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Mini review video: Our verdict on the Droid Turbo 2 in about a minute
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-235272{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-235272, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-235272{width:570px;display:block;}try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-235272").style.display="none";}catch(e){}On paper, Motorola's Droid Turbo 2 looks like an upgraded version of the Moto X Pure Edition, which was already one of our favorite Android phones. In particular, the Turbo 2 brings more powerful components, a big battery and a shatterproof screen. In reality, though, the Turbo 2 suffers from a slightly dim screen, mediocre camera and loads of Verizon bloatware. The battery life, while pretty decent, is not quite as long as advertised. Also, at $624, it's expensive for what it is, and it's not likely to receive software updates as quickly as the Moto X. Don't get us wrong, it's a decent phone, but given the choice, you'd still be better off with the bog-standard Pure Edition. That's the gist, as you'll see in our mini review video, and if you have time for a longer read, check out our full review here.
Sony and Verizon just scrapped the Xperia Z4v's US launch
Sony makes a mean smartphone, but it could never quite crack the macadamia nut that is the US mobile market. For while there it seemed like it had another fighting chance in the Verizon-only Z4v, too. Not anymore. After much hemming and hawing about its release date, a Sony spokesperson confirmed in an email that Sony and Verizon aren't bringing the Z4v to America after all. Way to keep us hanging, guys.
Verizon's HD voice and video chat nearly ready to launch nationwide
LTE isn't just about getting incredibly fast data speeds on our smartphone or tablet. Sure, that's been what the technology's been primarily used for ever since it was introduced a few years ago, but it's capable of providing crystal-clear phone calls as well through a service known as Voice over LTE (VoLTE). The catch is that it's up to each carrier to provide the service. AT&T and T-Mobile have rolled out the capability already, and Verizon announced today that it's nearly ready to flip the switch on VoLTE nationwide, and it'll happen in a matter of weeks. Whether that means two or fourteen, Verizon won't say. But when it's ready, this functionality will be pre-loaded on new devices and pushed to existing phones in a downloadable update (provided the hardware is compatible, which many devices are).
You can get LG's flagship G3 on Verizon next week for $99 on contract
Historically, Verizon's not often the first carrier in the US to announce availability for a new phone. In the case of LG's latest flagship smartphone, the G3, it's actually the last. But good things come to those who wait -- and are willing to sign two-year contracts: Big Red's version of the G3 will go for $99 when you sign the dotted line. This is $100 less than AT&T's on-contract price. Pre-orders start today and will ship out on July 17th. There's no special discount for Edge customers or for those who want to buy the phone outright, however: it'll be $30 per month or $600, respectively.
Verizon's next-gen voice service still planned for this year, will come with video calling
Verizon and AT&T, the two largest mobile operators in the US, have spent the last couple years in a race to deploy next-generation voice technology known as Voice over LTE (VoLTE). With its announcement last week, AT&T was the first to deploy the fast-speed VoIP network, but don't count Verizon out of the race quite just yet: executives explained to us today that it's still on track for nationwide deployment sometime this year.
Verizon shareholders approve buyout of Vodafone stake, deal expected to close next month
The next step in Verizon's buyout of Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the company is now complete. Shareholders held a special meeting to vote on the matter, and their consensus was to issue 1.3 billion shares to Vodafone shareholders to complete the transaction; in London, Vodafone shareholders also conducted a vote on the matter today as well, giving Verizon the green light. Now that this hurdle is out of the way, the last step is for the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to approve the deal (along with other customary closing procedures) -- and as long as everything works out, the transaction is expected to close on or around February 21st.
Verizon matches T-Mobile's success with 1.6 million new mobile customers
T-Mobile might be better at gaining publicity, thanks to its attention-seeking CEO, but Verizon appears to be just as good at attracting new customers. According to the company's latest earnings report, 1.6 million of us were enticed by its wireless products and plans during Q4 of last year, which exactly matches the bumper results T-Mobile experienced during the same period. Part of VZW's success may be due to its ever-expanding (and accelerating) LTE network, which is now claimed to cover 97 percent of the US population, if not its slightly ambiguous customer satisfaction ratings. Meanwhile, the popularity of the carrier's more recent moves -- including the introduction of the bargain Moto G handset for $100 off-contract and a new $20 "Share Everything" tier -- won't become apparent until it reports its next set of financials in the spring.
Motorola Droid Maxx review
Motorola's Droid phones tend to arrive in packs. The original Droid RAZR was released just a couple months before the Droid RAZR Maxx -- essentially, the RAZR with a larger battery. The next year, the company followed up with the Droid RAZR HD, the RAZR M and the RAZR Maxx HD, the latter of which promised longer battery life. Then, after a long silence, the OEM finally broke its silence this past July. At a press event co-headlined by Verizon, Motorola announced its first products since being acquired by Google, once again choosing to launch three devices. We've already taken a look at the Droid Ultra, and in this review we'll focus on the largest of the trio, appropriately called the Droid Maxx. Despite the fact that all three offer roughly the same mid-range specs, the Maxx stands out from the rest of its siblings thanks to its build, wireless-charging capability and -- surprise! -- its larger battery. But are these three factors important enough to justify paying $300 on-contract, when the Moto X, Droid Ultra and other flagships all cost $100 less? Let's find out.
Verizon announces first US pre-order date for Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear: September 6th at 9AM ET
The Big Four (that'd be Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T) have all confirmed that they'll be stocking Samsung's newly-introduced Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3, but none of 'em have been bold enough as to give us two precious details: pricing and availability. We're still waiting for the damage, but VZW has come forward and alerted its customers that pre-orders will open up on September 6th. Given that the Note 3 just sailed through the FCC (and that the Gear is due to land in October), we're guessing that you'll have to wait anywhere from one to eight weeks for shipment. We'll keep you posted if we hear anything more concrete. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Moto X for Verizon officially available online August 29th, at stores in the coming weeks
If you've been eyeing a Motorola device on Verizon without the Droid branding, the Moto X is ultimately your best (and only) choice -- but when exactly will it be available to the masses? According to Verizon's official Twitter account, this Thursday, August 29th will be the day you can grab it online for $200 on-contract. As for stores, the company isn't willing to give a specific date just yet, so all we've been told is that we can expect it in the coming weeks. Still, this will come as good news for Big Red fans who have been patiently awaiting their turn, even if it means early adopters have to settle for a black or white option.
Leaked photos: Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini is headed to Verizon
Here is it: the Galaxy S4 Mini... for Verizon? As of now, Samsung's smaller Galaxy S4 sibling is an international-only device; in other words, no US carriers have officially signed on to offer it. That said, a Samsung SCH-i435 recently made its way into the Bluetooth SIG's website, and those who follow VZW's classifications of Samsung products are all-too-familiar with the "SCH" prefix. Of course, a handful of leaked photos can't confirm a release date nor a price, but if it's already popping up with that label on the rear, surely the wait won't be much longer. Hop on past the break for a side-by-side shot with an iPhone 5. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Motorola Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx for Verizon hands-on (video)
Like clockwork, Motorola and Verizon have refreshed their joint Droid lineup, and we're here to check out all three devices. The two more premium handsets, the Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx, are the most promising of the bunch for advanced users, replacing last year's Droid RAZR HD and RAZR Maxx HD and offering the requisite 4G LTE connectivity. Both of those smartphones were at the top of their game in 2012, and that trend appears to continue here -- the Ultra and Maxx are very similar, with the latter boosting the battery capacity, enabling power users to make it through a full day. Like its predecessors, the Ultra and Droid Maxx (pictured above) sport Kevlar bodies, both of which look sleek and feel sturdy. The Ultra we saw has a glossy red finish, which Motorola helpfully suggested is "a lot like a sports car." The Maxx, on the other hand, has a soft-touch black finish. At any rate, we prefer the Maxx's look; as we've said about Samsung's Galaxy lineup, a glossy, plasticky finish tends to look cheaper. Both phones feature a 10-megapixel camera with a f/2.4 lens; we'll have to wait for our review units to test the shooter's mettle. What the Ultra's design does have going for it, though, is an extra-thin profile. At 7.18mm, it's already being touted as the "thinnest 4G LTE smartphone available." At 4.94 ounces, it feels very light, and though it sports the Droid family's usual boxy form factor, the edges are gently curved to make for a nice fit in the hand. It packs a 5-inch, 720p Super AMOLED display, which, while not quite as pixel-dense as the Mini's 4.3-inch TFT panel, offers crisp images, vibrant colors and wider-than-average viewing angles. The Ultra is priced at $199, 100 bucks higher than the Mini and 100 lower than the Maxx.
Verizon smartphone revenue up in Q2 2013, half of all 7.5 million activations were iPhones (updated)
Verizon's latest quarterly report reveals a carrier chugging along nicely, thank you very much. Total revenue (including wireless and wireline) is up slightly to $29.8 billion, while wireless service revenue on its own grew by 8.3 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Nearly a million (941,000) new retail postpaid customers joined the VZW brigade, some of whom may have been drawn to the carrier's expanding LTE service, which is now available to 301 million Americans, as well as to new handsets like the Nokia Lumia 928 and possibly even the BlackBerry Q10 (or maybe not). In any case, those high-margin subscribers helped to increase profit by 14 percent -- so long as you're the kind of person who's content to be guided by "non-GAAP consolidated adjusted earnings per share." There's also no sign of the pension-related issues that affected the company last quarter, which leaves this carrier high and dry, regardless of how smartphone saturation may be affecting others along the food chain. Update: In its earnings call, Verizon added that 59 percent of traffic on its network is on 4G LTE, and 52 percent of its smartphone activations (around 3.8 million device activations) were iPhones.
Verizon's Innovation Center: Incubating the next generation of connected devices keeps the 'dumb pipe' naysayers at bay
It's no surprise, really. Offline devices just don't carry the allure that they once did, and in fact, yours truly would argue that they simply lack the requisite functionality to become runaway hits in the modern era. It's genuinely difficult to think of a flagship consumer electronics product, with a display of any kind, being engineered in the year 2013 without at least some level of internet connectivity in mind. Even a Kickstarter dream dubbed Pebble would be borderline useless without an online link, and as consumer demands shift dramatically towards expecting more for less, it's the carriers who have found themselves positioned to take advantage. Verizon has joined a host of other megacorps in launching so-called innovation centers across the world. Earlier this year, Samsung committed $1.1 billion to create a pair of Open Innovation Centers -- temporary homes for upstarts looking to woo Sammy's check writers into believing in their technology. In 2011, AT&T's Palo Alto, Calif.-based Foundry innovation center joined similar entities already running in Texas and Israel. Microsoft, Intel and Vodafone have all done likewise in the past three years. I recently had the opportunity to visit Verizon's first Innovation Center -- a sprawling facility located squarely in Massachusetts' famed Route 128 technology corridor. The center opened in Waltham in the middle of 2011, and now enables roughly 25 employees to "largely operate outside" of what you probably associate with the word "Verizon." What I found was the world's greatest case against the existence of a "dumb pipe" -- a phrase often used to describe carriers that do little more than provide access to a network. No structured technical support, no humans on the other side, no bloatware on the devices they sell. Companies who show up looking for aid in the art of interconnectedness face no fees, no risk of surrendering intellectual property and no requirements of exclusivity. This is the future of the wireless carrier: an increasingly vital component in making tomorrow's whiz-bang gadget one that this generation will actually crave. %Gallery-189369%
HTC One coming to Verizon later this summer (updated)
Verizon just announced that the HTC One will finally make its debut on the network later this summer. Pricing and exact availability -- not to mention unique features or other specifics -- are yet to be determined, but this is a solid confirmation to a rumor that's been floating around for the last few months, ever since the One officially launched worldwide. Its availability on all four US carriers should be refreshing news to HTC, as this puts it on level ground (stateside, at least) with the immensely popular Samsung Galaxy S 4. The fight between these two flagships is far from over, but having the largest carrier in the US onboard certainly makes that battle much more interesting. Update: Thanks to reader Vlad and a post at G for Games, we know that the One passed through Bluetooth SIG certification as the HTC6500LVW. This won't help the smartphone reach our hands any sooner, but it may give us something to talk about when we're pestering our local Verizon reps for a release date. Jon Fingas contributed to this report.
J Lo partners with Verizon to launch Viva Movil, a Latino-focused retail chain
Today at CTIA 2013, Verizon announced an exclusive partnership with Jennifer Lopez to create a mobile company catered to the Latino market. Called Viva Movil, the new entity will be headed by Lopez and boasts Big Red, Brightstar and Moorehead Communications as partners. The idea behind this venture is to offer an enriched customer retail experience with specialized stores that feature device demos, dedicated play areas for children, bilingual staff and online options will be available on the company's site, which went live today. Since Verizon is the exclusive wireless partner, it's a safe bet that we'll see devices that are branded to the carrier, albeit with a different marketing approach. As majority stakeholder and "kind of the Chief Creative Officer," J Lo has a large amount of interest in the company's success; in fact, the A-list celeb is sweetening the launch with her own exclusive line of smartphone accessories. The first store is slated to open mid-June, with more coming before the end of the year in other densely-populated Latino areas.
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update incoming for Verizon's Galaxy Nexus, rollout to begin 'in phases' today
Verizon's Galaxy Nexus is largely considered to be the (Big) Redheaded stepchild of the Nexus line, lagging behind its purebred bretheren in the update department. But the delays are getting shorter and, as the carrier's just confirmed, users should begin to see Android 4.2.2 rolling out to their handsets as early as today. Initially released back in February, this Jelly Bean update brings with it the ability to snap 360-degree photospheres, various camera UI improvements (i.e., filters and borders), lockscreen widgets and a Swype-like Gesture keyboard. It's set to be released gradually, so don't despair if that OTA update notification takes a few days to make itself known.
Verizon hoping to launch cheaper LTE-only phones in late 2014, bid good riddance to 3G
A pure LTE world is still a long, long way off. But some countries and carriers could get there quicker than others, and indeed Verizon has revealed that it's considering launching LTE-only handsets, with no CDMA chip, within the next couple of years. Speaking to analysts at a recent Deutsche Bank event, the carrier's CFO, Fran Shammo, said his company's goal is to establish voice over LTE by the end of this year and then to "start to think" about pure LTE handsets in "late 2014". Shammo mentioned this possibility in the context of bringing out cheaper phones, and a general incentive for any carrier to leave 3G behind would be to avoid paying associated licensing fees to the likes of Qualcomm or Broadcom. If those savings eventually trickled down to us customers, and if we could breathe the clean air of the countryside without LTE dropping, then it'd certainly be an enticing prospect.
The Daily Grind: Should you be able to resell your digital downloads?
Gamasutra recently reported on a German consumer advocacy group that has a bone to pick with the game industry's largest digital distributor. VZBV has gone to court over a complaint against Valve which stems from the software giant's stance against digital resales. Valve's Steam platform doesn't allow users to sell previously purchased games, and VZBV says that similar policies will harm digital distribution over the long-term "as users realize more fully the implications of having their content tied down to a single digital platform." It can be argued, though, that the industry-wide shift to digital is predicated on the desire for more control over end users and the desire to kill used game sales, so it will be interesting to see Valve's response to this and other similar challenges that may surface in the future. What say you, Massively readers? Do you think you should be able to resell your digital games? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Verizon Selects brings targeted ads to VZ wireless customers, induces more holiday shopping
We've grown accustomed to the creepily context-aware ads in our Gmail inboxes and we've seen targeted ads come to game consoles and printers, so naturally, it's no surprise Verizon's bringing such advertising to its mobile customers. Called Verizon Selects, it's a program rolling out to some Big Red patrons, who, should they choose to opt in, will receive tailored offers and marketing messages on their phones. It works by using myriad user info, including location, web browsing and mobile app usage data "to create specific insights" -- i.e. VZW figures out where you go and what you like in order to shoot you appropriate ads. In order to get folks with the program, Verizon will offer those who opt in a coupon or "some other form of reward," and the company is assuaging privacy fears by allowing users to control their privacy choices on the Verizon Selects website. What say you, dear readers -- will you be opting into Big Red's new mobile marketing scheme? Sound off in the comments below.
