Daily News Courier

LG Viper 4G LTE getting a small maintenance update

The LG Viper 4G LTE has a small update coming according to Sprint. Relax, it's not Jelly Bean. It's actually even better, as the update addresses LTE network acquisition improvements. This means that your Viper 4G should find and connect to LTE towers better, improving the data connection (and as a secondary, the battery life). 

While an update that isn't full of bells and whistles, or a full on OS version update, isn't very exciting, they are pretty important. Keeping the phone working the way it was advertised is the best thing any of the manufacturers can do for us. If we want more, we can handle that ourselves.

Source: Sprint. Thanks, Tommy!

LTE-Advanced Is Poised to Turbocharge Smartphone Data

By combining data from multiple antennas and frequencies, ultrafast wireless technology is poised to turbocharge 4G.

In the latest test of future wireless bandwidth, Chinese handset maker ZTE and carrier China Mobile last week described achieving a peak download speed of 223 megabits per second in experiments involving a network technology known as LTE Advanced.

Verizon rolls out Ice Cream Sandwich for the HTC ThunderBolt

Verizon Wireless is truly taking the meaning of “better late than never” to the extreme by rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich for the HTC ThunderBolt today.  The ThunderBolt has been available through Verizon Wireless for nearly two years now and has been taken off the shelf for about a year now.

What was once announced as a promising 4G LTE device experienced battery issues and software upgrade troubles.  Most owners of the ThunderBolt have probably upgraded to a different Android smartphone or iOS device by now, however, for those who are still rocking the TBolt, ICS is headed your way.

According to an announcement from Verizon, the update is rolling out in phases, but most owners should have it within a week or so.  The update includes features found commonly in Ice Cream Sandwich such as Face Unlock and a customizable launch bar.  In addition, it offers more tools to manage your data consumption.

[Verizon Wireless]

Related Stories

• Verizon aims to discontinue Samsung Galaxy S III 32GB, Droid 4, and more
• HTC M7 Android smartphone expected to launch with AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon
• Fifty percent of Verizon’s traffic results from 4G LTE devices

HTC and Playstation Mobile offer free games for Sense 4+ phones

If you have an HTC Sense 4+ phone, HTC and Playstation Mobile want to give you a free game every week through the end of February. Much like the offer for free games on Sony devices, there are no hoops to jump through, just download the Playstation Mobile for Android app, set up your Sony Entertainment Network account, then use your Sense 4+ phone to download your free games. Supported models include:

• HTC One V
• HTC One S
• HTC One X
• HTC One XL
• HTC One EVO 4G LTE
• HTC One X+

There is one sticking point — your phone must be running Android 4.1 and Sense 4+ or higher, which leaves folks on AT&T and T-Mobile out in the cold unless they've rooted and ROM'd. Feel free to express your distaste in the comments. 

This week's free game is Cubixx, and HTC reminds us all to check every week for a new game. See the source link for the full details.

Source: HTC; via +HTC

Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G LTE getting an update today

Heads up, folks. Looks like the Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE is getting itself a bit of an update today. We're not quite sure exactly what's new in the 44-megabyte update (the changelog you see here is the same as last month's Jelly Bean update), bringing things to version 3.16.651.3, but folks in our forums are reporting improvements to the proximity sensor, a properly silenced camera shutter (for when it should be silent), and voicemail seems to be improved. We'll update should we hear anything official.

Source: EVO 4G LTE forums

read more

EE lights up nine more UK towns, claims 45 percent population coverage

Britain's sole 4G LTE carrier, EE (Everything Everywhere) sends word that it's switched on 4G coverage in nine new UK towns. From today, EE's LTE network will be available in Amersham, Bolton, Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead, Southend-on-Sea, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton, bringing the total number of towns and cities covered up to 27.

The carrier claims its 4G roll-out is now ahead of schedule, and says it now covers 45 percent of the UK population, 90 days after its service first launched. EE plans to bring its total number of markets up to 35 by the end of March.

Meanwhile, the long-delayed UK 4G spectrum auction recently got underway, the first step in allowing other carriers to launch competing 4G services on 800MHz and 2600MHz bands. EE's competitors are expected to be able to launch their 4G networks by late spring or early summer.

Verizon aims to discontinue Samsung Galaxy S III 32GB, Droid 4, and more

One of the sad parts of the Android product life cycle is seeing it vanish from store shelves.  Today, we learned that Verizon is no longer purchasing stock for several successful products.  Instead, the carrier will let the remaining stock and inventory run dry in anticipation of replacing it with something better.

The products in particular include the 32GB model of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Motorola’s Droid 4 and Droid RAZR, and the Rezound is effectively gone.  On February 15, Verizon plans to end sales of the LG Lucid 4G LTE.  Overall, these products have been on the shelves for quite some time, with the Galaxy S III being the most recent model to launch.  However, the 16GB model will remain in stock and is likely the much more popular Galaxy S III variant.

It will be interesting to see if Motorola opts to produce another version of the Droid series with the iconic slider QWERTY keyboard, but it is anyone’s guess at this point.

[AndroidPolice]

Related Stories

• HTC M7 Android smartphone expected to launch with AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon
• Image of Samsung Godiva, expected to launch on Verizon Wireless, surfaces
• T-Mobile’s online store has the Google Nexus 4 16GB model back in stock

Verizon aims to discontinue Samsung Galaxy S III 32GB, Droid 4, and more

One of the sad parts of the Android product life cycle is seeing it vanish from store shelves.  Today, we learned that Verizon is no longer purchasing stock for several successful products.  Instead, the carrier will let the remaining stock and inventory run dry in anticipation of replacing it with something better.

The products in particular include the 32GB model of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Motorola’s Droid 4 and Droid RAZR, and the Rezound is effectively gone.  On February 15, Verizon plans to end sales of the LG Lucid 4G LTE.  Overall, these products have been on the shelves for quite some time, with the Galaxy S III being the most recent model to launch.  However, the 16GB model will remain in stock and is likely the much more popular Galaxy S III variant.

It will be interesting to see if Motorola opts to produce another version of the Droid series with the iconic slider QWERTY keyboard, but it is anyone’s guess at this point.

[AndroidPolice]

Related Stories

• HTC M7 Android smartphone expected to launch with AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon
• Image of Samsung Godiva, expected to launch on Verizon Wireless, surfaces
• T-Mobile’s online store has the Google Nexus 4 16GB model back in stock

CyanogenMod 10.1 ‘M-Series’ builds now available for select devices

A handful of select devices are getting CyanogenMod 10.1 "M-Series" builds starting today. These builds are meant to be released less frequently, and are considered stable for daily use. You can think of M-Series builds as a step above nightly builds, which often have many bugs. The following devices are supported for now:

• Samsung Captivate
• Samsung Nexus S (+4G)
• Samsung Galaxy S3 USA models (D2*)
• Samsung Galaxy S (galaxysmtd/galaxysbmtd)
• Google Nexus 7
• Google Galaxy Nexus (all variants)
• Google Nexus 4
• Google Nexus 10
• ODroid
• Samsung P3100, P3110
• Samsung P5100, P5110

The CyanogenMod team says in its post that it is on-track for a stable release of 10.1 soon, and these M-Series builds are a good step in the right direction. If you have one of the above listed devices and are interested in the new builds, head to the source link below and grab your downloads.

Source: Cyanogenmod

Is the rumored Pantech Perception headed for Verizon Wireless?

Verizon Wireless may be adding to its mid-range lineup of smartphones in the near future should a recent rumor pan out.  According to a recently leaked image, Pantech may be preparing a smartphone, known as the Perception, for Verizon Wireless.  Early reports indicate it is similar in hardware and style to the Pantech Discover, which was recently launched on AT&T.

The Perception by Pantech is rumored to offer a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 720p resolution display, at least Android 4.0, and 4G LTE connectivity.  There is no word on the screen size of the Perception, but the Discover on AT&T offers a 4.8 inch display.  As of now, there is no information regarding a possible launch or price point for the rumored Pantech Perception, but the Discover is only $50 on contract.

[UnwiredView]

Related Stories

• Verizon Wireless: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 to launch in the coming weeks
• Samsung Galaxy Camera for Verizon leaks on Samsung official website
• Verizon CEO intrigued by T-Mobile’s move to end smartphone subsidies