Engadget

Verizon to debut LTE in 38 cities, 'half a dozen' 4G smartphones and tablets in 1H 2011

Sean Hollister — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:42:00 EST

We're live from CTIA 2010 in San Francisco, where newly-appointed Verizon president and COO Lowell McAdam has taken the stage. He's been on the job just five days now, but he's already got a nice spot of news: Verizon will have LTE connections in 38 markets as soon as they flip the switch -- up from the 30 football cities announced earlier this month. More exciting, a host of LTE devices are on the way, too: "Come CES at January, and we will show half-a-dozen smartphones and tablets from the top OEMs in the world that will be available in the first half of the year," said McAdam. 8 to 12 megabits per second, here we come. See the full tentative 4G coverage map with a list of confirmed cities in our gallery below.

Gallery: Verizon's 4G LTE launch coverage map

Verizon to debut LTE in 38 cities, 'half a dozen' 4G smartphones and tablets in 1H 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

LG Cosmos hands-on

Sean Cooper — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:04:00 EST

While LG didn't storm to this year's CTIA with a hero device like some of the competition, they did arrive with something: the LG Cosmos. The Cosmos is a very simple sliding QWERTY messaging device built for the lower end market and lands at Verizon for $29.99 after rebates. The keyboard, arguably the most important feature here is really nice; tactile feedback when pounding out your missives is comfortable, key spacing is pretty much right on, and the balance with it open is also quite good. Sure, the display -- a 2-inch 320 x 240 -- is small, but still clear, and useful enough. Handset build quality is also pretty good and the slider feels solid. Takeaway here is if you're looking for an inexpensive messaging set on Verizon, the Cosmos might be worth taking a peek at. Follow on for a gallery and a quick video tour.

Gallery: LG Cosmos hands-on

Continue reading LG Cosmos hands-on

LG Cosmos hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Clearwire CEO mentions that WiMAX could join LTE as one, Verizon Wireless CTO says no way

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:28:00 EST

It's no huge secret that the differences between LTE and WiMAX aren't exceedingly drastic, and with the right support, the two could theoretically form one big, happy family. During this morning's CTIA keynote with Dan Hesse (Sprint's CEO) and Bill Morrow (Clearwire's CEO), the latter noted that he wasn't interested in waging a war with LTE, suggesting that his spectrum is "designed and built so we can add on LTE should we need to." 'Course, one would suggest that Clearwire's in no position to get angry with the standard that boasts larger industry support, but we digress. A few hours later during Verizon's LTE roundtable, the carrier's CTO (Tony Melone) responded to an audience question related to LTE and WiMAX becoming one. His brutally honest opinion? It'll never happen, and the "only big happy family" he can think of is the 3GPP to LTE crew, of which Verizon Wireless is obviously a member. He wouldn't elaborate on the whys or whats, only noting that it was his frank opinion on the matter from his knowledge in the field, but we can't candidly say that we'd love for the war to rage on -- competition is stellar, but joined efforts to create a larger, more robust 4G network sounds a lot sweeter to our ears than the clanging of swords.

Clearwire CEO mentions that WiMAX could join LTE as one, Verizon Wireless CTO says no way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon Wireless: 'all' 4G WWAN devices will support 3G, too

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:35:00 EST

Hear that, kids? Tony Melone -- Verizon Wireless' Senior VP and CTO -- confirmed to us during a one-on-one meeting after the company's CTIA roundtable discussion that every last one of its data-only LTE WWAN devices (aircards, MiFi-type products and USB data sticks, for example) would also support 3G. Not too surprising given the natural ties between the two technologies, but it's still refreshing to hear that every 4G data-only product that launches (at least initially) on VZW will also be able to hop onto the company's 3G network if you just so happen to break away from an LTE area. Can't say that for a smattering of existing WiMAX products. In related news, Tony also affirmed that Verizon would be "interested" in getting a smartphone on its LTE network that could double as a mobile hotspot, exactly how the Palm Pre Plus does now (but on 3G, obviously). As for pricing when it comes to LTE data rates? Tony wouldn't give us any indication of the carrier's plans, but if it's anything similar to whispers we've heard in the past (not to mention rates already seen through Clearwire), it'll probably be at least marginally more expensive than what you're paying today for third-generation access.

Verizon Wireless: 'all' 4G WWAN devices will support 3G, too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

LG launches Cosmos and eco-friendly Remarq

Sean Cooper — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:17:00 EST

LG saw fit to launch a device for each of its CDMA friends: Sprint's Remarq (pictured left) and Verizon's Cosmos. Both of these sets are fairly low-end, but that won't stop them from likely garnering some support in the messaging segment. The LG Remarq -- which we detailed here -- is a small square QWERTY set with an eco-friendly bent, featuring an eco calculator app -- to keep track of how many trees you're saving -- a 1.3 megapixel camera, and access to webmail. The Remarq should ship May 9th for $free on a two-year plan after $19.99 instant and $50 mail-in rebates. The LG Cosmos which is headed for Verizon, also packs a 1.3 megapixel camera, a large slide out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.1, and GPS support thrown in for good measure. The Cosmos hits stores tomorrow for $29.99 after rebate, new plan, and general goodwill from Verizon. We'll be grabbing a hands-on with LG's Martin Valdez just as soon as we possibly can.

LG launches Cosmos and eco-friendly Remarq originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon 'wrapping up' Boston and Seattle trials, 'friendly user' ones coming this summer

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:13:00 EST

Remember those LTE trials that Verizon Wireless started up in Boston and Seattle back in August of last year? Good news, mobile surfers -- the operator has today confirmed in a roundtable at CTIA that they're both nearing their end, giving us hope that they're gleaned the necessary information from them to start moving onto bigger and better things. Namely, more elaborate trials in more locales around the nation. As you might expect, Verizon Wireless is indeed gearing up to move into its next phase of commercial LTE testing, with Tony Melone (Senior VP / CTO) stating that 'friendly user trials' were slated to begin this summer. He declined to elaborate on the whos, whats and (most importantly) wheres, but there's no doubt that these are likely the last hurdles before we see its 4G network go live in "one third" of the country. We're told that those tests will be used to kick the tires on "commercial" gear, which is starkly different than the non-commercial kit that has been used in Beantown and the Emerald City. So far, the company's seeing peak rates of around 40Mbps and 50Mbps (down), with average download rates hovering in the 5Mbps to 12Mbps range and upload speeds falling between 2Mbps and 5Mbps. Be sure to let us know if any undercover VZW engineers start installing weird antennas near your abode in the coming months, cool?

Verizon 'wrapping up' Boston and Seattle trials, 'friendly user' ones coming this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon to blanket 'one third' of America with LTE this year, double coverage in 15 months

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:54:00 EST

Remember when we heard that Verizon Wireless just might be able to bump its commercial LTE rollout to the first quarter of 2010? Man, talk about having our hopes and dreams dashed. Here at CTIA, we heard a few details on the company's most up-to-date deployment plans, and it sounds like things are pretty well locked into place at this point. Tony Melone, the company's Senior Vice President and CTO, seemed remarkably enthused that a bona fide LTE network would be launching "in the not too distant future," and when pressed for specifics, he stated that they would launch "25 to 30 networks this year, covering one third of America by the end of 2010." Beyond that, we're looking at a footprint twice that size "15 months" after the initial rollout, and by the end of 2013, the company's 4G coverage map will be the same size, "if not larger," than its existing 3G map. Of course, the carrier insisted that they wouldn't be abandoning 3G advancement while being fixated on 4G, noting that it was moving "fast and aggressively" on both fronts, with hopes that its LTE network would eventually eclipse even the 3G networks (in terms of coverage size) of competitors. Them's bold words, VZW, and we'll be carefully watching to see if that really does come to fruition.

Verizon to blanket 'one third' of America with LTE this year, double coverage in 15 months originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon talks commercial LTE deployment details: data devices first, smartphones in '1H 2011'

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:42:00 EST

We just spent a tick talking with Verizon Wireless' Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Tony Melone (shown speaking) after the company's LTE roundtable here at CTIA, and while we've heard a lot through the grapevine recently, we wanted to set a few things straight for ourselves. For starters, VZW affirmed that data-centric devices would be splashing down on its commercial LTE network first, possibly as early as the end of this year. When we asked specifically what kinds of devices he meant, he stated that "aircards, USB data sticks and MiFi-type devices" would be first out of the chunnel, with smartphones being "about a quarter behind." Naturally, we asked why there would be a delay, and he stated that getting a smartphone onto a new network is more difficult than a simple data-only product; there are obvious voice-related issues to work through that aren't present when you're only sucking down torrents, and it'll take some time before full-on phones join the fray. He assured us the earlier data-only device launches wouldn't be "a public trial," and he noted that a conservative estimate as to when we'd see LTE phones on Verizon would be "the first half of 2011." Though, he did confess that folks would likely be pushing for earlier ship dates, and we may see a few phones drop closer to January than July if all the stars align.

Verizon talks commercial LTE deployment details: data devices first, smartphones in '1H 2011' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Verizon launching V Cast Apps on March 29th, RIM devices get first dibs

Darren Murph — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:50:00 EST

We're here at Verizon Wireless' LTE forum at CTIA 2010, and a higher-up speaking about application development just let a sweet little nugget of information slip: the long-awaited V Cast Apps market will launch on March 29th (that's the new target, anyway). If you'll recall, we've been hearing about this portal ever since last summer, but we're guessing that a bona fide launch was put on pause in order to tweak things for Verizon's eventual LTE release (a bit we'll touch on here later). Initially, the BlackBerry Storm2 will be supported, with other RIM devices coming onboard shortly thereafter. The rollout will continue over the coming weeks and months, hopefully to a few other mobile operating systems.

Responding to a few questions, Verizon insists that its own storefront won't take away from "other markets," namely the Android Marketplace. Instead, they're "perpetuating the ecosystem," with the app store simply being a vessel of distribution. In other words, app devs are stoked that their software could be found in multiple stores.

Verizon launching V Cast Apps on March 29th, RIM devices get first dibs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wi-Fi Alliance touts first ten 802.11n-certified mobiles, some likely headed to Sprint / Verizon

Darren Murph — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:38:00 EST

Bona fide 802.11n took long enough to get here, but now it's just a matter of time before it becomes all-too-familiar on everyday smartphones. We've already seen a handful of 802.11n smartphones hit from LG and Samsung, but here at CTIA the Wi-Fi Alliance has come out swinging with an announcement touting the debut of ten WiFi n-certified handsets. Granted, the release is focused more on the blossoming of 802.11n as a whole rather than specific details about those ten mysterious phones, but a separate report from PC Magazine notes that those that have already passed through the FCC are all packing CDMA radios. Put two and two together, and you start to realize that Sprint and Verizon may soon be trumpeting the carriage of some of the planet's first 802.11n phones. But hey -- who needs WiFi when you've got WiMAX, right Dan?

Wi-Fi Alliance touts first ten 802.11n-certified mobiles, some likely headed to Sprint / Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments