Verizon

Verizon support says you should turn off 5G to save your phone’s battery

Despite its relentless promotion of 5G phones and the fact that it spent more than $45 billion bidding on a new faster spectrum, Verizon support now is advising people on Twitter to turn off their phones’ 5G access to preserve battery life. In a Sunday morning tweet, Verizon support helpfully suggested that “one way to… Read more

Verizon and AT&T just spent almost $70 billion on spectrum to improve their 5G networks

The much-anticipated results of the FCC’s Auction 107 are in, with Verizon and AT&T spending big as anticipated on the coveted C-band spectrum. Verizon in particular spent nearly twice as much as AT&T, with a total spend of $45.4 billion. AT&T’s total bid adds up to $23.4 billion. T-Mobile is in a distant third at… Read more

Dish is confident in its plan to offer 5G in its first major cities by end of Q3 2021

Dish Network co-founder and chairman Charlie Ergen underscored the company’s commitment to building a 5G wireless network on today’s Q4 2020 earnings call. He restated the intention to bring 5G online in its first major cities by the end of Q3 2021 — that’s the period running from July through September — and was bullish… Read more

5G in the US is disappointing right now, but it’s going to get better

In the US, 5G remains a work in progress, despite carriers waving “5G Mission Accomplished” banners for yearsIllustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The fourth industrial revolution will not be televised After an introduction from Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg takes the stage. He wears a simple black T-shirt… Read more

Amazon Fire TV Stick (2020) review: just get a 4K model

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick is a $39.99 streaming dongle that’s aimed at people who haven’t yet made the upgrade to a 4K TV — and don’t intend to anytime soon. It maxes out at 1080p video… Read more

Networks are struggling in Texas amid historic winter storms

Much of Texas has been hit by a historic winter cold front, leaving many without power and affecting internet and cell phone services in the state. Downdetector is showing spikes in user reports for T-Mobile and AT&T from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas. “We’re experiencing network issues following severe weather in… Read more

Visible customers can now get 5G and use eSIMs

Visible, the Verizon-owned MVNO, is adding some new services that make using it just a bit more like subscribing to one of the big wireless carriers. Starting today, Visible now supports activating service via eSIM. It only works with recent, compatible iPhones, but Visible says it will add support for Android devices soon. The company… Read more

The LG Wing and Pixel 5 have been cleared to use coveted C-band 5G

LG Wing and Pixel 5 owners have something to look forward to: the Federal Communications Commission has approved these devices to use faster C-band 5G frequencies, according to a PCMag tipster. The two phones have joined an exclusive company made up of some of the first devices approved to use the new frequencies. Samsung’s Galaxy… Read more

Verizon plans to almost double its mmWave 5G coverage this year

Verizon has big 5G plans for 2021 after formally launching its next-gen network in October of last year, and close to the top of its list of priorities is expanding coverage of its ultra-fast mmWave coverage. That flavor of 5G is currently restricted to select areas within select cities in the US, and it’s highly… Read more

Verizon Fios is experiencing outages on the East Coast

Verizon Fios, the company’s fiber optic network, appears to be experiencing outages in many locations on the US East Coast. There are more than 22,000 user reports of problems with Verizon on Downdetector, and there appear to be hotspots on Downdetector’s outage map for Verizon in Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, and more. A… Read more

Verizon prepaid customers can now access fast 5G Ultra Wideband

Verizon is extending access to its fast mmWave 5G network to its prepaid customers for the first time. A new unlimited plan starts at $75 a month — $10 more than the standard unlimited prepaid plan — and includes access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network. Previously, 5G UW access was limited to postpaid customers… Read more

Fossil’s first LTE smartwatch is now available from Verizon

Fossil’s LTE-enabled smartwatch is now available exclusively from Verizon. The company has previously seen much success making stylish Wear OS-powered smartwatches across its family of Fossil watch brands. The smartwatch packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform and comes with 8GB of storage. There’s a 1.3-inch screen in the 44mm body and the watch comes… Read more

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 is now receiving Android 11 in the US

Last week Samsung started sending out the update to One UI 3.0 based on Android 11 to Galaxy Z Fold2 units in Germany, as well as the company’s home market of South Korea. One week later, the update has crossed the pond, and reached the shores of the US. Verizon is the first carrier to… Read more

Disassembly video shows the Galaxy S21 internals haven’t changed much since the S20

This teardown video of the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G shows that the interior is quite similar to that of the Galaxy S20 before it. To get inside, the plastic back must be removed first. And yes, it’s very much a plastic material – not even a hint of glass here. Inside the Samsung Galaxy S21… Read more

Flashback: the original Samsung Galaxy S was a best-seller that spawned an empire

We’ve covered the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III in previous Flashback articles, but now it’s time for the original – the one that started it all. Well, ther was the I7500 Galaxy after which almost all of Samsung’s Android phones are named, but we mean the original S-series phone. The Samsung Galaxy S… Read more