Verizon Wireless Backtracks – Says They Will NOT Charge $2 Fee To Pay Bills

Breaking news from the Wall Street Journal who is reporting that Verizon Wireless has offically reversed its plans to charge customers a $2 convenience to pay bills online. This news comes right after the FCC announced they would be investigating the matter. Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said in an official statement, "At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time."...

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Verizon’s $2 online and telephone payment fee to Be Looked By FCC

Verizon confirmed yesterday that it will tack on a $2 convenience fee when customers make a single-time payment online or over the phone using a credit or debit card. The news spread like wildfire across the tech blogs and eventually caught the attention of the FCC. The regulatory agency released a statement on Friday that states, “On behalf of American consumers, we’re concerned about Verizon’s actions and are looking into the matter.” I have to give the FCC credit for responding to Verizon’s upcoming billing change so quickly. Though the FCC isn’t launching an investigation, this response is a reminder to Verizon that the FCC is watching it closely. This close oversight may be enough to compel Verizon to rethink this change. We’ll...

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Gift Cards Worth $100 Offered by Amazon for Users Purchasing Select Hotspot Devices From Sprint and Verizon

Amazon Wireless is offering users who buy select 4G hotspot-capable devices a $100 gift card upon activating their phones with the hotspot feature enabled on their plans. Some of the devices they’re offering up are the DROID Bionic and HTC Thunderbolt from Verizon plus the Motorola Photon 4G and Samsung Epic 4G Touch from Sprint. They have many more options so you’ll have to head on over to Amazon and check them out. No AT&T or T-Mobile phones, unfortunately, but if you’re with one of these CDMA carriers and planning on buying any of these phones with hotspot anyway, this will be a good deal. That $100 could go toward some accessories or pretty much anything on Amazon’s site. [via PocketNow]...

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Verizon Wireless Discounted Galaxy Nexus Battery Now 50% Off – $20 For A Limited Time

If your recent Galaxy Nexus purchase found the battery life to be a bit… lacking, I have some good news. Verizon Wireless has the official Samsung — NFC enabled — 1850 mAh batter for only $20. That’s half-off the original asking price! Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite as liberating as having a spare battery at hand. Still a bit expensive for a regular ‘ol battery (you can get a 3-pack from China for half that price) but that’s the price you pay to keep full NFC capabilities intact.We have no idea how long this deal will last so you may want to hurry. [Verizon Wireless] Via Droid-Life...

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Verizon Confirms $2 Fee for Paying Online and on the Phone

Late yesterday it was revealed in a leak that Verizon would begin charging consumers $2 for each single bill they pay on the phone and online. Users who pay in store or pay online via electronic check or autopay would not be affected. Verizon confirmed the news today and said that it is indeed to help offset the costs of them having to accept those types of payments. "The fee will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these channels,” said Verizon. So there you have it. It’s set to go down on January 15th. We know many of you are wondering about contract options and we’re sure Verizon has thought this one out carefully. Since you can avoid the charge in one way or another it probably doesn’t breach...

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Your Verizon Data Should Be Up and Running Now

Verizon experienced another data outage yesterday and it was a lengthy one – half a day, give or take a half an hour. On their Twitter account, Verizon said that 3G was unaffected even though users had trouble connecting to the 3G network even when switching to CDMA-only mode. They claimed the same thing during last week’s outage when 3G was, in fact, affected for 4G device users. 3G-only device users didn’t see any outages but that’s because their phones use a different authentication service to get onto the network. For 4G users, they use an entirely separate service for both 3G and 4G and many were without data at all (1xRTT included for most). We’re not sure what’s been going on with Verizon’s “fast and most reliable” network as...

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus modification will change your softkeys and their color

For Galaxy Nexus owners that just picked up their device from Verizon, you may finally have a reason to root your device. Yes, rooting does void your warranty – but it opens a world of new available features. Even though Verizon’s Nexus is fairly new, development has been progressing at an excellent rate. We recently discussed a battery mod compatible with the Android Revolution HD ROM for the Galaxy Nexus, and now there is a softkey mod that adds a “Search” softkey pictured as a magnifying glass to the right of the bottom menu buttons. The softkeys are also available in different colors; personally, I prefer the ICS blue. It looks excellent. You can now expect support for both the 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 based ROMs, and as they are incorporated...

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HTC Fireball, LG Spectrum could be Verizon’s first LTE world phones

Americans get a lot of cool stuff before the rest of the world, but phones that play nice with international networks is not one of them. Verizon customers in particular have a lot of frustration to deal with, since the CDMA network is totally useless almost everywhere else in the world. There are a smattering of globally operable phones on Verizon, including the DROID 2 Global, DROID 3 and the Incredible 2. But so far there haven’t been any global-ready smartphones that take advantage of Verizon’s LTE network. According to some leaked internal documentation from Droid Life, that may soon change with phones from HTC and LG. We’ve heard rumors of both these phones before: the HTC Fireball was spotted in Verizon’s apparently leaky computer...

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New Droid 4 Renders Give an All-angles View

With nearly every detail revealed we will likely run out of speculation long before its February release, but here is one more look at the Motorola Droid 4 from nearly any angle you could want. Will that QWERTY keyboard be worth the wait until February in light of Verizon’s current lineup of great 4G LTE Android handsets? Maybe…if they manage to ship it with Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed. [via DroidLife]...

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Verizon’s 4G Outage Issues Resolved

And the short saga comes to a close. Verizon’s just informed everyone that the 4G network outage that occurred earlier this morning has been resolved. They did not give a detailed explanation as to what caused the outage, as usual, but they did acknowledge which consumer may have been affected. I and many others have been back on 4G uninterrupted for a couple of hours now and everyone should be good to go. Take a look at Verizon’s short statement sent to us below. "Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text...

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Verizon customers hit by data outages across the US

US mobile operator Verizon appears to be suffering from extensive data outage issues across the US, with many of its customers heading to the company’s community forums to complain at the lack of mobile data on their handsets. The nation’s second biggest carrier is reported to have lost both 3G and 4G network connectivity in Long Island, Manhattan, Las Vegas, Richmond and a number of other US states and cities, but the company itself has yet to issue a statement on how extensive the outages may be and when they can be expected to be rectified. Customers have taken to Twitter to voice their complaints, as noted by The Verge, notifying the operator of problems on its network (if they weren’t aware already). The outage marks the second...

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Galaxy Nexus gaming performance: ShadowGun and Riptide GP

Wondering how the Verizon Galaxy Nexus will handle all the high-end games that are coming out and taking advantage of super-powered Android hardware? Well wonder no more. Chris Burns over at SlashGear took his shiny new Nexus on a gaming bender, trying out two high-profile 3D games that are quickly becoming the standard for Android graphics: third-person shooter ShadowGun and jet ski racer Riptide GP. The results are impressive, to say the least. Despite the Galaxy Nexus’ 720p resolution, both games run quickly and smoothly at the highest settings. On ShadowGun you can notice minimal slowdown during screen-filling effects, but that’s about it. When playing Riptide, the racing is incredibly smooth and fluid even with the multiple water...

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus Vehicle Dock Lacks 3-Pin Connector – What Gives?

If you were looking to cruise in style and outfit you new brand new Verizon Galaxy Nexus with the official Samsung vehicle dock, you may want to hold that thought. Apparently, the American/Verizon version of the car dock (pictured above) is without the three-pin connectors you see in the UK/GSM version of the dock (pictured below). Not sure exactly what’s up but if you want the higher quality — and better featured vehicle dock — from the UK, you’re going to have to pay a higher premium, along the lines of £50. If unplugging and replugging your phone isn’t too troublesome for you, the Verizon version of the car dock can be had for $40. Which version will all you “elite” Galaxy Nexus owners out there be purchasing? (Yes, I’m still bitter...

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Android Revolution HD ROM 2.2.1 on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

Though still a work in progress, mike1986 has brought Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GSM/LTE) owners his popular Android Revolution HD ROM. I myself have been running this 2.1.1 build without any problems so far. Actually, it is a great improvement over the stock ROM; battery life has improved, and screen transition effects are performed much smoother. The phone is initially very fast, but after installation I’ve only seen an improvement – no hiccups. Here are a few screenshots of my homescreen; the stock launcher still comes standard with this release, but I can’t seem to veer away from ADW EX. Now it may sound silly, but the main reason I rooted my device is to install a tiny 1% battery mod patch found within the battery icon in the status...

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Motorola DROID RAZR update brings fixes for camera, data connection and more

Motorola and Verizon started testing a new update for the DROID RAZR early last week that was said to bring a slew of fixes and improvements to the razor sleek phone, and today it appears to be ready to slice and dice. Verizon has just outlined all the information and has let us know the update is on the way and users should be seeing the over the air update very soon. Some of the changes appear to be quite significant and should really help out this already awesome phone become even more stellar. We thoroughly enjoyed the RAZR and you can see all our coverage and full review from the detailed timeline below. According to the documents provided by Verizon the update should bring plenty of changes and a few of the important ones are:...

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Verizon System Shows HTC Fireball, Details Unknown

If a Verizon inventory screens are to be believed (and they usually are quite trustworthy), a new 4G LTE device is coming our way courtesy of HTC. The HTC Fireball has appeared in the carrier’s computer system without even the slightest hint as to what it could be. The best we can do is speculate on the Fireball’s model number ADR6410L, which falls between the ADR6425 and ADR6400. With consideration to this fact, it is possible that the Fireball will be a mid-range device with hardware that falls between the range of those two devices. Otherwise we can gain little info other than the assumption that Verizon plans to release the device sometime in the future. [via DroidLife]...

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Galaxy Nexus Experiencing Signal Problems? Verizon Looking into a Fix

We’ve received more than a few tips that users are experiencing signal issues with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I can’t personally verify the claims — I have yet to take my Nexus outside of a 4G zone – but based on a recent tweet from Verizon’s support account it does appear that something isn’t quite right. Users are reporting familiar sounding 4G issues, such as poor handling of the switch between 3G and 4G mode (toggling airplane mode tends to fix this) and lower-than-expected reception strength. Verizon says it is investigating the problem and developing a software update to address the problems, but a release timeframe is unknown. Our best guess is to expect any signal-enhancing tweaks to come bundled as part of the Android 4.0.3...

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Verizon-bound Galaxy Tab 7.7 Passes the FCC

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 looked ready for a Verizon release after an appearance in the carrier’s inventory system, and looks even more primed for an LTE launch after a trip to the FCC. The Honeycomb-laden tablet was spotted getting its 4G radio and CDMA bands checked out by the federal entity, clearing the slimline slate for a US release. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 features a 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED display, dual-core 1.4GHz processor, and measures in at a mere 7.89mm thick. It could gain a few millimeters thanks to the addition of LTE, but the difference should be marginal at best. There is no indication of when we could actually see the Galaxy Tab 7.7 launch on Verizon. [via The Verge]...

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Motorola DROID RAZR Maxx turns up in Verizon system

Earlier this month we reported about a Motorola DROID RAZR MAX that was rumored to be on the way to Verizon outlets, and it looks like those stories are about to come true. The folks over at Droid-Life managed to get their hands on a photograph showing a listing of devices in Verizon’s systems and there is a phone known as the “Motorola DROID RAZR Maxx” in between the regular DROID RAZR and the DROID RAZR White. While this is confirmation of the device’s existence, there’s no new information about the phone or a possible release date. The DROID RAZR MAX/RAZR Maxx is said to be an improved version of the DROID RAZR – possibly with a larger battery, or a 720p HD Display. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted....

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Verizon Wireless purchased $315 million worth of spectrum from Cox Communications

Verizon Wireless has added more spectrum to their portfolio this week in a deal that cost the company $315 million. Included in the deal is the fact that Verizon and Cox Communication will resell the services each company provides to the residential and commercial customers. Verizon has just completed a similar deal with other cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. The deal also gives Cox the option to resell Verizon services under their own brand name and the company will also be included in an innovation technology joint venture. The President of Cox Communications, Pat Esser, said “These agreements provide Cox customers with key enablers to mobility, such as access to Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE...

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