Today’s Gear Deal brings us the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon via AmazonWireless. This is one impressive smartphone. It features a 4.65″ 720×1280 HD Super AMOLED display, has a speedy dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor, has 1GB RAM and comes with 32GB built-in storage. A 5MP rear camera (1080p video capable) and a 1.3MP front camera let you take images, grab video and make video calls. It also has NFC connectivity, 4G speeds when available, a microUSB slot and, of course, Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi. It is also the first phone running the new Android OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Off contract the phone is $749.99 and at Verizon it is $299.99 on contract. With… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sarah and I are planning a trip abroad soon, and on my to-do list was to call Verizon and add international roaming to my iPhone. When I called the customer service line, I was incredibly impressed with how helpful they were, above and beyond what I had expected!

As soon as I explained the purpose of my call was to add international roaming, the customer service representative emailed me the Verizon rates for calls, texts, and data. She then waited until I confirmed I had it to review my options and move forwards adding a roaming plan, because she wanted to make sure I understood the cost structure. Even better, the email had dialing instructions with the country codes… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I’m a big fan of Wilson Electronics Cellular signal boosters, and I got to spend a little bit of time Joe Banos (their CEO) checking out their new 4G LTE Universal Cellular Signal Booster and learning about what’s going on in the booster market. Joe sees 2012 as the year that carriers will acknowledge that customers want better signals on their mobile devices by  embracing cellular signal boosting technology. Verizon is the first carrier to get fully on board, and Joe said another carrier is expected to do the same in the next few weeks.

Wilson has just released a universal cradle that will take care of mobile users on all carriers, but specifically those… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sorry about the Better Off Dead image, but when I saw this at Droid-Life yesterday that was all I could think of … Verizon Wireless as Johnny chasing Lane across the field and down the mountain in search of the $2 paper money.

Here is the image more related to the new policy:

According to the report from the AP:

Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest cellphone company, said Thursday that it will start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit cards.

The company said this “convenience fee” will

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the Samsung Galaxy Nexus at a steep discount for new accounts. While the retail price is $729.99 on contract with this deal you will get it for $224.99 with free shipping (It is expected in 1-2 weeks). If you already have an account and are upgrading prices start at $249.99 and you will get a free 4GB SD Card.  The Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65″ 720×1280 HD Super AMOLED display, a dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor, 1GB RAM, 32GB built-in storage, 5MP rear camera (1080p video capable), 1.3MP front camera, NFC connectivity, 4G speeds, microUSB, Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, 1750mAh battery, and more. This is the first phone running… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

When it comes to mobile devices I tend to be fairly platform agnostic, owning Android phones, iPod Touches (well, iPods since the original one in 2001), and both iPads and Android Tablets. But there is one place where I have clear bias (well, aside from gaming performance), and that is my preference for physical keyboards. Listing the smartphones I have used over the last few years, there is the original Droid, Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC 7 Pro, and Droid Pro.

What do all of those phones have in common? A physical keyboard. I even stuck with PDAs with keyboards to the end – the Palm Tungsten C and HP… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Whenever a wireless carrier discusses your private information, you can be sure of one thing: they are trying to squeeze more money out of you by leveraging your information, but know that if they don’t give you an opt-out they will have regulators breathing down their necks. So … this week we get an email from Verizon Wireless.

What information are they storing?

Mobile Usage Information:
• Addresses of websites you visit when using our wireless service. These data strings (or URLs) may include search terms you have used
• Location of your device (“Location Information”)
• App and device feature usage

Consumer Information:
• Information about your use of Verizon products

Today is 11/11/11 – or in Europe 11/11/11 – and Verizon and Motorola are releasing the cool looking ultra-thin Droid RAZR Android smartphone – at 11:11:11, naturally. Never one to be left out of a chance to overuse a gimmick, Amazon Wireless is getting in on the fun, offering the Droid RAZR for … yep, $111.11!

But … there is a catch. The image above is from when I select ‘New Customer’. As soon as I indicate ‘Exiting Customer’, THIS is what happens.

So much for a good deal – I guess they figure if they… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

If HTC and Beats Audio have their way, we aren’t going to be able to immediately dismiss the headphones that come with mobile phones as being anemic or lame for much longer.

Today HTC announced the first and only phone in the U.S. with integrated Beats Audio™, the HTC Rezound. The HTC Rezound is a multimedia powerhouse with unparalleled audio and entertainment capabilities which allows customers to experience music and entertainment on-the-go like never before.

Its style is unmistakably HTC, but the Rezound appears to have been jazzed up a bit by the addition of a red speaker grill and red capacitive buttons along the bottom of the screen. A flashy Beats Audio logo on the back will also… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (partly because I have a tendency to repeat myself, as Sami sometimes points out):  Competition is a Good Thing™.  I like to see different products offered on different platforms, different versions of tech products, and all the rest.  Yeah, sometimes I get a little weary when too durn many “solutions” get released–how many flinkin’ Android phones are there out there now, anyway?–but in the main:  competition=good.

In that vein is Facetones; I’ll let Verizon tell it:

Vringo’s Facetones service integrates with Facebook® and provides a new way to get visually exciting social content each time a user makes or receives a phone call.  For Verizon customers who

Here is a great deal for those of us who are on Verizon and have one of the supported phones: Madden 12 for Android is Free Oct 1 – Oct 3 for Verizon Customers!

To get it call **MADDEN (**623336) From your Verizon Wireless Android phone.

According to SlickDeals:

Supported devices include: Incredible 2.2, Vortex 2.2, Continuum, Thunderbolt 2.2, Droid Pro 2.2, Fascinate 2.2, Incredible 2.2.2, Commando, Droid Charge, Revolution 2.2, Droid X 2.2.2, Droid X 2.3

Head to the Verizon site to see more details, or just call **MADDEN to get the game!

Source: SlickDeals

I can’t even find it in myself to be annoyed that HTC has introduced a phone that is so obviously aimed at women; if they had just colored it plum and called it good, I would have been livid. But no. The HTC Rhyme is a phone that I would have considered carrying anyway … and the bonus is that it just happens to be a lovely plum color.

From the unique plum color that draws on the inspiration from HTC’s designers to specific apps, wallpapers, and ringtones created for the HTC Rhyme, HTC Sense’s presence is seen throughout. Hardware design is taken a step further with available accessories including a wireless Bluetooth headset, wireless charging dock which turns

It is big. It is bold. It is Bionic! It’s the Motorola Droid Bionic 4G smartphone for Verizon and it is today’s Gear Deal.

The Droid Bionic isn’t a smartphone. No, it is a super-smart phone. It has a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3″ qHD (960×540) display, dual-facing cameras with an 8MP rear camera, and 16GB built-in memory plus the inclusion of a 16GB microSD standard. It is hotspot capable, offers 4G LTE/3G connectivity, runs Android 2.3OS, and, of course, has WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. It has all that and it still offers up to 10.8 hours talk time.

The full price of the Droid Bionic is $679.99. At Let’s Talk it is just… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image courtesy of Droid-Life

What drives me nuts about mobile carriers these days is that I truly believe they are using new technology against us. Maybe you think I’m out of my mind, but it’s really easy to see the common trend happening with 3 of the 4 big carriers in the US. As mobile broadband and equipment evolve, our data plans seem to reverse direction and impose some serious and costly limitations. If I remember correctly in the past before smartphones were big, you could use all the data you wanted. But let’s remember the hardware was not nearly as advanced and you really weren’t streaming anything over a mobile… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Are you an aspiring filmmaker? A smartphone owner? If so, it might be time to get down to business making a 60 – second video for Verizon Wireless’ new Field Tester’s Challenge. The premise is simple: create a unique video short showcasing a field test of Verizon’s 4G LTE network. In other words, you’re making an advertisement. Although the video needs a runtime of just a minute, there really aren’t many other restrictions on entries. The full rules and regulations can be found here, though participants may want to get a head start on the project before the contest’s fast approaching August 20th deadline. Areas of particular interest to the cellular giant include download… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...