According to the massive chunk of emails in our inbox with “Verizon LTE outage again!” it’s safe to assume that Big Red’s network dropped somewhere around 5:00AM Pacific. I apparently have 4G here in Portland, OR, but that’s not to say that the rest of you do. As always when these things happen, feel free to drop your location in the comments so we can see how things are crankin’ across the country.

We are seeing Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Vegas, Cincinnati, Raleigh and more.

Cheers everyone!

If a new smartphone is in your near future, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a screaming good deal on one. Not only does Amazon drop prices the minute new phones are released, but even Verizon is doing their best to get in on the low-pricing scheme. Two examples are included in their latest “online” only 4G LTE sale. The LG Spectrum and HTC Rezound can be had for as little as $99.99 as long as you extend or add on a new 2-year contract. One phone has been out for a couple of months now, while the other is barely a month old. Both run 1.5GHz dual-core processors and have two of the most beautiful HD displays we have ever seen on a smartphone. If the RAZRs or Galaxy Nexus were never your cup of tea, these two might be worth a look.

Buy.

Cheers Kris!

If you need are looking to see if a new device has been rooted, you will want to follow @djrbliss aka Dan Rosenberg. You may have heard his name recently in conjunction with Motorola root methods that apply to the RAZR, Bionic, XYBOARD and almost any other Moto device running Gingerbread or Honeycomb. He’s puttin’ in work as we like to say around these parts.

His newest target is non-Moto. The LG Spectrum has fallen to his methods and is now rooted. LG has in the past left their devices wide open to hackers and Dan’s comments on rooting it seem to reflect just that. His Windows and Linux tools to get this job done can be found at the source link below.

Via:  Vulnfactory

Cheers Mike23 and Eric!

LG has announced the Optimus Vu today ahead of Mobile World Congress. The device – as was rumored – will sport a 5″ IPS display with 4:3 aspect ratio, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, LTE, 2080mAh battery, Gingerbread and is just 8.5mm thick. It’s one odd device, to say the least. If you thought the Galaxy Note and its 5.3″ screen was pushing the limits, a phone with a 4:3 ratio is even crazier. While the device is incredibly thin, I’m not sure that many will jump for a phone that is built like a square. That is certainly a ton of screen real estate – we’ll see how the public reacts when it goes public at MWC later this month.

Via:  LG

The DROID 4 has had an interesting early life. We handed out the first ever pictures of the device all the way back in October of last year followed by a weekend of D4 info overload that gave you every single detail that you could ever want to know about it. We fully expected this phone to launch in December, but for an unknown reason, it was pushed back and finally released this month. You can grab it now for $199 on 2-year contract in hopes that it can last you the life of a contract. Can it? We are pretty sure that it is up to the task, but let’s talk details for a few minutes. Then you can decide.  

On February 16 (tomorrow), Verizon will expand their 4G LTE network in 4 new markets while also lighting up a brand new one. The beneficiaries of this expansion are the fine folks that live in Little Rock, AR.; Rapid City, SD; Clarksville, TN; and San Antonio, TX. Those in Cookeville, TN will see the wonderful speeds and battery draining prowess for the first time.

As of the 16th, Verizon will have expanded their 4G LTE network reach to 196 markets. +1  

It might be a skit, but how true does this Verizon 4G LTE skit that Saturday Night Live ran over the weekend ring true? So many terms, far too many phones, and a bunch of fast talkin’ jibberish that most non-techies do not understand whatsoever. Enjoy.