Here at CES, it’s a mad house.  I walked the floor Wednesday with thousands of my closest friends, looking for “the next big thing.”

 

I found something better.

 

Thousands of gadgets, hundreds of e-tools, and scores and sores of connected devices.  With some pride I noted how much of consumer electronics this year are part of the 4G LTE ecosystem, an ecosystem that wouldn’t exist to this advanced degree without Verizon’s network innovation.

 

Meters, wireless cameras, handsets, tablets – if you wanted a common theme at this year’s show – “connections” would be what I would say.

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As a dad of young daughters, it’s fun helping to bridge the generational gap between them and my 86-year-old father.  My kids “get” Skype; love to FaceTime with close friends (with parental supervision); and find apps with ease on the family iPad.

 

On the flip side, my dad loves seeing photos and videos of grandkids on my Facebook account, but don’t dare text him; write him a thank-you note via email; or ask him to Tweet.

 

Considering each generation exhibits its own technological fluency, how does a company like mine showcase the benefits of using our flagship FiOS Internet and FiOS TV services to savvy, technologically fluent consumers who prefer living in apartments or condos vs. the ’burbs?

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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. 

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Ever since the Internet boom, there's been ongoing chatter about what the Internet will overtake next. We've seen it swiftly knock out newspapers as the main source for current events and even outspend television ads in the United Kingdom. For a while, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until television was next to go on the Internet's hit list.

But hold your horses. A recent New York Times story is quick to point out, in TV's defense, that this year's Super Bowl broke records for most number of viewers, beating out the 1983 final episode of "M*A*S*H." Adding to that, award shows like the Grammys are reeling in their biggest numbers in years. In short, current television ratings for big-ticket events have been indicating an upward trend in viewership. Read more...

You're welcome!

That's Verizon responding to the thousands and thousands of customers whom research suggests prefer our self-help tools available online, on the TV screen and even on the voice response system. They're using these tools to get things done quickly and effortlessly, without the need for a phone call. Read more...

Verizon's all-fiber-optic network really is special. We've commented here many times before on how fiber-based service creates superior TV and Internet experiences.

Did you know, though, how dynamic the Verizon fiber network is? And did you know that fiber is catching on all over the country among all kinds of service providers?

For starters, here are some figures regarding the Verizon fiber network.... Read more...

Payphones used to be commonplace. You'd find them in restaurants, bars, hotels, stores, gas stations and hospitals. They'd put you in touch with family in good times and bad.

Today, they've become rarer - a victim of the huge success of mobile phones and the popularity of sending emails from handheld devices. Verizon, which managed more than 2 million payphones several years ago, now operates about 150,000 across the country. Factoring other large payphone operators, there are almost 900,000 payphones still in use in the U.S. with each call costing either 25 or 50 cents, depending upon its location.

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There are so many good reasons to become a Verizon FiOS or High Speed Internet (HSI) subscriber. Today we're adding even more, and we're letting you know at the At Home blog. We've created new FiOS bundles that include more high-def TV choices and even faster two-way Internet connections. We've also placed more value in our new HSI bundles.

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As I've admitted before, I'm a shameless reality TV addict. Some of the best reality programs have nothing to do with voting someone off an Island. More often I'm now gravitating to the more "real" reality shows about food, cooking, decorating and house hunting. For example, I was excited to watch some of my favorite Food Network chefs take on the White House's executive chef, Cristeta Comerford, on Sunday Night's episode of "Iron Chef." Those commercials previewing the episode that said the secret ingredient was "of national importance" reeled me in. Read more...

FiOS TV offers more than 500 channels, including at least 126 HD channels in every market. But, just as important for a lot of folks, is our line-up of international channels, and we're adding even more. FiOS TV offers programming in Chinese, Filipino, German, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese, plus other languages. And this week we're adding three new international channels to the lineup featuring Korean, Mandarin and Greek programming. This makes a total of 35 international channels covering 20 languages - something cable can't match. Read more...

PCMag.com readers have again given high praise to Verizon's broadband services. For the third year in a row, Verizon FiOS Internet was ranked first on the Web site's annual Internet Service Provider (ISP) Service and Reliability Survey. FiOS Internet blew the competition away, scoring 8.7 out of 10 in its overall rating -- well ahead of the closest cable rival. Verizon's fiber-optic service led all competitors in scores for initial setup, speed, reliability, e-mail, technical support, repairs and likelihood to recommend to others. Read more...

Earlier this month, we mentioned that our TV service, FiOS TV, was rated No. 1 in customer satisfaction in the East in J.D. Power and Associates' annual TV service survey. Now, results from the J.D. Power Internet satisfaction survey are in, and, the envelope please.... Read more...

I guess it's no surprise. When we said the other day that we have twice the number of VOD titles publicized by the nation's largest cable company, they didn't like our pointing that out. We announced the continued expansion of our robust FiOS TV Video on Demand library to more than 18,000 titles in every FiOS market. We noted that's nearly double the number of 10,000 titles advertised by Comcast in their own press releases. So Comcast was quick to take umbrage in Multichannel News. "We've got 18,000 VOD titles in Philadelphia!" they cry. (One market, and not surprising, it's their corporate backyard.) "We have more HD in certain markets!" they say. (Wonder how many and where because they didn't specify.) And, of course, they dusted off their tired, old claim that the HD content we offer from Howcast is somehow irrelevant and not of interest to customers. Read more...

Want great TV service? You wouldn’t be surprised to hear me say that means FiOS TV. Don’t look to old-fashioned cable. But I’m not the only one saying it. Read more...

“FiOS’s score always puts other connection methods to shame.” So says PCMag.com, whose readers – for the third consecutive year – have put FiOS Internet at the top of the charts in the magazine’s annual ISPs Service & Reliability Survey. FiOS scored 8.7 out of 10 – well above its closest cable rival. Verizon High Speed Internet DSL service rocked the survey too. Its overall rating bested cable companies Road Runner, Comcast and Charter – leading all three of the cablecos in the fees, reliability, e-mail, repair, and customer service categories. Read more...

At Verizon, we’ve achieved lots of firsts that ultimately benefit our customers, and we like to talk about them here on the Verizon At Home Blog. Today, I am proud to tell you about another first. Independent privacy experts have ranked Verizon the most trusted communications company for privacy. Ranked nationally at No. 2, Verizon is the first telecommunications company to ever make top three on this list. eBay ranked No. 1, and the United States Postal Service ranked third. Read more...

If all the confetti’s been swept up and marching bands sent home, it’s time to reconsider the hoopla around Comcast promising 100 Mbps Internet service to small businesses. In Minnesota. A couple of observations. First, it looks to us like Gizmodo's Adam Frucci cracked the code: “If you're trying to show that you can beat FiOS speeds for more than three times the price, well, nice work. But until the prices are lowered and the tech is proven to work when more than 25 people are using it, I'm not sure what it does for us.” Of course, Verizon has been offering high-speed business services for many years. Read more...

You’ve probably seen those over-the-top cable company ads attacking Verizon FiOS? Like the one with the line of actors turning in empty boxes? Or the back-hoes and the fork lift ad? It’s pretty clear that cable is a little worried about FiOS TV, and they’re not going to let the facts get in the way of their ad campaign. And who knows what they’ll try next. The fact is that thousands of big cable’s customers are leaving them every week and coming over to Verizon FiOS TV and Internet. Take a look to see what happens when the Verizon FiOS guy discovers cable's foul play. Read more...

It looked like it was raining at Hazeltine National this afternoon. But the weather wasn't the problem. Read more...

Simple changes can have a big impact. That’s really clear when you think about some of the ways Verizon has reduced the environmental impact of our operations. Read more...

It looks as though Cablevision didn’t notice a few Verizon FiOS firsts. For starters, a truly searchable listings for TV and VOD, a media guide that searches all home media, not just TV show listings, fast upload speeds, and not to mention Facebook, Twitter and ESPN Fantasy Football on TV. Read more...

Check out Dan Frommer's "Chart of the Day" at the Silicon Alley Insider blog. It shows that that Telco TV is gaining more digital TV subscribers each quarter than big cable. Read more...

It’s hard to imagine that up until a year ago, New York City – the city with the best of everything – didn’t have a world-class TV provider. Read more...

USA Today reports this morning that the FCC will investigate big cable's efforts to block pro sports games from competing TV services Read more...