verizon

Los Angeles earthquake chokes phone calls, not Twitter

A 5.4 earthquake hit Tuesday while Verdell Wilson was having an exam in her gynecologist's Los Angeles office.

Given it was her first earthquake experience, Wilson did what comes naturally--she twittered it.

"As soon as I got dressed, I twittered my experience from my cell phone," Wilson said. "I usually twitter to 80 friends, but I now have 274 messages from people commenting on it."

Twittering and texting may be the way to go in an emergency, given landline and cellular phone networks were heavily congested as callers jammed the lines, creating frustration for … Read more

New York gets Fios TV

New Yorkers will now officially be able to get Verizon's Fios TV service.

The phone company launched the new service Monday in what is the largest launch of Fios TV to date. Initially, about 300,000 of the city's roughly 8 million residents will have access to the service. But Verizon plans to be able to offer the service to at least three million homes and businesses in New York City by year's end.

Verizon representatives were on hand all day Monday at the busy Grand Central train station in midtown Manhattan to get the word out … Read more

Verizon counts on wireless for profits

Verizon Communications' wireless business continues to boost the company's profits as its landline business sputters, according to second-quarter earnings reports.

On Monday, Verizon reported a 12 percent increase in second quarter net income. The company reported that profits jumped to $1.88 billion in the second quarter from $1.68 billion during the same quarter a year ago. This increase came as the company only slightly grew its revenue, which was $24.12 billion for the quarter up from $23.27 billion a year ago.

Wireless once again proved to be the big growth engine for Verizon, which jointly … Read more

New Yorkers to get Fios TV

Verizon's Fios TV is coming to New York City starting Monday.

The phone company sent a media advisory on Friday about the launch and will provide more details about the service during a Webcast press conference Monday morning. New York City granted Verizon its TV franchise back in May. And on July 16th, the company won final approval to offer its TV service from the New York Public Service Commission.

Verizon has been aggressively marketing its Fios Internet and TV service in the New York City suburbs for the past couple of years. And the company has offered the … Read more

Verizon unveils Motorola V750

Verizon Wireless today launched the Motorola V750. The silver flip phone offers a durable design and it operates on the carrier's EV-DO Rev. A network. Its features include external music controls, full Bluetooth with a stereo profile, and support for the carrier's V Cast video and V Cast Music with Rhapsody services.

The phone has a 2.5mm headset jack, a 2-megapixel camera, text, multimedia, and push-to-talk capabilities, a wireless Web browser, instant messaging, an external memory card slot, and support for the VZ Navigator GPS service. The Moto V750 costs $99.99 with service.

Samsung SCH-i760 refitted with Windows Mobile 6.1

In the famous words of Beyonce, "I can (up)/ Can I (up)/Let me upgrade you." Perhaps that will be the tune Samsung SCH-i760 owners will be singing today as Samsung released an official Windows Mobile 6.1 software upgrade for the Verizon Wireless smartphone. The software update is available for download through Samsung's Web site and has installers for both Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista users.

Dialed In 40: iPhone 3G, sliced and diced

Not sure if you heard, but the iPhone 3G was finally released last week. We discuss all the highs and lows of the new iPhone. And believe it or not, there was some non-iPhone related news and product releases this week. We cover it all, plus more listener questions answered on this week's episode. Listen now: Download today's podcast

NewsFCC gives HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro thumbs uphttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9989658-1.htmlBlackBerry Bold gets FCC approvalhttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9987862-1.htmlAT&T grabs Samsung SGH-227http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9990606-1.html… Read more

Review: LG Chocolate 3

Based on all the previously released LG Chocolate handsets in the U.S., there appear to be three defining characteristics of a Chocolate phone--it has touch-sensitive controls, it has a slider design, and it has a scroll wheel not unlike the iPod.

Well, the LG Chocolate 3 only has one out of the three characteristics, making us wonder if it even truly deserves the Chocolate branding (it doesn't even look anything like its namesake). Indeed, the LG Chocolate 3 has no touch-sensitive controls at all and is the first Chocolate handset to be in a flip form factor.

The … Read more

LG Chocolate 3 will be offically released July 13

It turns out that we were slightly off when we said the LG Chocolate 3 would be out on July 14. Verizon just announced today that the Chocolate flip phone will actually hit the retail shelves a full day early on July 13 (In Verizon retail stores, Circuit City, as well as the online store). The LG Chocolate 3 will also be the marquee music phone for Verizon's new V Cast Music with Rhapsody deal. Indeed, with a 3.5mm headset jack, stereo Bluetooth, stereo speakers, and a built-in FM transmitter, Verizon hopes for the Chocolate 3 to be … Read more

Verizon Wireless settles early-termination suit

Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $21 million to settle a lawsuit filed by customers who claim the company's early termination fees are excessive and unfair.

Details of the settlement aren't public. But a Verizon spokeswoman said that the settlement will put to rest claims filed by customers in California as well as customers who are part of a nationwide class action lawsuit.

Verizon denied any wrongdoing. And the spokeswoman pointed out that Verizon Wireless was the first cell phone operator in the U.S. to establish a pro-rated early termination fee that decreases over the time of the … Read more