Hasta La Gadget!

Though it won’t be the first Verizon LTE device to share its white-hot connection over WiFi (that honor goes to the recently-launched Thunderbolt), Samsung’s SCH-LC11 — announced back at CES — is shaping up to be the network’s first dedicated hotspot to hit retail. We’ve just been dropped the carrier’s internal equipment guide showing a launch date in all channels (stores, telesales, and online) this coming Thursday, March 31st; pricing is an open question, but carriers tend to price these modems pretty aggressively on contract since they know they’re going to eat you alive with the data plan for the next two years. Of course, in this case, we’re more than willing to get eaten alive if it means we’ve got a 20Mbps WiFi connection in our pocket at all times.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Verizon’s Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot launches March 31st originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First it was Cricket Wireless, and now another piece of LightSquared’s puzzle has fallen into place — it’s just announced at CTIA that Best Buy has signed on as a wholesale customer for the yet-to-be-launched LTE network. Details on the agreement are still pretty light, as you might expect, but Best Buy will apparently use the network to bolster its Best Buy Connect wireless service, which currently relies on Sprint and Clearwire’s 3G and 4G networks. Exactly when that will happen isn’t clear, unfortunately, but LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja says the first trials are expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Best Buy signs up for LightSquared’s wholesale LTE service originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Motorola Droid Bionic is Verizon’s flagship smartphone on the 4G network. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Verizon’s enviable 4G LTE services are being spread to the masses as its network is expanded to 147 US cities by the end of 2011.

After rolling out 4G in major metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Washington, DC, Boston, and Los Angeles, Verizon now has its sights set on “medium-sized cities and smaller communities.”

“Aggressively expanding this powerful network beyond major metro areas reflects the reality that the 4G LTE ecosystem is growing quickly,” said David Small, Verizon Wireless’ CTO.

After deciding on LTE in 2007, Verizon’s 4G network initially launched in 39 markets in December of 2010. 49 more areas were added to the list at CES in January. Their 4G services, which provide download speeds between 5 and 12 Mbps and upload speeds between 2 and 5 Mbps, currently reach 110 million people.

New cities that Verizon Wireless is expanding its LTE service to this year include Huntsville, AL, Tucson, AZ, Honolulu, HI, and Spokane, WA.

Verizon also says that it is working with rural communications companies to further expand its 4G reach.

For the full list of cities to get 4G in 2011, hit up the source link.

Verizon Wireless Brings 4G LTE To More Than 145 Markets By The End Of 2011 [Verizon]

So, there’s good news and bad. Naturally, we’re going to start with the former. A month after we spotted this character sneaking around at Mobile World Congress, LG has finally taken the (official) wraps off of its incoming WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad. It’s a pretty familiar design — a slim (6.29- x 3.54- x 0.39-inch) inductive charging pad with a battery of LEDs to let you know the current status of things. We’re guessing this guy is designed to work initially with the Verizon-bound Revolution, but given that LG makes no mention of what phones / cases will eventually be compatible, it’ll have to remain just that for now. As for the bad news? Well, aside from not knowing what exactly this unit is for (in terms of compatibility), we’re also left in the dark when it comes to pricing and a ship date. But hey, at least we’ve got a trio of high resolution images to gawk at.

Update: Fulton Innovation has just confirmed that LG is using its Qi-compliant eCoupled technology for the charging pad.

Continue reading LG gets official with WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad, fails to provide pricing

LG gets official with WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad, fails to provide pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that Samsung LTE phone for Verizon we saw at CES — you know, that nameless one? Well, according to the picture you see above sent by a trusted source, Verizon has decided to undertake the Droid naming scheme. The newly coined SCH-i510, if you recall, packs an 8 megapixel shooter on back, a front-facing cam and a Super AMOLED Plus display. At this point, we’re uncertain which version of Android the Droid Charge will be running once it hits shelves, but last we saw it was running 2.2 with TouchWiz. No word on pricing or a release date as of yet, but you can rest assured that we’ll be keeping you in the loop.

Confirmed: Samsung SCH-i510 LTE phone to be named Droid Charge originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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