verizon wireless - 2/36 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Verizon's Galaxy Camera Receiving A Fairly Sizable Update, Brings Four New Smart Modes, Remote View Finder, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Camera, News, Verizon Wireless

If you happened to be one of the less than 13 people who shelled out $550 to get Verizon's variant of the Galaxy Camera, then a nice update is heading your way. It appears to bring some pretty useful new features, like S Memo, a new Help App, four new Smart Modes, and a nifty remote view finder.

So far as the new Smart Modes are concerned, the update brings scenes for dawn, indoor parties, snow, and food to the device, for a total of 19. In addition to those, you can now access the GCam's view finder via your Galaxy S Series, Tab Series, or iPhone with the companion app, which is pretty rad.

Apr

Verizon NFL Mobile App Updated For The 2013 Draft, Still Gets Picked Last Among Sports Apps

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: April 15th, 2013

Football season is an agonizing five months away, with only the slow, pedantic fields of baseball to satiate American sports fans until then. But every spring, the NFL throws a taste to football fans going through withdrawal, in the form of the NFL Draft. And the official NFL Mobile app is there to cover all of it (via the NFL Network cable channel) so long as you use Verizon.

The latest update to NFL Mobile prepares it for the Draft, beginning on Thursday, April 25th. Verizon customers can use the app to follow news and updates, including custom team tracking tools.

Apr

Verizon Wants You Longer, Harder: Subsidized Hardware Upgrade Cycle Extended To A Full 24 Months

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in News, Verizon Wireless

As if you needed another reason to hate cell phone contracts. For the last few years, Verizon's upgrade cycle has been 20 months long - that is, you bought a new, discounted phone on-contract, and you could upgrade after 20 months. (Not to be confused with the cellular contract itself, which is a full 2 years/24 months.) According to an official statement from Verizon Wireless, customers now have to wait the full 24 months before upgrading.

Here's the relevant text from the announcement:

Upgrade eligibility begins at the end of 24-month contract. The change allows customers to plan on a single upgrade date for each of their connected devices and is in keeping with how the majority of customers purchase their new phones today.

Mar

DROID DNA Ends The Disappearing Act At VerizonWireless.com While LG Lucid Goes Missing [Updated]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in DROID DNA, News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: April 1st, 2013

Earlier today, the DROID DNA disappeared from VZW's site. This, combined with all the Verizon-bound HTC One rumors, prompted some in the Android community to wonder whether such a One variant is almost upon us - after all, why would Big Red take down one of its most powerful smartphones so suddenly? The vanishing act didn't last long, however, as the DNA just returned, seemingly alive and well:

It's unclear at this point whether the phone was briefly missing by mistake or Verizon put it back because people noticed, but we've reached out to the media relations team to find out and will update this space if they respond (which is unlikely to happen before Monday).

Mar

Jelly Bean Rolling Out Now To The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II On Verizon

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Device Updates, News, Stratosphere II, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: April 26th, 2013

If QWERTYs are your thing, the Samsung's Galaxy Stratosphere II on Big Red is one of the only choices left on the market. And while it may be nothing to write home about in general, it is getting a nice bump up to Jelly Bean right now. Announced officially on the Verizon Blog just a bit ago, the update has started making its way out in phases and brings all sorts of fun goodies like voice search, enhanced notifications, Google Now, and lots more.

Aside from the stock Android enhancements, Big Red also decided to throw Verizon Remote Diagnostics and Polaris Office on the device.

Mar

Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.2) OTA Approved For Verizon Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 And 10.1

Posted by Cody Toombs in Device Updates, Jelly Bean 4.1, News, Verizon Wireless

Even though Verizon is not known for having a speedy update approval process, owners of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 are finally about to win the Jelly Bean lottery. The OTAs will bring each device up to Android 4.1.2.

Mar

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Available Starting March 7th For $599, Enormous Logo And All

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000 / N8010 / N8013), News, Verizon Wireless

We know that at least a few of you have been eagerly waiting for Samsung to release its stylus-packing Galaxy Note 10.1 in a more wireless flavor here in the States. Starting on Thursday, March 7th, you'll get your surprisingly specific wish: Verizon will start selling the tablet online and in stores for $599.99. For six Benjamins, you'll get the pleasure of the Note's S-pen function and related TouchWiz apps, plus the honor of promoting Big Red through what is quite possibly the most gaudy, ostentatious carrier branding in the history of mobile electronics.

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For the uninitiated, the Note 10.1 is a beefier version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 2, with a 1.4Ghz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, 5MP rear camera, infrared blaster, Android 4.1, and of course, a Wacom digitizer on the 1280x800 screen.

Mar

Official Verizon Galaxy Nexus 4.2.2 Update (JDQ39) Leaks, Ready To Download And Flash Now

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Galaxy Nexus, News, Verizon Wireless

It's been a long, long time coming, but the official Android 4.2 update for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is here. The black sheep of the Nexus family has waited for four months to get updated to the latest release, and while Verizon is currently testing the software for a probable release later this week or month, you don't have to wait that long. Long-time Android tipster WinDroidGuy got his hot hands on the update ZIP package, and eager users can download it right now.

The 4.2.2 JDQ39 package is an update, not a standalone image, so in order to run it you'll need to be using the official Android 4.1.1 build JRO03O (you know, the one that was released to AOSP four updates ago).

Mar

deal-alert-lg-intuition-on-verizon-wireless-only-99-for-new-contracts-and-upgrades-from-amazon-wireless

Verizon Approves Build VS95011B For The LG Intuition, Should Begin Rolling Out Soon

Posted by Cody Toombs in Intuition, LG, News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon's LG Intuition has long been an awkward kid at the lunch table. With a 5" display at 4:3 resolution, it's had a difficult time being accepted, much less competing. Even so, it has not been completely forgotten – Verizon is preparing to roll out a maintenance update to the device that will remove the Color and V Cast apps, fix some assorted bugs, and should improve speakerphone quality. There is one curious detail to this update, it also adds the Amazon Appstore. Are Verizon and Amazon becoming closer friends?

While this update may not bring a new version of the Android OS, the international version – the Optimus Vu – is expected to receive a bump to 4.1 sometime this quarter.

Mar

Samsung Galaxy Stellar Jelly Bean Update (JZO54K.I200VRBMA1) Coming Soon, Google Now Comes To The Mid-Range

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy Stellar (SCH-I200), News

Last Updated: March 4th, 2013

Samsung seems to have gotten the hang of updating phones besides the major flagships. While it's still coming about nine months after the release of Jelly Bean and nearly six months after the release of the handset, the Galaxy Stellar will be upgraded to 4.1 "soon", according to these Verizon support docs. The OTA will bring the much-beloved Google Now as well as expandable notifications and all the other goodies of the newest tasty treat.

The update is 403.6MB in size, so you're going to want to be on WiFi when you download it. While we don't yet know exactly when the OTA will start, it usually doesn't take too long between the arrival of these support docs and the initial rollout.