Verizon

In March 2017, a report from Bloomberg stated that Verizon Communications was preparing to launch its own live streaming television service, entering as a competitor to DirecTV Now, Sling TV, PS Vue, and more. Later in October, the service was delayed to 2018, and now company CEO Lowell McAdam has hinted that plans for the OTT platform will shift to a partnership-focused model. Speaking with Ya...

Verizon, the largest carrier in the United States by subscriber count, saw a monthly subscriber increase of 260,000 during the first quarter of 2018, reports Bloomberg, largely due to an increased number of smart watch activations. The company actually lost phone and tablet subscribers last quarter, but the dip in subscribers did not hurt its bottom line because of smart watches, wearables,...

Verizon today announced the evolution of its existing "FamilyBase" parental controls product into "Smart Family," a redesigned app that lets parents track screen time, set content filters, monitor whereabouts, and more. With the Verizon Smart Family app, parents can instantly pause the internet to manage their kids' screen time, check the battery status of their phone, and look at a summary...

Last September, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile announced a team-up with the mission of developing a mobile authentication solution for both businesses and consumers. One of the main reasons the carriers created the "Mobile Authentication Taskforce" was to help users who have to manage "dozens of difficult-to-remember passwords" for numerous apps. Today at Mobile World Congress, the...

Verizon plans to stop selling unlocked smartphones as a way to deter criminals from stealing the devices, the company told CNET. As of today, Verizon devices will be locked to the Verizon network and unlocked as soon as a customer signs up for service and activates the phone. Later in the spring, though, smartphones will remain locked until unlocked by Verizon, and Verizon has not yet shared...

Verizon this morning announced an offer coming for both existing customers and new customers who are switching to a Verizon line, which will go live on Monday, January 29. With the deal, if you trade in an eligible smartphone and then purchase an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X, you'll get $699 off a second iPhone 8, 8 Plus, or X. The offer is available when purchasing any combination of...

In November, AT&T shared its plans to launch its "5G Evolution" network -- which isn't true 5G -- in select areas of Minneapolis as part of its overall plan to boost cellular coverage in the city during Super Bowl LII. This week, three of the major United States cellular carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile -- each outlined their own plans to ensure that customers retain quality coverage in...

Verizon and the NFL this morning announced that the carrier will no longer be the exclusive home for mobile streaming of NFL games in the United States, with anyone able to stream the games to their smartphone "regardless of mobile network" beginning next year. The announcement comes within a new five-year deal struck between the two companies, which will see Verizon pay around $2 billion...

Verizon in August limited video quality on all of its unlimited data plans to a maximum of 720p on smartphones, but starting in November, the carrier is allowing customers to pay an additional $10 per month for higher-quality video streaming, reports CNET. With $10/month payment per line, Verizon customers can stream video at the maximum quality available on any VZW device, up to 4K, removing...

Verizon is working on a streaming television service that was originally meant to debut in 2017, but its launch date has been pushed back to 2018, reports Bloomberg. Verizon is now said to be aiming to launch its online TV service in the spring of 2018, marking yet another delay as the company struggles to find a way to compete with the many existing services on the market. Staff shuffling,...

Verizon today announced it is lowering its deductible for cracked screen repairs for customers signed up for its Total Mobile Protection plan. Starting on Thursday, October 19, the fee will be reduced from $49 to $29. Total Mobile Protection itself costs $11 per month for smartphones and $9 per month for tablets. Enrolling in Total Mobile Protection is typically only allowed within 30 days...

T-Mobile plans to continue advertisements where it claims to have the fastest 4G LTE network in the United States despite complaints from Verizon and a recommendation to stop from the National Advertising Division (NAD), the company told Ars Technica in a statement today. The National Advertising Division, which aims to review advertisements for truthfulness and accuracy to settle disputes...

Apple Watch Series 3 is available with built-in cellular capabilities, allowing you to make phone calls, send and receive text messages, stream music, get directions with Apple Maps, use Siri, and more without a paired iPhone. The freedom comes at a cost, however, as Apple Watch Series 3 models with cellular are priced $70 higher than those with Wi-Fi and GPS only. Also, to access LTE, the...

T-Mobile was the carrier with the fastest mobile network in the United States during the first half of 2017, according to a new U.S. Market Report for Mobile Broadband shared this morning by Ookla. The carrier scored a 23.17 using Ookla's new "Speed Score" metric that combines low-end, median, and top-end performance for both upload and download speeds. Ookla says this is a comprehensive...

Verizon today split its unlimited talk, text, and data plan into three tiers: Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, and Business Unlimited. The plans go into effect for new customers starting Wednesday, August 23. Go Unlimited starts at $75 per month, which is $5 cheaper than the original Verizon Unlimited plan introduced in February. However, while Verizon Unlimited allowed for full HD video...

Verizon today introduced a new Verizon Up rewards program that offers customers perks for paying their monthly bills. For every $300 spent towards Verizon products and services, including a phone bill, customers will receive one credit, which can be exchanged for one reward. Every month, there are six new customized rewards to choose from, with the selection changing on the first day of each ...

In its semi-annual State of Mobile Networks report this week, OpenSignal claims that both AT&T and Verizon have experienced a decline in 4G LTE speeds since each carrier reintroduced an unlimited data plan in February. OpenSignal blames the slowdown on an increase in data demand now that caps have been removed. From April through June, AT&T's average LTE download speed was 12.92 Mbps, while...

Some Verizon Wireless users this week began noticing throttled streaming speeds when watching content from streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, and Verizon today confirmed to Ars Technica that it has indeed been throttling speeds as "part of a temporary test" of a "new video optimization system.""We've been doing network testing over the past few days to optimize the performance of video...

AirPods continue to have a 6-week shipping estimate when purchased through Apple's online store, but AT&T and Verizon currently have the wireless earphones in stock online with free delivery in 2-5 business days. AT&T and Verizon sell AirPods for $159, the same price as Apple charges, but the carriers only ship to addresses within the United States, excluding P.O. boxes. AirPods...

Up to 14 million Verizon subscribers may have had their sensitive data exposed by Nice Systems, a partner of Verizon, reports ZDNet. Subscriber records from users who called customer service over the past six months were located on an unprotected Amazon S3 storage server controlled by Verizon partner Nice Systems. The data, which included customer names, phone numbers, home addresses, email...