Category: Verizon

Verizon customers who are using the Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge on the network have a new update rolling out to their phones.  The updates bring the October Android Security Update to the phones.  The Galaxy S6 will be getting updated firmware build NRD90M.G920VVRS4DQJ1 while the S6 Edge will be seeing build NRD90M.G925VVRS4DQJ1.

The updates are minor in that the only contain the Android Security Update patches for October.  There are no new features nor any other performance improvements mentioned in the respective release notes.  This isn’t surprising frankly as the S6 lineup is now well & truly in maintenance only mode.  Still, it is good to see Verizon keeping these popular mid-2015 phones going and secure.

Verizon has begun rolling out a new update to the Moto Z2 Force that brings support for their upcoming Gigabit LTE (5G) network.  Verizon has been testing faster LTE networks over the course of the past months, mostly in their labs, but have pushed this update out for some real world testing.  To be crystal clear on this, you have to have this update on the Moto Z2 Force and be in a test area for Verizon’s Gigabit LTE.  Verizon has not begun rolling it out to the public yet so think of this as a “getting you ready” update.

The updated build is version NDX26.183-15 and it brings the September Android Security Update patch along with the Gigabit LTE support.

You can read my review of the Moto Z2 Force here.

With the Samsung Galaxy Note8 announced earlier this morning, the focus now turns to the carriers here in the United States as to what the pricing is going to be for their customers.  As for Samsung, they will be selling the Note8 unlocked for $960 and that is pretty much on par with carriers but with added payment options.

AT&T hasn’t explicitly called out their pricing for the Note8 at the time of this post but we do know that it will be $31.67 per month for 30 months.  If you order before September 14th, you get your choice of either a Gear 360 Camera or the Galaxy Foundation Kit which contains a 128GB EVO+ microSD card and wireless charging station.

Yahoo stockholders, in a special meeting held yesterday, have approved the sale of the company to Verizon.  The news came from Yahoo’s Investor Relations site and was a short but important announcement.

Yahoo stockholders approved the previously announced proposed sale to Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon”) of the Company’s operating business (the “Sale Transaction”). In addition, Yahoo stockholders voted to approve the advisory vote on the compensation payable to the Company’s named executive officers in connection with the completion of the Sale Transaction.

The announcement goes on to say that the expected close date of the sale is June 13, 2017.  The company will then be named Altaba, inc..  The total cost of the transaction is $4.48 billion and will position Verizon as a significant player in the digital marketing sector, their primary purpose for making the acquisition.

Some 4 months after the release of the Android Nougat update for the unlocked HTC 10, Verizon is finally releasing the update to the phone on their network.  The fun begins tomorrow, March 30th, according to a Tweet from HTC’s Mo Versi.  The update will make Verizon the last to update the phone on their network here in the United States.  T-Mobile rolled out the update back in January while Sprint rolled it out in February.  AT&T did not sell the HTC 10.

HTC, for their part, have been good about getting updates out on the HTC 10 when it comes to the unlocked version of the phone.  However, for carrier locked devices, they are at the mercy of the carriers to get the updates out to devices.  Verizon is notoriously slow at doing this so it isn’t a surprise they are the last one to update the phone on their network.

Good news this morning for Verizon customers using the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge – Android Nougat is finally coming your way.  The update is being released today and you are looking for build  NRD90M.G930VVRU4BQA2 for the Galaxy S7 while the S7 Edge is getting build NRD90M.G935VVRU4BQA2.  Both updates come in at just over 1GB in size so you will want to make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi to download the update for your phone.  Once you have it downloaded, the install process should take about 30 minutes all-in.

By now readers will know what comes with Nougat so I won’t bore you with the details once again.  If you aren’t clear on what Nougat brings, check out my review.  As for this particular update, you aren’t going to find much different than the Galaxy S7 updates that have been on T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint.  Essentially the updates are the same with very minor tweaks between them for each carrier.  That, frankly, is good in that you don’t have a different experience just because you are on a different carrier.