Hasta La Gadget!

Every decent DVR today supports remote scheduling via the web — well except Windows 7 Media Center — and Verizon’s FiOS TV DVR is no different. But of course web apps don’t compare to real apps like this new one for Android users. The new FiOS Mobile app features a guide for remote scheduling as well as VOD browsing so you can mark what you want to watch later, as well as parental controls and a free space indicator — something TiVo doesn’t even offer on the DVR itself. Of course there’s no way to actually watch content from your DVR, and we’re not surprised. Now before you get too jealous of Android users with Verizon’s FiOS TV DVR, we’d like to remind you that the FiOS DVR has a measly 160GB hard drive and no external disk support, and as you can see from the screen shot, FiOS users don’t have any free space left for new recordings anyway.

FiOS Mobile app comes to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Zatz not Funny  | Email this | Comments

Verizon’s not known for simplicity when it comes to plan selection (actually, most carriers aren’t) — currently, individuals can choose from Basic, Select, Connect, and Premium plans in a variety of voice bucket sizes, each featuring different text message and data allowances. It looks like that’s about to change, though, on leaked slides showing that the current postpaid individual plan structure will be completely wiped out and replaced with just six options on the 18th of this month, down from 16 prior. Overall, the move is a trade-off — unlimited voice pricing will come down a whopping 30 percent, while data packages will now be required on all but the most basic handsets. Comparing all-you-can-eat packages from all the major carriers, this slots Verizon $10 below AT&T but still well above Sprint and T-Mobile, same as always. Prepaid is getting tweaked, too, with all postpaid plans magically turning into prepaid for $5 more per month minus Friends & Family numbers. It’s a thorough restructuring from a company that doesn’t move very fast or very often, and it’ll be interesting to see if (and how) the other guys respond.

Verizon simplifying plans, cutting voice costs, requiring data packages this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BGR  | Email this | Comments

We’d secretly hoped that 4G would spell the end of 5GB caps on so-called “unlimited” plans, but the problem is that new categories of wireless devices are coming into the mix so quickly that we’re likely going to get crunched no matter how advanced the technology — hence the FCC’s pleas to free up spectrum. Echoing comments made recently by AT&T Mobility head Ralph de la Vega, Verizon CTO Dick Lynch is saying that he doesn’t see how they’ll be able to offer an all-you-can-eat plan when the company’s LTE network goes live over the course of the next few years, citing its open development initiative as a key reason — it’s losing control over what devices (and what kinds of devices) can get on its network, raising the odds that there’ll be gadgets that incur particularly heavy use. It’s a disappointing line for the company to take, but possibly a necessary evil in a truly wireless world. Long-term, the FCC and FTC might need to take a good, hard look at real-time network utilization to verify that Verizon’s pricing is in line with its claimed usage, but for now, let’s hope we don’t all get priced out of our MiFis.

Verizon CTO: flat-rate data ‘isn’t long-term sustainable’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Washington Post  | Email this | Comments

By and large, LTE is LTE — it’s just fast wireless, really, and there’s not a lot to see. You know you want it, and you really don’t need to be convinced. Amazingly, though, Samsung managed to impress us at Verizon’s 4G demonstration area today with its three-pack of LTE-enabled devices, including a modified photo frame, ST1000 digicam, and a MID called “Pioneer” which we’re told is little more than a Mondi with LTE swapped in place of WiMAX. Unlike some of the other demos we saw in the booth, Samsung was using actual integrated LTE chipsets — the real deal, not a concept of what kind of stuff you could see in an LTE-connected world — and if it weren’t for the conspicuous “LTE” logo atop the ST1000, we would’ve been none the wiser. With the camera, you could instantly beam photos straight to the frame, and the Pioneer allowed you to shoot live video displayed immediately on the frame, all using an LTE base station as an intermediary. This stuff isn’t as fanciful as it seems — Verizon intends to have a couple dozen markets operating in 2010, and these are all examples of the kinds of things we could see if only Big Red decides to make it financially reasonable for us. Check out some pictures of the system in action in our gallery below, because let’s be honest: unless you’re lucky, odds are good this is the closest you’re getting to a live 4G network in the next few months.

Samsung’s LTE-equipped cameras, MIDs, and photo frames shill for Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments