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Wi-Fi and cell service now available in 36 NYC subway stations

MTA NYC Subway wifi cellular

New York City subway passengers now have access to Wi-Fi, voice, and data services in 36 subway stations. The Metropolitan Transit Authority has outfitted several major stations with the service, including Times Square, Columbus Circle, Rockefeller Center, and a bunch of stops on the West Side starting at 18th street, all the way up to 96th street. Wi-Fi is sponsored by Boingo, while cell service is limited to AT&T and T-Mobile at the moment, with Sprint and Verizon on the way soon.

Up next, Wi-Fi and cell service will come to Queens and the midtown area by 2014, followed by the Bronx and East Side Manhattan following. Here's hoping that it all holds up and doesn't crack under the pressure of the daily New York City commuters similar to the problems with the BART Wi-FI service in San Francisco.

[Photo courtesy of Hernan Seoane/Flickr Creative Commons]


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Bloomberg: Nokia Lumia 928 coming to Verizon next month

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft, Rumors,

Nokia Lumia 928

It looks like Verizon Wireless is set to finally offer the Nokia Lumia 928, giving Verizon a flagship Windows Phone 8 device, starting next month. While no formal announcements have been made, two people familiar with the details have confirmed it. Since flagship Lumia smartphones in the US have typically been AT&T exclusives, it'll be interesting to see what the Verizon effect will have on sales. The Lumia 928 will have an aluminum enclosure rather than the polycarbonate Lumias that we're used to, with a 4.5-inch display, 8-megapixel camera, and wireless charging capabilities.


BlackBerry Z10 coming to AT&T on March 22 for $199.99

BlackBerry Z10 AT&T

AT&T customers looking to pick up the BlackBerry Z10, March 22nd is your day. AT&T announced this morning that it plans to start taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Z10 starting tomorrow, March 12th. The device will sell for $199.99 with two-year contract, which we think is about $50-100 too high, but there you have it. It's expected that both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile will both start selling the Z10 on the same day. Sprint, on the other hand, has decided not to sell the device, instead focusing on the BlackBerry Q10 with QWERTY keyboard.

Read More | AT&T

128 GB iPad now available from Apple

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Storage,

iPad 128gb

If you're one of those people (like me) who absolutely have to have the biggest and the best version of everything possible, then get ready to break out your wallets -- the biggest and most expensive iPad is now available the Apple Store online, topping out at 128 GB. The Wi-Fi model sells for $799, while the Cellular version with LTE support (your choice of AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon) sells for a whopping $929. Buying the AT&T model results in a 1-3 day ship time, while 3-5 days is the wait for Sprint and Verizon models.

Read More | Apple

BlackBerry Q10 keeps hardware QWERTY alive

BlackBerry Q10

While the BlackBerry Z10 was definitely the star of the show, the company also unveiled the BlackBerry Q10, featuring a hardware QWERTY keyboard and 3.1-inch display. With this device, BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) makes it clear that it isn't ditching the hardware keyboard, making a device to cater to those who prefer it. The display is a 720 x 720 AMOLED screen, and it's all powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB RAM. Like the Z10, LTE is on  board here as well, supporting AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless. One thing that BlackBerry left out here is the price of the Q10, but that should be coming soon enough. It should arrive in the US in April.

Click to continue reading BlackBerry Q10 keeps hardware QWERTY alive


BlackBerry Z10: 4.2-inch display, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus, LTE, $199

BlackBerry Z10

This morning BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) unveiled the first fully touch-based BlackBerry 10 device, the BlackBerry Z10. It's a handsome device, available in black and white, and matches what was previously leaked. They say that it's what's on the inside that counts, so let's dive in.

The BlackBerry Z10 sports a 4.2-inch 1280 x 768 display with a pixel density of 356 ppi (better than the iPhone 5 Retina display.) It's not a huge phone like the Galaxy Note II, but it does measure in at 5.13- x 2.6- x 0.37-inches, so it's a bit bigger than the Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 in terms of hardware dimensions. That said, it's a nice and light 138 grams. The Z10 is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor with 2 GB RAM to keep it speeding along. A removable 1800mAh batter is a nice touch, and you get a microSD slot that supports up to 32GB of additional storage, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. For optics, you can expect an 8-megapixel 1080p camera on the back, and a 2-megapixel shooter up front that records in 720p. This will also be the first BlackBerry with 4G LTE support for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.

The BlackBerry Z10 is set to launch in the US in March for $199.99, with the white version being touted as a Verizon exclusive.

Click to continue reading BlackBerry Z10: 4.2-inch display, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus, LTE, $199


HTC Droid DNA: The best smartphone display ever for $199 on Verizon

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Google, Handhelds,

HTC Droid DNA

If having a smartphone that has the best specs on paper is your thing, you're gonna wanna sit up and pay attention to the HTC Droid DNA smartphone. The Droid DNA will launch on November 21st on Verizon Wireless, and pre-orders start today. What makes the Droid DNA the undisputed champion of the spec race? Well, for starters, it has what is unquestionably the best display ever seen on a smartphone to date. It's a 1080p 1280 x 1080 display, packing the same number of pixels into it's 5-inch LCD panel that you'd find on your HDTV at home. That equates to 440 pixels-per-inch, blowing away Apple's 326ppi found on its iPhone Retina display.

The Droid DNA will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean when it launches in ten days, and will be powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB RAM. Naturally, being part of Verizon's flagship Droid line, it'll be a 4G LTE smartphone. Beats Audio with HTC Sense 4+, wireless charging, and a new Super LCD 3 panel round things out here. You can pre-order your Droid DNA today while we work on getting a review unit in-house.


Verizon fixes iPhone 5 glitch that consumed data while connected to Wi-Fi

Verizon iPhone 5 carrier setting update

It appears that iPhone 5 users on the Verizon network were using up their allotted data while connected to Wi-Fi networks. Fortunately, there is a carrier setting update that resolves this issue. As such, this is a highly recommended update for all users on Big Red, even those on unlimited data plans and, of course, those who are on the tiered or shared data plans. It appears that no other carrier is affected by this but, just in case, keep a close watch on your data usage for any funny business.

Click to continue reading Verizon fixes iPhone 5 glitch that consumed data while connected to Wi-Fi

Read More | Apple Support

AT&T launches LTE in Seattle, Portland right before iPhone 5 launch

AT&T LTE Seattle Portland

If there's one feature to sway AT&T iPhone customers over to Verizon, it's the fact that Big Red has launched LTE in a ton of markets while AT&T plays catch-up. Tonight, AT&T closed the gap a bit with the launch of its LTE network in both Seattle and Portland, two major metropolitan areas that may have otherwise seen a hefty exodus when the iPhone 5 launches this Friday. Being that Gear Live is based here in the Seattle area, we started getting reports from a bunch of readers that their Lumia 900 devices were all of a sudden showing LTE connectivity. Sure enough, we confirmed it with our own unit, and AT&T followed up with a press release letting everyone know that LTE was now live in both Seattle and Portland areas. Readers are seeing speeds as high as 22Mbps down and 12Mbps up.

We've reached out to AT&T for information on just how large the LTE deployment is in these two metropolitan areas, as Verizon definitely has the entire greater region in each area covered in LTE.

Read More | The Verge

iPhone 5 backordered less than an hour after pre-orders begin!

iPhone 5 backorder

Well, that was fast. iPhone 5 pre-order began at 12:01am this morning, and by 12:56am, the latest Apple smartphone was backordered by a week. Buyers who are late to the game (and by late, we mean an hour late--1:00am Pacific, 4:00am Eastern,) will currently be receiving pre-ordered iPhone 5 units one week after availability, on September 28th. Of course, you can also opt to visit your local Apple, Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon Store on the 21st if you'd rather not wait a week.

Did you pre-order iPhone 5?


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