Verizon

Verizon to Require LTE-Compatibility in All Future Smartphones

If there's one thing Apple's mobile products have taken a lot of criticism for recently, it's their lack of LTE support. The company released a new tablet and handset last year — neither of which contained the popular 4G technology.

While nearly every Android partner has implemented LTE into their products, Apple has continued to ignore the tech in favor of battery life and reliability. But they may not have a choice in the matter in future Verizon-bound products...

iPhone 4S Still Top-Seller for Sprint, Verizon and AT&T During December

December was another great month for iPhone sales, according to research by Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley and his crack team of number crunchers, with all three major US carriers seeing the new iPhone 4S top their sales charts.

Two months after its initial release on Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon, the iPhone 4S is still the best-seller for all three of the carriers that offer the handset in the United States, with two Android phones helping make up the top three, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the newer Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Less surprisingly, the top-selling tablet device in the United States was the iPad 2, with the cheaper Amazon Kindle Fire being its nearest competitor. We expect the tablet landscape to alter during 2012 however, with more Android and Windows 8 machines offering more competition for Apple's device...

Verizon Sees 4.2 Million iPhone Sales For Last Quarter

Verizon has reported a record-breaking number of iPhone sold during the fourth quarter of 2011:

Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile carrier, sold 4.2 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, more than doubling from the third quarter, said Fran Shammo, finance chief of the company’s parent.

The iPhone sales will narrow gross margins at the wireless business by 500 to 600 basis points, Shammo, chief financial officer of Verizon Communications, said today at a Citigroup Inc. event in San Francisco. U.S. carriers sell smartphones such as the iPhone to subscribers at a loss to get them to sign up for contracts that typically run for two years.

Comparatively, carrier sold 2 million iPhones during the previous quarter.

How to Get Unlimited Data On Your Verizon iPhone

Verizon discontinued its unlimited data plan last July, thereby joining the ranks of AT&T with tiered data offerings for smartphone users. Thankfully, a nifty trick has surfaced for getting unlimited data on Verizon, despite the CDMA carrier technically not offering its all-you-can-eat plan anymore.

While we can't verify the legitimacy of this method, many Verizon customers have reported that performing this workaround has indeed unlocked unlimited data...

More Evidence Points to February iPad 3 Launch

We've been hearing rumors over the past few weeks that Apple is looking to launch its next-generation tablet in February of next year. The most recent chatter even points to a specific date — February 24 (Steve Jobs' birthday).

A February iPad 3 release is certainly feasible. The original iPad launched in April of 2010, and the iPad 2 debuted in March 2011. We've just uncovered more evidence that lends weight to the theory that the next iPad is coming in two months...

Verizon to Start Offering Shared Data Plans in 2012

As smartphones have become more and more popular over the last few years, so has wireless data. The more features that manufacturers add to their handsets, the more wireless data they consume.

This has caused several cell phone providers to preserve their bandwidth by discontinuing their unlimited data plans. Verizon seems to have come up with another way to deal with its data-intensive customers...

Consumer Reports Rates AT&T as Worst US Carrier, Again

Prior to this year, AT&T was in a pretty sweet spot. As the only carrier in the United States with Apple's coveted handset, generating new smartphone customers wasn't very difficult.

But now that Verizon and Sprint are in the mix, AT&T might want to think about stepping up its game. Consumer Reports just named the carrier the worst in the US in customer satisfaction, again.

Verizon Has a Better Network For Making Calls, AT&T Proves to Have Fastest Data

With all three of the major US cell carriers now sporting the iPhone in their arsenal, consumers have never had it so good. Not only can you now choose which iPhone to buy, but you can also choose which carrier to run it on.

Choosing a carrier isn't always the easiest thing in the world, but a new study by Metrico Wireless sheds some light onto the decision, and depending on whether voice or data is the most important thing in your world, the best carrier for you may well vary.

According to Metrico's numbers, AT&T is currently the top dog if you need your data speeds to be as fast as possible, but if you're more of a talker than a surfer, Verizon may be the best choice for your hard-earned dollar...

US Carriers Still Struggling to Keep Up With iPhone 4S Demand

Apple has received a lot of criticism over the iPhone 4S since it was unveiled last month. After an additional 5 months of waiting for an announcement, a lot of folks were disappointed when the rumored iPhone 5 didn't turn up at Apple's event.

But that hasn't seemed to affect sales of the device. More than 4 million iPhone 4S units were sold during opening weekend. US carriers sold out of their stock within 48 hours, and now, more than a month later, they still can't seem to keep up with consumer demand...

AT&T’s iPhone Dominance on the Decline, Sprint Cannibalizing Verizon

With more carriers offering the iPhone than ever before, it is glaringly obvious that AT&T's share of iPhone customers has to be on the decline, but by how much?

New research carried out by Localytics offers an insight into just which carriers US buyers sided with when deciding to buy an iPhone, with the iPhone 4S launch seeing Sprint join the fray. While AT&T's share of the iPhone market has fallen slightly, Sprint is starting to put a dent into Verizon's former customer base...

Sprint Had to Cough Up $15.5 Billion to Get The iPhone

Sprint has revealed that its deal to carry Apple's iPhone will run for four years, costing a whopping $15.5 billion.

The carrier has been criticised for the money it had to pay Apple to get the iPhone on its network, although, with AT&T and Verizon already sporting the iPhone on their networks, it's debatable whether Sprint really had any choice but to cough up the cash.

Fear not, Sprint shareholders, for your man in charge is confident that they can bleed customers dry, and ultimately, turn a profit...