Verizon going to push as many as 30 Long Term Evolution (LTE) markets up and running within the US in the fourth quarter of this year will mean that Sprint Nextel Corp. with its companion, Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) -- will soon no longer be the one operator that may claim a so-known as "4G" community in the US.

Sprint, which makes use of Clearwire's WiMax community for its 4G service, at present operates it in forty three markets. Clearwire has thus far stated that it plans to cowl around one hundred twenty million people throughout the US by the tip of 2010 and is promising launches in main markets like the Bay Space, Los Angeles, and New York City by that time.

Verizon Wi-fi is promising to begin its LTE service in the fourth quarter. The operator might want to launch in lots of main cities to hit its plan to cowl a hundred million potential clients by the end of the year. Verizon, however, isn't commenting on a report from Engadget that November 15 is the day that its preliminary LTE companies will go commercial.

A restricted November launch is a risk, based on Heavy Reading's Berge Ayvazian. "I do know Verizon is pushing to launch LTE in as many markets as potential earlier than year-finish," notes the senior consultant. "November 15 is feasible -- however it would imply fewer markets."  This, he suggests, will up the pressure on Dash and Clearwire to make wireless broadband out there in major markets like NYC and San Francisco. "Clearwire will have to be business in the top markets by then for certain," Ayvazian says.

Sprint and Clearwire will proceed to have one advantage over Verizon's early LTE service: the operators can offer smartphones that assist WiMax and CDMA services. Sprint already has the HTC EVO 4G and will launch a Samsung 4G telephone later this year. Verizon isn't expecting to have LTE smartphones until someday in the first half of 2011.

In fact, neither of the networks actually qualifies as a true 4G community below the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 's definition of 4G. These requirements include common downlink speeds of a hundred Mbit/s within the broad space community, and as much as 1 Gbit/s for local access or low mobility scenarios. (See ITU Approves New 4G Specs.)

Verizon says its LTE community will provide average knowledge download speeds of between 5 and 12 Mbit/s by the end of 2010. Clearwire offers round 6-Mbit/s downlinks with bursts as much as 10 Mbit/s. (See Counting Down to LTE.)

source: LR mobile

I came across this video on youtube where this guy named tc9918 bought the Droid X on launch day but experiencing screen issues after 1 hours of using it.  He tried really hard to fix it but it hasn't helped.  So looks like he will be bring it to Verizon for an exchange.

7/15/2010 - I bought this Droid X this morning. I've had it all of about 11 hours, when this began. It appears to be a problem with just the screen or graphics subsytem. Interacting with the device seems bring up the expected screens and apps.

Remediation Attempts: I've tried a hard reboot, removing the battery, killing apps and widgets, turned off bluetooth/wifi/geoloc/etc, changing the wallpapers to no effect.

Sleeping the phone by pressing the top button, and letting it sit for a few minutes seems to quell the issue for a couple minutes. Once it's turned back on, the screen begins to flicker again, and eventually you get the nasty lines back. I will take it to back to verizon tomorrow.

And for the record, it hasn't been dropped or abused. It's been in the protected silicone sleeve that I bought with it since this morning. I also got the leather belt clip, it's been sitting in both.

According to a screenshot provided by Droid-Life, it looks like Verizon had shipped out 170 Droid X devices already, the release date is actually July 15th (Next Thursday).

I know some of you will asked why Verizon did that, was it a mistake, definitely not..  Because all of the new features included on the DX will not be active which we have to assume means the mobile hot spot feature.

An update from Droid-Life, if you are one of the lucky 170 people who received your Droid X early, you can activiate it now.  This is from Verizon's statements.

Source: Droid-Life

Francis Choung in NYC with his new Droid X. Congratulations Francis!

Yes, Verizon was giving out free Droid X before it even launches, it's the latest development of Verizon's smart marketing, to attract more people to its upcoming release of the new Motorola Droid X android smart phone.

According to the Twitter account set up for the Droid X advertising campaign, there are 21 coupons placed around the country. At various times throughout the day, DroidLanding will provide clues as to a voucher's whereabouts.  The final hint for each Droid X will come in the form of exact GPS coordinates. Once tweeted, players have four hours to hunt down the coupon to claim their prize.

It's a good idea to follow DroidLanding's twttier account if you want to have a chance to win a Droid X.

source: twitter account for Droid Landing

WSJ is reporting that a California appearls counrt upheld a $21 million refund, that Verizon Wireless will have to pay some of its customer which overpay the Early Termiation Fees (Inclueding myself :)  It's a dispute that's been circulating in courts since 2008, and while the settlement was agreed upon quickly, there were a few lingering appeals that have taken this long to get cleared up

The Court rules that each customer in the class-action claim will get about $87 dollars as a result of this suit after challenging the carrier's practice of charging a $175 fee for breaking a wireless-service contract early.

The ETF for smart phones remains at $350 (Droid, Droid X, Droid Eris, HTC Imagio etc) 

source: BGR

Before Android, Verizon's platforms on its phones are very limited as far as app development.  That's because Verizon was tighting its belts and not allowing third parties developers to enter its brew platform.  But that's all changing now, looks like Verizon has announced that it will launch Open Catalog program for Brew app developers.  Here's the press release about the announcement:

From the Uplinq 2010 Conference in San Diego, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm Incorporated said today that Verizon Wireless will be the first to launch an Open Catalog program for Brew, giving developers enhanced opportunities to bring more applications to millions of Verizon Wireless customers.

Verizon Wireless worked together with Qualcomm on Open Catalog, which will help reduce developers' time to market while allowing them to market their applications directly to consumers. Verizon Wireless' Open Catalog will also create a more streamlined process where applications that meet certain guidelines will flow through the process and reach consumers more quickly.

"The world of applications is growing, and our goal is to help developers get their applications and other content to our customers as fast and as easily as possible, so everyone benefits," said Ryan Hughes, vice president of business development and partner management at Verizon Wireless. "Opening our catalog for Brew applications allows us to engage with many new developers and to address their needs to grow and expand their offers."

Open Catalog will be available for Verizon Wireless' wide variety of 3G Multimedia handsets and other Simple Feature phones that support the Brew platforms. There will be no device minimums, so developers only need to support those devices that make sense for their businesses, and other costs for validation, testing and authentication will be lower when associated with the Open Catalog.

"More than ever, Qualcomm is committed to fostering a strong and healthy ecosystem of mobile content, and we are able to facilitate this ecosystem by cultivating the mutually beneficial relationships between an operator and its developers at low operational costs with Open Catalog, which we feel is critical to creating the best possible end-user experiences," said Mitch Oliver, vice president of ecosystem development for Qualcomm. "Given our long history of success with Verizon Wireless, we are very pleased that they are creating this new opportunity for Brew developers with their Open Catalog program."

With Open Catalog, developers will gain more control of their content distribution and can still drive downloads through direct-to-consumer promotional campaigns such as SMS short codes. In addition, their content, regardless of whether it is free or paid, will be discoverable through search and on-deck browsing.

For more information about the Verizon Developer Community and the Open Catalog program, visit http://developer.verizon.com. For more information about Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com.

source: prnewswire

Well, not exactly verizon wireless said because it wasn't official nor public.  Bloodberg somehow was able to obtain this information which they think is pretty accurate.

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company, will start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone next year, ending AT&T Inc.'s exclusive hold on the smartphone in the U.S., two people familiar with the plans said.

The device will be available to customers in January, according to the people, who declined to be named because the information isn't public. Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, and Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, declined to comment.

The iPhone, which has been the sole domain of rival AT&T in the U.S. since June 2007, will give Verizon a boost in its competition for smartphone customers, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik said in an interview. Verizon customers, who numbered 92.8 million at the end of the first quarter, may buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, he estimates.

"Apple is going to dramatically increase the number of devices it sells in the U.S. when exclusivity at AT&T ends," said Hodulik, who is based in New York and rates Verizon shares "neutral." "It's hard to ignore the quality issues that AT&T has faced."

Verizon Wireless, which is building a high-speed fourth- generation network, plans to unveil several devices that will run on the new technology in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam has said.

Continue this story at bloomberg

If you were waiting to see the Motorola Droid X release then try to decided if you want a HTC Evo 4G or not.  This should make your life a little bit easily.

alienbabeltech.com just got early access to the Motorola Droid X user guide and are happy to share it with you. The complete explanation to all Droid X features is only 4.55 MB away.

You can download the user guide here.

The Motorola Droid X goes on sale July 15 for $299.99 with a two-year contract, minus a $100 mail-in rebate. All Verizon Wireless customers with contracts ending in 2010 are eligible for the $299.99 price.

source: alienbabeltech.com

Yes here it goes again, Verizon just announces that it will be carrying their own version of the Samsung Galaxy S named Samsung Fascinate. 

Powered by Android 2.1, the Fascinate is equipped with support for Google Mobile Services, including, Gmail, YouTube, Android Market and more. Additionally, the Fascinate boasts a brilliant four-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display, Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor, and an integrated entertainment, multimedia, messaging and social networking experience. 

Here are some of the detailed features.

Key features and specifications from press release:

• - Android 2.1 platform - With support for Google Mobile Services including Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk and Android Market
• - Full HTML Web browsing capabilities
• - Preloaded with Bing Maps and Bing Search
• - 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities - Allows customers to transform their phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• - Super AMOLED Screen Technology - Brilliant display makes watching movies, viewing videos and playing games come to life like never before, even in bright light and outdoor environments
• - Advanced touch screen gestures capabilities, including multi-touch pinch to zoom, double tap to zoom and horizontal swiping, which provides easier and quicker access to many applications, including location-based services, Web browsing and digital photos or videos
• - Multiple file formats supported, including DivX support
• - Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor - Produces amazing graphics, faster upload and download times and HD-like multimedia content
• - Six-axis sensor that works with the smartphone's accelerometer to provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience when the user is tilting the device up or down or panning the phone to the left or right
• - Virtual QWERTY Keyboard Featuring Swype Technology - Input text faster and in a more intuitive way with one continuous finger motion across the screen keyboard
• - Full suite of messaging options - Text, picture, video and voice messaging; corporate and personal e-mail accounts supported
• - 5. .0-megapixel camera/camcorder - Auto-focus and LED flash with HD video recording and playback (720p) capabilities to capture photos and videos for playback on your HD television
• - WiFi Connectivity (802.11 b/g/n)
• - Stereo Bluetooth Technology - Support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, object push for vCard and vCalendar
• - Corporate Email - Supports Android Éclair Exchange ActiveSync e-mail to synchronize corporate e-mail, contacts and calendars from office e-mail accounts
• - Music and video players and 3.5-millimeter headphone jack
• - 2GB internal memory expandable to 32GB, 16GB microSD included with handset

via: unwiredview

Verizon and Bestbuy won't let Apple iPhone 4 steal all the thunder with the release of the Apple iPhone 4.  Verizon customers won't feel so jealous now at their iPhone friends everytime their friends talk about iPhone 4 this, iPhone 4 that, because soon they will be able to upgrade the Droid X, (Newest smartphone by Motorola)

The Verizon DROID X by Motorola features Google's Android 2.1 operating system, 4.3-inch screen and 720P HD video recording and playback. Android 2.2 will arrive to customers on the DROID X later this summer. The DROID X is available at Best Buy for $199.99 with 2-year activation, with no mail-in rebate hassle.

Senior Director of machandising at Best Buy mobile has following to say:

"With the buzz we've seen around the Android platform, Best Buy is confident that consumers will be thrilled about the Verizon DROID X by Motorola pre-sale," said Scott Anderson, senior director of merchandising at Best Buy Mobile. "It has been a great summer for smartphones with the HTC EVO and iPhone 4 launches, and the addition of the DROID X adds another strong option for our customers to consider."

Since I am a Verizon Customer, I too am pretty excited about the Droid X.

Source: engadget