Posts Tagged ‘adds’

AT&T adds 2.5 million subscribers in Q4 of 2011

AT&T’s revenue was up year-on-year as the carrier activated 7.6 million iPhones and sold 9.4 million smartphones in fourth quarter of 2011
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PayPal for Android updated, adds NFC money transfers and a brand new UI

PayPal has finally given Android users the ability to make peer-to-peer money transfers using NFC P2P technology

Have an NFC-enabled Android device, but never had a reason to use it? You’re not alone, but now thanks to PayPal, you might be able to.

Version 3.0 of PayPal’s Android app, released today, delivers NFC P2P transfers to all NFC-equipped Android phones, which at this point includes the Samsung Nexus S and Samsung Galaxy S II.

To use the feature, you and a buddy have to add the new PayPal Request Money widget, which comes together with the new app, to your Android home screens. From there, you simply type in a specific amount of money and tap your phones together. Simple and dead-easy.

The update also adds a new beautiful, revamped UI, reports Droid-Life. The new UI makes navigation much easier and even adds support for Android tablets. More specifically, the update adds a new landing screen, auto-complete from your phone’s address book, and other small UI flourishes.

As a hardcore user of the PayPal and the app, I can tell you first hand that this update is a serious jump from the version before it. I really can’t wait to use the NFC in real life. Even for non-NFC users though it’s pretty darn good.

The new app is available now in the Android Market and is free for PayPal users.

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Verizon adds 22 new cities to its 4G LTE family

Verizon has announced that 22 new cities will be able to enjoy the benefits of 4G LTE speeds

Verizon has flipped the switch and turned on 4G LTE coverage to 22 new cities including Green Bay, Wi, Richmond, VA and more.

The full list of added cites is as follows:

Birmingham, AL; Modesto and Stockton, CA; Bloomington, Elkhart, Evansville, South Bend, and Terre Haute, IN; Sioux City, IA; Hagerstown, MD; Tupelo, MS; Albuquerque and Sante Fe, NM; Buffalo, NY; Asheville, NC; Bartlesville, OK; Jackson and Martin, TN; Greater Hampton Roads and Richmond, VA; and Green Bay, WI.

TechCrunch is also reporting that Verizon is extending 4G coverage in Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington D.C. and Erie, PA. 

Another 4G rollout is slated for November 17th, at which point Verizon will have 4G LTE in 178 cites and at least 13 phones capable of tapping into the high-speed network.

So, if you happen to live in any of these cities, your holiday shopping might have gotten a bit easier with superphones like the Motorola DROID Razr and Samsung Galaxy Nexus arriving next month.

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Google adds 1,023 IBM patents to its Android arsenal

Google’s legal Android-armor buying spree continues with another 1,023 patents from IBM

Google is putting on another layer of legal Android armor with its recent purchase of 1,023 IBM patents. 

This follows a similar sale by IBM back in July where Google aquired 1,030 patents. Google also recently dropped a cool $ 12.5 billion buying out Motorola and its stable of 17,000 plus patents. 

Neither Google nor IBM has provided details or the financial terms of the deal, Bloomberg reports. 

As you probably recall, Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond claimed in a blog post back in August that Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and other companies were waging and “organized campaign” against Android.

These moves are part of an agressive plan of defense Google hopes will protect Android from lawsuits levied by companies like these. 

Essentially, what we have here is a patent arms race, and Google isn’t afraid to pull the trigger. Recently it  gave HTC nine patents that the company promptly used to sue Apple.

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Google Voice adds automatic spam filter for telemarketers

Google Voice plans to filter out spam with your phone calls like Gmail does with your email

Google has announced that automatic spam filtering is now available for Google Voice users.

Like Gmail does with email, it will attempt to redirect unwanted phone calls, texts and voicemails to a spam folder before they ever ring your phone.

The Google Voice Blog notes that to enable this feature, simply go to you Google Voice settings and check the box next to “Global Spam Filtering” under the “Calls” menu. 

The data behind the service comes with the help of Google Voice users that mark unsolicited calls as “spam” everyday. If you are a Gmail user, you already know that Google’s spam filtering methods are ususally extremely effective. 

Naturally, the messages can be viewed in the Spam folder and marked “Not Spam” to adjust to your preferences over time. 

If you are unfamiliar with Google Voice, check out the video below for an overview of the basic service.

For more of the latest cell phone and tablet news and features click here.

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