Verizon rolls out mobile device charging stations for Sandy victims

Definitely helpful for anyone impacted by Hurricane Sandy, Verizon is providing assistance to the public in the form of emergency communication centers.

With locations detailed on Verizon’s site, the wireless company has positioned large, trailer-sized charging stations at locations within Ohio, New Jersey and West Virginia as well as Staten Island. Not limiting outreach to Verizon customers, the company is welcoming anyone that was impacted negatively by Hurricane Sandy. The public can visit the mobile trailers to recharge their mobile devices like smartphones, tablets or laptops. In addition, anyone without a computer can get online at a computer workstation. Verizon is also offering Sandy victims access to mobile phones in order to make domestic calls to friends and families. 

Beyond the emergency communication centers, Verizon is opening retail locations up to the public for device charging and free domestic calls. Victims of Hurricane Sandy can also find prepaid phones as well as replacement chargers at Verizon stores if needed.

In order to reestablish wireless communication in areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Verizon technicians have been working around the clock to improve service. Regarding the progress of technicians, Verizon representatives stated the company has “seen continued improvement overnight with now more than 96 percent of our cell sites in service and serving our customers in the impacted area, including some of the hardest hit areas of the Northeast.” 

Similar to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile stores are opening up retail locations to offer device charging. In addition, AT&T has rolled our mobile charging stations at relief areas across the Northeast. Regarding any payment issues, T-Mobile is giving customers a grace period up until November 8 and plans to waive all late fees as well. Basically, customers that haven’t paid their T-Mobile bill will continue to receive service to their mobile phone. AT&T is also planning on waiving all late fees and will extend payment windows for Hurricane Sandy victims. AT&T representatives did not specifically mention an end date on that grace period. 

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/verizon-rolls-out-mobile-device-charging-stations-to/

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AT&T, T-Mobile partner up to share networks for affected Sandy customers

Those having trouble finding signal in the wake of Hurricane Sandy will be glad to know their coverage is now temporary expanded thanks to a T-Mobile/AT&T partnership.

Those in New York and New Jersey may have experienced a shortage in network over the past few days in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, so cell providers T-Mobile and AT&T have decided to put their rivalry aside to offer customers extra coverage. The companies have just announced that they will be joining forces to share their networks for the affected NY and NJ areas to help those having difficulty in their search of a working signal.

AT&T and T-Mobile customers would not have to sign up for any extra features to enable the functionality. Instead, they can go about using their phones as they normally would, and hopefully the added coverage will help provide a wider range of network. The shared network agreement is possible since both companies rely on similar GSM-based networks, and data charges will still be billed to the provider that user is originally under regardless of which provider allotted the signal during the duration. Theoretically, if your phone receives both the signal from AT&T and T-Mobile networks, it will run on whichever signal is stronger.

No words on when the temporary arrangement will last, but this is a compassionate act by both AT&T and T-Mobile to offer a little bit of help while they can. As of today, there is still no power in areas below 34th street in New York City. Limited public transportation service has been reinstated, though buses are not running downtown after nightfall due to the lack of street lights, making it a “dangerous condition” for commuters and local residents. Although Con Edison recently announced that approximately 225,000 customers have had their powers restored,  the rest of Manhattan will have to wait until Friday or Saturday to be back up in lights.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/att-t-mobile-partner-up-to-share-network-for-affected-sandy-customers/

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Hurricanes be damned, the LG Nexus 4 goes official

Hurricane Sandy may have forced Google to cancel the New York event, but even the storm can't stop LG from announcing the Nexus 4. The phone leaked extensively, so there's little about it that's unknown (it's based on the LG Optimus G), but let's go over the specs one last time.

The LG Nexus 4 has a 4.7" True HD IPS Plus screen with WXGA resolution (768 x 1280, 15:9 aspect ratio). It's powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with four Krait cores at 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM and Adreno 320 GPU.

The phone is running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (so no Key Lime Pie) and you get a choice between 8GB and 16GB storage options (there's no microSD card).

The camera on the back has an 8MP sensor and it has a cool feature called Photo Sphere. It's like a panorama, but you can snap photos in every direction you like - sideways, upside-down, wherever.

The Nexus 4 measures 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm and weighs 139g. It has a 2,100mAh battery, which has enough juice for 15.3 hours of talk time or 390 hours of standby. The phone supports wireless charging.

As far as connectivity goes, the LG-made Google Nexus 4 will have GSM/HSPA+ and NFC (unlike the Optimus G, there's no LTE). We suspect there will be a CDMA version later on, but there's no info on that just yet.

The first LG Nexus 4 phones will be available from the Play Store in US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia starting November 13. If you prefer brick and mortar stores, the you'll have to wait until the end of November when the Nexus will hit Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East.

The 8GB version (unlocked) is priced at $299, while the 16GB version is $349. T-Mobile USA will carry the 16GB LG Nexus 4, though with a price of $199 and a 2-year contract, it doesn't sound like much of a deal.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/hurricanes_be_damned_the_lg_nexus_4_goes_official-news-5013.php

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Google cancels October 29 event due to hurricane

Google's October 29 event has reportedly been cancelled after a state of emergency has been issued in the US due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which will be passing through New York City, Google's venue for the event.

Although Google did not announce the specific purpose of the event, other than calling it an 'Android event', it was generally assumed that the company was going to announce the LG manufactured Nexus 4 smartphone and a 10-inch Samsung manufactured Nexus 10 tablet.

The event has likely been postponed to a later date although we are yet to hear when exactly it will be taking place. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 event in San Francisco is still on track, so we still have something to look forward to.

Source

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/google_cancels_october_29_event_due_to_hurricane-news-5007.php

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