Verizon Makes 4G LTE A Requirement For Upcoming Phones

Verizon's introduced a number of shiny new gadgets in the past week or so at CES, and as I'm sure many folks noticed, nearly every one was packing 4G LTE connectivity. That's no coincidence, as the carrier has told CNET that 4G support is "a hard requirement" for future devices. That means that almost every smartphone, tablet and hotspot that we see going forward should include LTE, although an exception to that will be Verizon's push-to-talk products. Don't think that this means that Verizon will be exclusively sticking with Android and iPhone, though, as Keith Lampron, Verizon's associate director of device marketing, said that the carrier intends to support Windows Phone in the future as well.

Major smartphone manufacturers have been coming out with new models left and right and 4G LTE appears to be a staple among their list of new features, so conforming with the network’s requirement isn’t much of a problem.

This news isn't a total surprise considering how aggressively Verizon has been in building out its 4G LTE network and picking up spectrum to support that network as of late. Of course, Verizon's requirement may not be terribly exciting for anyone that's not quite ready to make the jump to a 4G device, but it sounds like those folks may not be able to avoid LTE for much longer.

Aside from reiterating the 4G requirement for smartphones, Verizon Wireless’ CTO, David Small, also said that the company is actively pushing its network to many areas. Verizon is looking to have up to 400 areas covered by 4G LTE by the end of the year from the 200-plus currently in service.

Verizon 4G LTE Network Speed Test:

5 Samsung Galaxy Nexus protective cases

Few of shiny Samsung Galaxy Nexus and you are looking for a way to protect it from the daily wear and tear? In that case, equipping the smartphone with a nice protective case would be a wise thing to do. Well, we have done a little digging for you and picked five protective cases for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus with each one of them offering a different level of protection.

It’s almost certain that the Lumia 800 won’t be the Nokia flagship once the company’s MWC press conference comes, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get any more love from its maker. On the contrary – the company is about to release a camera update for the WP smartphone.

The official confirmation was brought by Nokia’s own Damian Dinning, who refused to share any details on the target release date or the specifics of the update. The Nokia Lumia 800 failed to deliver on the promises made by the 8 megapixel sensor and Carl Zeiss-certified lens. Hopefully, it was all down to the software and this update will turn out to be the cure. We suspect Nokia might have something to say about this update at the MWC at the end of the month.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Case-Mate Tough Case Black Unbox:

Droid Bionic update rolling out to everyone

It may be hard to remember now, but the Droid Bionic was one of the most anticipated devices of 2011. The oft-delayed and totally redesigned Bionic wasn’t quite the smash hit that Verizon and Motorola had been hoping for, but quite a few people did snap one up. If you’re one of those people, be sure to head over to your “Settings” menu, select the “About Phone” option, and click on “System Updates”.

The Motorola Droid Bionic is set to receive a fairly substantial update, said to fix connectivity issues and a number of various bugs. Software version 5.5.893, which totals 54.5 MB, improves data stability, increases the Mobile Hotspot capacity to eight devices, and fixes media playback via Bluetooth, just to name a few tweaks. The full list of improvements is available at the source link (there’s more than the image above leads you to believe), as are detailed instructions for both the manual and OTA update process. As always, we

You’ll be treated to the 5.9.902 update that was subject to a soak test last week. The update brings a bevy of improvements to connectivity, battery life, and overall stability. Enlarge the image below for the full list of improvements.

Droid Bionic Review - The Best Android Phone?

Motorola DROID 4 is now available with Verizon

Android junkies, call up your corner dealers because on February 10, 2012, Verizon started selling the Android 4 by Motorola. As you may already know, this new addition to the Android family is no amateur to the smartphone arena. This phone is jam-packed with features. It boasts a 5-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a whopping 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and a 1GB of LP DDR2 RAM, a 4” qHD display, riding on the Verizon 4G LTE network, and Android 4 is topped off with a rear-facing HD 1080p camera. This camera can also take 8mp pictures, then flips over for video chat in 720p. The Android 4 also has high artificial intelligence that according to Verizon will “automate routines while adjusting your device settings to conserve power—extending battery life so you can do more of what Droid does.”

If you plan on going in without a contract expect to pay $549.99, with a 2-year contract you will shave off $350 bringing the price down to $199.99. In October 2011, Verizon released the Android RAZR Maxx with a 2-year contract for $299. It’s intuitive design and reputation of being the thinnest smartphone on the market has definitely set the tone for future mobile phone designs.

I think the Android 4 will surpass the Android RAZR, given the fact that it sports the QWERTY keyboard and is by far the thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone. Android 4 is even more appealing, since it sells for $100 cheaper than its predecessor.

Motorola Droid 4 Hands-on; Verizon's 4G LTE Network at CES 2012:

Mystery HTC Ice Cream Sandwich phone surfaces

UPDATE: After checking the Service Information screen, our source now tells us that the phone is 100% Verizon-bound. Congrats to all of you riding on "the nation's most reliable 4G network"!

You might be surprised, but we actually don't have a clue. We were recently approached by a tipster of ours who was generous enough to share these pics with us. Thanks to the photos, we can learn quite a bit about this mysterious handset, but unfortunately, we can't be sure how it's going to be called, or what carriers it may end up on. However, some of our observant readers have noted that the 4G LTE logo that's visible during the loading screen is the one that Verizon uses for its handsets, so that's a pretty good guess as to where the phone may end up.

Although this ICS-powered HTC phone looks very similar to some other models by the company (and that's not really a good thing), it doesn't fully match any of the currently known handsets. In terms of appearance, its front looks similar to almost any other HTC phone released recently, however, the back reminds us of the characteristic DROID Incredible 2 back side, and since there isn't any other HTC line having this particular design language, we're willing to speculate a little here by saying that this might in fact be the HTC DROID Incredible 3. Another possibility is that it might be the leaked HTC Fireball, also for Verizon, of which, however, we know almost nothing.

Alright, enough speculating. Let's take a look at the specs! According to the Hardware information screen, the phone will feature a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB RAM, 8MP camera complemented by a VGA front-facing one, as well as LTE connectivity. Overall, the handset doesn't seem to be a slouch, though it doesn't shine either. Furthermore, our source tells us that it's having an AMOLED screen, instead of S-LCD, which is the tech of choice for the bigger part of HTC's newer smartphones.

On the software side of things, we're glad to see this phone run Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich, covered by the new Sense UI 4.0. As can be seen from the images, this will be one of the HTC handsets that won't have on-screen nav buttons, but will instead stick with hardware ones. Interestingly, even though previous information pointed that those ICS handsets by HTC ,which will stick with hardware keys, will have three, instead of four keys, this one sports four. Of course, we should all keep in mind that this is a prototype unit, so a lot of stuff may change until it finally hits the market, which will probably happen sometime this year!

HTC Sensation Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0):

Verizon to launch Motorola DROID 4 on Friday; Bogo promotion to start on Motorola DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX

As expected, Verizon is launching the Motorola DROID 4 on Friday for $199.99 with a signed two-year pact. What was not expected are the promotions that Big Red is debuting on Friday. For example, if you like the Motorola DROID RAZR or its big batteried (did we just invent a new word?) brother the Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX, you can buy one of either model and get a second unit for free

But wait, there's more" as they say in those annoying television commercials. Big Red is offering up double the data with 4GB of 4G LTE service going for $30 per month with any smartphone purchase. And if you finally are ready to trade in that LG Voyager or LG Dare that you have been sporting since the Bush administration was in power, Verizon is giving away $30 gift cards in its stores for those willing to part with their old featurephone and move on up to a smart one. Finally, you can take $100 off the price of a 4G tablet with the purchase of a smartphone and a signed 2-year pact.

It sounds like Big Red customers have plenty to think about in the next few days, especially those with an upgrade burning a hole in their pocket.

NEW Verizon Launches Motorola's Droid Phone:

Motorola RAZR MAXX available at Verizon for $299 on contract

The Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX was one of the phones that managed to impress us at CES this year is available now from Verizon. The phone boasts a humongous 3,300 mAh battery while still staying relatively slim - a hair under 9mm.

If battery life is what you're after, the RAZR MAXX is a champ - how do 21 hours of talk time sound? For reference, the standard RAZR for Verizon packs a 1780 mAh battery for twelve and a half hours of talk time.

The RAZR MAXX is thicker and heavier than the standard RAZR (9mm, 145g vs. 7.1mm 127g), but other than that it has the same appealing features - 4.3" SuperAMOLED screen with qHD resolution, 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. And it has Gorilla glass on front and Kevlar on the back too.

Verizon is offering it for $299 on a two-year contract or $649 without a contract. You can grab it only from Verizon's website right now. For comparison, the vanilla XT912 RAZR goes for $279/$649 respectively for the 32GB version (which is how much you're getting from the MAXX). The 16GB version is $199/$599.