Hasta La Gadget!

Paying a monthly fee — or any fee, for that matter — for turn-by-turn navigation on Android devices has felt pretty unpalatable ever since Google Maps Navigation happened, but Verizon’s still trying to make things interesting with the latest version of its VZ Navigator product. A quick feature rundown of its new “Version X” is up on YouTube right now, and we’ll admit, we’re a little intrigued by some of this stuff: realistic 3D buildings in major cities (unlike the nondescript boxes in Google Maps, we imagine), some form of dead reckoning capability for those times that you don’t have GPS reception, satellite maps, overhead street signs, social integration for letting folks know where you are, and a whole bunch of views for customizing the experience. We’re assuming service is the same $9.99 a month that Big Red charges currently, but there’ll also be a free version — VZ Navigator Maps — that dispenses of some of the crazier features. We’re hearing this might be officially announced in a few hours, so more details will presumably be in tow; in the meantime, follow the break for the teaser video.

[Thanks, Misty]

Update: It’s official. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading VZ Navigator Version X breaks cover, adds ‘virtual city’ maps, social features, and more

VZ Navigator Version X breaks cover, adds ‘virtual city’ maps, social features, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM and its partner carriers have been promising BlackBerry 6 updates for a number of recent models, and Verizon’s getting a couple of the heavyweights out of the way today with the introduction of official upgrade packages for the Bold 9650 and Curve 3G 9330. In addition to universal search and an overall streamlined UI, one of the most important improvements here is the addition of RIM’s WebKit-based browser that makes hitting your favorite pages moderately less painful than before. Look for the update to become available at 8:00PM Eastern this evening, both online (see the Source links for instructions) and over-the-air.

Verizon offering BlackBerry 6 upgrades for Bold 9650 and Curve 3G tonight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon‘s quarterly report is in, and profits are nearly twice what they were this time last year: $4.65 billion compared to $2.37 billion a year ago. Additionally, VZW added 872,000 customers, a fair bit more than the 646,000 it was expected to gain. Great news, right? Not if you’re a Wall Street analyst, who wanted to see earnings per share of 55 cents. The actual figure was 54 cents, and so down Verizon’s shares go, a 1.3 percent drop so far. Nothing particularly shocking there, but this is the last quarterly report the company will have before VZW adds the iPhone to its stable, so we’ll be very curious to see what these numbers look like three months from now.

Verizon profits nearly double, but miss Wall Street expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wow, insider tipsters are getting efficient! Verizon appears to have only just added Minimum Advertised Pricing for the Motorola Xoom to its internal systems, but already it’s been leaked out by more than one source. Android Central has the damning evidence, which lists an $800 levy for any prospective owners of the flagship Android Honeycomb device. It’s accompanied by a listing of the HTC Thunderbolt at $250, with the logical conclusion being that the Moto tablet will come unsullied by subsidies while the HTC LTE handset will probably cost that much on a two-year deal. That makes plenty of sense to us — the typical smartphone price is $200 and Verizon can point to the 4G goodness the Thunderbolt brings as justifying its $50 premium, whereas the Xoom’s cost seems to be in line with the Galaxy Tab’s pricing. Now, how about some launch dates, leaksters?

Motorola Xoom priced at $800 at a minimum, according to Verizon leak originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At CES, Verizon had mentioned that “some… but not all” of its first LTE handsets would support the simultaneous use of voice and data. That’s not news for 3G customers on T-Mobile and AT&T, nor WiMAX customers on Sprint — but for Verizon subscribers, this is a very novel concept, indeed. Well, we can chalk up the mighty ThunderBolt from HTC as one of the models that’ll support it, if leaked training materials for the phone over on Android Central are to be believed. On a related note, the very existence of these materials gives us hope that we’ll be seeing it on store shelves before too long; don’t get us wrong, the two USB modems Big Red’s launched for LTE service so far are all well and good, but we could really use some handsets on these airwaves.

HTC ThunderBolt will support simultaneous voice and data in LTE areas originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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