Verizon Wireless promos $20 plan for the data reluctant

For those of you living close to our nation’s circle of political puissance, Verizon’s got a promotional offer that’ll help you feel like one of the data-dependent elite. Available starting today and running through September 30th, existing voice subscribers in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia can begin their trek towards an always-connected lifestyle by tacking on 300MB of data for $20 per month. The deal’s intended for cost-conscious customers who haven’t yet learned “the many benefits of… a smartphone,” and is open to any of the operator’s 3G or 4G LTE handsets. Be sure to hit the break to find out more in the presser below, but we warn you — internet addiction is a slippery, costly slope.

Press Release: Verizon Wireless Introduces the BlackBerry Bold 9930

Well Verizon fans – the wait is over. The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is now available for buy online and will be available in stores on August 25th. If you’ve held out for the next big device then you’re in luck. The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is truly one of the best devices yet, so if you’re ready to upgrade then this is definitely the way to go.

Press Release

Verizon Wireless to unleash the BlackBerry Bold 9930 August 15th

Hey Verizon customers, we know you’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear when you’ll be able to purchase that shiny new BlackBerry Bold 9930, and this might be just the news you’re looking for. This pic popped up in the forums.  Another picture (after the break) confirms the dates as August 15th from Direct Fulfillment and August 25th in store. Awesome! Will you be picking up a Bold 9930 for yourself?

Verizon hops on ban-wagon, blocks unauthorized tetherers

Verizon Wireless is seemingly following AT&T’s lead and taking action against subscribers who make use of unauthorized tethering apps. ReadWriteWeb reports that one of its writers was using a “jailbroken tethered Verizon Motorola X” with an unauthorized third-party app, rather than paying for Verizon Wireless’ mobile hotspot solution as its contract terms require. According to the report, the writer was blocked from accessing webpages on devices tethered to her DROID X on Friday, and was instead redirected to a Verizon Wireless page outlining rates for authorized mobile hotspot usage. Last week, AT&T confirmed to BGR that it would soon begin to revoke unlimited smartphone data plans from users who used third-party apps to share their smartphone’s data connection with other devices. Verizon seems to have taken a slightly less abrasive approach, though the outcome is the same: carriers want customers to stop abusing their congested data networks, and AT&T and Verizon are apparently done asking politely.

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via: bgr

Commercial in production for Verizon's new BlackBerry lineup

 

We’ve seen a lot of disappointed folks this week on Verizon that are concerned that Big Red won’t be carrying any of the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones. We don’t know the reason why Verizon hasn’t announced officially which devices they will carry, but as one of the biggest wireless providers in the US, it seems silly to think they would drop BlackBerry all together. In any case, this tidbit of information posted in the forums today should help squash some of your worries. Christian Remde is a director, and he posted on his personal blog on Tuesday about his latest project, which happens to involve this exact subject. *Edit: Apparently between the time I wrote this and it was published, he edited out the BlackBerry portion of what you see below. Rest assured, it WAS there this morning.*

This week I’m directing for Invodo, an agency here in Austin.  One of their clients is Verizon Wireless and, in particular, I’m directing a web spot for one of Verizon’s new Blackberry smart phones that are coming out in the next month or so.  Can’t say too much about the actual device as I had to sign some NDA’s, but it’s a very cool project.

So fear not Verizon subscribers, you won’t be left out of the loop when these new devices are released. As far as release dates and prices, well, those remain to be seen.

 

via: cb

Verizon Wireless wins J.D. Power customer care award

J.D. Power and Associates announced on Thursday that Verizon Wireless ranked highest in the company’s 2011 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study, Volume 2. The carrier’s overall score was 770/1000, which was above the average 761 score in the ‘full service’ category. T-Mobile came in second place with a score of 766, followed by Sprint (752) and AT&T (751). J.D. Power and Associates also noted that non-contract customers have shorter wait times than customers with contracts (5.5 minutes versus 4.4 minutes). “There is also a disparity between the contract and non-contract segments in terms of the quality of the experience with the service representative,” J.D. Power and Associates senior director of wireless services Kirk Parsons said. “In particular, non-contract customers are considerably less satisfied than are contract customers in the areas of knowledge about plans; personal concern for customers; and apathy towards customers.” Boost Mobile ranked the best among non-contract carriers with a score of 763.

 

Read on for the full press release.

Verizon Ups Fee by 3 Cents – Might Get You Out of Your Contract Without an ETF

I always love when carriers do things like this. Verizon Wireless put a “Notice of Change to Regulatory Charge” in this months bill saying they plan on upping the charge to $0.16 from $0.13 per line each month. The Consumerist is always first to jump on these “Material Changes” to your contract as an opportunity to get out of your cellphone contract without paying an Early Termination Fee. When I first heard about this with text messaging charge increases I didn’t believe it but since then I have seen quite a few people get away with it.

 

In short you need to stick to your guns when calling Verizon and stating that this extra 3 cents is a “Materially Adverse” change to your contract. If you want to give it a shot you can read up more about the method and details on the Consumerist. A few of the people I know who did this managed to also keep their number by going through this process and not actually cancelling the line but rather having the retention department note their account that the ETF was waived. Then then ported their number off. No promises but you can try to pull that off and port your number to Google Voice…

PS: The thing that really pisses me off about all these fees from wireless carriers is they try to make it sound like it is some sort of government imposed fee or tax when it really is just the carrier trying to squeeze everybody for more money. Tack that on top of Verizon’s horrible new data plan tiers and the world starts looking a bit scary with an AT&T/T-Mobile merger allowing AT&T and Verizon to screw customers left and right.

 

via:bbreview

Carrier Billing results in twice as many people buying applications

With the release of Version 2.0 of BlackBerry AppWorld, RIM added an option to purchase applications via carrier billing for select carriers. This is an option that is growing in popularity, and results in twice as many applications being sold by the average customer on carriers who support carrier billing.

The above chart shows the comparative amount of sales for the seven largest North American wireless providers, normalized by the size of their BlackBerry customer base. Of these carriers the two that support carrier billing in AppWorld (AT&T and Telus) see their average customer twice as likely to buy applications then a user on any of the other networks.

The measurements in this chart are relative to the number of purchases at Verizon Wireless (the largest carrier), such that Verizon would always have a value of 1.00X. The number of purchases is based upon purchases of Pixelated Plus from January-March 2011. Normalization for carrier size was based on data from the free application Pixelated over the same time period. All data was collected through BlackBerry AppWorld at the time of download.

via:bbr

AT&T buys T-mobile to create the new top dog in US wireless

On Sunday, Deutsche Telekom agreed to sell its T-Mobile USA property to AT&T to help AT&T create America’s largest mobile phone provider, trumping Verizon Wireless. The deal involves cash and stock and is currently valued at $39 billion.

The move also has larger global implications as Deutsche Telekom establishes a relationship with AT&T that makes the US provider a part of its global family of wireless carriers — similar to how Verizon is connected to Vodafone. How’s will work? Deutsche Telekom gets an executive seat on the AT&T board of directors and becomes a major shareholder in the company.

This move makes a lot more sense than the rumors earlier this month of Sprint buying T-Mobile. Even though both of those carriers needed a shot in the arm to compete with US wireless leaders AT&T and Verizon, the integration of the two companies would have been extremely difficult since both their 3G and 4G wireless networks are completely incompatible.

On the other hand, both AT&T and T-Mobile have similar GSM networks. Their 3G networks are based on different frequencies but both companies have been building faster networks based on HSPA+ so we should really look at this as a 4G move. The two companies have been badly trailing Verizon Wireless in 4G now that Verizon has aggressively begun rolling out LTE across the US. While HSPA+ isn’t as fast or as robust as LTE, the combined HSPA+ networks of AT&T and T-Mobile will give them a larger footprint than Verizon’s current LTE network.

Of course, integration still takes time – even for compatible networks. CNET’s Maggie Reardon perfectly sums up the 4G challenges that lie ahead for AT&T in integrating T-Mobile (if the deal gets regulatory approval):

While it’s true that T-Mobile and AT&T each use GSM technology, the carriers also use different bands of spectrum to deliver their services. Specifically, T-Mobile uses the spectrum it bought in the AWS spectrum auction in 2006 to build its 3G wireless network. AT&T also acquired spectrum in that auction. And it is using this AWS spectrum to build its LTE network. AT&T uses its 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum to deliver its 3G service. Part of the reason that AT&T wanted T-Mobile in the first place was to get more of the AWS spectrum for its LTE network. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has no additional spectrum to deploy LTE, since it’s been using the AWS spectrum for its 3G service. What this means is that once AT&T and T-Mobile merge, AT&T will have to move all of T-Mobile’s existing 3G customers (which includes the supposed 4G HSPA+ customers) to AT&T’s 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum. This means T-Mobile customers will need new handsets, since the existing T-Mobile 3G HSPA and 4G HSPA+ handsets will no longer work on the AWS spectrum.

Meanwhile, Verizon is planning to upgrade its entire nationwide network to LTE by the end of 2013. This unexpected AT&T/T-Mobile tie-up could have the effect of accelerating the 4G race in the US, which would make the American 4G networks some of the best on the planet — a reversal of fortune after the US fell behind Europe and Asia in 3G.

Note: We’re likely to hear more about the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and its potential implications this week at the CTIA Wireless conference on Orlando. I’ll be there covering it from beginning to end. You can read my posts here as well as follow me on Twitter for the latest updates from the conference.

Read more

• AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom (AT&T)
• Q&A: More Information About AT&T Acquisition of T-Mobile USA (T-Mobile)
• AT&T Buying T-Mobile USA In $39 Billion Deal (Silicon Alley Insider)
• AT&T to Buy Deutsche Telekom T-Mobile Unit for $39 Billion in Cash, Stock (Bloomberg)
• Why AT&T Bought T-Mobile (Mashable)
• Can Sprint win over regulators in AT&T, T-Mobile merger? (ZDNet)
• AT&T-T-Mobile USA deal may face regulatory hurdles (CNET)
• AT&T-T-Mobile merger: By the numbers (CNET)

 

 

via: ZDNet

Rumor: NEW Blackberry 4G Codename "Triton" – Coming June 2011!?!?

Say hello…to the first ever Blackberry 4G with an app store…The Blackberry Triton! The unofficial name (Triton) suits it well as it will be without a doubt, the best blackberry ever… strong, fast, and elite. The new 4G Blackberry does not have a home yet, so which network will get it first is unknown. AT&T is building a 4G network, so is Verizon Wireless (LTE)…but Sprint already has a 4G network and T-Mobile is not too far behind. If all goes as expected, 4G speeds will be 4 to 8 times faster than 3G network rates today, with coverage available over broader areas. The Blackberry Triton should be made with both CDMA and GSM technology, making it compatible on all U.S. Carriers. No more downloading apps from websites, using desktop managers to install and remove items or typing out a credit card number on your phone, unless you want to of course, but why would you when you can access the app store right from your phone! With Blackberry App World, you can get the best applications, instantly. This Blackberry is set to have a sleek, modern design with a touch of the Blackberry Storm in it’s functionality. The functions for the phone itself are an enhanced version of the Storm, such as accessing the phone book, calendar, etc… but the home screen is wide open for you to customize with applications from the new Blackberry App World. The new Blackberry Triton has app makers scrambling to write the best applications possible to be worthy of the Blackberry line.

List of possible features:

• Mini Camera on front for Video Chat
• High Definition 5.0 Mega Pixel Camera
• High Definition Camcorder
• High Definition Audio
• HD Memory Card
• OLED Screen
• Multi-Touch Navigation
• True GPS
• Youtube
• Blackberry App World

Get ready to customize your blackberry in way you never imagined. Download the Facebook application right to your Blackberry Triton…add the Bloomberg application to keep up on the financial world. Want a mortgage calculator? A pharmacology guide?…or just about anything you can imagine… simply access the Blackberry App World and it’s yours in seconds. This app store and phone will work a lot like the iPhone in terms of downloading applications. Surf the web, stream live video, audio, download movies, games and video chat live at lightining speeds. Multi Touch Navigation makes it almost impossible to select the wrong function from the touch screen. Using multi touch technology, the screen is able to register multiple points being selected at one time which makes viewing and selecting material effortless. The Blackberry Triton has quite a few unique features possible. The home screen buttons have been updated to reflect a more modern, exciting interaction in order to place a call or surf the web!

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