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Verizon says FiOS now available to 1.2 million in SoCal

March 5th, 2010, 4:18 pm by

If it feels like Verizon has been taking its sweet old time to offer its fast and comprehensive FiOS TV service in Orange County, here’s a bit of an update. The company offered a progress report for Southern California.

Approximately $682 million of Verizon’s $1.2 billion investment in California last year went to wired services like FiOS TV and Internet. That helped add another 166,000 households and expanded FiOS’ reach to 1.15 million premises in 85 cities in Southern California.

Broken down further, FiOS is available to 1 million single-family homes, 90,000 apartments and condos, and 46,000 businesses in SoCal.

FiOS has been hotly anticipated by many ever since it launched in Orange County in May 2007. It offered residents an alternative to the local cable service and promised faster Internet speeds — up to 50 mbps — and more TV channels. FiOS currently offers the most HD channels in Orange County, at nearly 140.

I’m waiting to hear back from Verizon about whether the FiOS service has expanded to any new Orange County cities, but last I heard a few months ago, Verizon continues to focus on existing neighborhoods instead of new territories. There’s a greater chance you can order FiOS in Orange County if you live in cities: Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton and Westminster. But keep in mind, not even everyone in those cities can order the service.

The wired investment budget also went toward its non-FiOS Internet service, or DSL Internet that Verizon calls High Speed Internet because of its speeds up to 7.1 mbps. Huntington Beach was one of 15 cities — and the only one in Orange County — that received the extra Internet attention.

The company also mentions a whole bunch of discounts it’s offering mostly to new customers, including a free wireless router for new FiOS triple-play customers, a $20 monthly discount for ordering online and committing to 24 months, and $150 cash cards for new customers who order High Speed Internet along with another Verizon service. Read the press release HERE.

Recent Verizon FiOS news:

Posted in: Internet • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 18 Comments »

Time Warner teams up with Orange County Supes

March 3rd, 2010, 5:29 pm by

Missed the last Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting? Time Warner Cable’s now offers scintillating coverage on demand for Southern California customers.

Okay, so Time Warner’s new on-demand feature may sound like a snooze fest, but there’s a bunch of other videos of area city meetings and interviews with California politicians. It’s mostly Los Angeles-based content, but there’s also U.S. public service announcements from celebs such as Rosario Dawson and rappers Cypress Hill, plus tax tips from the IRS.

As part of the My Government launch, Time Warner said it set up an office in Sacramento to produce more interviews with state lawmakers.

Called My Government On Demand, the new feature is available on channel 1018 or find it by going to “Local” from Channel 1. The service is available to Time Warner’s 2 million digital cable customers in Southern California.

More on Time Warner:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 2 Comments »

Cox promises ‘unbelievably fair’ mobile service in March

January 14th, 2010, 8:32 am by

Cox wireless service begins in March 2010 in Orange County.Back in December, we learned that Cox picked Orange County to be one of three regions where it will first roll out wireless phone service. The service will begin in March 2010 and, as with any major move, a big marketing campaign begins this week.

In Cox’s ads, it promises “unbelievably fair” service and watching the commercial, that seems to say Cox is getting rid of surprise overage fees and vanishing minutes. Those interested can sign up on Cox’s new Unbelievably Fair web site to get notified (if you sign up and are a Cox TV customer, you’ll get a free movie on demand). You don’t have to be a Cox Cable customer.

cox-wireless2

The company expands further in a press release by pointing out how unfair it is that wireless phone customers have to pay for minutes in their plan that they don’t use. Cox’s research showed them that consumers want value and transparency in wireless plans.

It’s definitely a campaign of the 21st Century. Cox has set up a Facebook fan page to chat with customers Facebook to Facebook.

More commercials have been posted on Youtube.

Cox is also launching the mobile service this spring in Hampton Roads, Va. and Omaha, Neb.

More on Cox at the Gadgetress Cox Cable page. Recent news from Cox:

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 7 Comments »

Cox wants you to vote which O.C. high school should be on TV

November 4th, 2009, 4:57 pm by

Cox Game of the Week voting.As the local cable companies delve into adding extremely local flavor, Cox Communications is offering a new twist on broadcasting local high school football games. It wants viewers to choose which one gets to be on TV next.

The Rancho Santa Margarita cable company, which serves much of South Orange County, airs a game of the week every Friday night at 11:30 p.m. Usually, the game is picked by Cox. But this week, Cox is leaving it up to viewers.

There are six possible games in the running and right now, it’s a close race between the Dana Hills vs. Mission Viejo and the Irvine vs. University games. The latest numbers are below:

Orange Lutheran vs. Santa Margarita   1.66%
Dana Hills vs. Mission Viejo   39.05%
Tesoro vs. Aliso Niguel   0.41%
Irvine vs. University   38.55%
San Juan Hills vs. Laguna Hills   3.51%
Northwood vs. Trabuco Hills   16.83%

Interested parties, or uninterested parties, can vote HERE.

Voting ends Thursday (Nov. 5)  at noon, so you better get your vote in! Around 15,000 votes have been received. Only one vote per IP address per day. While this sounds like it’s popular with the audience, Cox spokeswoman Lana Ong tells me the contest is just for this week’s game.  Stay tuned if Cox is moving coverage of high school games this way in the future.

The winning game will air Friday, Nov. 13.

Recent Gadgetress headlines:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

Time Warner starts O.C. “Most Wanted” TV show

September 24th, 2009, 5:42 pm by

Time Warner's SoCal Most Wanted TV show.If you were a fan of the TV show “America’s Most Wanted,” now you can watch the Orange County version.

Actually, the new show, called “So Cal’s Most Wanted” comes from Time Warner Cable and local law enforcement agencies. Several episodes are available on demand.

I watched the first one, a 9-minute episode that profiled five guys wanted for an assortment of misdeeds. One included a scary looking guy from Santa Ana. It offers up a number from the state’s Corrections Department in Santa Ana.

Time Warner Cable launches 'So Cal's Most Wanted' featuring OC and other local law enforcement departements.

The show began earlier this year in some communities. The California Department of Correction reported 43 percent of the fugitives featured were apprehended as a result of tips from viewers. But even before the Southern California edition, Time Warner ran a weekly segment called “Most Wanted” on Channel 3 News in Antelope Valley. By 2008, that program helped capture 80 percent of the profiled offenders.

The show works with law-enforcement agencies from the counties of Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego.

“So Cal’s Most Wanted is the modern-day version of the post office ‘Wanted’ poster, but with a much broader reach,” said Time Warner Cable Executive Vice President Stephen Pagano.

To view the content tune to Channel 1 ► Local ► By SoCal’s Most Wanted, or Channel 1016.

Earlier news about Time Warner Cable:

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

Sprint spent $13.8 million improving service in O.C.

April 1st, 2009, 12:18 pm by

We’ve heard from AT&T and Verizon on new cell sites and investment in Orange County. Now, Sprint has responded to requests for more insight.

While the company didn’t offer the number of new cell sites in O.C., it said it spent $2.13 million enhancing service here during the fourth quarter of 2008. For the year, it invested $13.8 million in Orange County.

For the Los Angeles metro region, the company spent $3.2 million during the fourth quarter and $35.9 million for the year.

Not too shabby and a possible reason why Sprint rose to be the top for the best call-quality in J.D. Power’s latest report . The report says Sprint’s customers “report fewer problems regarding echoes compared with the region average.”

Adds Kathleen Dunleavy with Sprint, a chunk of last year’s investment in Orange County was at Disneyland — both indoors and outdoors. Cell phone reception in Disneyland is, apparently, an issue at the amusement park, according to this 2006 post at MiceChat.com. The main issue? People yakking while on a ride. Don’t do that.

Just as an oranges and apples comparison, here’s how the three cell phone services stack up when it comes to putting money in California or parts thereof:

  • Verizon: Invested $600 million in California last year
  • AT&T: Invested $7.9 billion in California from 2006 to 2008
  • Sprint: Invested $35.9 million in the Los Angeles area last year.

Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. Latest O.C. mobile reception headlines:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • | 9 Comments »

O.C.’s green award winner turns sewer water into drinking water

October 3rd, 2008, 11:55 am by

Toshiba Green Innovation Award, which is sponsored by Orange County Innovation and, obviously, Toshiba America , based in IrvineThe winner of Toshiba’s Green Innovation Award goes to two county agencies that turn sewer water into drinking water. And yes, it’s coming out of the faucets for some Orange County residents.

But don’t be alarmed! The Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District’s three-step Groundwater Replenishment System process turns the waste into water that is more regulated than the bottled-water industry, said Gina DePinto, the spokeswoman for the Water District.

The system, which went online in January, uses a process of microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light “to purify highly-treated sewer water to state and federal drinking water standards,” she said.  

We’ve written about this before. OC Register green living reporter Pat Brennan wrote about the system at “Soon on tap: purified sewer water” and then when it went live at “Sewer-water system begins filling aquifer.”

Essentially, the process produces 70 millions of water a day, or enough for 500,000 people per year. Besides the 3-step process, half of the water is put into a recharge basin in Anaheim where it takes six months to filter through the water supply before heading to homes in the Anaheim and Fullerton area. The other half is sent to the seawater intrusion barriers, which prevents salt water from getting into the aquifer. Read more at the Groundwater Replenishment System website.

Again, the end result is pure water. The additional six-month cleansing process was required by regulators for public perception, Pinto added.   

“I’m not going to say it’s better or worse (than bottled water), but we do know that the bottled-water companies don’t have to meet as stringent regualtions as we do,” Pinto said. 

The Toshiba award gets the agency $5,000 and a Toshiba laptop. But that’s nothing compared to past awards. In June, the agency received the $150,000 Stockholm International Water Institute Award, which some consider as the Nobel Prize of environmental science.

See my previous write-up of the finalists at “Toshiba names finalists for O.C. green innovation award.”

Related:

More on green tech:

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Toshiba names finalists for O.C. green innovation award

September 30th, 2008, 2:22 pm by

Toshiba Green Innovation Award, which is sponsored by Orange County Innovation and, obviously, Toshiba America , based in IrvineWant a computer power supply system that cuts down energy use by 50 percent? Or a motor that makes air conditioners 80 percent more efficient?

These are just two of nearly 30 products and services submitted by Orange County companies to the Toshiba Green Innovation Awards. Six finalists have been named and all will present their product to a group of judges tomorrow in Irvine during the Innovation and Globalization in Green conference at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine.

The six finalists are (descriptions are from Toshiba): Read the rest of this entry »

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