Verizon Wireless’ speedy 4G LTE network hit another milestone on Tuesday night: its first major outage. BGR has confirmed what dozens of tipsters have been telling us all night via email — Verizon’s LTE services are currently unavailable across the country, and they have been unavailable for several hours now. We’ve confirmed the outage here in New York City with our Samsung DROID Charge and have noticed that Verizon’s 3G network also appears to be unavailable. There’s no official word from Verizon Wireless on the outage, so it’s unclear how long it will last.

UPDATE: Verizon posted the following to its official Twitter account: “We’re aware of an issue with the 4G LTE connections and our network engineers are working to resolve quickly. Investigating 4G LTE network issue; ThunderBolts making voice calls, may get slower 1xRTT data.”

We stopped by Kyocera’s CTIA booth to get a second tour of the dual-screen Echo from Sprint. The device, which will be available on April 17th for $199.99 with a 2-year agreement, really does have some innovative features. Applications and games that are optimized for the echo can leverage the second screen to display an enormous, thumb-friendly keyboard, provide more on-screen information, and enhance game-play. Kyocera assured us that the hinge on the device is ready for battle, and should stand up to most of the use and abuse inflicted by teens and tweens — the two main groups the phone will be marketed towards. The hinge itself was a bit finicky when we handled the device, however. Hit the break for more, including a video, and don’t forget to check out our Kyocera Echo photo gallery.

The phone is designed to be used in three positions: closed, which gives the device one usable screen, candybar layout; opened, which is what you see above; and tilted, which allows the use of both screens with one screen tilted towards you — similar to the HTC Arrive. When in the opened and tilted positions, you can shake the phone and feel a fair amount of play in the hinge. We’re not exactly sure how an OEM would make a hinge capable of doing all the things the Echo does without a little wiggle, but it is definitely something discerning customers will notice. The phone is — without a doubt — a first, and while the Echo is a Sprint exclusive, Kyocera says it is the first in a line of dual-screen phones that it plans on producing.

I’ll admit it, while I have most aspects of my life under control and normalized, there is one, tiny section that seems to have complete control over me: my obsessive, compulsive need to switch mobile devices. In the grand scheme of things that I could project this obsessive tendency on, I suppose phones are fairly benign. So ladies and gentlemen, the reason I’m not switching to a Verizon iPhone? The thought of not having a SIM card gives me the shakes.

Even as I type, my micro-SIM, tucked into its black, plastic, full-SIM adapter happily sits in my BlackBerry Torch (subject to change at any moment). I use this adapter so much that I’ve gone as far as to name the little thing; I lovingly refer to him as Bob. While you may think it odd for a grown man in his late twenties to name a small, inanimate plastic object, it does occasionally come in handy. “Honey, have you seen Bob?” — “You left him in your pants pocket again; I put him on top of the washing machine.” Last month, I had to liberate Bob from the bowels of our Roomba. See? Now when I say “Bob” you know exactly what I’m talking about, no geek speak required. It’s a solid system.

So, back to Verizon and the iPhone. I don’t have any objections to CDMA as a technology. I don’t mind that making a phone call locks the data channel — making non-Wi-Fi Web browsing while on conference calls impossible. I don’t mind that the data speeds are, generally speaking, slower. I just don’t care about those things. The only thing that really, really makes my stomach turn is the inability to move from one device to another — often manically — whenever I choose without the help of customer support or even an online portal.

Even with Bob and my SIM securely nestled in a BlackBerry, I’m still thinking about the iPhone 4, ATRIX 4G, Optimus 2X and Xperia Arc. After all, they look like they would make a nice home for Bob and my nameless SIM. Last month I used a Nexus One, N8, and Samsung Focus for a sum total of 48 hours. I’m not sure I would use any of them as my full-time device, but I enjoyed being able to pair them against the rigors of my day-to-day routine. It’s just what I like to do and, thanks to my full-time gig here at BGR, I have access to tons of phones — supply often exceeds demand. The thought of giving that up just seems a little sad (which may, in and of itself, also be a little sad).

The SIM card also affords me the ability to travel abroad and still use my U.S.-based device of choice; a feature I like to utilize every so often.

It is true, the thing that has kept — and will keep — me glued to AT&T is not a $500 handset, but rather a $0.49 piece of plastic. A piece of plastic that — with the help of Bob – can go into any GSM phone I choose. In the wake of last week’s CES conference, one thing is certain: there are going to be plenty of new choices to be made by Bob and myself.

Today, Verizon Wireless announced the availability of the ZTE Fivespot global hotspot. The internationally-compliant mobile hotspot will support the following frequencies: CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. 0: 800/1900 MHz, WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. The device will be available starting on October 7 for $99.99 with a 2-year service contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate).Available domestic and international data plans offered will be as follows:

Domestic

• $39.99 monthly access for 250 MB monthly allowance and $0.10/MB overage
• $59.99 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance and $0.05/MB overage

Prepaid Mobile Broadband plans are also available:

• $15 for 100 MB (one day of use)
• $30 for 300 MB (one week of use)
• $50 for 1 GB (30 days of use)
• $80 for 5 GB (30 days of use)

International

• $129.99 monthly access (5 GB allowance for the United States and Canada, $0.05/MB overage), 100 MB allowance in select countries ($0.005/KB after allowance)
• $219.99 monthly access (5 GB allowance for the United States and Canada, $0.05/MB overage), 200 MB allowance in select countries ($0.005/KB after allowance)
• GlobalAccess Pay Per Use for occasional use must be purchased with a $59.99 Mobile Broadband service plan in the United States. The Pay Per Use rate is $0.002/KB in Canada, $0.005/KB in Mexico, and $0.02/KB in more than 200 other destinations.

The device will work in over 200 countries; 120 of them with 3G speeds.

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The ZTE Peel 3200, a Sprint-branded sleeve with mobile hotspot functionality and EV-DO connectivity, was spotted at the FCC. The curious device sports a sleeve-style form factor that appears to be ideally suited for the iPod Touch. Details are sparse on the device but it is clearly a mobile hotspot with integrated GPS and support for up to 5 Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Any Sprint users out there who would consider using this with VoIP as an alternative to an AT&T iPhone?

Thanks IGOD!

[Via Phone scoop]

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According to a new tipster of ours, yes. Apparently emails have been sent to some higher-up employees at Verizon detailing a systems upgrade. The purpose of the upgrade, you ask? Apparently to make it possible to provision and activate 4G devices. A direct quote from the email looks like this: “The ESN/MEID field will be changed to Device ID effective Sunday to prepare for 4G devices coming on.” This could mean a little quicker deployment of Verizon’s upcoming LTE network, but it’s entirely possible they are just getting their ducks in a row. You know, so you can start ruling the air.

We gave you advance warning that the Samsung N150 was slated to land with Verizon Wireless and now it has finally arrived. Starting today, you can snag a a Sammy netbook with an Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz processor,10.1 inch 1024×600 LED backlit display, 1GB DDR2 memory, Intel GMA3150 graphics, 160GB HDD, Bluetooth 2.1, Windows 7 Starter, and most importantly, integrated 3G (CDMA/1X/EV-DO Rev. A: 800/1900 MHz; UMTS/HSPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) with SIM support for international travelling. As always, a mobile broadband plan is required for the N150 and will set you back $60/month for a 5GB, $40/month for 250MB, or between $15-50 for a prepaid plan. The N150 can be purchased fromVerizon Wireless retail stores for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement or online for a promotional price of $29.99 fter a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

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Today, The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple wrote an interesting article that should give a lot of confused people some perspective on this whole Verizon iPhone business. Not surprisingly, Dalrymple reports that Apple already has a fully functional CDMA iPhones, lurking in the shadows of 1 Infinite Loop, that is ready to go into production at a moment’s notice. The problem, according  Dalrymple, is that Apple and Verizon have yet to finalize a deal. Having the iPhone hardware lying on a shelf waiting to be mass produced is beneficial for both companies; as it won’t have to scramble to make up for lost time once the deal is struck. Apple also has a long history of developing products well in advance — a good example of this was its Intel-compatible version of OS X. So why then did Bloomberg so confidently report that Verizon will have the iPhone in January? That could simply be a negotiating tactic, something which would not at all be out of the ordinary.

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Ah, yes 4.3-inches of sensual haptic, multitouch glass strapped to a 1 GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera, and so much more. The Motorola DROID X is the latest and greatest Android handset to be unleashed upon the U.S. market, and it will be making its debut on America’s largest network — Verizon Wireless — on July 15th. We’ve been using, abusing, and confusing our review unit for just over a week, so lets jump right into our review. Buckle up and hit the break.

First — we just need to get this out of the way — there may be a comparison or two to the iPhone 4 or EVO 4G. We aren’t trying to pit the three devices against each other, but they happen to be the most current, and perhaps hottest, handsets available in the U.S. market. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff!

Size/Build

This phone is solid, like really solid. Its form factor doesn’t ooze sex quite like the iPhone 4′s, but it brings its own unique design charms to the table. First, the weight. It is really good. The DROID X feels like a high-end, well-built piece of electronics that is made to last. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel as heavy as the original DROID does (no pun intended), the weight is distributed nicely throughout the phone; we put together an initial impressions video that has several size comparison at the end for those of you who would like them. We even fulfilled a commenter request to see how “pocketable” the device is. The moral of the story: both the construction and weight feel great to us.

There is no give or wiggle in the lock button or the volume up/down keys, and while there is a little in the dedicated camera button, that is by design. The camera button has a double-press action built into it; halfway down to focus, all the way down to capture. The four front keys move north and south a bit. The two left keys (Menu and Home) are attached, and wiggling one will move the other; the same goes for the next two dedicated keys (Back and Search). The front keys are raised higher than all the other exterior keys on the DROID X and are made from plastic — which could account for the wiggle we feel (see video). There is a tiny bit of give in the left-middle of the phones case. If you grab the phone by its “waist” there is a little bit of bend on the left hand side of the frame due to the battery bay (see video). Despite this, if you pick the phone up and physically shake it there is no rattling or movement of any kind.

The phone has an equator that runs around its horizontal axis which creates a very nice, tight line. The the top half of the phone (with the display) is black and the bottom half (with the camera) is slate gray. The back cover is made of metal and snaps in firmly, the battery has an easy to handle pull tab for removal (which is appreciated), and the micro-SD card slot is flush with the battery (meaning if you want to take out the SD card you have to remove the battery). Honestly, the wiggling keys and outer-frame bend didn’t really bother us, however we thought those of you with discerning eyes (and hands) would want to know about it. All-in-all, the construction, and QA on this device looks really, really tight.

Display

The display really is great. 4.3-inches of WVGA multitouch, haptic goodness with a 480 x 854 resolution. Who wouldn’t like that? Text is crisp and clear, images are bright and have depth on the screen; it is something you have to see for yourself to appreciate. The contrast ratio and pixel density not quite as good as the iPhone 4′s, but unless you have the two side-by-side (or switch from one to the other after extended use) we’re sure you won’t mind. Motorola also confirmed to us — via email — that The X uses the same Gorilla Glass as the original DROID.

Phone

These things are still phones right? It’s funny to see a manufacturer press release that contains phrases like “ultra high-speed Web browsing” and “intuitive social messaging” but never any mention of the devices ability to function as a phone. Even though it isn’t stated, the DROID X is a really, really solid phone. The reception on the phone is great; the bars and signal strength – in dB — matched that of a BlackBerry Bold 9650 we had lying around. The DROID Incredible doesn’t seem to get as strong of a cellular signal as some of our other Verizon Wireless devices, so we were pleased to see this was not the case with the DX.

As we’ve mentioned several times in earlier posts, the DROID X has a trio of microphones at its disposal that it uses to discern your voice from background noise and stray sounds. The call clarity emanating from the ear piece is superb; thanks in part to Verizon Wireless’ network and in part to Motorola’s engineering. As an iPhone user myself, the call quality on the DROID X makes me green with envy. The unit is equipped with a voice-dialing feature that works as expected, saying “call home” or “Call Boy Genius” yielded accurate results. Double-tapping the home key will activate voice-dialing or you can get to it from a soft-key in the Android dialer. The speakerphone is loud, although not the loudest we’ve ever heard. The E73 Mode and the iPhone 4 both seemed to be much louder when on a call or playing media.

Typing

If you dislike on-screen keyboards, you might actually like this one. Like the EVO 4G, the extra screen real estate yields a bigger on-screen keyboard, thus making it easier to accurately type. Coming from an iPhone we had no problem diving right in and typing with both speed and accuracy. If you lean towards/love a physical keyboard, we still recommend trying before you buy. The speech-to-text option is super convenient as always; it is one of those simple features that really sets Android apart from its competitors.

Camera/Video Camera

So, we’ve complied several video and still image comparisons between the DROID X and the iPhone 4. All things considered we were thrilled with the audio recording quality, satisfied with the 720p video quality, and a little disappointed with the still-camera.

Again, the DROID X has three microphones, and when you record video it utilizes all three. Audio is clear and crisp, perhaps a little high on the treble, but not muffled like we’ve come to expect from smartphones. The video quality was generally great in 720p mode. The DROID X shoots 720p video at 24 fps (30 fps for lower quality video) and the color accuracy is spot-on.

The camera we can’t quite fully endorse. The DROID X has an 8 megapixel, mechanical-shutter camera that, by looking at the stat sheet, seems quite impressive. Our gripe has to do with our inability to take clear shots on the first try. The DROID X defaults to shooting in 6 megapixel mode to save space on your SD-card, and while a quick adjustment of the settings will get you shooting up to the phones full potential, we can’t figure out why you would slap an 8 megapixel camera on the phone and not use it. Shots from distance and outdoors are completely acceptable and above average for a phone. Shots from close range and indoors tended to be a bit blurry and grainy. Now, we understand this isn’t an SLR or a point-and-shoot — this is your cell phone we’re talking about here — but we did expect a little more from the DROID X’s camera.

SMS/MMS

Android is very efficient at handling MMS and SMS messages and the DROID X is no different.  Messages are displayed in a threaded conversations with chat bubbles alternating left and right. Speech-to-text is amazing. This is obviously an Android thing, not a DROID X thing, but we had to mention it again. Love it. Hitting the menu button from within a text will give you several options including “insert file.” You can attach: pictures, audio, video, a slide show, or name cards to MMS messages. You can access SMS/MMS messages from the “Text Messages” icon, the “Messaging” center, or the unified inbox.

Calendar/Contacts

There is only one calendar application on the DROID X and it combines the calendars of all your synchronized accounts (Exchange, Gmail, etc.). You can turn certain calendars on and off if you want them visible, and adding new events is quite easy. Not much else to say about the calendar application, so moving right along.

Contacts works like it does in any other Android phone, you see an alphabetized list, recent contacts, and favorites. The favorites list does have a “Most Frequently Contacted” section at the bottom of it that we found quite useful.

Browser

The browser really benefits from the extra screen real estate on the DROID X. The resizing of webpages isn’t quite as accurate as the iPhone but a pinch here and double-tap there usually gets things right where you want them. The browser feels really snappy and renders webpages as fast, if not faster, than any other smartphone currently available. We can’t wait to see what this puppy can do with Android 2.2 on it!

The big news with the browser is obviously that, at some point this summer, it will support Flash. We have to wait until “summer” like everyone else for Flash (as it wasn’t available on our demo units), but we’ll be sure to chime in with our thoughts as soon as it hits the streets.

Email/Accounts

The email and account implementation on the DROID X is very well done. The DROID X actually has an icon in the main applications window called “My Accounts” launch that app and you see a list of the accounts you currently have configured on the phone. Click “add” and you are brought to a screen that asks you if you would like to aadd a: Backup Assistant, Corporate Sync (Exchange), Email, Facebook, Google, MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Skype Mobile, Twitter, Visual Voicemail, or Yahoo! Mail account to your DX. Once you have an account added you can hit the “Messaging” icon to access the Universal Inbox and view badged icons for each account.” The only thing not shown in the Universal Inbox are Gmail messages. Like all Android phone that are “with Google” they are in their own separate Gmail app.

Battery

The DROID X’s battery was not an issue for us. When we first got the device — and pawed at it for about 3 hours straight –the battery lasted for roughly 8 hours. With normal to moderate use we got at least a day out of the battery (unless we were tethering of course).  The X has a Battery Manager that lets you to set custom battery profiles –allowing you to turn push services on/off at certain times — and see what applications are taxing your battery the most. There is also a Data Manager application that allows you to customize how often applications using background data should update. The Data Manager also allows you to force certain applications (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to update over Wi-Fi only. The battery is 1570 mAh, and seems to get the job done. Verizon said there will be a 1930 mAh extended-life battery offered soon, it will add 1mm of thickness to the phone via a custom back cover.

A few nice features…

Since each Android device gets customized just a little bit (depending on carrier and manufacturer) we thought we would point out some of the niceties Motorola and Verizon included in the DROID X. Mercifully, Motorola has added a security lock timeout feature. You can set a passcode (or pass-pattern) and have the unit require that code after the phone has been locked for a specific interval of time. This is a welcome feature.

Wireless DLNA support is also built into the phone and will allow you to share your DROID X’s media with other DLNA devices.

Summary

We enjoyed our time with the Motorola DROID X, and feel it is a well-balanced, powerful addition to Verizon Wireless’ Android lineup. We would have liked the device to have a better camera, a front facing camera, and perhaps some sort of optical tracking device for easier text correction, but all things considered…we really like this device. If you are or plan on being a Verizon Wireless customer, and love Android — or maybe are just Android curious — you definitely have to take a good, long look at the DROID X.

Click on over to our DROID X Gallery!

Verizon Wireless will be selling the iPhone in January, according to a report filed by Bloomberg. Representatives from both Apple and Verizon did not comment on the matter, but Bloomberg is extremely confident about this one having verified it with two sources “who declined to be named because the information isn’t public.” Let’s just hope this Verizon iPhone has a better antenna system than the iPhone 4 as we know it.

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The Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant has been a long time coming, but today an official release date and pricing were finally announced. As of July 21st, T-Mobile will be selling the Vibrant for $199.99, that price of course assuming a new 2-year contract. T-Mobile might have a bit of a tough sell on its hands considering that AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and even U.S. Cellular will be offering the Galaxy S in one form or another, but T-Mobile has a trick up its sleeve: anyone who purchases a Vibrant will get a free copy of The Sims 3 Collectors Edition, and a 2GB microSD card pre-loaded with Avatar. Triple win, right?

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AT&T has the Captivate, T-Mobile has the Vibrant, and now Verizon Wireless has the Fascinate, it’s very own iteration of the Samsung Galaxy S. Featuring the same 4″ WVGA Super AMOLED display, 5 megapixel camera and 1GHz Hummingbird processor as its siblings, the Fascinate also has a six-axis motion control for an enhanced gaming experience, Swype virtual keyboard, and comes pre-loaded with Bing Search and Bing Maps. U.S. Cellular also announced that it will be jumping on the Galaxy S bandwagon, although what its model will be named and what most of its tailor-made features will be are still a mystery. Then again, so are its price and release date. All we know is that it, just like the Fascinate, will be available this Fall.

Read [Verizon] Read [U.S. Cellular]

Always on the lookout for the latest Verizon featurephone? Samsung and Verizon are gearing up to launch a new one on July 29th. The Samsung Haven features no camera, so it is aimed at the business/corporate crowd, three programable emergency contact buttons, voice dialing, and, not too much else. Oh, we forgot. To completely push you over the edge, the Samsung Haven has something called “speakerphone” as well. We’d be shocked to see this go for more than $29.99 with a 2 year agreement, and anything over $49.99 would be possibly reprehensible. We have a gallery ready to rock if you’re interested in finding out more.

Click on over to our Verizon Wireless Samsung Haven document gallery!

There’s little in the way of proof that the following specifications are accurate, but according to one of Android Central’s “tried-and-true” tipsters, we now have the tentative specs for the Samsung Galaxy S Pro. Software wise, the Galaxy S Pro is said to be presently running Android 2.1 with Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 overlay. In terms of hardware, you have a WVGA Super AMOLED display (possibly the same unit found on the non-Pro Galaxy S), 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8.2 GB of internal memory, and a custom 1GHz Cortex A8 processor. As for radios, it’s said that the Galaxy S Pro will run on both Sprint’s EV-DO and WiMAX networks, with a space for a SIM card indicating that we’re looking at HSDPA roaming for Europe and Asia. GPS isn’t mentioned but is surely a given, and the Wi-Fi chip will support the b/g/n protocols. Where build quality is concerned, the tipster did single out various components as feeling “plasticy”, although with the unit in question being a prototype, we won’t let that worry us just yet.

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Last week we got to see the Droid X strut its stuff on video, so it’s only fitting that this week we get to see the Droid 2 do likewise. Well, sort of. The guys over at Android and Me managed to score a Droid 2 from sources unknown and decided to show it off on film. As has been noted in the past, the two devices are very similar when it comes to physical characteristics. The main differences are 1) a more curved bezel, and 2) the re-sculpting of the keypad which has allowed for wider, more pronounced keys along with the elimination of that cursed D-pad in favor of arrow keys. But inside the phones slightly curvier frame is where the real differences lie. The old 500MHZ OMAP3 CPU has been swapped out for the much more powerful 1GHz OMAP3630 model (just like we said) and the RAM has been doubled to 512MB, both of which help the second iteration of the Droid achieve some impressive benchmark scores. Regrettably we don’t actually get to see the tests in action as the phone was not powered on during filming, but we’ll just have to take their word for it until we know the full story on June 23rd. We imagine you’re quite anxious to see the video, so click through to check it out.

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