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Verizon posts record breaking number of subscribers and LTE growth with a $4.23 billion loss in Q4

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by Jared Peters on
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Yep, you read that right. Despite having a record breaking 2.1 million subscribers for Big Red in Q4 2012, totaling over 98 million customers, Verizon posted a $4.23 billion loss. Now, losing a few billion dollars is never a good thing, of course, but Verizon is a postpaid wireless carrier, so most of their profit comes over the two-year contracts customers sign to purchase their heavily subsidized phones, so this is certainly not the end of the world for them. And the best part of this report is that we get a peek at smartphone trends. » Read the rest

Pioneer AV receivers get update to support HTC Connect wireless music streaming

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by Colton Kaiser on
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If you’re rocking one of Pioneer’s recent audio video receivers, you’ll be excited to know that the company has just released a firmware update that allows owners to take advantage of HTC’s Connect technology. This means users can now use their HTC One X, One X+, One VX or Droid DNA smartphones to wireless stream music directly to their receivers via DLNA. The news comes just a few months following the initial introduction of Pioneer’s HTC Connect-compatible SMA wireless speakers.

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Duracell Powermat Hopes To Bring Wireless Charging To All Smartphones Via WiCC

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by Josh O'Donnell on
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With their new Wireless Charging Card (WiCC) technology, Duracell’s Powermat division is hoping to bring wireless charging to the masses. The WiCC hopes to bring the integration of Powermat technology to all smartphones, via a connector that is built into the phone itself. This of course requires participation from the major smartphone retailers, since the technology would have to be implemented at the production level. Given that Duracell promises that this implementation will only cost pennies at most, I wouldn’t be hard pressed to believe that phone manufacturers will at least give it a shot in one or two phones before considering it standard on all their future models.

Powermat currently offers wireless charging through the Powermat charging bed coupled with a proprietary case designed to communicate with the base. The new WiCC hopes to remove the mandatory use of the Powermat case and enable users to use a case of their own choosing, or none at all. The thin wafer-like charging card can be purchased at any time by the user, enabling the power of choice. Although Duracell isn’t placing the WiCC as immediate priority for release and we won’t see it any time this year, it’s most definitely something that we hope to hear more from here at TalkAndroid. Keep tuned to TalkAndroid for more news and updates from Mobile World Conference 2012. Full press release after the break.

source: engadget

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LightSquared Requesting the FCC Require Stricter GPS Device Standards

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by Josh O'Donnell on
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LightSquared, the company which has spent billions of dollars developing a whole-sale only wireless broadband network, filed a document with the FCC regarding stricter standards of GPS devices. LightSquared believes that signals that are used as part of GPS bands are the culprit of interference on the spectrum that they’ve chose to use for their services. Originally, that spectrum was supposed to be a satellite-only type of deal, but the FCC cleared it for terrestrial use back in 2005. The FCC also granted the company a waiver so LightSquared could run a terrestrial-only network.

Now, due to Sprint delivering an ultimatum, LightSquared is pressed for time in achieving a resolution for all these interference issues. Losing a long-term multi-billion dollar deal like the one struck with Sprint could be potentially catastrophic for LightSquared, especially when you couple it with LightSquared’s largest investor, Harbinger Capital Partners, who last year reported a whopping 46.6 percent value loss. Although the potential of LightSquared can be valued quite high in my opinion, it seems that if it can’t strike a deal with the FCC, we might be seeing a little more sinking than swimming.

Source: CNET

AT&T Beefs up Indianapolis Wireless Coverage in Preparation for Super Bowl XLVI

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by Stacy Bruce on
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The year’s biggest sports event takes place today and apparently Verizon isn’t the only carrier willing to beef up wireless coverage to keep the fans happy. AT&T has also rolled out a bunch of new equipment and decided to let the public know just exactly how they planned to implement the upgrade.

According to the video below, AT&T pulled out all the stops for this year’s Super Bowl to assure that fans get good cell signal anywhere in the near vicinity of  the Lucas Oil Stadium. From CoW’s (Cell tower on Wheels), to increased coverage in/around hotels, it seems that AT&T wants you to be able to call and brag to your friends from almost anywhere you go during your visit to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis this year. Not only will traveling fans get to reap the upgrade benefits, AT&T plans on leaving the equipment behind for all of Indianapolis to enjoy. I wish the Super Bowl would come to my home town!

Jump past the break to see AT&T’s explanation video and official press release. » Read the rest

Hands-On With Edifier’s Bluetooth Spinnaker Speakers, Works With Smartphones and Tablets While Adding Some Style (Video)

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by Joe Sirianni on
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While perusing the CES show floor we happened to come across Edifier’s booth, the company who is well known for manufacturing high-end speakers and other audio products.  And this go-around they’ve brought their A-Game as far as the wireless speaker dept goes.  So what makes Edifier stand out from the rest?  Well, the company definitely offers some unique and interesting designs.  While there were many designs available which offered great functionality and a fantastic look, one set of speakers particularly caught my eye.  The Edifier Spinnaker Speakers standing at 15-inches tall and touting front-facing tweeter and mid-range speakers along with downward-facing sub woofers located at the bottom.

The speakers allow you to pair any Bluetooth enabled device such as a tablet or smartphone seamlessly and with ease.  There’s also a wireless remote control included which offers a ton of functionality and interaction.  It can be used to play, pause, regulate the volume and skip tracks. These bad boys are clear, loud and take the shape of a horn believe it or not.  A bit unorthodox we know, but damn if they don’t look cool next to my Galaxy S II.  You can purchase this particular model in both Black or Burgundy.  Check out the demo below of the hands-on touting the crystal clear sound of OneRepublic’s “Good Life” and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.  In addition to the Spinnaker model, we snagged some screen shots of some other oddly but cool designed pairs of speakers as well.  So be sure to hit the break to give them a one-over.   » Read the rest

AT&T Backs Out of T-Mobile USA Bid

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by Justin Routhier on
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AT&T has agreed with Deutsche Telekom AG to end a bid to buy T-Mobile USA after a nine month pursuit. The conclusion comes on the heels of actions taken by the Justice Department and the FCC in recent months which were aimed at combating the bid effort to ensure consumer choice and controlled prices in the market.

Following the announcement, Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO promised, “AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution… Over the past four years we have invested more in our networks than any other U.S. company.”

Stephenson also elaborated on future investments and the feasibility for their continued success:

“To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest… However, adding capacity to meet these needs will require policymakers to do two things. First, in the near term, they should allow the free markets to work so that additional spectrum is available to meet the immediate needs of the U.S. wireless industry, including expeditiously approving our acquisition of unused Qualcomm spectrum currently pending before the FCC. Second, policymakers should enact legislation to meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs.”

[via att]

Sprint Announces New Data Pricing For Non-Smartphone Devices

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by Stacy Bruce on
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Sprint has recently decided to change their data plans for tablets and mobile broadband/hotspot in order to remain competitive with other mobile providers. It seems like Sprint has been tweaking its plans a lot lately and this new line-up has its ups and downs. All new changes went into effect today and only apply to non-smartphone devices. Smartphones will maintain unlimited data.

Sprint’s two high-tier plans offer more bandwidth than Verizon and AT&T and at a lower cost. You can get 12GB of data for $79.99 and 6GB fro $49.99. If you are simply using a tablet and want less data, you now have a 1GB option for $19.99 and 3GB plan for $34.99. The later also applies to hotspots as well.

All plans include 3G and 4G but if you go over in data you will definitely be punished for it. The Now Network is going to charge you an additional $0.25 per MB of overage, and if you manage to exceed 1GB you will have to pay a $50 penalty. Although the new pricing is really good and beats out Big Red and Ma Bell, the overage fees will definitely make you want to monitor your data usage more closely.

Jump past the break for the full low-down within Sprint’s press release.

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Stream Playlists Of Videos, Pictures And Music To DLNA Devices With Eye-C Taglists

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by Joe Sirianni on
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Eye-C Taglists has made its way to the Android platform and offers users an endless stream of music, photos and TV in a personalized channel customized just for you.

Download Eye-C Taglists for free, and your timeline becomes your own personal TV channel, music player, or photo gallery. At any point, just push play, and the feed comes to life – on your phone, TV, Apple TV (even from an Android phone), PC and more. Add a hashtag (#tag) to any video, song or picture to build a taglist – a playlist that combines items from multiple sources – YouTube, Picasa, Facebook, or even your personal music library (see below for tech specs). More sources are coming every month, so play tags – it’s easy and free.

Here’s How It Works:

Step 1 – Find videos, pictures and music you think are interesting in YouTube, Facebook, Picasa, and now SoundCloud.
Step 2 – Play your picks on your mobile phone, connected TV, Apple TV or other Airplay and DLNA devices.
Step 3 – Play content individually or as taglists. These lists can come from your friends, or they can come from users tagging a video with a certain term, like #startaparty.
Step 4 – Easily add another video, song, or picture to that list, by tagging it #startaparty – and watch your playlist change and grow as people interact with it.

So if you’ve been looking for an app to supply an endless stream of content from multiple users and platforms like YouTube, Picasa, Facebook and your own personal music playstist, Eye-C Taglists can deliver.  The application will work on most Android devices but can also play on hansets supporting DLNA (wireless push content).  You can download the application from our popular apps database where you’ll also find a QR Code available or you can download it from the Android Market.  The application is free and will work on devices manufactured by “Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha, Sony and more, connected TVs from Samsung, LG, and Panasonic, set top boxes including WD (Western Digital) and Popcorn Hour, as well as Xbox 360 (with Windows Media Player)” You can check out the full press release after the break.   » Read the rest

Winamp For Android Update Includes Wireless Sync With Mac And Pro Bundle

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by Justin Routhier on
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The latest Winamp for Android update has been released and it’s packed with a bunch of new features including “Winamp for Mac Beta,” which supports the same quick wireless syncing of music and video, previously limited only to Windows users. The update also offers an ad-free Pro Bundle for $4.99 with a 10-band graphic equalizer, customizable home screen and more.

More New Features:

  • Unlock premium features with the Pro Bundle (via in-app purchase)
  • Touch sensitive album art gesturing
  • Access to more free music downloads in Spinner
  • More albums available in CDLP (free streaming)
  • Headset optimizations

More Pro Bundle Features

  • Browse by Folder
  • Crossfade
  • Gapless playback
  • Support for FLAC playback in Folders View (lossless audio playback)
  • Replay Gain
  • Personalized station recommendations
  • Play any streaming audio URL (supported formats only)

Hit the break for a link or QR code to this app in the Android Market.

» Read the rest

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