Following a new round of partnership announcements back in February, LiMo Foundation today added 8 new members, bringing the grand total to 40 -- and perhaps most notably, Verizon Wireless becomes the first American carrier to team up with the group and the Foundation's final board member (in other words, they seem to be taking this initiative pretty seriously). Other new players include South Korea's SK Telecom, France's SFR, Sagem, chipmaker Infineon, and Mozilla, suggesting that there'll be plenty of mobile Firefox support for LiMo's nascent platform. LiMo represents the largest Linux-based threat to Android's plans for world domination, having announced its initiative some time before Google while collecting a veritable who's-who of world players from NTT DoCoMo to manufacturers like LG and Motorola -- and with the depth of Verizon's commitment to this, evident by its nabbing of an actual board seat, we wouldn't be surprised to see LiMo-based products actually go beyond its Any Apps, Any Device initiative and get real on the carrier's official lineup.

The Samsung Glyde was one of the most hyped phones on an American carrier in recent memory leading up to its launch, and there's one small problem with that: it's hard to live up to the fanfare, no matter how good (or bad) the phone might be. A common early complaint coming out of the gate seems to be the lack of support for Verizon's MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service, a service that the Glyde's main competition, the Voyager, supports. The UI's also getting panned for being a little more confusing that it needs to be; compounding matters is the fact that Phone Scoop describes it as a "push UI" on account of a fiddly touchscreen. For what it's worth, it seems that the keyboard is at least quite good -- so if you can put up with the negatives, the Glyde might still have a place in your pocket. Otherwise, the Voyager's still looking awfully good, isn't it?

Read - LAPTOP Magazine (2.5 / 5 stars, "...limited by a poor UI and unreliable performance")
Read - Phone Scoop ("The Glyde pairs a few of the best things from the physical and touch worlds")
Read - PHONE Magazine ("The Verizon Glyde isn't a bad cellphone, but it's outshone by its rivals")

One of the worst-kept secrets in Verizon's stable is finally getting official today; that's right, ladies and gentlemen, meet the Glyde from Samsung. Wearing CDMA guts underneath its F700 clothing, the fashion-friendly QWERTY slider offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash and autofocus, GPS, the full range of Bluetooth profiles, microSD slot, and a true HTML browser. Unlike its crosstown competition -- the LG Voyager -- the Glyde doesn't offer support for Verizon's VCAST TV service, but we imagine most folks will consider that a minor (read: nonexistent) inconvenience. Look for the phone to start circulating into retail channels this week for a princely $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate. Have a quick gander over on Engadget Mobile for a few shots of the Glyde doing what the Glyde does best -- posing for press photography, that is.

Remember when we caught wind that Verizon was prepping a worldband version Samsung's i760 Windows Mobile piece? That rumor's suddenly gained a lot more credence now that we've seen a so-called SCH-i770 pass through the FCC's hallowed halls, especially considering the device outline's uncanny resemblance to that of the aforementioned i760. We'd previously heard that there might be some HSDPA on board, and while we're not seeing any evidence of that from the FCC's test reports, we can confirm that it'll feature EV-DO, WiFi, and Bluetooth in addition to all the GSM you'll need to get by while roaming through mysterious foreign lands. No word on when we might actually see an announcement about this one, but we imagine Verizon doesn't want to wait that much longer -- the i760 design isn't getting any younger, y'know.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Wouldn't you know it? Just as promised, that strikingly white XV6900 has landed on Verizon Wireless' website and can be snapped up now by those in need. The pain? $249.99 on contract after all applicable rebates -- oh, and knowing the Touch Dual is heading Stateside later this quarter.

Verizon Wireless has been slow to catch up with the smartphone data access plans offered by competing carriers, with premium prices and some confusing options, but things are taking a real turn for the better. The new "E-mail and Web for Smartphone" plan goes for a mere $30 a month when paired with a qualifying voice plan, and is available with the SMT5800, XV6800 and the MOTO Q9m, with other devices to hop on board in the coming months. Verizon's press release is very careful to tout unlimited email and web browsing, not data, and we have a feeling Verizon will be clamping down pretty hard on anybody trying to tether with this plan.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Verizon just announced its plans for the open-access "C block" and other chunks of the 700MHz spectrum it purchased from the FCC for almost $10B. As expected, it's going to provide high speed, 4G services in the form of LTE in the newly acquired spectrum. Of course, the 2010 launch is the same target stated by AT&T. Verizon also claims to have increased its spectrum inventory by about 60%. Before and after auction coverage shots in the gallery below.

If it wasn't clear going into the auction, it's pretty much obvious now that the dust has settled: Google wasn't in the 700MHz Block C auction to win it -- though it was certainly ready to pony up the cash in the event of a win. It was conjectured that Google was driving the bidding early on, in an effort to get hit that magical 4.6 billion reserve price that would require the winner to allow open access of devices and applications to the resulting network, and now Google has confirmed that it was pretty much a Google show in the early days of the auction. Apparently ten of the bidding rounds involved Google raising its own bid, "but it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher," reads the Google Public Policy Blog. It's worth noting that Google claims it would've nabbed the C Block license "at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price," but building out a network and becoming a major player in next-gen wireless internet would certainly be a large departure for the company, and we're sure there's a bit of relief over in Mountain View, CA at the moment.

After seeing it kicked around the Net for a few months, it's good to see the BlackBerry Curve 8330 finally go live on Verizon Wireless. Well, almost -- you'll have to wait until May to lay thumb to QWERTY while riding that cool EV-DO wave of data. It'll cost you $270 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract with further discounts available when signing up for eligible voice and data plans. Your cash will be rewarded with the wee 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6-inches / 4-ounces curve sporting a 320 x 240 pixel display, 2-megapixel camera, media player, stereo Bluetooth audio, microSD / SDHC expansion, and 260 minutes talk / 11 days standby. Unfortunately, it's missing WiFi like the early prototype and GPS like the rumored Sprint version coming in April.

Update: Sorry, scratch that. It does have GPS which Verizon touts as VZ Navigator.

[Thanks, thatguy0109]

No surprises here, but boy is that going to be a difficult expense to justify on the ol' corporate card. AT&T says it'll pay a $1.3 billion down payment to the FCC within the next 10 days to get a lock on that spectrum it just won, $500 million of which was paid up front before the auction began. The company will be pushing the remaining $5.3 billion over the counter before April 17, and is financing the purchase with funds from operations and a good bit of debt. We haven't seen a similar filing from Verizon yet, but we're guessing the company is facing similar deadlines for its $9.36 billion of spectrum.

Win or lose, all the bidders wrapped up in the so-called Auction 73 for precious spectrum in the 700MHz band are still under tight FCC-imposed gag orders in an effort to stem any funny business, but it looks like they're at least ready to come out and dip their toes into the PR waters. Verizon, the biggest winner having claimed the big, wide Block C prize, says that it's "pleased with [its] auction results" (we should certainly hope so), that the new airwaves will help it maintain its "reputation as the nation's most reliable wireless network," and that they're now better positioned to lead the way with new services and devices. The megacarrier goes on to boast about the fact that its winning bids score it massive 298 million person footprint, plus another 171 million worth of licenses in different Blocks.

Meanwhile, AT&T seems happy with its purchase, too -- but then again, it's not like any of these companies would be issuing immediate statements expressing buyer's remorse, we guess. The number one US carrier by subscribers reports that its newly acquired licenses, in combination with spectrum snatched from Aloha Partners earlier this year, now gives it 100 percent coverage in the 700MHz arena in the nation's top 200 markets, with "quality spectrum" (whatever that means) covering 95 percent of the American populace. For what it's worth, AT&T's Auction 73 purchases were in Block B, which has moderately less bandwidth than Verizon's Block C win -- but as they say, it's not the bandwidth of the spectrum, it's the motion of the frequencies, so we'll have to wait to see how these guys actually use these licenses before we rush to any conclusions.

Finally, from its brief statement, Google appears to have gotten exactly what it wanted: nothing at all. The company says that Auction 73 "produced a major victory for American consumers" because Block C's reserve price was met -- thanks largely to Google's early bidding, it's believed -- which means that Verizon will be obligated to allow devices of all shapes, sizes, colors, and brands to participate when it flips the switch on its 700MHz network.

All three companies sound like they're itching to say more as soon as the FCC allows it, so stay tuned as we try to figure out exactly what's next for the auction, the carriers, and the people who actually want to benefit from this action (read: us).

Read - AT&T's statement
Read - Verizon Wireless' statement
Read - Google's statement

After yesterday's wrap-up of the gargantuan Auction 73 to offload the newly-freed 700MHz spectrum, it looks like the two champions to emerge are Verizon and AT&T. Big Red has emerged with virtually all of the highly coveted C Block save for Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Gulf of Mexico, a logical move considering its recent foray into the wide world of open access. AT&T, meanwhile, has scored much of the B Block, giving it 12MHz of spectrum in many of over 700 "cellular market areas" nationwide. In total, Verizon laid out a whopping $4,741,807,000 to pick up the Block C airwaves, leaving early competitor Google in the dust -- and affirming rumors that Mountain View wasn't in it to win it, it just wanted to make sure the reserve price was met and open access rules were assured.

Other winners include Qualcomm, which won bits and pieces of the B and E Blocks -- more MediaFLO spectrum, perhaps? -- and Frontier Wireless, scoring the overwhelming majority of the low-bandwidth E Block. Frontier is in cahoots with Echostar, though it's not clear how (or if) the new spectrum would augment its satellite TV service.

Left out in the cold was the D Block, a wireless range which the FCC had required to be used in partnership with public safety groups; it failed to meet its minimum reserve price of $1.33 billion, which means that a new Auction 76 will be automatically spawned for bidders to have another go at it. Follow the break for the big winners, broken down by block.

We still don't know what happened in the 700MHz auction, but Verizon's going full steam ahead with its open-network policy, holding a press conference today to detail the "Any Apps, Any Device" plan announced back in November. Things should get rolling retail-style by the second half of the year, and it looks like all hardware manufacturers have to do is get their devices certified by Verizon, which characterized the technical requirements as being only slightly stricter than industry standards -- the goal is to allow access to the network without causing problems, but other than that there aren't any UI rules or anything like that. Peace out, BREW. Only FCC-approved devices will be taken in for testing, and there's a fee for certification, but in return manufacturers are promised a four-week turnaround (eight weeks for the "best practices" cert), with mandatory re-testing every 36 months. As far as apps go, it's a free for all -- customers can do as they wish. Verizon said that the open policy will still be in force when LTE rolls out -- the big push into EV-DO was a winning bet, so it's going to try and be aggressive with 4G as well. The best part? A new flat-rate, multi-device service plan is being considered that would allow all your mobile devices to connect for the price of a single subscription. All in all, a surprising set of announcements for Big Red -- in one fell swoop, it's gone from the most locked-down carrier being at least on par with the GSM networks, and potentially even more flexible if these pricing plans actually pan out. Hmmm, is that a mad rush of Android devs we hear?

Just admit it: even if you don't have Verizon service, even if you have absolutely no interest in Windows Mobile devices whatsoever, you're just a little bit curious to know what a snow white HTC Touch looks like. We suppose we blew that surprise with the picture here... but whatever, just click on over to Engadget Mobile to see s'more shots, alright?

We've seen more efficient ways of piping tunes from phones to stereos, but admittedly, they usually involve a wire or two. The Venturi Mini, now being offered by Verizon Wireless, performs the wondrous feat of receiving music streamed to it via stereo Bluetooth and relaying it on to your car's head unit by way of FM transmitter, making the whole process completely wire-free. "But wait," as they say in the industry, "that's not all." The cigarette lighter socket-powered device doubles as a handsfree that cleverly pauses your music when the time comes to take a call. Grab the multitalented wonder now for $129.99 -- and if you live in Washington or Oregon, the sooner, the better.

[Via MobileBurn]