Verizon

The story originally stated that Verizon's over-the-air music service downloaded DRM-free MP3 files directly to the user's handset. It was later learned that Verizon's direct-to-phone music download is not in the MP3 format. The copy delivered to the user's computer, however, is in the MP3 format.

Read the updated story here.

The Motorola W755 finally has landed in our hands. I have to apologize for taking so long to review this phone--I know a lot of you were asking for it--but Motorola and Verizon Wireless took their time in getting us a sample model. But now that it's arrived, I can report that it is a solid phone. It depends way too much on the Razr for its design inspiration but it remains a solidly constructed handset with a great display and ergonomic controls. The addition of the purple model is nice as well. The feature set is respectable, save … Read more

It's summertime and things are heating up, and we don't necessarily mean the temperature (because it certainly isn't very hot here in San Francisco, but I digress). No, we're talking more about rise in smartphone rumors, which isn't uncommon for this time of year as the carrier's start prepping for the fall and holiday seasons. As such, the blogosphere is blowing up with speculation, and looks like there's something for every carrier. Now, we must reiterate that these are just rumors and obviously, the service providers and device manufacturers haven't confirmed anything, … Read more

The LG Dare may seem like just any other touch-screen phone, but I'm here to tell you that it has quite a few surprising features that made us sit up and take notice. First, it has one of the more innovative interface layouts I've seen, where you can drag and drop shortcut icons directly to the home screen. Also, there's a drawing pad application that lets you sketch out little doodles and maps and then send them to your friends via MMS. As for text input, you can choose from a T9 keypad, a full QWERTY keyboard … Read more

To unseat iTunes as lord of digital music, challengers are falling over themselves to strip copy protections off music.

Apple's iTunes still wraps most of its music in digital rights management software, and the latest to try to exploit this perceived vulnerability is RealNetwork's Rhapsody. The music service, which has up to now focused on renting music through subscriptions, is expected to announce Monday that it will start selling DRM-free songs.

This means that Rhapsody's music will play on iPods and many other digital players. In addition, Rhapsody has teamed with Verizon Wireless and will offer customers … Read more

A correction was made to this story. See details below.

RealNetworks on Sunday announced several improvements to its Rhapsody music service, including a new online music store and integration with Verizon's V Cast mobile phone music service.

Taking a cue from competitors such as Amazon and Napster, Rhapsody's new Web-based music store sells a catalog of universally compatible (DRM-free) MP3 files from all four major music labels (Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner, and EMI), as well as a selection of independents.

The new Rhapsody store represents a departure from the strictly software-based music subscription model on which … Read more

Verizon Wireless has upped the ante in its efforts to take on Apple's iTunes store in the digital music market by offering DRM-free music for all purchased music plus a new subscription service. But will it be enough to make a dent in Apple's dominance?

On Monday, Verizon Wireless will announce the revamped V Cast music store, which will be loaded with digital music that is free of the pesky digital rights management encryption on all songs that are purchased through the store. Verizon is joining Amazon as the only other digital music distributor that will be selling … Read more

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg probably isn't getting an iPhone 3G.

The head of the telecom giant seemed a bit irritated about Apple's march into the mobile phone industry when he answered a question posed by the Financial Times about Apple's chances of reaching the mass market with the iPhone 3G by saying, "There goes the conspiracy again. You're declaring them a winner before they've earned it on the field."

Seidenberg's main contention seems to be that the iPhone isn't a success because it has such a small share of the overall … Read more

There's no question that Verizon Communications hit a home run with its aggressive fiber strategy.

The fiber-to-the-home network called Fios has enabled Verizon to supercharge broadband speeds and compete against cable in the TV market.

Fios also has helped future-proof Verizon's network. While its cable competitors buckle under the pressure of peer-to-peer traffic on their networks, Verizon has enough capacity in its network, thanks to its fiber upgrades, to weather the storm unscathed and work on its own timetable to find more efficient ways to handle peer-to-peer traffic.

Mark Wegleitner, Verizon's senior vice president of technology in … Read more