With landlines going the way of analog TV broadcasting, Verizon is hoping to take advantage of the VoIP market with the release of the Verizon Hub. Though it is a little on the expensive side, the Hub is an all-in-one telephone system/communications center with a cordless headset and a 7-inch touchscreen. Through your broadband connection, the Hub lets you send and recieve text messages, stream video,  stay updated on traffic and weather, and MUCH more. Although it costs $150.00 (with a $35/per month charge for unlimited calls and messaging), you get an enormous amount of features.

• 7-inch WVGA 800 x 480, LCD touch-screen
• Displays videos and pictures
• Headset with 1.8-inch LCD screen
• MP3 support
• WiFi connectivity
• 128 MB of RAM
• 500 MHz dual processor
• 128-entry address book
• Support for widgets
• Holds up to 2MB of ringtones
• Visual Voice Mail

In addition to the features listed above, the Verizon Hub’s many entertainment options, such  as Internet Radio and television clips, make it a good entertainment system.  Even with all of these extra features, the Verizon Hub still manages to offer great sound quality and clarity. Even using the speakerphone, there is little background noise or interference. The Verizon Hub does a great job of combining all of the great, mobile features of a cell phone with the traditional benefits of a home phone. As more of our world goes wireless, the Verizon Hub is big upgrade from your traditional phone line, but it is going to cost you.

Do you want to move into the touch-screen age of cellphones, but are worried that you’ll miss your traditional hard keyboard. Well Verizon hopes to ease those worries and offer a smooth transition to the touch-screen world with the release of the LG Versa. The Versa is unique because you can add external modules to it that suit your preferences.  The Versa come with the QWERTY keyboard module and the gamepad module is available to buy,  but LG promises the release of more modules in the future. The modules certainly help in the transition to a touch-screen phone, but the Versa is also a great stand-alone touch-screen phone.

• 3 inch,  240 x 480 LCD Touch-Screen Display
• 2 MP Camera
• Email & IM Applications
• Bluetooth
• HTML Browser with Flash Lite Support
• GPS
• Advanced Accelerometer
• Virtual QWERTY Keyboard
• Handwriting Recognition
• Visual Voicemail
• Support for up to 16GB microSD card.
• 1,000 Contact Phone Book
• RSS Reader
• 2.5mm Headset Jack

When I realized my old phone was ready for an upgrade, I zipped over to my nearest Verizon store to see my options. After looking at the other options, I finally got to the Versa, which immediately caught my eye. The touch-screen works very well and the software is great. It has three customizable home screens: Favorites, Media, and Shortcuts. You can set a different wallpaper for each screen and you can even change the background of the charging screen! The Versa’s accelerometer works especially well, a big improvement over the Dare. The screen flips when you turn the device left or right. The only screen that does not flip is the home screen.

Another cool feature is the web browser. It is extremely fast and clear. Though is may be a little difficult navigating at times, you eventually become accustomed to it and navigating becomes much easier. In addition, the Versa fuctions as an excellent Mp3 player. I bought an 8GB microSD card (it can take up to a 16GB) and put all of my favorite songs on it. It offers many different settings and it allows you to listen to music in the background while you do other tasks. The only downside is that I had to buy a headphone adapter so I could use my regular 3.5mm headphones.

All in all, the Versa is a great phone. With tons of ways to customize it, many cool features, intuitive touch-screen, and many iPhone-esque capabilities, the Versa is a great choice for those who want the capabilities of the iPhone, but want to stay on one of the largest, fastest, and most reliable networks available.

• To get your own Verizon LG Versa via Amazon.com Click Here
• To check out special pricing options on the Verizon LG Versa Click Here

Verizon recently announced the release of their MiFi 2200 portable router with 802.11 b/g and EV-DO Rev. A.  This awesome little device can connect up to five different WiFi devices at once to Verizon’s 3G connection. This means that anywhere you can get service with a Verizon phone, you can connect computers, smartphones, capable MP3 players, etc. to the internet. This allows you to remain mobile and connected at the same time, but you are going to have to pay for it. You can pay for a 24-hour pass for $15, $40 per month for 250MB, or $60 per month for 5GB. In addition, the unit  itself costs around $100 after the rebate.

With the release of their mobile hotspot, Verizon is furthering their control of the mobile market and increasing our access to the internet wherever and whenever. But with a battery life of 4 hours during use and 40 hours in standby mode, you might want to find an alternative if you need time to accomplish many tasks. Although the price and the battery life are not optimal, the Verizon MiFi 2200 defies logic by keeping us connected while we are unconnected…..wait….what?