Verizon Wireless - 46/71 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Exclusive: Amazon To Introduce 4.3-Inch Dual-Core "Blaze" Smartphone This Summer [Leak, Pictures]

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in AT&T, News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

Update: If you haven't caught on yet, you should probably check out the date on which this post was published.

This special Android Police project was brought to you by:

The amazing Grant Garrison, who tackled the design side
Jaroslav Stekl, who came up with most of the rest
Artem Russakovskii, who made sure everything went and looked perfect

Amazon's been making waves in the Android blogosphere recently with such new products as the Appstore and the Cloud Player, but it looks like they're not done yet; in fact, they're only just starting. According to the same source who tipped us about the Appstore a few months back, the company will be launching the Blaze, which looks to be a smartphone of pretty high caliber, come August - and in a sentence, there's a lot to look forward to.

Apr

Verizon's 4G LTE Up To 10 Times Faster Than Sprint's WiMAX 4G, Says Independent Testing

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, Editorials, News, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

An independent test conducted by a research firm in New York City comparing the speeds of Verizon's and Sprint's respective 4G networks has made at least one thing clear: Big Red owns the Big Apple. After conducting over 1000 individual network speed tests in various locations throughout the city, BTIG Research tallied up the averages, and it's not a pretty picture for Sprint:

The connections were tethered through an HTC Thunderbolt and an HTC EVO 4G, respectively

You're seeing that right - Verizon's 4G LTE is averaging a whopping 10.3Mbps (down) when on a laptop tethered to an HTC Thunderbolt, while the EVO 4G barely eeks out 1.6.

Mar

PSA: Verizon's Warranty Exchange Policy Is About To Get A Lot More Strict Starting Tomorrow

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

It appears Verizon has altered the terms of its "Certified Like New Program" ("CLNP") (pray they don't alter them further) to be a lot more demanding regarding the condition of exchanged devices.

Namely, if you send in your destroyed DROID, don't expect to get a shiny new replacement without a serious penalty - all phones sent in on warranty exchange must now meet the following requirements:

CLNR Cosmetics Standards

CLNR Cosmetic Standard Summary:

No blemishes are permitted on front surfaces such as the touch screen, keyboard

No more than two flaws, which must be less than 5mm in length, are permitted on other surfaces

No flaws or defects on lens

No dust, dirt, or fibers under lens

Ports must be free of foreign material and corrosion, be in operating condition, and have the plugs in place if applicable

This means even if your Android device suffers from a warrantied defect and fails, you may be out of luck trying to get it exchanged if you haven't kept it in tip-top condition.

Mar

Verizon's Spring Roadmap Leaked, Shows All Kinds Of Android Goodness

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Bionic, Droid X2, Galaxy S II, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Revolution, Rumors, Verizon Wireless, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

If there is one question that I get asked nearly everyday, it’s “When is [insert device here] coming out?” Fortunately, that question is now a little bit easier to answer because our friends over at Phandroid have gotten wind of what’s coming down the pike for Verizon this Spring and, if this leak is legitimate, it’s going to be Android-filled. Here is a breakdown of what to expect:

April 7, 2011 – Casio Commando, Samsung [DROID] Charge
April 14, 2011 – Sony Xperia Play
April 28, 2011 – HTC Incredible 2
May 5, 2011 – LG Revolution
Later in May – Motorola Droid Bionic, Motorola Droid X2, Samsung Galaxy 2 (is this what they're calling the S2?)

It is noted that the Bionic, the Droid X2, and the Galaxy 2 are all going to be 4G devices, with the Incredible 2 simply tagged “Global.”

From the looks of things, this year's "Summer of Droid" will arrive to Verizon early.

Mar

HTC ThunderBolt Gets Overclocked To A Mind-Blowing 1.8GHz, Achieves Stunning Quadrant Scores

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

In an awe-inspiring display of the ThunderBolt's raw horsepower, Derek Rodriguez (@drod2169) has thrown together a kernel which enables CPU speeds of up to 1.8GHz - a figure to which even the mighty Motorola XOOM can't lay claim. What's more, when @TheRealBeesley ran the kernel through Quadrant, he was met with (nearly) unprecedented results - have a look:

The kernel has not yet been released, which is simultaneously fortunate and tragic for ThunderBolt owners - on one hand, 1.8GHz is an undeniably crave-worthy speed; on the other, well, you know you don't want to leave your handset at such high velocities when even Derek notes that "you think I'd really let my phone sit at that?"

Nevertheless, this is a fantastic example of what the ThunderBolt's hardware is capable of and what we can expect from future mods (especially now that we have the necessary resources) - developers, go, go, go!

Mar

HTC Representative: Gingerbread Hitting HTC ThunderBolt In Q2 2011

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Here's some news that ought to make ThunderBolt owners smile: an HTC representative reportedly told a customer that Gingerbread will be made available for Verizon's new flagship phone in - wait for it - Q2.

According to Droid Life, John (or rudyt83) emailed HTC customer support after experiencing some issues with Bluetooth on his new ThunderBolt. HTC's (rather lengthy) response included this little nugget of information:

We are excited to announce that the Thunderbolt will receive the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) update in Q2 2011. Stay tuned for details as we get closer to the update availability.

The rep proceeded to list features added in Gingerbread, though the similarity to Google's own Android 2.3 changelog leads us to believe that the additions aren't specific to the ThunderBolt.

Mar

[Tutorial] How To "Un-Root" The HTC ThunderBolt And Return It To Stock

Posted by Justin Case in Development, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

One of the most popular questions about rooting the ThunderBolt is how to undo the process and return to stock, which renews your eligibility for customer support. Well, here you go:

Instructions

Please read the whole tutorial first, and pay attention to every detail. Note that your battery needs to be charged to at least 40% at the beginning of the process, and remember to check the MD5 sums of all downloaded files before diving in. As always, neither Android Police nor Team AndIRC are responsible for any damage this may cause to your phone, and, needless to say, returning to stock means you will no longer be able to use root apps like ShootMe and Titanium Backup.

Mar

PSA: Don't Blame Root And Unlock For Thunderbolt's Network Issues - Verizon Is Suffering From 3G And 4G Outage

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Droid-Life has just confirmed what Justin's been hearing: that Verizon's network is having issues. Apparently both 3G and 4G are affected, and Thunderbolt activations are also reportedly being held up. No word on what the issue is or what areas are affected, but Droid-Life has asked readers who are experiencing issues to drop a line with the details in the comments, so that would be a good place to check.

Justin Case and TeamAndIRC have been fielding complaints/accusations/questions from angry rooted Thunderbolt owners who think their root method may be to blame. Don't worry - that's not the case; your rooted Tbolt has nothing do with it.

Mar

[Updated: Confirmed] Samsung's First Verizon LTE Phone Will Be Called The Droid Charge - Possibly Launching April 7

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: March 23rd, 2011

Today it has been apparently confirmed that the name will be Droid Charge (not that we ever doubted the original sources). Engadget has obtained the following image, which clearly shows the name of the phone from what appears to be an unknown retailer's internal system:

Have you been itching to get onto Verizon's speedy LTE network but just aren't sure that the HTC Thunderbolt is the right phone for you? New options are likely just around the corner, as more details are surfacing for what will be the second or third LTE smartphone on Big Red. The Samsung handset formerly referred to as the Droid Stealth will be released as the Droid Charge - and, if a leaked internal document from Costco is correct, it will be launching on April 7.

Mar

HTC ThunderBolt Review: When 'Tried And True' Meets 'New And Blazing Fast'

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: February 8th, 2012

Well, it's finally here - after almost as many rumored (and subsequently unmet) release dates as the Notion Ink Adam, the HTC ThunderBolt has finally gone on sale. But with a sky-high $250 price tag and essentially the same hardware as the rapidly aging Desire HD, can it still impress?

That's not an easy question to answer - while the ThunderBolt is a great all-around device on an incredibly zippy network, it doesn't exactly have the most future-proof hardware in the business, and it comes armed to the teeth with bloatware. But after putting it through its paces, I must say that I walked away much more impressed than I was going in.