The Gadgetress ~ TV, mobile and Internet: Covering technology's monthly bill

Archive for the 'huntington beach' Tag

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Time Warner hints at 100 HD channels coming to SoCal

September 23rd, 2009, 6:56 am by

Time Warner CableNews that Time Warner Cable picked BigBand Networks to provide switched digital video technology means one major thing for cable customers: More high definition channels are coming sooner than later.

The Redwood City-based BigBand announced its new cable customer  in a press release. BigBand will handle Time Warner’s Los Angeles operation, which includes Orange County. BigBand is also deploying switched digital video in Time Warner’s New York and Dallas systems.

Cable TV companies have limited space to stream channels 24/7 in the cable line that feeds TV directly to a customer’s house. Switched digital video allows the cable company to turn some of those channel streams into a video-on-demand channel, which frees up space to add more HD channels or other new content.

Orange County’s former president of Time Warner operations mentioned this was coming last year. But so far, the technology has not been implemented here. Time Warner has been testing this in San Fernando Valley.

So far, the only customers that will be affected by the change are those with TiVos and CableCARDs. See my past stories about what to do if you’re in this situation:

In a press release, Time Warner says technology has allowed the company to offer over 100 HD channels to customers, plus more HD Video on demand, said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable’s executive vice president of technology policy and product management.

“We have launched (switched digital video) in over 20 markets to date and know firsthand that, if we want to deploy new programming options for our customers, SDV is the fastest, most cost effective method for our existing network,” he said. ”With the bandwidth that has been reclaimed Time Warner Cable is able to offer over 100 high definition channels to our customers …”

Can anyone guess what those 100 channels are?

Here’s a look at what the HD channels currently offered in Huntington Beach: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 16 Comments »

Verizon turns selling TV service into school fundraiser

September 1st, 2009, 6:30 am by

Verizon enlists students, charities to sell TV service.In a novel approach to selling utility services, Verizon is enlisting the help of school children and charities.

Students or non-profit organizations can earn up to $65 for every new customer who signs up. The telecom is pitching its Verizon Velocity fundraising program as an alternative to selling cookies or candy bars door to door.

Students just spread the word, and a Verizon representative makes the sale. Schools get credit when a new customer mentions the school’s name or account. Although I doubt that Verizon is discouraging students from going door to door.

Verizon Products Donation
Amount
Verizon FiOS® Internet $25.00
Verizon High Speed Internet (768Kbps & 3.0Mbps) $25.00
DIRECTV® $20.00
Verizon FiOS® TV $20.00
Verizon Freedom Calling $10.00
Verizon Long Distance $10.00
Additional Line $10.00

Verizon Velocity partnered with the California State PTA and the program has been going on for a few months at some Orange County schools, including the William T. Newland Elementary School, Hope View Elementary School and Spring View Middle School, all in Huntington Beach. The local PTA gets the money. A few other O.C. schools and groups I spotted on the participant list hail from Westminster and Garden Grove.

Most of those schools happen to be in Verizon FiOS territory, which is a newish form of TV and Internet service over fiber-optic cables. But students can also sell Verizon’s bundled phone and Internet deal offering DirecTV service. Selling all three services — Internet, phone and TV — can get the school $65 per customer. Looks like wireless service is not included. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Verizon’s FiOS TV rollout slows in So Cal

May 13th, 2009, 4:58 pm by

Verizon FiOS rollout slowing down for SoCal? Yikes!Verizon confirmed today that it has slowed expansion of its much sought-after FiOS TV service in Southern California to focus on adding customers where service is already available.

“We started in 2004 and have been really aggressive at getting fiber out there. But in order to get the return on our investment we need to focus on areas that we’ve already built,” said Jon Davies, a spokesman for Verizon FiOS.  ”We slowed down the build and really did a lot of direct marketing and door-to-door to get those customers to sign up.”

Davies says FiOS TV is still expanding in our area, just not as fast as planned. I guess that means if you’re getting FiOS sales people knocking on your door, you are still on the list to get service soon.

In Orange County, FiOS is in certain parts of Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton, Westminster and certain unincorporated areas.

This is a major detour from the glowing report the company gave two weeks ago to announce that FiOS service was now available to 1 million California households. Not to mention, the slowdown goes against the statement made by Eric Rabe, Verizon’s senior vice president of media relations, that Verizon is building as fast as it can.

Davies said Rabe was referring to the national rollout. This slowdown, as far as Davies knows, is specific to Southern California.

The delay has absolutely nothing to do with the economy, Davies said, despite notices like the one on the city of Walnut’s web site (and confirmed after a call to the city) saying otherwise: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

How many homes in O.C. can order FiOS?

May 6th, 2009, 9:24 am by

Verizon FiOSAfter two years of digging up streets to lay fiber-optic cables, Verizon FiOS TV is now available to 85,000 homes in Orange County, according to Jon Davies, a spokesman for much sought-after TV service.

That’s up 35 percent from two years ago, when FiOS TV first entered the county and offered service to 63,100 homes. 

Now if we take the number of housing units in Orange County –1,023,194 in 2007, according to the U.S. Census — that means the county is about 8.5 percent FiOS TV-ready.

This is a hopeful, yet disappointing number based on the fact that last week, Verizon said 1 million homes in California were now FiOS TV-friendly. The majority of those were supposed to be in Orange County and Los Angeles. But with a scant  85,000 in O.C., I’m left to assume that L.A. nabbed the bulk of the FiOS installations. 

Davies also offered an updated list of O.C. cities that have some FiOS TV service (without actual numbers since he can no longer disclose them), which I’ve compared to the original figures from 2007:

2007 2009
Fountain Valley: 300 homes Brea
Huntington Beach: 40,000 Cypress
Westminster: 12,500 Fountain Valley
Garden Grove: 5,300 Garden Grove
Stanton: 1,500 Huntington Beach
Unincorporated: 3,500 La Habra
  La Palma
Total = 63,100 Los Alamitos
  Seal Beach, 5,000
  Stanton
  Westminster

(Note: Verizon began rolling out service in Seal Beach earlier this year. And according to one of my previous posts on FiOS TV expansion here, Verizon is still targeting Dana Point, Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel.)

Where is FiOS and U-verse in Orange County?Thank you to all who have e-mailed me about FiOS or U-verse service in their neighborhood. I’m using the information to create something better than this previous map showing where these alternative TV services exist in O.C. 

More FiOS TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services 

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Verizon improves cell coverage in 3 O.C. cities

December 19th, 2008, 3:22 pm by

Verizon Wireless said Friday that it added 13 more 3G cell sites in Los Angeles and Orange County.

In Orange County, the new sites are in Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos and Garden Grove.

In Huntington Beach, the tower is along Edwards Street to Slater and west to Graham Street, offering improved coverage along Ellis Avenue and up to Gothard Street.

In Los Alamitos, the tower is near the intersection of Seal Beach Boulevard and Katella Avenue.

In Garden Grove, there is added coverage along Chapman Avenue, portions of Los Alamitos Naval Air Station and in surrounding neighborhoods.

Verizon also added new cell sites outside of O.C. in  Downey, Simi valley, Baldwin Park, Ramona, Twentynine Palms, Colton and Brawley.

This is part of the company’s $4.6 billion investment in California since 2000. The new towers should improve Verizon’s fast 3G Internet service in those neighborhoods.

More Verizon Wireless stories from the web: 

Earlier on Gadgetress:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

O.C. wants to know: When is FiOS coming to my city?

December 5th, 2008, 5:06 pm by

Verizon FiOSOrange County residents were some of the first to get Verizon’s fast FiOS Internet and TV service that is on par with cable companies. But still, I hear, “When is FiOS coming to my city?”

Time for an update. I asked Verizon FiOS for detailed launch by city. Of course, they didn’t give that to me. Too many unknowns (city permits, construction schedules), they said, not to mention that they dont’ want their competition to know.

But here’s what they could tell me:

Right now, FiOS is available in parts of Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Westminister, Stanton, Fountain Valley and some unincorporated areas. In the next month, the first Seal Beach residents will be able to order FiOS.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced a long list of cities that it was given the go-ahead to launch FiOS. In Orange County, those cities include Brea, Dana Point, La Habra, Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel. A complete list of Southern California cities is available HERE.

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 6 Comments »

Verizon Wireless improves cell coverage in O.C.

November 5th, 2008, 12:35 pm by

Can you hear me better now?

Verizon Wireless users should be getting better 3G reception in certain parts of Orange County where the company just installed four new 3G cell sites (see a map of Verizon’s existing 3G coverage).

The expansion was just to “stay ahead of demand and to make sure that our customers enjoy a superior wireless experience,” said John Palmer, regional president of Verizon Wireless.

The new 3G cell sites should improve coverage in these areas:

  • Huntington Beach – Near Beach Boulevard and East Adams Avenue; indoor coverage near Engineer Drive and surrounding residential area to the southeast.
  • Laguna Beach – along the 73 Toll Road and surrounding cities of Aliso Viejo and Irvine.
  • Santa Ana – near intersection of South Fairview Street and West MacArthur Boulevard and surrounding residential and commercial area.

The new sites are part of Verizon Wireless’ $4.6 billion expansion in California since 2000. Verizon has long offered a quality mobile Internet service that some people won’t give up for an iPhone from AT&T or Google phone from T-Mobile. The 3G sites should improve not only voice, but Internet and all those multimedia tools, such as the mapping service, music downloads, texting, etc.

Related:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • | Comments Off

Google phone customers in line in O.C.

October 22nd, 2008, 8:34 am by

**Update: 12:13 p.m. ** T-Mobile offers its observations below.
**Updates below on inventory at some local stores**

I stopped by the T-Mobile store in Bella Terra in Huntington Beach just 10 minutes before 8 a.m. and there were about 20 people in line, including Joey VanBuskirk, from Fountain Valley.

VanBuskirk was first in line, having waited since 5 a.m. to buy the new Google phone, a.k.a. the T-Mobile G1. 

“My phone got stolen and I really, really need a new phone,” he told me.

Of course, he was excited about the first phone with Google’s mobile operating system as well. But if it hadn’t been for the theft two days ago, he would have waited and ordered a phone online. Right now, if T-Mobile subscribers opt to order one online, it won’t arrive until Nov. 10.


The store employee who opened the doors up at 8 a.m. said the store had about 50 phones. After they sell out, that’ll be it until mid November.

More people were in line at the T-Mobile store at Talbert and Beach, according to folks in line who had stopped by the other store first.

Calls to various stores in Orange County showed that there are still phones available: 

  • Santa Ana: The Santa Ana store at 2130 E 17th St still has plenty of phones with a couple people still in line as of 9:32 a.m.
  • Irvine: The store at Culver and Alton had about 40 to 50 people in line. As of 9:34 a.m., there are 15 phones left.  
  • Irvine: Store at Redhill & Edinger has 10 left. The store had 27 to start.
  • Laguna Niguel: Store at 25912 La Paz Rd in Laguna Hills expects to have enough for the day. It sold about 15 this morning.
  • Mission Viejo: At the The Shops at Mission Viejo, the store had “probably about 30 left” by 9:42 a.m. About 15 were sold in the morning to people standing in line.
  • Fullerton: The store at Gilbert & Malvern (1997 W Malvern Ave) has 7 left, as of 9:47 a.m. They sold 13 already.
  • Anaheim: Store at Euclid & Broadway (261 S Euclid St) has “enough” if anyone is planning to stop by, as of 9:50 a.m. 
  • Huntington Beach: Store at 8112 Talbert Ave. was super busy. They sold ‘at least 50′ when the store opened. There are, however, about 20 phones left as of 9:55 a.m.
By the way, the black phone is definitely more popular than the brown one. While the buzz for the Google phone isn’t nearly as thunderous as it was for the Apple iPhone, I feel some stores will sell out today, given that there are only a dozen or so left at many stores. 
**UPDATE, 12:15 p.m. ** T-Mobile offers up two factoids about the G1 
  • Among those T-Mobile customers who have pre-ordered the T-Mobile G1, roughly half have traded up from a basic handset 
  • Since announcing the phone on Sept. 23rd, the T-Mobile G1 microsite has received five times the site traffic of any other major T-Mobile product launch.

   

Spotted on Twitter: Google dedicated a spot on its bare home page to promote its new phone:

Related:

Posted in: Cell phones • news • • • • • | 8 Comments »

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »
SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline