The Verizon Hub deskphone has mysteriously appeared on the official site but we still don’t know when it’s coming and how would one get it. From the looks of them it looks like Verizon will replace the regular home phone you might be used to with a smarter phone. Like any cell phone version it will show you pictures, notes, snippets, weather information, messages and maybe more. Internet connectivity, touchscreen display and stylus support are some of the features you’ll enjoy if you purchase one.

The Hub is supposed to be in stores already and it is waiting to be released. You will get it with a regular 2-year contract for just $29.99. Is it worth getting one or should we simply stick to cell phones?

via Verizon

Starting with January 16th Verizon Wireless has included Alltel numbers in its In Calling and In Messaging service. Verizon can call and text some Alltel customers for free now. To find out if your Alltel number will be supported right now simply check it out at the new Mobile to Mobile web page. Mobile to Mobile will be the new Verizon Wireless service which will replace the IN Calling and Messaging starting with February 15th.

On the other hand Alltel customers will still pay their regular contract fees for calling and texting Verizon customers until the merger between the two companies will be completed.

via Mobile to Mobile

The LG VX8360 which we talked about a week ago is now very much available from Verizon Wireless. Don’t expect anything interesting as this is just an entry-level phone with lots of music features. As we told you the phone will be available for just $49.99 as long as you get a two years contract with it. Get it with a one year contract and pay $119.99. The full price of this handset is $239.99 which is a little to much for what this baby can do!

So let me remind you what the LG VX8360 is all about:

• 2 inch TFT QVGA main display with 262K colors
• 1.2 inch TFT external display with 96 x 96 pixels
• Stereo Bluetooth
• V CAST music with Rhapsody
• V CAST video
• VZ Navigator
• 1.3 MP camera
• MicroSD card support, up to 8GB
• Talk time: up to 316 minutes

If you need a new clamshell phone then let’s take a look at the new LG VX8360 which will be available from Verizon Wireless. The phone will be available for just $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two year agreement.

The phone isn’t going to surprise you with any hidden features so here’s what the LG VX8360 has for you:

• A 2 inch TFT internal display with 240 x 320 pixels and 262K colors
• A 1.17 inch TFT external display with 96 x 96 pixels and 65K colors
• High-speed EVDO connectivity
• VZ Navigator
• Dashboard with Mobile Web
• Music player with external controls
• Dual speaker, stereo sound
• MicroSD card support, up to 8GB

Unfortunately we don’t have any actual release date yet but probably the VX8360 will arrive when its predecessor LG VX8350 will be sold out.

via Engadget Mobile

Verizon has successfully purchased Alltel but we knew all that already. What’s new is the fact that Verizon plans to complete the acquisition by Friday, January 9th. Alltel is about to receive $5.9 million for Alltel’s 14 million subscribers. The move will finally transform Verizon into the largest U.S. carrier with 78 million customers.

Following the completion of the deal, Verizon will sell its assets in markets that overlap with Alltel and it will open a call center in Little Rock after closing Alltel’s headquarters from the same city. What are we going to expect from the top U.S. carrier in 2009? Hopefully just great things!

via cnet

Verizon will launch the new Casio Exilim phone at some time in the future, but until that happens we are left with these leaked photos of the device. A blog from South Korea managed to get them and launch them for everyone to enjoy.

As for specs we already know what the FCC documents say about the device. It will support dual band CDMA, EV-DO Rev. A and Bluetooth connectivity. It will come with a 5.1MP camera, an unconfirmed 3x optical zoom and a WVGA screen. Need more details? We’d like to have an arrival date and a price. Anyone care to leak?

Not the most pleasant story I read today but still what I’m about to tell you is pretty interesting. John Jacobs was a defense attorney but he died three years ago from pancreatic cancer. He was buried with a fully charged Motorola T270 which had a $55 Verizon plan. You’ll be surprised to find out that his wife has been paying the subscription ever since. The phone is engraved on the gravestone itself and the wife and sons use it to leave voicemail to the husband. As I said earlier, not the most pleasant story especially now before Christmas but it just might be a great, yet expensive, therapy method.

via textually

Hello Moto! These are by far the best looking phones with a Motorola logo on them that I’ve seen this year. I mean sure these might be just concept phones or fake photos but Motorola should really be inspired from them if they aren’t the original designers.

We have pictures from four handsets which should arrive in 2009 form Verizon Wireless. We have a FLASH, a RUSH 2, a CALGARY and an INFERNO. We don’t have specs yet but as you can see the phones are similar to what the competition has in stores so we figure the final specs should be similar to those too. Prices and arrival dates? We’ll be waiting for them!

via BGR

2009 will be the year when wireless companies will test out the LTE networks and speeds. Verizon Wireless is one of them but we’ll have to wait until Q4 of 2009 to actually see it running. Verizon Wireless will also rely on femtocell technology to boost future LTE signal to cell phones other devices.

NTT DoCoMo announced that LTE in Japan will be available in 2010, while Sprint and Clearwire are going to work together for their WiMAX 4G. It looks like we’re going to have a Merry 4G Christmas next year.

via Yahoo

It’s not just Sprint that’s working on improving its wireless network. Verizon seems eager to get its 100Mbps FIOS network out next year. The Network has tested the FIOS this year despite admitting that the 100Mbps speed was more of a marketing strategy than an actual possibility.

But now Verizon might launch the 100Mbps service. Comcast is working on their DOCSIS 3.0 50Mbps which means Verizon has to keep up with the competition. Here’s what Verizon had to say in the first place about the 100Mbps:

A lot of these different TVs will have inordinate demand on the bandwidth that is required on the network in order to support them. In some cases, the requirements will be much greater than 100 Mb/s to the customer. In parallel to that, a number of TVs, a number of DVRs and network storage devices in the home will increase individual demand from customers on the network.

But then Verizon slightly corrected itself:

Verizon expects to have its delivery processes for speeds like that locked down in 2009 so that service with speeds approaching 100 Mb/s would be enabled in the very near future. We have no product ready to announce for deployment in 2009.

So Verizon will either launch a new product in 2009 or not. Pretty simple right? How much will the FIOS service cost in the eventuality it will be released? The current 50Mbps offer is priced at $144.95 without the phone service and it costs $139.95 if you also choose the Verizon’s phone service.

via dsireports

We all know the semi-problematic release of the BlackBerry Storm. Verizon had to solve various issues on the spot or on the go. You might remember the leaked OS version from a few days ago, which was reported to work fine on the Storm. Well Vodafone customers weren’t that lucky and they had to wait for Vodafone Germany to deliver the official release of the software update for the Storm.

Look for OS 4.7.0.78 if you happen to own a Vodafone Storm. It’s said to fix the accelerometer lag and touchscreen accuracy. If you happen to get it, tell us how it is.

via Vodafone.de

BlackBerry Storm owners should be happy to know that the firmware update they have been waiting is out there. Firmware 4.7.0.75 has not been officially released to the masses yet but it has been leaked. More people have gotten it and it looks like the update works fine so far. Let’s see if RIM confirms this firmware and if they have a different version ready to release.

via CrackBerry

The iPhone and its 3G successor have been cracked. So did the G1 and lots of other phones. But has the Storm been cracked already?

It looks like someone has done that already using a SIM unlock code from Verizon. Then the Storm was given some Bold software and therefore it was used in T-Mobile’s GSM network. That means the Storm can be used with T-Mobile’s 2G voice network and with Verizon’s 3G data network.

I dare to say the Storm hasn’t been really unlocked yet. We’re still waiting for a different version.

via SlashGear

The Storm has some OS problems and there’s no way to deny that. That’s OS v4.7.0.65 if you are wondering. Luckily a firmware update is scheduled for early December, which means that some of your problems might be solved. Will Verizon and RIM be able to fix everything eventually?

The first OTA update - Maintenance Release 1 - will arrive in the first week of December. Here are some of the issues that will be initially fixed:

If a customer receives a call while listen to music at low volume using a wired headset, the music volume may suddenly increase to the highest level (!). Interim recovery instructions: Lower the volume using the buttons on the side of the handset.

When using voice-activated dialing, incoming audio may be muted. Interim recovery instructions: Enter the menu and select “Activate Handset or Speaker”.

The handset may reset itself while sitting idle or while using multimedia applications. No interim recovery instructions provided.

A future Maintenance Release should also take care about the following problems:

Customers may intermittently lose email connectivity via CDMA and/or international roaming modes. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio off, then Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.

When powering on the handset, the radio sometimes does not turn on. Interim recovery instructions: Main menu -> Manage Connections -> Select mobile network -> Turn radio on. If this does not resolve the issue, pull the battery.

Pressing the send key while the device is in landscape mode will open the phone application in portrait mode, but the speed dial function may not work. Interim recovery instructions: Press escape until the home screen appears, then press the send key with the handset in portrait orientation.

Sometimes entering characters on the virtual keyboard doesn’t work. Interim recovery instructions: Re-select the character.

What’s your Storm experience? Come on, don’t be shy! Tell us all about it!

via BGR

Well people, just hold on to your horses people. The Storm is available online for now. By available we mean same price, same specs, but a later shipment. Verizon suggested a weird ship date, December 15th. Weird ha? That’s what the people with giant forks and tranquilizers guns marching to The Network’s headquarters said too. And Verizon quickly managed to renegotiate the waiting time. You will get the Storm on December 8th if you order it online now. Otherwise get back in that line in front of the store!

Verizon Wireless is on a hot roll right now. The Storm is out and we’ve seen the HTC Touch Pro available from Verizon’s online store. The next smartphone in line is Samsung Omnia. We suspected it was coming and now we know it for sure. The Omnia will be released online and via telesales starting with November 26th and it will be available in store startint with December 8th. The Omnia will cost just $249 after a $70 mail-in rebate with a regular two years contract.

via Verizon

Did you manage to get your Storm these days or are you still waiting for that to happen? Either way you must be curios about how the whole haptic feedback works right?

Well some other curios people got their Storm and then they tore it apart to see how it works. Behind the touchscreen there’s a single microswitch ready to be pressed whenever you press the screen. Basically there’s a whole big button which reacts whenever you press certain areas of the screen. Nothing out of the ordinary here right?

via phonewreck

The Storm isn’t the only hot phone available from Verizon Wireless these days. Come to think of it you’re more likely to find an HTC Touch Pro than a Storm these days.

The Touch Pro is available on Verizon’s website and that’s where you can order one. It’s a little more expensive than Sprint’s or AT&T’s:

• $349 after a $70 MIR and 2-year contract
• $419 after $70 MIR and a 1-year contract
• $539 with no contract

Luckily customers eligible for an NE2 upgrade can get an additional $50 to $100 off those prices. So what do you think? What shall it be? A Storm or an HTC?

via Verizon

As I had been expecting, the latest Blackberry model, coming into the world to defy Phonejesus iPhone, hasn’t remained long enough on the store shelves to gather any dust. Verizon hasn’t yet officially announced anything regarding the exact Storm sales figures but they’ve must have done pretty good.

Unfortunately for those who didn’t get to a Verizon Store in time but still want one, I’ve got some bad news! Shipments are being delayed until December 15th.

via engadgetmobile

The Blackberry Storm is instantly disappearing from Verizon stores everywhere. And Verizon is having quite a hard time keeping up with the demand. The Storm is available in stores now for $199.00 with a plan. What do you think happened if the latest Blackberry were available for $99.99?

Apparently the online retailer letstalk.com is going to sell it out there for the bargain price of $99.99.

I guess the plan is to sell a lots of units over the holiday season. You would have to pay $69.99 per month for the following two years, but hey, it must be all worth it. You should also know the whole $99.99 deal starts on December 2nd.

via BlackBerry News