Verizon buyer’s guide: Everything you need to know

Which Verizon plan fits your needs best?

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with over 145 million subscribers. It offers nationwide Voice and LTE data coverage on its network, using GSM, LTE, and CDMA technology.

Verizon offers unlimited talk and text wireless plans for individuals and families and it has deals on the latest smartphone, including the Samsung Galaxy S8. If you’re thinking of switching to Verizon or you’re about to renew your plan, you might be wondering which plan best suits your usage habits and needs on a monthly basis. Do you really need unlimited data? Are you signing up for multiple lines?

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If you have questions about which Verizon plan is best for you, we have answers. Check these out and see if they work for you.

• Talk, text and data plans
• Best unlimited plan
• Best Verizon phones
• How to cancel Verizon
• How to unlock a Verizon Wireless phone
• Finding an alternative carrier that uses Verizon’s service

Individual plans

Verizon offers two types of plans: talk, text, and data and prepaid.

• Talk, text, and data plans
• Verizon prepaid

Talk, text, and data plans

For individual lines, Verizon essentially offers two types of plans: Small, Medium, Large, or Unlimited. Each plan features unlimited nationwide talk and text, unlimited 2G data, and rollover data (data you don’t use in a month is available until the end of the next month). The amount of 4G LTE data is all that really changes between each plan.

Small gets 2GB of 4G LTE for $35/month, Medium gets 4GB for $50/month, Large gets 8GB for $70/month. There are two types of Unlimited plans, and while they have no data caps, there are rules about throttling speeds when the network is congested. Some Unlimited plans also feature tethering and service in Mexico and Canada. See below for more information about unlimited plans.

Keep in mind that the above-mentioned prices don’t include any monthly payments you have to make if you decide to purchase a phone through Verizon.

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Unlimited plans

Verizon has two unlimited plans: Go Unlimited and Beyond Unlimited. The differences between them are video streaming quality and hotspot data speeds. Here is an overview of each plan, with pricing for individual lines and family plans.

Go Unlimited

• One line: $75/month
• Two lines: $65 per line/month
• Three lines: $50 per line/month
• Four or more lines lines: $40 per line/month

Paper-free billing and AutoPay discounts apply.

The Go Unlimited plan offers unlimited LTE data, but you’re subject to reduced speeds (throttling) when the network is congested. How much (or how little) data you have used in the current billing period doesn’t matter here.

Additionally, video streaming is capped at 480p on phones and 720p on tablets. And while the Go Unlimited plans offer unlimited data through mobile hotspot (tethering), the speed is hard capped at 600kbps.

Beyond Unlimited

• One line: $85/month
• Two lines: $80 per line/month
• Three lines: $60 per line/month
• Four or more lines: $50 per line/month

Paper-free billing and AutoPay discounts apply.

The Beyond Unlimited plan offers unlimited LTE data, but you’re subject to reduced speeds (throttling) at times of network congestion if you exceed 22GB in a billing cycle.

Additionally, video streaming is capped at 720p on phones and 1080p on tablets. Mobile hotspot use is unlimited, with 15GB of LTE data in each billing cycle. Laptops or other devices used through the hotspot have a 1080p hard cap for streaming video.

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Verizon prepaid

If you don’t want to sign up for a contract of any kind, then you can go month-to-month with Verizon on its prepaid plans. The best prepaid plan is the $50/month plan, which features 5GB of 4G LTE data (1GB more than Verizon’s Medium plan), unlimited domestic talk and text, and unlimited texting to over 200 countries.

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The other positive aspect of this plan is that any data you don’t use rolls over to your next month. You also still get unlimited 2G data speeds after you use up your 4G LTE allotment.

There’s also an Unlimited Prepaid plan for $80 per month, which offers the same limitations as Go Unlimited but adds roaming in Canada and Mexico.

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Best Verizon phones

Verizon doesn’t really play nice with the whole “bring your own device” (BYOD) thing. In fact, it doesn’t really play at all. Unless you have an inactive Verizon phone lying around, you can’t bring your own phone. If you’re not bringing your own phone to Verizon, these are the best ones you can purchase from the carrier.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

Samsung’s newest flagships are the best Android phones on the market, with their slick design, featuring minimal bezel, curved screens, a new aspect ratio, and industry-leading displays. These phones have huge displays, but they don’t feel huge, thanks to the fact that they’re thinner than other big phones. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ also have phenomenal cameras, both rear and front, offering excellent image quality, thanks to updated processors.

You can get the Galaxy S8 starting at $31.50/month and the Galaxy S8+ starting at $35.

Google Pixel

Before it was dethroned by the Galaxy S8, the Google Pixel was the best Android phone around and still is one of the best money can buy. Featuring Google’s “pure” Android software and being the first Android phone with Google Assistant, the Pixel reshaped the Android landscape.

The Pixel has a metal body that feels well-made in the hand, and the software experience is clean and straightforward. The Pixel’s camera is definitely one of the best Android phone cameras available and still competes with the other top options.

You can get a Pixel starting at $27.08/month from Verizon.

LG V20

If you’d like a large phone, then check out LG’s V20. It has a gorgeous 5.7-inch QHD display, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage, making it an excellent phone for power users. It features a removable battery, two rear cameras, and Second Screen notifications, as well as easy-to-reach shortcuts (which are super important if you’re using a big phone and have smaller hands).

Each of the V20’s two rear cameras has its own focal length, which can help you create some stunning effects, making this the perfect phone for avid photographers who don’t feel like lugging around their DSLR.

You can get the LG V20 starting at $24/month from Verizon.

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Best deals on Verizon

Verizon’s best deal right now is the Samsung Galaxy S8 for as little as $15/month or the Galaxy S8+ for as little as $20/month. To be eligible, you need to port in your number from another carrier, sign up for Verizon’s Unlimited plan, and trade in an eligible phone.

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If you’re not in for a premium device and just want a phone that you can surf the web with, and you aren’t concerned with performance or cameras or anything like that, then Verizon has a range of budget smartphones that you can get for free or $5/month.

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How to cancel Verizon

The absolute easiest way to cancel Verizon is to switch providers and have your new carrier port your number over. That’s really it. Depending on your plan, Verizon may charge you an early termination fee. You may also have to buy out any devices for which you still owe.

Verizon like to make things a bit difficult on you if you’re trying to cancel, but if you’d rather speak with a service rep you can do one of the following:

• Call Verizon’s customer service line at 1-800-837-4966
• Talk to someone in person at a Verizon store near you.

How to unlock a Verizon Wireless phone

Looking to leave Verizon but want to take your phone with you? Well, Verizon may not let you bring your own phone (or makes it very hard to, anyway), but you can definitely take your phone with you.

From Verizon’s site:

We do not lock most phones or tablets that are activated with our postpay service, either during or after the term of your service contract or Edge installment sales agreement. We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier.

So you should be able to take just about any phone you have from Verizon and use it with another carrier, though you’ll want to check eligibility with the other carrier before signing up.

Finding an alternative carrier that uses Verizon’s service

Alternative carriers or mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are carriers that lease coverage from the Big Four carriers (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile). Verizon doesn’t have too many MVNOs under its belt, but if you enjoy Verizon’s coverage and are perhaps seeking cheaper plans, then you should consider switching to an MVNO.

Big players in the alternative carrier market that use Verizon’s network are Credo Mobile, Straight Talk, and Tracfone, but there are a few others to consider.

Just keep in mind that many alternative carriers lease coverage from multiple networks, so depending on your plan you may not actually be connected to Verizon’s network.

Complete list of Verizon MVNOs

Samsung offering up to $425 off the Galaxy Note 8 to those who had a Note 7

Owners of the ill-fated Note 7 will be able to get the Note 8 at a discount.

The Galaxy Note 7, to keep things short, had an interesting life. After being recalled twice, the phone was reborn earlier this year as the Galaxy Note Fan Edition. Now, people in the U.S. who owned Samsung’s late-2016 flagship will have a reason to celebrate that phone’s short life — at least now.

Samsung is tweaking its typical phone trade-in discount for former Note 7 owners moving to a Note 8, giving them extra trade-in value up to a total of $425 toward the new phone. As we’ve seen with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the trade-in phone could be just about anything recently released, with the actual discount received dependent on the make and condition of the phone being traded in.

Given how expensive the Note 8 is, that’ll go a long way toward the cost of the new phone. This isn’t a particularly unique discount considering it’s done very similar offers for previous phones, but tossing a few extra dollars on top for all of those Note 7 fans that were disappointed in the Note 7’s recall is a good move.

Would you trade your current device for a discount on the Note 8? Let us know down below!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 hands-on preview
• CompleteGalaxy Note 8 specs
• All Galaxy Note 8 news
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

Samsung is working on a Bixby-powered smart speaker

Samsung Mobile’s President has confirmed the company is working on a smart speaker.

Alongside launching the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung’s President, DJ Koh, has confirmed the company is developing a smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo series, the Google Home and Apple’s upcoming HomePod. The system will be powered by Samsung’s Bixby personal assistant.

CNBC reports the device is under active development, with DJ Koh stating, “Maybe soon we will announce it. I am already working on it.” Alongside working with the Galaxy line of smartphones, the speaker will assuredly work with Samsung’s Tizen-based watches, smart TV’s and (ugh) smart refrigerators. It’s also easy to presume the speaker will be compatible with Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem.

Would you be interested in a Bixby-powered speaker? Let us know down below!

Learn more about Bixby!

Monument Valley 2 is available for pre-registration in the Play Store

Users can now pre-register for the next Monument Valley game.

Since its release, Monument Valley has been known as one of the best puzzle games on iOS and Android. The game centers around moving a character through a living M.C. Escher painting and isn’t subject to in your face advertisement or micro transactions like most mobile games.

Apple featured Monument Valley 2 at this year’s WWDC developer’s conference, and the game will soon be available to Android users. Android Police reports that users can now pre-register for the game through the Google Play Store.

Pre-registering won’t make the game release any faster, but users will get a notification on their device when the game is available. There’s no word on pricing information, but it is likely to cost the same $4.99 it is on the iOS App Store.

Are you interested in playing Monument Valley 2? Let us know down below!

ESPN’s mobile app personalizes your live sports streams

ESPN is keeping up its recent trend of letting you watch sports your way. The TV network has updated its Android and iOS apps with a reworked Watch tab that gives you a more personalized approach to video, including live video — if there’s an in-progress game or show, you’ll have quick access to it. Naturally, this personal touch extends to on-demand video like replays (including newly-added ESPN3 replays), clips and collections.

You’ll also like this update if you want to see whether or not live video is worth the trouble. There’s now a 10-minute preview of live video for people who aren’t signed into a TV provider. While this probably won’t convince you to subscribe to an expensive cable package by itself, it could give you an idea as to whether or not you’d enjoy watching football on your phone.

Source: ESPN, App Store, Google Play

Robot bears are coming for your grandparents

Not content to simply blame millennials for killing practically everything, baby boomers are now expecting the younger generations to care for them in their agedness. The nerve. Indeed, some 13 percent of the American population is now 65 or older, though a recent report from the Pew Research Center suggests that figure will nearly double by midcentury. Given that the current annual median price of a nursing-home room is around $92,000 (and rising), and because we can’t just up and dump a quarter of America at the Springfield Retirement Castle, robots will have to start lending elderly folks a hand. Because if there’s anybody who inherently trusts new and confusing technologies, it’s the olds.

The problem of caring for a rapidly aging population is especially pronounced in Japan, where a full 20 percent of current residents are eligible for discounts at Golden Corral. The situation is dire; a recent Merrill Lynch study suggests there will be a million-caregiver shortfall in the country by the middle of the 2020s. There simply won’t be enough able bodies left on the island to care for the infirm. However, that same report also suggests that the mecha-caregiver market is primed to explode, with 12,400 such robots by next year, and only growing from there.

Obviously, we’re nowhere near the technological threshold needed to produce a general-purpose robot like Sonny, the NS-5 from I, Robot. However, there are a number of ways robots may serve as caregivers in the near future, including helping the elderly get around during the day.

Slips and falls are the No. 1 killer of American seniors. In 2014, according to the CDC, 29 million elderly people fell in this country, and 7 million of them were injured as a result, which cost Medicare around $31 billion. Annually, around 27,000 older adults fall but never get up again, per the National Council on Aging. And that’s where the EPFL’s “robo-shorts” come in. Technically known as the Active Pelvis Orthosis (APO), this hip-worn device continually monitors the user’s pace, weight distribution and momentum. Should the wearer slip or begin to fall, the system will recognize it (within 360 milliseconds) and physically yank her back on course.

Of course, the best way to prevent a person from falling is something that moves said person around. The Panasonic Resyone, for example, is a robotic bed/wheelchair hybrid and became the first ISO-certified service robot back in 2014. Resyone is based on a pair of earlier designs that tried to lift patients out of the chair and into a separate bed — the first with a pair of mechanical arms, and the other with a sling. However, there was a problem with patients slipping out mid-transfer. The Resyone solves that by being both wheelchair and bed. It takes only a single human assistant to help the patient scootch from one side of the surface to the other as it converts. What’s more, the wheelchair itself is a robot capable of autonomously avoiding people and obstacles in its way.

Panasonic isn’t stopping with the Resyone. Last year, the company introduced a “self-reliance support robot” — essentially a smart walker that recognizes when the user’s weight shifts, enabling it to support and guide her as she stands or sits. With this device, your grandma will no longer need to rock back and forth in her chair to gain enough momentum to stand, and won’t plummet into her seat when she sits down.

The Robear, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like: a robot bear. It’s a heavy-lift robot designed to gently scoop elderly folks from their beds and deposit them into a wheelchair. This is a huge boon to human caregivers, as assisted-care-facility employees have to lift their charges as many as 40 times a day. Importantly, the robot is equipped with soft rubber paddles to prevent pinching. It also uses low gear-ratio actuators and a variety of feedback sensors to move quickly yet gently and adjust its movement should the patient shift or begin to slip.

To reduce the robot’s imposing 300-pound stature, Robear has a cartoonish and nonthreatening ursine head. Think more Pokemon Beware and less The Revenant. “The polar-cub-like look is aimed at radiating an atmosphere of strength, geniality and cleanliness at the same time,” Riken University’s Toshiharu Mukai told AFP. “We voted for this design among options presented by our designer. We hope to commercialize the robot in the not-too-distant future.” Just don’t let it hug you.

Robots like these may eventually be replaced by a more wearable variety. Researchers from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have created a soft exosuit to help people with limited mobility. Instead of a bulky rigid frame, the Harvard system relies on a series of belts and soft fabrics driven by belt-mounted actuators to help lift and guide a patient’s leg. It’s teaming up with ReWalk Robotics to market the invention, though there’s no word yet on when it will be available to consumers.

The unfortunately acronym-ed HAL (hybrid assistive limb) system from the dubiously named Cyberdyne Corp., on the other hand, is already being tested at Haneda airport in Tokyo. The waist-mounted device wraps around users’ legs and is built to help them lift up to 20 kilos at a time without straining their backs. It’s being used by the airport’s porters, though the company is also looking into adapting it for construction and other industrial uses. The company is even working on a shielded version to help human cleanup crews more easily dismantle the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

“As the devices are designed so light that female or elderly workers can wear,” the Cyberdyne website boasts, “they will encourage participation of those various people into a society with a low birthrate and aging population.”

Of course, nothing says these assistive devices have to be externally powered. Lowes recently teamed up with Virginia Tech to build an exosuit to help its associates pick up heavy items. Rather than rely on servos and such, it uses kinetic energy stored in a set of carbon-fiber rods. The deeper the associate bends, the more spring is added to her standing motion. Such a system could potentially be adapted to serve the same basic function as the Panasonic self-reliance robot, though there are no plans to do so.

Where this field goes from here is still anybody’s guess. Modern medical science is already making incredible strides with exosuit technology, though prosthetic limbs are a bit further behind. We could one day see Ghost in the Shell-style full body replacements for the old and infirm, as well as the sort of quasi-immortality that comes with having your consciousness uploaded into a robotic shell. Then again, we may all simply wind up in those floating wheelchairs from Wall-E. Either way, we’re going to need to come up with a solution, and fast — Gangy is in bed by 8PM at the latest.

Samsung’s new Gear VR is built for the big Galaxy Note 8

Thanks to its tie-in with Oculus, Samsung’s Gear VR has had the most content and arguably the best image quality of any mobile virtual reality headset since it launched. It has improved ever since, and the model unveiled with the Galaxy S8 finally included a controller. At its Galaxy Note 8 event, Samsung has launched yet another Gear VR with Controller (its sixth) to go with its latest big smartphone. The changes are small, but there are a few.

First off, here’s what’s not new: The Note 8 has QHD+ resolution like the Galaxy S8 and not 4K as many hoped, so obviously the Gear VR won’t have better resolution either. The design, weight, colors and other factors have also stayed largely the same.

Samsung didn’t offer much detail on the new Gear VR, but here’s what we do know. It has a brand new controller and it’s larger to accommodate the bigger Note 8. Those on-board volume controls are gone as well. For now, that’s all the company has revealed, which likely means the “new” headset is similar to its predecessor, but it can get cozy with the newly announced phablet.

On the brightside, the new Gear VR will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow for $130 at Samsung.com Amazon, Best Buy, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and US Cellular. It’ll go on sale on September 15th at those shops, along with T-Mobile and other resellers.

Follow all the latest news from Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 event here!

Snapchat will feature original scripted shows by end of year

Snapchat has jumped into television in a big way, with NBC’s twice-daily news show, CNN’s newscast, a CBS-led James Corden variety show and even MTV’s Cribs crowding in to connect with Snapchat users. Now the photo messaging app is set to move into to scripted content by the end of this year, according to a report at Variety.

Snapchat’s head of content Nick Bell told an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival that his company’s content isn’t meant to be a TV killer, but more of a viewing enhancer. “Mobile is the most complementary thing to TV that has been around,” Bell said, according to Variety. “We’re really capturing the audience who are not probably consuming TV at the same rate and pace of engagement that they once were.”

Bell also told his listeners that, like the rest of Snapchat content, long-form isn’t the answer. According to Variety, the content head still believes that the ideal length for a Snapchat show is three to five minutes. The company is apparently relying on partners to finance scripted shows, which tend to be more expensive than news or documentary-style “reality” shows. We’ve reached out to Snapchat for comment and will update this post when we hear back.

Snapchat isn’t the only Silicon Valley company to look to TV shows as the next big thing, of course. Facebook is deep into original content, with the first wave of shows due in August. Apple, too, is rumored to be making its own television shows by year’s end; the company has already launched Planet of the Apps and Up Next via the Apple Music platform.

Source: Variety

Catch up on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 news in 10 minutes

The Galaxy Note 8 wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret, but Samsung officially revealed the supersized handset earlier today. If you missed the announcement live, don’t worry: We’ve got you covered. We chopped down today’s event to a much shorter clip, so you can catch up quickly without spending an hour or more doing it. Meet the new Note 8, dual cameras, tweaked S pen, latest software and more in the video above.

Follow all the latest news from Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 event here!

Samsung says it’s building an Echo-like smart speaker

Samsung is spilling the beans on more than just its smartwatch plans in the wake of its Galaxy Note 8 event. In an interview with CNBC, mobile division chief DJ Koh has confirmed that his company is working on a smart speaker. He’s shy on details, as is usually the case with teases like this, but he hints that Samsung might announce it “soon.” That doesn’t necessarily mean a debut at next week’s IFA show, but it’s not some distant prospect.

The earlier rumor didn’t shed much more light on the speaker, but it’s expected to revolve around the Bixby voice assistant (not that it was likely to use anything else). That may dictate when and where Samsung releases the hardware. At the moment, Bixby’s voice functionality is only available in English and Korean. That’s fine when Bixby is a non-essential feature on a phone, but it’s another story for a speaker, where it would be the star attraction. Samsung may need to either wait or accept that many people won’t use the speaker to its full potential.

Source: CNBC