In areas with Verizon Wireless LTE service, the Sleek 4G-V is aimed to give you a strong LTE signal, as well as conventional 3G or 2G signals. Benefits include fewer dropped connections and no-service “dead zones,” faster data transfer rates and improved battery life for wireless devices.

The Sleek 4G-V is on display at the Wilson Electronics booth #35219 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, level 2, through Jan. 13.

The $149.95 4G booster will be available in the second quarter of 2012. It links up with Verizon Wireless’ 700 MHz LTE, as well as all carriers’ 3G and 2G cellular signals on 800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands.  It provides up to 20 times amplification of an ordinary cell phone signal, device is also designed for use in a vehicle, and can be used indoors with the purchase of an optional accessory kit. That makes it perfect for boosting signal to 4G wireless hotspots like the Verizon JetPack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi 4510L.

I’m not on Verizon, I didn’t experience any of its outages. But as long as it boosts 2G/3G signals, too, it might be a good gadget for me, too.

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Verizon sold 4.2 million iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Verizon’s CFO Fran Shammo speaking at a conference on Wednesday, reported by StreetInsider. That’s more than twice as many iPhone devices as it sold during the previous quarter, an increase no doubt spurred by the launch of the iPhone 4S.

This might not be a really big bonanza for Verizon though, as Verizon complained about narrower profit margins for all new phones and contracts because of added upfront costs on such deals that offer discounts to new customers.

Then, on top of that, Verizon had this setback with three separate outages of their 4G/LTE network in December alone, and it’s unclear whether customers will be receiving a credit on their accounts because of the outage or whether the 4G/LTE network will be able to support additional devices like the iPhone 5.

The iPhone currently isn’t set up with 4G technology, but the bad press probably still could have hurt Verizon as the outages of their 3G network were also widely reported.

Whatever Verizon gets or doesn’t get from increased sales of its iPhones, it certainly doesn’t matter much for Apple which enjoys doubling the sales of iPhones in full.

Add to these Verizon figures this overall picture: analysts have been predicting upward of 30 million iPhones sold for Apple’s holiday quarter, which would be almost double the 17 million it sold during the previous quarter. 

Estimates also show that most of this success of iPhone sales can be attributed to a timely release of the iPhone 4S. Success of the iPhone 4S in its turn can be attributed to the tremendous popularity of its Siri service.

The post Verizon iPhone Sales Double Over Holidays appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

After an uproar caused by the Verizon nationwide 4G/LTE network outages and more protests against Verizon’s intention to effect a so called “convenience” fee, the embattled carrier takes a defensive position in explaining their mishaps. Under unprecedented pressure and a threat of action from the FCC, the “convenience” fee was dropped to great relief of Verizon customers. However, according to many comments of disgruntled users of the Verizon network, sporadic service drops still occur.

To justify the network’s downtime, Verizon issued a press release with an explanation about what has been going on, and did it as early as December 29, 2011. That is, a day or two after nationwide outages of Verizon data networks (both 4G/LTE and 3G) were reported. According to the carrier, these problems are happening because Verizon is a pioneer when it comes to LTE, and so there are a lot of problems that are unforeseen:

Why have these issues occurred with our 4GLTE Network? Each incident has been different from a technical standpoint. Our engineers have successfully diagnosed those past triggering events, and they have not re-occurred. We also work diligently to rectify technical problems in the Network before they affect any customers.

Our 3G and 1X Networks continue to reliably process calls, texts and data for customers with 3G devices and, when necessary, 4GLTE devices. It continues to perform at the high level that established it as the nation’s largest and most reliable 3G Network.

Another important statement in this Verizon press release is this:

Among the numerous measures we have taken or will take are: geographic segmentation, which enables us to isolate, contain and rectify network performance issues, and maintain service to the majority of customers when an issue does develop; and software fixes that we have developed, tested and applied regularly – and will continue to do so. Both will improve performance and reliability.

It’s good to know, but it also should be noted that so called “triggering events” being different in nature for many locations may not be eradicated on anytime soon. Additionally, a proposed “geographic segmentation” may equate to a total overhaul of the entire Verizon 4G/LTE network. Which also can’t be made overnight.

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