

We already know that Dan is a heavy data user – AT&T has him nationally ranked, after all! Today Dan mentioned that in the first week with the new iPad he has already exceeded 2GB of usage. My usage has been much lower, but I am surrounded by WiFi much of the time – but the 4G service has been indispensable, as has the WiFi hotspot! But Dan isn’t alone – there have been several articles about people suddenly finding themselves going over their 2GB data limit and having to pay an extra $10 per GB of data. In the…


The Wilson Electronics AG Pro 75 Was Worth the Upgrade

It’s no secret that if you live or work in an area that isn’t in the middle of a strong cellular coverage zone, your mobile phone signal is going to suffer. That’s one of the things I knew I would have to deal with when I moved to the ranch, but I wasn’t about to let it be the deciding factor.


Verizon Customer Service Rocks!

Sarah and I are planning a trip abroad soon, and on my to-do list was to call Verizon and add international roaming to my iPhone. When I called the customer service line, I was incredibly impressed with how helpful they were, above and beyond what I had expected! As soon as I explained the purpose of my call was to add international roaming, the customer service representative emailed me the Verizon rates for calls, texts, and data. She then waited until I confirmed I had it to review my options and move forwards adding a roaming plan, because she wanted…


Wilson Electronics New Sleek 4G LTE Universal Cellular Signal Booster Rocks!

I’m a big fan of Wilson Electronics Cellular signal boosters, and I got to spend a little bit of time Joe Banos (their CEO) checking out their new 4G LTE Universal Cellular Signal Booster and learning about what’s going on in the booster market. Joe sees 2012 as the year that carriers will acknowledge that customers want better signals on their mobile devices by  embracing cellular signal boosting technology. Verizon is the first carrier to get fully on board, and Joe said another carrier is expected to do the same in the next few weeks. Wilson has just released a universal…


Thank You For Calling Verizon Wireless, How May I Collect an Extra $2 (or not)?

Sorry about the Better Off Dead image, but when I saw this at Droid-Life yesterday that was all I could think of … Verizon Wireless as Johnny chasing Lane across the field and down the mountain in search of the $2 paper money. Here is the image more related to the new policy: According to the report from the AP: Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest cellphone company, said Thursday that it will start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit cards. The company said this “convenience fee” will be introduced Jan. 15….


Droid 4 Revealed – Like a Moto Razr with a Slide-Out QWERTY Keyboard

When it comes to mobile devices I tend to be fairly platform agnostic, owning Android phones, iPod Touches (well, iPods since the original one in 2001), and both iPads and Android Tablets. But there is one place where I have clear bias (well, aside from gaming performance), and that is my preference for physical keyboards. Listing the smartphones I have used over the last few years, there is the original Droid, Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC 7 Pro, and Droid Pro. What do all of those phones have in common? A physical keyboard. I even stuck…


PSA: If You Are a Verizon Wireless Customer, Check Your Privacy Settings!

Whenever a wireless carrier discusses your private information, you can be sure of one thing: they are trying to squeeze more money out of you by leveraging your information, but know that if they don’t give you an opt-out they will have regulators breathing down their necks. So … this week we get an email from Verizon Wireless. What information are they storing? Mobile Usage Information: • Addresses of websites you visit when using our wireless service. These data strings (or URLs) may include search terms you have used • Location of your device (“Location Information”) • App and device…


HTC Rhyme Introduced with a Family of Integrated Accessories and Sleek Good Looks

I can’t even find it in myself to be annoyed that HTC has introduced a phone that is so obviously aimed at women; if they had just colored it plum and called it good, I would have been livid. But no. The HTC Rhyme is a phone that I would have considered carrying anyway … and the bonus is that it just happens to be a lovely plum color. From the unique plum color that draws on the inspiration from HTC’s designers to specific apps, wallpapers, and ringtones created for the HTC Rhyme, HTC Sense’s presence is seen throughout. Hardware design is taken a…


Win up to $10,000 with Verizon’s 4G LTE Field Tester’s Challenge

    Are you an aspiring filmmaker? A smartphone owner? If so, it might be time to get down to business making a 60 – second video for Verizon Wireless’ new Field Tester’s Challenge. The premise is simple: create a unique video short showcasing a field test of Verizon’s 4G LTE network. In other words, you’re making an advertisement. Although the video needs a runtime of just a minute, there really aren’t many other restrictions on entries. The full rules and regulations can be found here, though participants may want to get a head start on the project before the…


Android Device Review: The HTC Verizon ThunderBolt

It’s becoming a problem for me that HTC keeps releasing some of their higher-end phones on Sprint and Verizon; see, I am an AT&T customer. One of my old excuses for why I wouldn’t switch to Verizon was that they were CDMA and therefore didn’t use a SIM card. Not using SIM cards (which are easily swappable into other phones) is a huge problem for people who like to use more than one phone, or in other words, people like me. That’s why the ThunderBolt, a phone that I have thoroughly enjoyed testing, became a bit of a conundrum. It…