Verizon adds 4G LTE to nine more cities

Verizon Wireless customers will be able to join the LTE network in nine new cities, taking advantage of lightening-fast speeds on 4G devices. The expansion includes:

• Mobile and Montgomery (AL)
• Greater Fairfield and New Haven (CT)
• Gainesville, Pensacola, and Tallahassee (FL)
• Fayetteville-Lumberton (NC)
• Bryan-College Station and Temple-Killeen (TX)

There are also reports of access in Albany, though VZW has yet to confirm launching LTE in New York’s capital city. The carrier has also expanded coverage in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.

This additions bring the list of LTE cities to 55, just over the 35 percent mark towards the carrier’s goal of 147 cities by year’s end. 4G PlayBooks are also expected to hit the market this summer. Soon we’ll be enjoying 4G on our BlackBerry tablets!

via:Engadget

Comcast launches Xfinity 3G / 4G MiFi for $25

Comcast teamed up with Clearwire to bring WiMAX to the masses a couple of years ago, and now the company is jumping on the bandwidth-sharing bandwagon by offering a mobile hotspot. It’s the same Novatel 3G/4G MiFi from Sprint that’s been putting internet access in our pockets for a month, only this one sports an Xfinity badge and cheaper price tag. While the Now Network version costs $80, Comcast’s Internet 2go customers get the device for $25 on a one-year contract. Plus service is only $40 a month for the same Clearwire coverage that costs $50 from Sprint. Sounds like a winning WiMAX combination to us.

RIM Promoting BlackBerry PlayBook with “BlackBerry Rocks Tour”

While RIM may not be advertising the BlackBerry PlayBook they are throwing a “BlackBerry Rocks Tour” for it. I have managed to confirm that they are having one in New York City tomorrow along with a few other cities I have discovered are also throwing BlackBerry Rocks Tours. Above is a screenshot of the email they have been sending out to VIP’s that one of our tipsters sent along. I am just kind of happy to hear that RIM is at least marketing/promoting the BlackBerry PlayBook to businesses!

Here are the cities I have confirmed will be hosting the BlackBerry Rocks Tour:

• April 7th New York City
• April 12th Boston
• April 19th Chicago
• April 21st Toronto
• April 26th Philadelphia
• May 2nd Washington DC
• May 17th Seattle
• May 24th Los Angeles

The tour seems to be targeted at businesses and here is the text of the invite:

Verizon: 38 cities, 60 airports to be blessed with LTE by end of this year

Today at CTIA, Verizon Wireless announced that its next generation, LTE, 4G network will cover 38 major U.S. cities and 60 additional airports by the end of 2010. Some of the initial cities getting LTE include: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The official press release, with a full list of cities an airports, is after the break.

Verizon Launches 4G LTE In 38 Major Metropolitan Areas by the End of the Year

Order food at the ballpark from your BlackBerry

We have spent most of this week discussing the future of the BlackBerry platform. First it was the BlackBerry PlayBook, but that wasn’t the only announcement RIM had up its sleeve. Among its many new developments were advertising in apps and a more social BBM. I’d like to close the week with a development that could add another dimension to your smartphone experience. Imagine being able to order food at the ballpark, right from your seat, using your BlackBerry.

There are two applications on my BlackBerry that I use far more frequently than the others: Pandora and MLB At-Bat. The latter is a bit disappointing, at least as it compares to the iPhone version. Yes, I can get scores and details of every game, and I can listen to any game on any radio feed. But the BlackBerry version does not offer the live streaming of games, a feature I’ve pined for since I first saw it last season. It looks like the iPhone will get another exclusive, though this is one I’d expect BlackBerry to get as well.

Last week MLB Advanced Media, along with the Philadelphia Phillies and concessions partner ARAMARK, introduced the ability for fans to order food right from their iPhone. Using the At-Bat application, fans at Citizens Bank Park can order from among the stadium’s most popular items and have them delivered right to their seat. It doesn’t matter if those are field level or grandstand. No longer will you have to leave your seat, often missing a half inning, to get a bite. Unfortunately, it appears that beer is not included on the menu at this point. But the possibility certainly exists in the future.

I imagine that while MLB and Apple might have reason to keep the streaming video feature exclusive to the iPhone, the same motivation probably doesn’t exist for this food ordering service. The more smartphones that’s on the better ballpark experience fans will have. I imagine that when MLB rolls out this service to other ballparks next season that it will be available on BlackBerry — and Android for that matter. This is the kind of thing you can expect your BlackBerry to start doing in the future. Soon enough we won’t be able to imagine what we did without one.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com – home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

RIM opens first BlackBerry retail store in China with Digital China!

Research In Motion has opened their doors to the first BlackBerry retail store in China this Wednesday, making for a better user experience in purchases and with hopes to expand its mark on the world. Company spokeswoman Natalie Wang noted that RIM plans to open more retail stores in the coming years but did not provide details on that statement.

So far though, the Curve 8910 and Curve 8310 are the only devices available with no word as of yet if newer devices will be available in the future. I would seriously hope so being that those devices are basically BlackBerry ghosts of RIM’s past, I also think this could be a big stepping ground for the anticipated OS 6 ready to be released later this year along with new (and improved) devices ready to blow more competition out of the water.

Another RIM spokesperson has confirmed that the store is in-fact not run by RIM but by Digital China. While this is the first retail store to open in China; other BlackBerry retail store exist here in the US, including one in Farmington Hills, MI that opened a few years ago. I would like to see a BlackBerry retail store here in Minnesota, we need it and deserve it, we have the Mall of America and the Gallery in Philadelphia! We have room in there for you RIM.