Year: 2019

Apple could crush Netflix, Spotify, and Disney+ with a $25 per month all-inclusive plan

CompuScoop Staff October 22, 2019 0

There’s no doubt that Apple is playing to win. The company has already said that it will offer a year of Apple TV+ for free for anyone who buys a new iPhone, Mac, or iPad this fall, meaning it could easily have 80-100 million subscribers by the new year. That number would put it far ahead of every other service — even though most of those users won’t actually generate revenue for the company until the following year…

There’s one thing it can do that would be a crushing blow to other companies including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney: an all-in-one subscription.

Here’s the killer bundle: TV+, Music, News+, Arcade, iCloud for one monthly price. Right now, those services cost more than $30, depending on how much iCloud storage you choose, but imagine getting them all for, say, $25 a month. Call it Apple+… Not only does Apple gain incremental revenue with this idea, but it can do so at the expense of its competitors. It’s not only Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ that should be worried. A plan like this could be entice some people to cancel other services.

In that case, I’d be very worried if I were Spotify.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Sprint’s 5G covers approximately 16 million people, nearly 6X faster than 4G LTE

CompuScoop Staff October 22, 2019 0

Today at MWC Los Angeles, Sprint announced it has expanded its True Mobile 5G service to now cover approximately 16 million people within nine metropolitan areas – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. In these areas, customers with 5G devices are experiencing dramatically faster speeds, with initial 5G performance results showing a nearly 6X increase in average download speed compared to LTE.

“It’s exciting to expand our footprint and see customers experience True Mobile 5G for the very first time in some of the biggest cities in the U.S.,” said Dr. John Saw, Sprint CTO, in a statement. “We’ve been working hard to increase 5G coverage inside our nine cities and build a showcase experience for our customers, but this is just the start, showing the power of what we can achieve with T-Mobile. Together we’ll build a better, faster, nationwide mobile 5G network that unleashes this performance across the entire country to benefit all U.S. businesses and consumers.”

Previously, Sprint offered 5G service covering 11 million people in nine metro areas. Since its commercial launches, the company has continued to light up new 5G cell sites to deliver blazing-fast speeds and power new experiences for wireless customers, from gaming and entertainment services, to IoT and business applications.

Sprint 5G is now available in new locations within its nine cities. For example, in New York, service has expanded to more parts of the Upper West Side, Harlem, and South Bronx; new parts of Queens and Brooklyn, as well as Paterson, Lodi and East Orange in New Jersey. In Los Angeles, 5G is now available in new areas such as Torrance, Southgate, Lancaster and Buena Park. The company has lit up new places in the greater Washington, D.C. area including Fort Dupont and Deanwood, parts of Bladensburg and Fairmont Heights in Maryland, and parts of Bailey’s Crossroads and George Mason University in Virginia. In Phoenix, customers can now experience Sprint 5G around more parts of ASU, at Chase Field and in Mesa; while Atlanta service has been expanded from College Park to Alpharetta, and from Marietta to Lawrenceville. Service has also expanded into portions of Garland, South Dallas and Plano in Dallas-Forth Worth; and has expanded to more Northwest and South parts of Houston. Customers can check availability of service in all nine metro areas by viewing Sprint 5G coverage maps down to the street level at www.sprint.com/coverage.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Source: Sprint[/caption]

At the foundation of Sprint 5G is Massive MIMO, a breakthrough technology that can dramatically improve network capacity. Sprint is using 64T64R (64 transmitters 64 receivers) 5G Massive MIMO radios from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung Networks. These radios offer split-mode capability allowing Sprint to simultaneously deliver LTE Advanced and 5G New Radio (NR) service. Sprint’s 5G Massive MIMO radios run on its 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum, and they are deployed on Sprint’s existing 4G cell sites, providing a nearly identical footprint for both 2.5 GHz LTE and 5G NR coverage.

Independent third-party tests confirm that Sprint 5G customers have strong coverage and super-fast speeds enabling them to download, stream and use data even faster than before. Ookla Speedtest Intelligence data shows significantly faster speeds, with Sprint’s average 5G download speed running at 201.2 Mbps – that’s nearly 6X faster than Sprint’s average LTE download speed of 35.7 Mbps.

Independent tests also report strong coverage for Sprint 5G, stating “Sprint was the only carrier with a meaningful 5G footprint” in the cities tested. In a drive test by P3 covering 1,704 miles within nine Sprint 5G cities, testers found they could maintain a 5G connection up to 80% of the time. While on Sprint 5G, testers clocked an average download speed of 144 Mbps and a peak download speed of more than 600 Mbps.

With True Mobile 5G services available in metro areas of nine U.S. cities, Sprint continues to advocate for a merger with T-Mobile to accelerate the deployment of a ubiquitous, nationwide 5G network that includes coverage in rural locations. Sprint’s existing 5G deployment shows the potential of 5G, and the combined company will have the resources and technology to bring that potential to reality by building a 5G network that fuels innovation across every industry, dramatically increasing competition, unleashing new economic growth, and creating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in U.S. economic value. Together, the combined company will lead the world in next-generation technology services and applications, bringing 5G service to nearly all Americans.

Source: Sprint

Verizon giving one year of Disney + to new AND existing customers

CompuScoop Staff October 22, 2019 0

NEW YORK and BURBANK (October 22, 2019) – Verizon and The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International segment announced a wide-ranging agreement that will offer all Verizon wireless unlimited customers, new Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers 12 months of Disney+. Set to launch on November 12, Disney+ will be the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. The agreement will allow Verizon Wireless customers to stream Disney+ on the largest, most reliable network¹ and provide yet another reason for customers to choose Verizon for the best content choices available.

Eligible Verizon customers will have access to the highly anticipated streaming service where they can experience everything Disney+ has to offer: never-before-seen original programming including feature-length films, series, documentaries, and short-form content made exclusively for Disney+, along with unprecedented access to Disney’s vast collection of films and television shows. In its first year alone, Disney+ will release more than 25 original series and 10 original films and documentaries, including “The Mandalorian,” from executive producer and writer Jon Favreau, and “Lady and the Tramp,” a timeless re-telling of the 1955 animated classic.

“Giving Verizon customers an unprecedented offer and access to Disney+ on the platform of their choice is yet another example of our commitment to provide the best premium content available through key partnerships on behalf of our customers,” said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. “Our work with Disney extends beyond Disney+ as we bring the power of 5G Ultra Wideband technology to the entertainment industry through exciting initiatives with Disney Innovation Studios and in the parks,” he added.

“The launch of Disney+ kicks off a new era of streaming for The Walt Disney Company, bringing nearly a century’s worth of content from our iconic studios to consumers directly,” said Kevin Mayer, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, The Walt Disney Company. “We’re excited to share this moment with Verizon and bring Disney+ to the millions of customers across its award-winning wireless network.”

The Specifics:

In tandem with the Disney+ November 12 launch, Verizon will become the exclusive wireless carrier to offer 12 months of Disney+ to all new and existing 4G LTE and 5G unlimited wireless customers. Verizon will also offer 12 months of Disney+ to its new Fios Home Internet and 5G Home Internet customers.

At launch, Verizon customers can activate their Disney+ subscription and start streaming on a wide selection of mobile and connected TV devices, including gaming consoles, streaming media players, and smart TVs.

To learn more or sign up for updates and information, customers can visit http://verizon.com/disneyplus.

¹ Rankings based on the RootMetrics US National, State, and Metro RootScore Reports: 1H 2019. Tested with best commercially available smartphones on 4 national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. Visit www.rootmetrics.com for more details.

About Disney+

Launching on November 12, 2019, Disney+ will be the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more, together, for the first time. From The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International segment, Disney+ will offer ad-free programming with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series and short-form content. Alongside unprecedented access to Disney’s incredible library of film and television entertainment, the service will also be the exclusive streaming home for films released by The Walt Disney Studios in 2019 and beyond, including “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4,” “The Lion King,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Frozen 2,”and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The service will launch in select geographic territories, including U.S., Canada, and The Netherlands, followed shortly by Australia and New Zealand, with the expectation to be available in most major markets within the first two-years. Visit DisneyPlus.com to learn more.