[News] Verizon brings back unlimited data plans

Yes, you read the headline correctly and yes, you are seeing this logo correctly.  As most readers of our site will know, both Sean P. and I both have a well earned disdain for the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. and aren't afraid to let it show.  One of our biggest criticisms was their forced migration of customers off of old school unlimited data plans.  As of Monday, things done changed.

[Op-Ed] Why people (including me) love to hate Verizon

For a while now Verizon Wireless has been the only game in town where I live.  Back in the day, I tried T-Mobile and AT&T and their networks weren't mature enough at the time to compete from a voice and 3G data standpoint.  Then of course came the 4G LTE tech and the data usage explosion, which only widened the gap between Verizon and their competition even further.  By the time both other major companies (no one really uses Sprint anymore, do they?) leveraged enough funds to increase their network infrastructure, I was already happy with my grandfathered unlimited 3G to 4G data plan.  I mean, come on...unlimited is unlimited, right?  And then came the real deciding factor - both AT&T and Verizon decided to stop offering unlimited data packages in favor of tiered data, and my choice was made for me: if I wanted to keep my existing unlimited data plan, I was going to be on Verizon for the foreseeable future.

[Rumor] Is this benchmark for the Verizon Galaxy S4?

A recent benchmark showed up for a smartphone with the device ID "SCH-I545" - this just may be the latest flagship from Samsung, the Galaxy S4.  The Galaxy S3 for Verizon bore a device ID of "SCH-I535" and several other Samsung smartphones have similar code names on Verizon as well.

As you can see from the bench mark, we'd expect this phone to sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a full 1080p display, and the Adreno 320 GPU.  The Samsung event is scheduled for 03/14/13, and no doubt it will be one of the most hyped events of the year for tech enthusiasts.

*Source:  Droid-Life

[News] Verizon Galaxy Note 2's bootloader unlocked

Now this news will probably not mean much to a lot of folks, but for those precious few Android enthusiasts who enjoy "modding" their phones...this is a great day.  The good folks over at XDA Developers have found an exploit that allows the bootloader of the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 to be unlocked.  This allows for a variety of custom options to be flashed onto the device, including a custom recovery, kernels, and ROMs.  If you're like me and have a desire to always tinker with your device, the Galaxy Note 2 (already a great smartphone) just got a little better.

This link to the chaps over at Droid-Life includes some more info, along with the video on how its done.  You might want to make a "Note" of it if you are thinking about picking up this phone and messing around with it.

*Source:  Droid-Life

[News] Verizon Galaxy Note 2 to go on sale tomorrow

The day many have longed for has come...the Galaxy Note 2 will be available for purchase through Verizon Wireless starting tomorrow, November 29th.  If you're jonesing for the largest, most powerful smartphone/tablet/phablet on the market with LTE on board, wait no more.

Pricing will likely depend on whether or not you on on or off contract, but with a new 2 year agreement you can pick this one up at Big Red's stores for $299.  As Mr. Plunkett has already made his purchase, expect an in-depth review of this magical device coming soon from the Two Tech Geeks!

*Source:  BGR

[News] HTC Droid DNA launches on Verizon, pre-orders begin today

Well folks...its officially official.  The HTC Droid DNA will launch on Verizon on November 21, 2012, with pre-orders via the Verizon website beginning today.  The device will be a nifty $199 with a new 2 year agreement.  Cutting edge specs and a 1080p screen make this thing a beast...the only thing that remains to be seen is how well the 2020mAh battery holds up powering the quad core processor and the 5 inch screen.  HTC claims 10 hours of moderate use - I'm looking to see more info from folks who've had a chance to review the phone in depth.  If you are on Verizon, and looking for the best of the best in an Android device, check it out in your local Verizon store.  Or go to Verizon Wireless.com

[News] Joint Verizon and HTC event announced for November 13th

New York city has been hard hit recently, but that apparently isn't going to stop Verizon and HTC from announcing a joint venture at 11:00am on November 13th (Tuesday, a week from today) there.  The best guess so far is the "official" outing of the HTC "DLX" which apparently will debut on Big Red as the HTC Droid DNA (perhaps the single most cheesy name for a mobile phone, ever).

What's not cheesy is the specs on this monster - not the least of which is that 5 inch 1080p resolution display.  For more details on the rumored HTC superphone that we loved calling the Deluxe, go here.

More pics below - but I guess we'll all be waiting for next Tuesday's official unveiling.

[News] Two new color options for Galaxy S3 on Verizon

Photo courtesy of Droid-Life.com

For those who have read the 2012 Holiday Smartphone Guide (and if you haven't, check it out here) you know that the Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of the best Android phones out on the market today.  If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, and shopping for a new smartphone, you now have 2 new color options of this powerful phone to choose from - black and what can only be loving described as wood grain brown.

Both of these color variants come with 16GB of internal storage, not the 32GB options that the white and pebble blue options come in.  But if that doesn't concern you, give them a look.

You can get over to Verizon Wireless via the link here, which will take you to the black version.  If you'd prefer the brown instead, simply click the button below the image (caution - the button looks red to me, but will actually select the "Amber Brown" color.)

*Source:  Droid-Life

[News] Verizon releases Jelly Bean update to its Galaxy Nexus owners

As of this morning, there are reports that some users of the LTE Galaxy Nexus are receiving an OTA update of their phones from Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1), labeled as version JRO03O.  If you are one of the (likely) very few non-rooted, non-custom ROM users, this may be significant news to you.  With the addition of Google NOW, and a host of speed and smoothness enhancements, Jelly Bean is the best version of Android yet.

So if you're stock, keep checking that "system update" button.  If you aren't stock, and want to see what all the fuss is about....well, you'll have to flash back to stock ICS, and then wait for the update from there to get the goods.  If you're like me (rooted and custom ROM) you'll probably just yawn and move along.  So there you go!