Why is it that the BlackBerry Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi? If you believe BoyGenius—and how could you not!—it’s because Verizon Wireless doesn’t want it to have Wi-Fi. That’s a fine conspiracy theory, yes, but consider the following: • Name one CDMA BlackBerry with built-in Wi-Fi. You can’t. • Doesn’t VZW require you to have a BlackBerry data plan? So it’s not like having built-in Wi-Fi prevents VZW from making money Now, whether or not VZW was concerned with battery life and/or performance is another matter, but to imply that VZW is some James Bond villain hoarding all the Wi-Fi is silly, I think. → Read More
We just got an e-mail from Verizon Wireless asking us to pass along this message regarding that McCain cellphone tower story. Turns out it has a problem with the Washington Post’s reportage. The Washington Post story regarding Verizon providing a cell tower to the McCain Ranch is wrong. Verizon received a request from Mrs. McCain, but declined. Subsequent to that, the Secret Service made a legitimate request for a temporary tower for its work and Verizon complied as is required by our contract with the agency. The Secret Service request, made on May 28, specifically said it needed the service urgently and requested that Verizon “explore every possible means of providing an alternative cellular or data communications source in the referenced area and provide any short term implementation of any type as a solution in the interim.” Now, who do you believe, Verizon Wireless or the Washington Post? I doubt the Post was all, “Let’s make something up!” In any event, apparently the two parties are working toward a clarification/correction of the original story, so if you sit tight there may well be a definitive answer to all of this. We look forward to that day. Also, and completely unrelated to anything of substance, note the double space after each sentence in the above quote. Isn’t that an old newspaper convention or something? → Read More
Did John and Cindy McCain use their telecom industry connections to have a cellphone tower built right by one of their many houses in order to improve signal strength? That’s what the Washington Post implies. It seems the McCain’s Sedona, Ariz. ranch didn’t have the best cellphone reception in early 2007, so Cindy—what was that word John called her? Begins with a C…—asked Verizon Wireless to construct a tower nearby. After looking into the logistics of constructing a permanent tower, VZW balked, instead opting to install a temporary tower. These types of towers are used when a spike in cellphone activity is anticipated: a big sporting event or, here, a presidential campaign. AT&T later helped out similarly. There’s several things going on here. One, when was the last time VZW or AT&T went above and beyond for you, the average person out there? Do you live in an area with spotty cellphone coverage? Too bad. Then there’s the whole issue of John McCain being a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which overseas the FCC and, by extension, the likes of VZW and AT&T. Is that a conflict of interest? Now I have to ask: does anyone, really, in their heart of hearts, actually care? Seems like the same old non-story that fills the cable news networks all day long. → Read More
The ninja was right. Why RIM felt the need to go out and make an iPhone competitor is beyond me. via CrackBerry → Read More
Couple new just-over-budget phones comin’ down the line to Verizon Wireless. I can’t say I’m too excited about that Rapture, but the Sway looks pretty svelte. Cheaper, too. Neither one is very flashy, but it looks like the nicer sliding form factors from Samsung are starting to trickle down a little more. I remember drooling over some of the Korea-only handsets a year ago, which to me still cooler than iPhones and Instincts, though not as versatile to be sure. These two phones have the usual low-end feature sets; the Rapture does have a touch-sensitive outside screen, but on the other hand, looks like someone stepped on a silver marshmallow. EnMo reports the phones will be available starting this coming monday the 6th; the Moto will cost $180 and the Samsung $120 before that $50 mail-in rebate you never send in. More pics after the break. → Read More
“Designed for the heaviest of texters,” the Blitz comes with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, 2.2-inch screen and dedicated My Messaging key. Other features include: MP3 player with access Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Music and Rhapsody, expandable microSD slot with support for up to 4 GB support, 1.3-megapixel camera with a dedicated camera key, mobile Web-capable and more. The Verizon Wireless Blitz is available for $69.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement. → Read More
Best friends Google and Verizon Wireless are expected to ink a deal that’ll really bring in the green (…) The deal would make Google the default search provider on VZW phones, and VZW will get a cut of search revenue. Apparently there’s still a few issues being worked out. Google wants to save all the searches on its servers, for one. Imagine Google with that info: “People tend to search for XYZ while on their cellphone, let’s increase the rate for XYZ ads.” And then Google takes over the world, or some such. → Read More
Verizon Wireless, the mom and pop cellphone provider, has launched visual voice mail, a feature that rival AT&T has had since last year. Through the power of the Internet, I will point to a video that demonstrates what visual voice mail is. The service, which costs $2.99 per month, is currently only available on the LG Voyager, though VZW claims it’ll soon be available for other phones. If you’re keen to get the service, you’ll have to head to your local VZW retail store so the kid behind the counter can perform a software update on your Voyager. via MobileCrunch → Read More
Qwest and Verizon made it official: as of now, Qwest will be reselling Verizon Wireless phones and service to its residential and business customers. Qwest announced plans earlier this year to dump Sprint Nextel, saying that it was exploring other partnership options. As part of today’s announcement Qwest said its current wireless customers (who use handsets and service from Sprint) will be “notified directly about all Verizon Wireless plans and handset options,” but are “not required to do anything at this time.” → Read More
The V750 will save Motorola’s mobile phone unit from going under because it’s military-grade tough and resists shock, vibrations, drastic altitude changes, dust, high/low temps, and solar radiation. The push-to-talk clamshell features a 2.2-inch internal screen and 1.6-inch external. It also has a 2-megapixel camera and supports A2DP devices. Beat that iPhone! The V750 can be yours for $100. → Read More
