verizon

AT&T: Our iPhone 5 did twice as well as Verizon

AT&T sold twice as many iPhone 5 smartphones as its main competitor, according to mobility chief Ralph de la Vega.

AT&T's closest rival, Verizon Wireless, said last week that it sold 651,000 iPhone 5 units in the third quarter. Based on de la Vega's statement, this means AT&T rang up sales of roughly 1.3 million units. Sprint Nextel reports its results on Thursday.

AT&T further cemented its lead as the preeminent iPhone carrier in the U.S. with 4.7 million iPhones sold in the third quarter. But … Read more

AT&T sells disappointing 4.7M iPhones, customer growth slows

When it comes to Apple's iPhone, AT&T remains its strongest U.S. partner.

The Dallas-based telecommunications provider, second only to Verizon Wireless in wireless customers, said today it activated 4.7 million iPhones in the third quarter, with 18 percent new to the company. Still, that's short of what analysts were expecting, with the company blaming supply constraints for the shortfall.

Also disappointing was subscriber growth, with the carrier only adding only 151,000 so-called postpaid customers, who are seen as the most lucrative and loyal because they are committed for two years. That figure is … Read more

Droid Razr Maxx battery life still reigns supreme

If you own an old-school Razr Maxx and have been gazing longingly at Motorola's latest creation, the Droid Razr Maxx HD, here's a tidbit to consider. Its bigger screen and more robust processing comes at a price: a shorter run time. … Read more

iPad Mini won't be the only Apple news

Monday's CNET Update dusts off the crystal ball:

Everyone is eager to learn about the rumored iPad Mini, but today's tech news roundup looks at what else Apple will be announcing. We're expecting to see at least one new computer, such as an iMac or Mac Mini. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the Mac Pro will get an update in 2013, so it may be too soon to announce that. As for laptops, there have been reports that Apple will give the 13-inch MacBook Pro a retina display.

When Apple does unveil the iPad Mini, … Read more

Sprint expands LTE to new markets, now up to 32 cities

Sprint Nextel said today that it now covers 32 markets with its higher speed 4G LTE network.

The network now blankets several communities outside of Chicago, collectively known as Chicagoland, well as Wichita Falls, Texas, Hutchinson and McPherson, Kan., and New Bedford/Fall River, Mass.

Sprint is racing to catch up to larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which last week week exceeded its 400-market target and has more markets covered than every other carrier combined. With consumers demanding a faster connection for Web browsing, music, and video, 4G LTE has become a bigger selling point.

The capabilities … Read more

HTC DLX gets spied with Verizon branding

Verizon looks to be inching closer to announcing a 5-inch HTC smartphone, with pictures of said device surfacing over the weekend.

The handset will be known as the HTC DLX ("deluxe") and should arrive in time for the Thanksgiving shopping season, according to Android Central.

The source of the photos advised that the HTC DLX comes with 16GB internal storage and a 2500mAh battery, both matching previous rumors. Decked in the same red and black of the Droid Incredible series, the forthcoming device will boast a full 1080p HD display and quad-core processor. In fact, the DLX should … Read more

iPhone 5 call quality testing, compared across carriers

How good is the iPhone 5's call quality, and most importantly, how it does it compare across carriers? We addressed some of the iPhone 5's call quality in our CNET review and follow-up stories, but let's take a listen to the Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T models side-by-side. Is there a difference in audio quality?

For our quick test, I made phone calls from the same street corner in New York to Brian Bennett upstairs, using all three carrier models both against my ear and held several feet away from me in speakerphone mode. I also made test calls from the same location on all three models to our San Francisco office's voice-quality-testing voice mail drop. For comparison purposes, I also threw in my AT&T iPhone 4S in all instances to see how it fared. … Read more

Verizon rolling out Google Play payments via phone bill

Google has confirmed that Verizon Wireless customers will soon be able to pay for Google Play apps and other media via their monthly phone bills, making Verizon the last U.S. carrier to offer the service.

The search giant said in a tweet that the ability will be rolled out over the coming weeks.

Reports earlier this week said Verizon likely would enable the feature soon. Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile have been offering the ability for quite some time.

Google is doing all it can to boost the profitability of Google play, which, in its Android Market form, … Read more

Verizon subscribers give 'Share Everything' plans a boost

Subscribers may have balked at Verizon's Share Everything data plans when they were first introduced this summer, but they seem to be buying into the concept of sharing a single data plan now, according to Verizon CFO Fran Shammo.

On the company's third-quarter conference call with investors and analysts today, Shammo said that the Share Everything plans Verizon introduced in June now account for 13 percent of the company's customer base.

"Share Everything is doing better than we had expected," he said. "We're seeing customers from our legacy business moving from the unlimited … Read more