Verizon

Verizon to pay Vodafone $130 billion for its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 15, 2018

Verizon has reached an agreement with Vodafone to purchase its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for roughly $130 billion, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The outlet says that the deal isn't final yet, but it could be announced as soon as Monday.

The acquisition would be the second-largest ever of its kind, coming in about $40 billion behind another Vodafone deal—a $172 billion buyout of Mannesmann AG in 1999—and would cement Verizon's control of the biggest wireless carrier in the US by subscriber base...

NFL iOS app updated for the 2013-14 season, adds Verizon-only streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

As first noted by AllThingsD, The National Football League has updated its iOS software for the upcoming NFL season. Among other changes, the official NFL Mobile 8.0 app boasts a revamped appearance, with stats and data updated for the 2013-14 season. As the new version now combines two previously standalone apps, one from the NFL itself and the other by Verizon, it comes with a premium streaming feature - but only if you're a Verizon iPhone owner.

Jailbreakers should proceed with caution as the new app isn't supported on jailbroken devices. If you're into professional American football, you're probably aware that the 2013 NFL regular season opens Thursday, September 5 (the Baltimore Ravens are playing against the Broncos in Denver). I've included more details about the new NFL Mobile 8.0 app after the break...

Verizon introduces new 500MB shareable data plan

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

The actions of major US wireless carriers are fairly easy to predict—particularly with AT&T and Verizon. If one does something, you can bet the other is going to follow suit, and vice versa. Just recently it happened with the device upgrade plans, and now this.

Hot on the heels of AT&T announcing its new 300MB share plan, Verizon has introduced a similar option for its customers. Starting this month, Big Red subscribers will be able to snag a new 500MB shared data plan for their smartphone, for $40 per month...

AT&T tops Verizon in customer satisfaction, Santa and Tooth Fairy rejoice

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Although AT&T was the first U.S. carrier that sold the iPhone when Apple introduced the smartphone in 2007, Verizon Wireless quickly overshadowed the telecom giant. For the first time, AT&T has stolen the spotlight back, outranking rival Verizon in customer service satisfaction.

No, hell did not freeze over. And, yes, this is the AT&T that late last year was voted having the worst voice and data service, had all the tethering issues and is constantly sniping with about everyone...

Mobile payment service Isis to go nationwide this year with iPhone support

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Nearly three years after it was first announced, Isis is finally set to debut on the national stage. Bloomberg is reporting this morning that the carrier-backed mobile payment service will see a nationwide rollout this year.

For those unfamiliar with Isis, it's a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, looking to change the way consumers pay for things using NFC and other tech. And after 9 months in testing, it's ready for launch...

AT&T and others supporting Apple in looming U.S. ban of older iPhones and iPads

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 29, 2013

As an August 4 ban on U.S. sales of some of Apple's most-popular products looms, the iPhone maker is picking up business support. AT&T, Verizon, Intel and other companies are asking that U.S. President Barack Obama overturn an ITC-ordered ban on the sale of some Apple products judged to infringed upon standards-essential patents owned and asserted against Apple by rival Samsung.

At issue is whether Samsung is unfairly using essential patents as a weapon to gain an upper-hand in U.S. smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, for instance, is one of Apple's best-selling handsets...

Apple trims Android’s U.S. smartphone lead as Verizon sells most iPhones

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 29, 2013

Apple is making a slight dent in Android's lead among U.S. smartphone owners, picking up more than three percentage points of market share at the end of the June 2013 quarter. By comparison, Google's mobile software slipped a bit, giving up almost one percent, according to new research.

By the end of the June quarter, Apple's iOS had 42.5 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up from 39.2 percent a year earlier. By contrast, Android fell to 51.5 percent from 52.6 percent during the same period, according to research firm Kantar Monday...

‘UnthreadedJB’ untethered jailbreak released for CDMA iPhone 4 on iOS 5.1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Make sure you read that title very carefully before you get too excited. Yes, there's a new jailbreak out, and yes, it's untethered. But odds are, you're not going to fit its compatibility requirements. It only works for CDMA versions of the iPhone 4, and the app only runs on Linux.

It's called UnthreadedJB, and it's developed by a group of people under the same name. To be fair, this is the first untethered jailbreak we've seen for iOS 5.1—I believe Absinthe 2.0 was for iOS 5.1.1—so it doesn't come without acclaim. And several users have confirmed that it works...

Motorola introduces the Droid Maxx with 48-hour battery life

Cody Lee ∙ July 23, 2013

Despite the fact that it's gearing up to launch the Moto X next week, Motorola joined Verizon on stage this morning at a very low key event in New York City to introduce a trio of new Droid smartphones: the Droid Mini, the Droid Ultra, and the Droid Maxx.

All 3 handsets seem like decent offerings, but the Mini and the Ultra were most decidedly overshadowed by the Droid Maxx. In addition to its 5-inch, HiDef OLED display and 8-core processor, the Maxx promises up to 48 hours of 'typical use' battery life...

Verizon responds to AT&T’s ‘most reliable 4G LTE network’ claim in new ad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Last week, AT&T launched a new ad campaign claiming that it not only had the nation's fastest LTE network, but also the most reliable. Citing independent third-party data, it said it now has the "highest success rate for delivering mobile content across 4G LTE networks."

Obviously, this didn't sit too well with Verizon, who has long touted the reliability and reach of its cellular network as the best in the country. So the Big Red carrier decided to take out a print advertisement in The Wall Street Journal yesterday to set the record straight...

Older iPhones comprise almost half of Apple’s U.S. handset sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 22, 2013

Apple's iPhone 5 accounts for just over half of the company's smartphone sales, with 48 percent coming from the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, according to new research. That compares to the iPhone 4S which comprised about 75 percent of Apple sales almost a year after launch.

The figures illustrate how a larger portion of Apple's smartphone revenue is being generated by lower-cost iPhone models, a concern for investors heading into Tuesday's third-quarter financial report...

Consumer Reports weighs in on device upgrade plans

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Earlier this week, we took a comparative look at the various new device upgrade plans that carriers have introduced over the last several days. There's T-Mobile's 'Jump' plan, AT&T Next, and Verizon's 'Edge' program.

After crunching some numbers, we found that T-Mobile's offering was the better of the three, as it doesn't include device subsidy costs in its rate plans. And it looks like Consumer Reports, who did its own math, agrees...