Sick of your set top box? Soon, Verizon’s FiOS users will be able to get their hands on a brand new Media Server, this will have the ability to stream HD TV to all compatible devices in your home.

Thanks to TechCrunch here are some further details into when and how this might work.

Verizon Home Media Server Promo Video:

Below you are able to watch the promotional video that comes with the new launch, and Director of Technology at Verizon, Tushar Saxena,explains a little more about how they wanted to upgrade the set-top box, and end up at some stage being able to deliver a box that is so small it will be easy to simply Velcro behind your TV.

Benefits include increased energy efficiency:

Currently the way streaming HDTV will work with new Verizon set-top boxes, is that your main TV is the grand daddy of the home, and to this will be attached your large media server with smaller satellite set-top boxes being needed for other non IP enabled TV devices in the home, with IP enabled devices such as Playstations, Xboxes, tablets, smartphones, and laptops connecting wirelessly over wi-fi to the main hub.

In time Verizon hopes to eliminate the need for any of these smaller set-top box satellites, as more and more TV devices connect to the internet wirelessly and are able to then receive a quality HD signal at data rates that will produce HD effectively.

3D HDTV to go same route:

Verizon are currently doing tests to stream 3D HDTV over Wi-Fi, and using the same technology, have managed to effectively transmit this at a rate of 40 Mbps through materials such as sheetrock and steel walls to distances up to 200m.

We have already talked about Apple TV v’s Google TV and with more news like this coming out it seems like 2012 will be the year of the Internet TV.

Are you looking forward to the reinvention of TV?

I know people think I get paid by Apple..;)

But trust me, that could not be further from the truth, however I must point out that in recent days, Samsung seem to be beset by problems related to their Ice Cream Sandwich devices, whether that is the newly released US version of the Nexus on Verizon, or the updated Nexus S’s, globally, the problems just keep mounting.

Nexus signal issues:

So now we take a look at the latest issue to hit the Galaxy Nexus range after the initial volume problem we reported weeks ago.

As Samsung and Verizon are well aware of this issue it may be prudent that you keep track of things on the Verizon twitter account for support updates.

The issues that people have raised, mirror similar issues with the Ice Cream Sandwich Update Problems on the Nexus S, and include:

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• Lower than average signal strength
• Dropped calls

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Verizon are said to be working on the issue, but for now we do not see much you can do apart from “toggle” between “airplane mode” on and off, which seems to work for some people, though this problem seems much less severe than the issues we have had reported for the Nexus S update, where users are saying that they can not use their phone at all, and that MMS functionality and other features they expect to be able to use has now stopped working altogether.

Have you had the same issues, or others? If you have, please let us know all about them, and any workarounds that you have devised, or help you have found elsewhere on the internet, many thanks.

The wait is over guys, we have brought you numerous reports up to this point related to the Galaxy Nexus release date and now we can confirm that Verizon have the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for sale online, so when you wake up stores should be also selling the device.

Galaxy Nexus Review:

If you want to get the lowdown on the new Samsung smartphone why not read our Galaxy Nexus review and find out what all the fuss is about.

Nexus is pretty cool:

Having trialled one of these already here in the UK, I can vouch for it feeling a bit slicker than the S2, it’s a lovely looking phone and I just hope that the wait is worth it for you.

The wait is over:

Yes the final release date of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon in the US looks to have actually materialised, at last!

Enjoy!

We have already covered the news that Carrier IQ was potentially tracking over 140,000,000 mobile devices at the end of last week.

Now, when you hear the name Carrier IQ, you automatically think of potentially illegal phone tracking, so it is also interesting to see just how quickly the legal teams gather pace when the mention of a breach of privacy is muted.

A number of law firms are gunning for carrier IQ and companies who used their technology:

The following law firms have jointly filed a class action complaint in a Delaware Court against carrier IQ:

Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy LLP, Sianni & Straite LLP, and Keefe Bartels L.L.C.

This relates to what is being described as:

“cell phone tracking software scandal.”

and an,

“unprecedented breach of the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users.”

It is reported that HTC, AT&T, Motorola, Apple, Sprint, T-Mobile and more are also going to be hearing from the law firms mentioned above in relation to the potential abuse of privacy of smartphone owners globally.

Carrier IQ sounds ostensibly good natured:

The problem as I see it with carrier IQ is that to all intents and purposes it masquerades as a perfectly safe and capable tracking software that is intended to aid manufacturers find bugs and issues with their devices and networks, and so make the users life more pleasurable, and pain free.

The problem is that this software is installed discretely without the device owner having any knowledge, and there is no opt in or out option when you get your new device.

The company sell the software as:

“Mobile Service Intelligence solutions that have revolutionized the way mobile operators and device vendors gather and manage information from end users”

Sounds all well and good, but surely personal privacy is a highly valued right in our society.

Personal privacy the issue for most:

Many people in the US and wider feel that governments and corporations are taking more and more liberties with our own personal information. And while we hope that the concern is only that, a real issue presents itself when something so covert as tracking software is installed on your personal communication device.

The issue is about full transparency, as there is also a theory that keystrokes are included in the data that gets reported (if a patent application is anything to go by), though it has to be said that I am becoming less convinced that this was the case currently (perhaps this was due to be rolled out later)….

At which point, I wonder when we would have been informed of this?

My guess is never.

David Straite, one of the lawyers leading this crusade, said in a statement.

“This latest revelation of corporate America’s brazen disregard for the digital privacy rights of its customers is yet another example of the escalating erosion of liberty in this country,”

David Straite’s co-counsel Steve Grygiel added:

”Anyone who cares at all about their personal privacy, or the broader constitutional right to privacy, ought to care and care a great deal about this case.”

What do you think to this news?

Is it getting blown out of proportion? Or is this kind of privacy invasion best nipped in the bud early before we hand over too much control blindly to the “powers that be”?

Users with jailbroken devices in the US who are accessing Verizon’s hotspot network and do not subscribe to a data plan are having their ability to tether their devices blocked.

Verizon and AT&T start to make a stance in order to maximize revue from data and voice plans:

According to ReadWriteWeb, one of their employees was taken to this screen when trying to access a hotspot on a Motorola X jailbroken phone:

AT&T recently started to migrate jailbroken users with no data plan to a tiered pricing structure to access their hotspots.

These will start at $20 per 2GB of data on Verizon when coupled with a data plan of $29.99 or more. For every GB of data consumed after the 2GB allowance users will be charged another $20 per GB.

Data is the new revenue model for networks:

With aggressive pricing to attract users to mobile phone contracts that offer good value for calls and texts creating less and less profit for the networks, the only way that the carriers can start to maximize profits in the medium term is to start being much lees tolerant on data that has been historically used as another means of enticing customers. Similar to the way a stereotyped drug dealer would “hook you in” and then charge more when your addicted, this seems to be pretty much the case with data plans by two of the countries largest mobile carriers.

The Federal Communication Commission was issued with a letter from an Advocacy group in March complaining that Verizon should not be allowed to block tethering access using Long Term Evolution found in the Android Market. Google justly responded to this by blocking tethering applications in the Android marketplace. Though GetJar still allowed tethering apps to be acquired.

At&T to throttle heavy users of data

In news that AT&T will not want to become common knowledge a press release was issued dated Friday 5th August 2011 stating that they will start to throttle heavy users of data.

With data becoming the real gold mine, how long before new companies enter the market offering users other options to consumers?

I wrote about a prediction for the future in relation to mobile devices, one where you simply buy a data plan and use a VOIP service such as Skype or Gmail voice and leave this running in the background so you are always available when needed, and simply email people you want to “text”. Do you think this will be the future of mobile contracts, or is the coverage not good enough, I would argue that it will be perfect when 4G rolls out fully and coverage starts to become no real issue from WiFi hotspots doted around countries such as the US, UK and Europe….Taiwan are already offering tourist and locals the chance to tap into a medium speed Wi-Fi network in TaiPei.

Lets take my own contract on O2 here in the UK: A minimum charge of $80 USD per month with a free Samsung S2 phone, 600 minutes, unlimited texts and I live in a metropolitan area on the outskirts of a big town. My reception = useless. Basically pointless to own as I never ever receive any calls. This is 2011 I expect better.

On the other hand if I wanted to pay for BT’s openworld, I could get access to their Wi-Fi service and be able to utilise calls on VOIP. As it goes I do not need this as I already have Wi-Fi but you seem my point here.

We have more and more options every year, I feel like I have been serioulsy ripped off right up until 2010 for text messages that have been around for 20+ years and cost networks absolutely nothing in terms of data. At one point in the last 18 months I was being charged 10 pence per text after I went over my limit in one strange month before changing my contract to the sum total of around $60 USD extra for text messages alone that totalled around 950 in one month (350 over my limit), ridiculous, and total daylight robbery.

What do you think of your contracts, do you feel we are given good deals for calls, texts and data or are we used to be being ripped off nowadays?