Articles about Verizon

Valentine’s Day is coming and since nothing says "I love you" more than a Windows Phone, Verizon has decided to mark the occasion by debuting a red edition of Nokia's mid-range Lumia 822 smartphone. The choice of color will certainly help the handset stand out, seeing as the 822 is otherwise only available in sober shades -- black, white, and grey.

The small red is available to buy from Big Red now, either online, or from a Verizon Wireless retail store, and can be picked up for free on a new two-year contract.

The Windows Phone 8 model features 4G LTE connectivity, a 4.3-inch display with an 800 by 480 resolution, and a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It also has an 8MP back-facing camera (capable of 1080p video recording at 30 frames per second) and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

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Verizon and AT&T are closely watching how consumers respond to T-Mobile's move to end smartphone subsidies. However, a look at their comments gives me the impression that they haven't had a detailed look at T-Mobile's value plans.

In recent comments, CEOs of both companies stated that they were ready to follow T-Mobile and offer non-subsidized plans if they prove popular with consumers. However, both CEOs caution that consumers don't "like paying upfront for the phone" and are used to getting "low-cost phones". Based on these comments, I'd have to believe they were misquoted in some way because I find it hard to believe that the CEOs of the two biggest carriers in the United States could be so misinformed.

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Microsoft may have pulled out from CES 2013, leaving Qualcomm to steal the spotlight with its opening keynote presentation, but the firm's smartphone operating system lives and breathes at the popular trade show. US carriers Sprint and Verizon Wireless unveiled plans to offer new devices running Windows Phone 8, with the big red being the first of the two to release a product to market with the Samsung ATIV Odyssey.

For quite some time the ATIV Odyssey was rumored to surface as a Verizon-branded version of the ATIV S, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The new device comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 800 by 480, a 5MP back-facing camera capable of 1080p video recording and a 1.2MP front-facing camera. The handset is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and a 2,100mAh battery.

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Almost two months ago Verizon Wireless announced the HTC Windows Phone 8X, in Blue, Black and Red, for $199.99. The US carrier slashed the price of the smartphone down to a more competitive $99.99 on new two-year contracts, bringing the handset more in line with the other Windows Phone 8 device available right now at the big red, the Lumia 822.

However, the move to halve the price may add even more confusion for prospective customers looking to purchase a new Windows Phone 8 handset. At the $99.99 price point Verizon now offers two similar handsets, the Lumia 822 and the Windows Phone 8x, neither of which sets itself clearly apart from the other in the software or the hardware department.

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A report surfaced today that Verizon Wireless, a premier mobile carrier in the United States has been breached, with a result of three million customers being compromised. The good news is that the compromise does not seem to be malicious. The bad news is that, as proof of this, 300,000 users' data was released.

While the number may seem large, it represents a small fraction of the company's user base. Still, any customer information released into the wild is bad. So how did this happen and how bad is it?

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When Verizon Wireless introduced the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the handset shipped with a fairly restrictive modding setup. It could not be rooted early on and there was also the problem of a tightly locked bootloader, both of which are now sorted out. But after the major obstacles are gone the big red Galaxy Note II Developer Edition surfaces with, you guessed it, an unlocked bootloader. But is it worth it?

The Galaxy Note II Developer Edition comes with the same impressive specifications as the standard version. The smartphone features a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.6GHz quad-core processor backed by 2GB of RAM and a whopping 3,100 mAh battery. The 16GB of internal storage as well as the microSD card slot are carried over, just like Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz running on top. Fairly straightfoward, except the unlocked bootloader.

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That was fast. Little short of three months ago Android 4.1 Jelly Bean made its way onto the international Samsung Galaxy S III and, starting Friday, the coveted operating system is available for the Verizon Wireless branded handset as well.

The software upgrade, bearing the "JRO03L.I535VRBLK3" moniker, comes in at a rather modest 62MB in size and upgrades the Galaxy S III to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, build number JRO03L. Users should expect a number of new features, the most noteworthy of which include better voice search capability through Google Now, a revised notification panel, resizable widgets, and improved camera software. There's also a treat for global travelers.

Big red customers that wish to take the Galaxy S III abroad now have the ability to select a new "Global" option in "Preferred network mode". It will allow the handset to operate on international carrier networks, without resorting to modding to enable GSM compatibility.

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Among the modding community, Android devices from Verizon Wireless are known for limited modding capabilities. Samsung Galaxy Note II is no different, however, its stigma is slowly fading. The handset can run apps with elevated privileges, and now the bootloader can be unlocked as well.

An unlocked bootloader may not appeal to less demanding users, but holds a great deal of importance to enthusiasts that want to install custom Android distributions, third-party recoveries or kernels. But in order to get even a whiff of all the goodies, Galaxy Note II users first have to install a new Partition Information Table and a custom ROM. Afterwards an exploit must be run in order to install the PIT file (again) and flash the insecure (unlocked) bootloader as well as the new recovery.

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Android devices from Verizon Wireless are known among the modding community as fairly restrictive when it comes to rooting or unlocking the bootloader. The Samsung Galaxy Note II, now available at the big red, is no exception, but the controversial smartphone can be modded to run apps using elevated privileges, with plans to unlock the bootloader as well.

The process is fairly simple to carry out and can enrich the software experience by allowing users to perform otherwise restricted tasks, such as disabling carrier-branded apps or making full-system backups. In order to unlock the modding gates on the Galaxy Note II, Odin, the Samsung driver, and a modded stock image with elevated rights enabled must be downloaded. Then "system.img" has to be extracted from the stock image and used in the flashing tool to finally get root up and running. But what about the bootloader?

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When Motorola introduced the Droid Razr HD and Droid Razr Maxx HD for Verizon Wireless there was one major feature missing from the spec sheet -- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Three months later, the big red finally announced that the two smartphones will be upgraded to the first Jelly Bean iteration starting this week.

The software update for the Droid Razr HD and Droid Razr Maxx HD comes in at a fairly significant 276MB in size and it bears the "9.1.41.XT926.Verizon.en.US" moniker. Users should expect a customized Android 4.1 Jelly Bean experience with the typical Motorola add-ons and Verizon-branded apps. Some of the most significant changes introduced by the upgrade include better voice search capability through Google Now, expandable notifications, revised keyboard and an overall improved responsiveness due to Project Butter.

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Starting today the HTC DROID DNA is available for purchase at Verizon Wireless. On a two-year contract the J butterfly's US brother runs for $199.99, while off-contract it costs a marginally higher $599.99.

Like the J butterfly, the DROID DNA comes with a massive 5-inch Super LCD3 display with 1920-by-1080 resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for protection. Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor backed by 2GB of RAM and a relatively small 2020mAh non-removable battery. Unlike the J Butterfly, the big red version has to make due with just 16GB of internal storage as it does not feature a microSD card slot.

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Little more than two months ago Motorola introduced the Droid Razr M for Verizon Wireless running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. In October, a leaked ROM surfaced, but today the big red announced the real deal -- Jelly Bean is coming with all its bells and whistles to the Droid Razr M.

The significant software upgrade bears the "98.12.4.XT907.Verizon.en.US" moniker and it comes in at 254.1MB. Users should expect Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with the usual Motorola add-ons and Verizon-specific apps. Some of the most noteworthy changes include better voice search capability thanks to Google Now, revised notifications panel and improved responsiveness due to Project Butter. Users should also expect faster GPS lock-in times, more frequent Contacts sync and instantly-updating circle widget, among other improvements. There is also a new version of QuickOffice as well Isis Mobile Wallet support and new Video Calling Portal app.

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Verizon Wireless will begin taking orders for the HTC Windows Phone 8X, Nokia Lumia 822, and the Samsung ATIV Odyssey at 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time tonight.

According to Verizon Wireless:

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Hurricane Sandy struck the Eastern US coastline and affected millions of people. Japan's third largest carrier, Softbank, contributed half a million dollars to aid in the relief efforts, and recently Verizon Wireless announced that it will support affected customers.

The big red implemented the "Hurricane Sandy -- Voice & Text Program" to show its support towards affected customers from parts of New Jersey and New York. As a result they will not be billed for domestic voice and text usage charges incurred between October 29 and November 16. The nation's largest carrier states that it will act proactively and swallow the cost of the bill without any action required by affected customers.

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Before the public unveiling of Windows Phone 8, Nokia on Monday introduced the Lumia 822 smartphone. Sporting the latest mobile operating system from Microsoft, the Lumia 822 will be exclusively available at Verizon Wireless.

The Nokia Lumia 822 will feature 4G LTE connectivity with up to 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload speeds. It has a 4.3-inch display with an 800 by 480 resolution, and a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM. On top of the 16GB of internal storage, the Lumia 822 comes with a microSD card slot which can offer up to 64GB of extra storage. As it usually happens with high-end Nokia devices, a Carl Zeiss lens is onboard for the dual-LED 8 megapixel back-facing camera which is capable of 1080p video recording at 30 frames per second. On the front, there is a 1.2MP HD camera that can shoot 720p video.

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