On a recent trip to the California desert, with access to both a BlackBerry Storm and an iPhone 3GS, I had a chance to test Verizon's vaunted claims about better coverage.
Anza Borrego Desert State Park, about two hours south of Palm Springs by car, is California's largest state park and covers roughly 1,000 square miles of desert. In other words, it's mostly raw, but stunningly beautiful, wilderness. Over the years, I have often made day trips (alone or with friends/family) to boulder up washes in the surrounding mountains (see photo).
Anza Borrego Desert State Park: looking east towards the Salton Sea: good coverage even here.
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)The largest town in the area, Borrego Springs (the 2000 census put the population at about 2,500), is famous for having rock-solid 2G (and increasingly 3G) coverage for most major carriers. In fact, in the spot shown in the photo (embedded in this post), which was taken after an hour of bouldering up a wash just west of Borrego Springs, there is no hiccup in service.
But Borrego Springs, surrounded by a desert (figuratively) of dead zones, is the exception. Outside of town, in places like the outback of Coyote Canyon or in the desert east of the Shelter Valley area (part of Julian, Calif.), it's very hit or miss. ... Read more
Verizon Wireless released new desktop software on Monday to help its customers better manage the media between their cell phones and computers.
Based on Smith Micro's QuickLink Media Software, V Cast Media Manager is available as a free download and lets you transfer photos, videos, and music from your phone to your PC via USB cable and provides you with tools for organizing, editing, and viewing the content. With the software, you can do such things as touch up photos, create slideshows, and rip and burn CDs. In addition, V Cast Media Manager can help you sync your multimedia library onto a new phone.
Be aware, however, that the software is currently only compatible with a certain number of phones, such as the Samsung Rogue, LG enV 2, LG Dare, and RIM BlackBerry Storm. Verizon said it is working on bringing support to more devices in the coming months, including Android smartphones. To see a full list of compatible phones and to download the software, check out the V Cast Media Manager product page.
Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea join the show today because Justin Yu is still battling with SARS. We wish him a speedy recovery, but in the mean time, we welcome the presence of two beautiful people. Plus, it's just fun to watch Kenley rock out to today's Audio Draft pick.
(Credit:
Kenley Bradstreet and Mark Licea)
On today's show, we recant what we said about Sony yesterday. The company managed to botch up a feature that would have leveled the playing field with the Xbox 360. For those of you who didn't listen, Sony and Netflix announced the arrival of streaming on the console. Sounds great? Not so fast. Apparently, you'll need to plug in a BD-Live disc every time you want to watch Netflix. We know it's only temporary, but come on! It's accessible from the dashboard on the Xbox 360, and you don't need no stinkin' disc.
It's Jeff's pick today for the Audio Draft, and while traditionally we usually pick smaller bands or unknown acts, Jeff has decided to go the other way and picked Rancid. They've been around for a while, and released a couple of albums. According to Mr. Bakalar, their latest is turning heads. We play "The Bravest Kids" and "L.A. River" from their latest album. Stay tuned for the last Audio Draft pick of the month on Friday from Wilson! It won't be country music this time.
To round out the show, we talk talk a little bit about Droid from Verizon, the company's first Google Android phone. Wilson still thinks the phone is a pretty ugly design, but that it may change the market around considering it's the first non-BlackBerry-Storm smartphone on the network. Still, Apple seems to be the one still innovating in the smart phone market.
In other news today, Kenley tells us that it's the 15th anniversary of the birth of Internet advertising. That's right on October 27th, 1994, Hot Wired ran the world's first banner ad, and surprisingly, it was pretty effective! Mark gets excited about the Tekken 6, while Wilson can't really tell the difference between Tekken 5 or Tekken 6. Jeff adds snidely, "Tekken 4." Think it's hot that Kenley likes to watch guys play videogames? Well send her a message as usual through voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638).
EPISODE 454
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Let's be honest. Research In Motion's first foray in the world of the touch-screen smartphones wasn't exactly a smashing success. The RIM BlackBerry Storm was riddled with bugs and performance issues, which were resolved with subsequent software updates, but still, the damage had been done. However, there are high hopes that the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 will wash away all those bad memories and start afresh.
As of press time, Verizon Wireless did not reveal pricing or an exact release date for the Storm successor, but RIM dropped by our offices and left us a near-final product to check out. Its revamped SurePress touch screen, updated software, and new features definitely make it better than its predecessor, but there were a couple of troublesome performance issues. Also, Verizon has the Samsung Omnia 2 and two Google Android devices coming up, so the smartphone is going to face some stiff competition.
Though specific details weren't released, we expect the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 to ship in November for around the same price as the original Storm, which was about $200 with a two-year contract. We'll let you know as soon as we have the information, and we'll update the review with a rating after receiving the final product. In the meantime, here's our preview of the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 and a hands-on photo gallery.
RIM BlackBerry Storm
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)Verizon Wireless is offering a buy-one, get-one-free deal on its BlackBerry selection and has lowered the price of the RIM BlackBerry Storm even further to $49.99 (with a two-year contract and an instant rebate).
This is the second price drop for the Storm (first was from $199.99 to $149.99), leading many to believe that the carrier is clearing out inventory to make room for the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2. While RIM has confirmed only that it is working on the device, it has not commented on a release date, pricing, or final specs.
Rumor has it, however, that the touch-screen smartphone will be released in October and just last week PhoneArena.com posted some screenshots of the Storm 2 listed in Verizon's inventory system. As far as features, the most notable improvements may be the addition of Wi-Fi and a revamped SurePress technology.
While it looks like we're at least a month away from finding out about the real deal, we're interested in knowing how many of you are considering the BlackBerry Storm 2 as a future device or what would convince you to buy it. CNET blogger Don Reisinger posted a BlackBerry Storm 2 wish list a few months ago; what's on your list?
Source: PhoneArena via PhoneScoop
The Storm now has V Cast.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)When the RIM BlackBerry Storm debuted last year, there were quite a few things about it that made us scratch our heads. One of the biggest was the 3G handset's limited support for Verizon Wireless services. Though it could play music and video, it didn't support Verizon's V Cast Music or the carrier's .
Apparently, Verizon realized not all was well in the land. On Friday the carrier announced that the Storm would support V Cast Video for your viewing pleasure. The cost will be $10 per month for the usual programming including news and weather, sports recaps and television programming.
V Cast Video and the earlier V Cast Music addition help the Storm gain a little more respectability. Now if they could just fix that SurePress feature.
(Credit:
Slacker Radio)
Don't have a streaming radio application on your BlackBerry Storm yet? If you're a Verizon user, all you have to do to get one is wait.
On Thursday, Verizon started rolling out the Slacker Radio application to every BlackBerry Storm user in its U.S. network. The free version of Slacker Personal Radio App will appear as an icon on the Storm home screen. Those who would rather opt out can hide the button and ignore the service.
In addition to discovering and rating songs, Slacker's edge on BlackBerry is its ability to cache stations for offline listening. This is particularly useful when traveling through weak Wi-Fi areas or dead data zones that would make streaming music a challenge.
A hook into Verizon's V Cast service, which itself taps the Rhapsody catalog, gives BlackBerry Storm users an opportunity to buy one of the service's 4.5 million songs without interrupting the tune's playback.
Verizon will begin pushing the Verizon version of Slacker Radio app to BlackBerry Storm users over the air Thursday and will continue to do so in waves. Slacker Radio operates a two-tiered service. The free, basic streaming service pushed to the phones can be upgraded to a premium subscription, Slacker Radio Plus.
(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)
After some slight problems, Verizon Wireless officially announced on Friday that it will release a software update to RIM BlackBerry Storm owners starting on Sunday.
BlackBerry OS version 4.7.0.148 will be available to customers beginning on Sunday, May 31, at noon Pacific through BlackBerry's support site. Verizon will also roll out an over-the-air download on Sunday at 7 p.m. Pacific. To get the OTA download on your Storm, go to Options> Advanced Options > Wireless Updates.
Though Verizon did not release a full list of features or fixes, a company representative said version 4.7.0.148 adds a full QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode, a phone icon, and enhances a number of existing features. Online forums have also pointed other improvements, such as a faster camera, better photo gallery browsing, and resolution of a bug that would display a blank white page for an incoming call or freeze the phone, and more.
If there are any Storm users out there who upgrade their smartphone this weekend, we'd love to hear from you about your experience.
(Credit:
Bonnie Cha/CNET)
During an investor conference Webcast on Thursday, Verizon Wireless executive Lowell McAdam revealed that the carrier has big plans for device launches for the rest of 2009--launches that include the Palm Pre and RIM BlackBerry Storm 2.
"Over the next six months or so, you will see devices like Palm Pre and a second-generation Storm," Lowell said. He added that Verizon will also support Android phones, but was less specific about the time frame, only saying that they would be available later this year.
Verizon plans for the Pre comes just a day after AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that AT&T, too, will go after the Pre once Sprint's exclusivity is up on the smartphone. The terms of Sprint's exclusivity have been in question, but given today's news, it looks like six months is when the carrier's hold runs out.
So, which are you more excited about? The Pre, BlackBerry Storm 2 or Android devices on Verizon?
We finally have a release date for the Palm Pre.
(Credit: Palm)Update at Wednesday, May 20 at 10:00 a.m. PST: A few readers have asked about the North America version of the Nokia N97. It should launch June 2.
Though summer is always a busy time for new cell phones releases, so far the summer of 2009 is shaping up to be a doozy. We expect a full load of new handsets over the next three months with June being an especially hectic time for high-profile models. To help you keep track of the news, here's a handy list.
Palm Pre
After months of waiting (and plenty of rumors), we finally learned today that the Palm Pre will go on sale Saturday, June 6 for $200. Palm pushed its "first half of the year" deadline to the very end, but it appears they'll make it.
We're hoping to have a review unit by the time it hits stores so that we can give you the full scoop on this much-anticipated device. Indeed, we're very excited to finally be able to touch it. June 6 was a bit unexpected since Sprint typically releases new devices on a Sunday. But the date does give Palm a two-day jump on what should be the next incarnation of the iPhone.
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