Since last year when we first introduced MASN2 HD to FiOS TV customers in parts of Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. metro area, we’ve heard from many of you about expanding the channel to everyone in the region.  We have good news: the time has finally come!

Starting this Monday, April 4, MASN2 HD will become available to all of our FiOS TV customers in the region, including Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. metro area.  We’ve also been able to expand the channel to our customers in Harrisburg, PA.  Unfortunately it’s not in Delaware at this time, but we’re looking into that.

Amazon created some buzz this week when it announced a cloud-based music service. Subscribers to Amazon’s new service won’t download music to their phone or laptop.  Instead, they will buy music, store it on Amazon servers and stream it to their computers or Android smartphones whenever they want to hear it.

What is the cloud, and why should Verizon customers care about it?

{Editor’s Note} Our guest blogger is Tina Meier, the founder of The Megan Meier Foundation.  Tina has made it her mission to speak out against cyberbullying and to educate parents and children about how to stay safe in the online world.  As the voice of Verizon FiOS’ Cybersafe Philly program, she is sharing her story and her work here today.

By Tina Meier

Megan loved black and white polka dots.  Megan was excited to finally get her braces off after four years.  Megan had just handed out invitations to her 14^th birthday party.  My daughter Megan was the happiest she had ever been in October of 2006.  All of that changed when someone she thought was a friend, a boy she’d met on Myspace who she thought liked her, turned around and began saying mean, hurtful things through messages on Myspace.

I’m not sure how I missed this bit of fun last week.  A video appeared on You Tube showing a hipster using a cell phone and a transmitter to shoot video of himself onto electronic signs and billboards around Times Square.  Of course, the video went totally viral and got a lot of geeks and tourists stirred up wondering how they could do this too.  Turns out it was a hoax by a viral promotion company to advertise the new movie, “Limitless.”  Lucky for us, the story has continued into this week.  An enterprising tech-head decided to show he could shoot cell phone video of his dog, Cookie, and blast it up to a 5,000-square-foot screen in Time Square.  Results of this experiment were mixed, and still somewhat “rigged” (the guy had to reserve space on the screen), but let’s give him an A for effort.  How would you like to take over one of the world’s biggest billboards, just by using your smartphone?

Top Cities. Best Restaurants. Best Sellers. The dreaded shopping list. Who doesn’t love a good list?

And for your viewing convenience, we’ve pulled together a few lists to help you find what’s hot on FiOS TV.

Whether you’re curious about what others or watching or you just want to get the buzz around the virtual TV water cooler, you can get regular updates of Hot On TV, Hot On Demand, Top Recordings and Top Searches (on FiOS). They’re all found online at FiOS TV Central or in the FiOS TV menu by clicking Search and then What’s Hot on FiOS.

Ultimate devices need an ultimate network, and Verizon’s all-fiber-optic network now delivers more exciting 3D content for customers to enjoy on their 3D TVs.

First, we expect to launch ESPN 3D on Tuesday, April 5, on channel 1002, just in time for the Masters Golf tournament.  With 3D, it’ll be the next best thing to walking over the pine needles with patrons at the Augusta National Golf Club.

ESPN 3D can be viewed by customers who have a 3D TV set, 3D glasses and a high-definition set-top box.  The new channel is included for any FiOS TV customer who subscribes to our Ultimate HD package, and is available to everyone else on its own for $9.99 per month.

Have you ever had the urge to rip the smartphone out of someone’s hands when you’re desperately trying to get them to listen to you instead of having a fine romance with their gadget?  Are there times you think you might be more engaged with the Internet than you are with your friends and family?  You’re not alone.  It’s called "Internet distraction" and it’s ruining relationships everywhere.  A panel of distracted experts on distraction discussed this social phenomenon at the SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive) conference in Austin, Texas, this week.  Does technology lure you away from human interaction, or are you the kind of person who can step back and disengage? 

Many of you may recall The Honeymooners sitcom.  It’s made the round of cable reruns over the last few decades.  Ralph and Alice Kramden lived a Spartan existence in their black and white world.  There was no phone, no TV, no AC.

Technology changes more than just the color of apartment and condo living – it changes everything.  It’s a truism multi-family property developers, managers and business leaders from across the country are learning more about this week in Chantilly, VA.

I can’t promise you a sprig of four leaf clovers or a pot of gold this St. Patrick’s Day, but I can offer you a technological double rainbow.  And the good news is that it’s free and awaits you with a quick and simple download.

Since Verizon’s In-Home Agent, an easy to use, automated tool was introduced in the summer of 2009, it’s been downloaded by customers or our technicians to more than half of every Verizon FiOS Internet or DSL powered computer.

With the simple download, you’ll in effect place a Verizon expert in your home office or family room — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  If the In-Home Agent has already been downloaded, we’re already there, but not in an irksome "What about Bob?" kind of way.

If you are reading this, you not only understand how technology is helpful to you, you’re not afraid to use it.  Our regular readers of this blog – which is a simple application of a broadband advancement by the way – enjoy using our new technologies like Flex View.

New technologies also give us new ways to get things done.  Take customer service, for example.  The ingrained habit is if I need service from Verizon, I’ll pick up the phone and call 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966).  And that certainly works.  But in a broadband world where we’ve given 8.4 million of you access to powerful, intelligent networks, at home or on your smartphone, why be limited by yesterday’s tools?

The images of the devastation in Japan are heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to the Japanese people and to their loved ones who are left wondering and hoping from a distance.

To help keep our customers connected with loved ones in and around affected areas, Verizon is making all calls to Japan free for most residential and wireless customers through April 10.

Additionally, Verizon Prepaid Phone Card charges for all long-distance calls placed to Japan from the U.S. will also be waived through the same period.

In the last few weeks we’ve given FiOS TV customers a lot of new programming options, first with the launch of ESPN live online streaming and next with MTV programming online, including “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom 2.”  Not to mention the latest in 3D, featuring the recent UFC live event.  Today we have more to tell, with the addition of truTV HD to the FiOS TV lineup.

As you may know, truTV offers original programming and is one of only four channels that will broadcast the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.  What does this mean for you?  It means that FiOS TV customers can watch every tournament game in high definition.

We obviously can’t overlook Japan’s earthquake in this week’s news roundup.  Technology will play a role in the recovery, with people already turning to Google’s Person Finder, Twitter, and texting to locate friends and family in Japan, Hawaii and other earthquake and tsunami affected areas.  This story recounts how Person Finder was launched by Google during the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake last year and has also been used following quakes in New Zealand and Chile.

If you love football, you are probably having some major withdrawals since the gridiron action stopped a couple of weeks ago. But, don’t stress—though next season may seem like light-years away, it isn’t. The 2011 NFL Draft is right around the corner, and one lucky person will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2011 NFL Draft on April 28-30 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The “Motorola Draft Day Experience” sweepstakes is open through March 31, 2011 and anyone can enter. 

It’s time for more free stuff!  You know we always like to tell you about anything free that you get as a FiOS TV customer. And starting today, you have a month filled with free programming.

First up is Fox Soccer Plus, the premium channel that normally costs $14.99 a month.  But from today through Sunday, March 13, FiOS customers can enjoy the soccer programming on channel 1009 for free.  Today and tomorrow catch the UEFA Champions League Second Leg, and on Saturday is the FA Cup 6^th round.  Some of you may be thinking, “What about Fox Soccer Channel HD?”  It’s one of the next HD channels to be added on FiOS TV.  But for now, enjoy this other soccer programming for free.

Last Sunday, the New York Times examined Hong Kong City Telecom and its $26 one-gigabit consumer broadband service. 

Online discussions of the story are fascinating, as savvy technophiles quickly caught on to issues with the Hong Kong service, particularly “advertised speed” versus “delivered speed.” What you see many not be exactly what you get.

There’s a lot behind the Times story that readers unfortunately also didn’t get – especially when it comes to their comparison of the Chinese service and Verizon FiOS Internet. 

Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton have gone the way of many a high-tech couple before them by publishing their own wedding Web site.  Amazingly, this was big news.  When I Googled “Royal Wedding Web Site,” I got back 1,383 stories.  I also learned that the site garnered 200,000 hits in its first eight hours of cyber life.  (In vaguely related news, Charlie Sheen just won the “Fastest Time to Reach 1 Million Followers” Guinness World Record.)  Reviews of the Royal Wedding site were mostly grumpy, with critics citing a lack of “new content” and a generally “old fashioned” approach.  My only complaint is there’s no gift registry; because I figure those kids could use a toaster.  Anyone have any other great gift ideas for the soon-to-be-newlyweds?

A lot of you have asked us about FiOS TV’s plans for 3D.  And today we have some great news.  This Thursday, March 3, FiOS TV will air the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in 3D.  The 3D telecast will air live on VERSUS at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

The highly anticipated card is headlined by a welterweight clash between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann, from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.  The telecast will feature play-by-play from veteran Todd Harris, along with UFC featherweight star Kenny Florian. 

Recently we told you about four ESPN channels now being streamed live online for FiOS TV customers.  Today, we have more great news for you about our FiOS TV Online website as we launch MTV online.

FiOS TV customers are the first in the country to be able to watch MTV programming online.  Two of the most popular shows – “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom 2” – are available along with other shows like “Teen Cribs,” “True Life,” “The Real World: New Orleans” and “I Used To Be Fat.”

Coming soon will be a handful of other MTV shows like “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” “Cribs,” “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory” and the upcoming season of “The Real World: Las Vegas.”