In February earlier this year, Verizon launched a new set of prepaid plans primarily focused towards customers on a budget. The carrier offered two plans, unlimited talk and texts with 500MB of data for $60 per month. The same talk and text but with 2GB of data for $70 per month. These new 3G prepaid plans are available for 3G smartphones as such compatible BlackBerry, Android and iPhones.

Verizon has now quietly increased the data cap of these prepaid plans without raising the prices, which no doubt is a good thing. The $60 plan now comes with 2GB and the $70 plan now comes with 4GB of mobile data respectively, unlimited talk and texts are present as before. The change in these data caps is effective immediately for all existing customers, whereas new customers will have to wait until June 6th to be able to get these allowances. It goes without saying that these plans are limited to Verizon’s 3G service, there’s no telling when or if at all the carrier will be bringing LTE support for these prepaid plans some time in the near future.

According to a new report, the Galaxy S4 “Nexus” edition smartphone announced at I/O 2013, might be the T-Mobile variant of this smartphone that simply has modified software. Said to best meet the hardware criteria, T-Mobile’s S4 variant was chosen to be made Nexus edition Galaxy S4 that touts the stock version of Android OS. Starting June 26th, Google will begin selling this smartphone through Play Store unlocked for $649.

Apart from running a stock version of Android OS, the device will have its bootloader unlocked, which would make it easier for those who wish to flash custom Android ROMs. This smartphone will be able to support both AT&T and T-Mobile LTE networks. Google has also said that the Galaxy S4 Nexus edition will receive software updates promptly like other Nexus smartphones do. The best thing about stock Android OS is that it doesn’t have all the bloatware that carriers ship smartphones with or the skins that manufacturers bake on top on the core Android OS, such as Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Though this is obviously not confirmed yet, the device actually needs to be released first before it can be said for sure exactly which variant it is similar to.

Verizon has certainly been late to the Galaxy S4 party. Other major carriers in the U.S. have rolled out Samsung’s latest Android flagship smartphone to their customers, whereas Verizon subscribers wait patiently for the new device. Just a fortnight ago the carrier announced that it will begin rolling out the device from 23rd May. It is now being reported that Verizon is actually pushing out the devices well ahead of time, with some customers allegedly receiving their units as early as last week.

A number of Verizon subscribers who pre-ordered their units are now claiming that their devices have been shipped ahead of the May 23rd release date. If this is indeed the case, then obviously no one would be complaining about actually receiving the device they’ve been waiting patiently for all this time a bit earlier. There’s also an upside to the roll out beginning soon, the Galaxy S4 bootloader unlock wasn’t being released because it is deemed to be compatible with Verizon’s S4 and wasn’t released before Verizon rolled out the device. As the device begins being shipped, we can only hope that the unlock also arrives soon. [Image via CNET]

Google Offers is a nifty little service that informs users whenever a nearby business if offering a limited time deal, through email or an app. The service has now been integrated with Google+ so that users are able to save as well as share such deals with their friends. The Google Offers service was launched back in 2011 with standalone apps released for both iOS and Android devices. The apps show users offers nearby, based on the location information obtained through their devices.

For now, a limited number of businesses have been allowed to share their offers through their official Google+ accounts, these include Adafruit Industries, Nook, Hello Kitty and more. Zagat, one of the most widely used services for restaurant ratings, is also an early adopter of this new integrated service. Google has been putting a lot of work in to building Google+ as a solid competitor against Facebook and Twitter. Recently at I/O 2013 it revealed a number of new Google+ features, and with this integration of Google Offers, its giving users and businesses yet another reason to hold on to its nascent social network.

Back in March Google announced that YouTube One Channel was being opened up for any and all who wanted to opt in to it. YouTube One Channel is a new look for the video streaming website’s channels, the idea behind it is to make channels more visually appealing, regardless of the browser it is being accessed through. The new look has been designed with goal of converting visitors in to subscribers, while retaining the slot for channel trailer. Some 100 million channels around the world opted in, and starting June 5th, every YouTube channel will be updated to this, making the transition mandatory for all of its users.

Those who are ready to make the move right now can opt in to YouTube One Channel, those who don’t will automatically and permanently be moved over to the new look on the aforementioned date. YouTube says that channels who opted in are getting some 20% more page views as clicks from YouTube guide now take visitors directly to a channel’s page rather than its activity feed. It doesn’t really make sense to hold on to the old look now, if you’ve got a channel on YouTube, best that you make the switch. It’ll only take a couple of minutes.

The Lenovo K900 smartphone was first unveiled at CES 2013 and it quite surprisingly smoked every other competitor. This due to the fact that it is powered by Intel’s next generation Clover Trail+ smartphone processor. The Lenovo K900 has now gone on sale in China, despite that it is not known for sure when it will come stateside, the company says international launch in unspecified markets is due this summer.

Lenovo K900 certainly packs a mean punch, touting a 2GHz dualcore Atom Z2580 processor, Gorilla Glass 2 full HD 1080p 5.5-inch display, 13 megapixel camera and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Despite having all this on-board, the K900 us just 6.9 millimeters and weighs just 162 grams. In China this smartphone is now retailing for RMB 3,299 which is roughly $530. There’s no word as yet from the company on international pricing or availability. The smartphone has a stainless steel frame with the unibody chassis providing the slim and sleek look. Lenovo believes that its new smartphone is the perfect choice for high-end smartphone buyers. It certainly touts internal hardware that would give many smartphones currently available in the market a run for their money.

Just yesterday we reported that Sony had announced that developers will be able to unlock and install stock version of Android OS on the Xperia Tablet Z. The company did the same with Xperia Z smartphone, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that it is doing the same for its tablet, which is due to be released in the U.S. by the end of this month. CyanogenMod folks, known for their custom ROMs, have rolled out a test build and release candidate of CyanogenMod ROM 10.1 for unlocked Xperia Tablet Z.

As per the reports up till now, the release candidate of CyanogenMod ROM 10.1 for Xperia Tablet Z seems to be working fine, without any major bugs. The nightly builds of this ROM are expected to be arriving soon for developers waiting to get in on the action as well. Novice users who are not accustomed to flashing custom ROMs should keep in mind that it voids the warranty of your device, and flashing ROMs isn’t exactly an easy process for first timers. Before this particular CyanogenMod custom ROM can be installed, users will be required to unlock their Xperia Tablet Z units through Sony’s portal.

Last month we reported that Acer was working on an 8 inch tablet that would run on Windows 8. We also posted some alleged leaked images of this tablet, believed to carry the Acer Iconia W3 moniker. Soon after that this tablet appeared on Amazon, only to be pulled a short while later. Acer’s official website is now listing this tablet, confirming once and for all that there is indeed an 8 inch Windows 8 tablet on the way, officially called the Acer Iconia W3, and it looks exactly like it was depicted in those leaked images.

This tablet comes with a pre-installed copy of Windows 8 Pro, an Intel Atom Z2760 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. Two models with 16GB and 32GB of internal storage will be offered. It has a WXGA 8.1 inch 1280×768 display and a 2 megapixel camera. Believed to be a competitor for Apple’s hugely popular iPad mini tablet, it is not yet known when exactly the Acer Iconia W3 tablet will be released to the public, though it is expected to be formally released at Computex, next month. Details about its pricing have not yet been revealed as well.

While flying might be the fastest way of getting from point A to point B, trains are still heavily relied upon or travelling as well. If travelers have the luxury of a good Wi-Fi service above 30,000 feet in the sky, those on trains shouldn’t be left out. Amtrak has long been criticized for its unreliable Wi-Fi service on-board its trains, finally it pays heed to that criticism, announcing today that it is upgrading Wi-Fi service on select trains to offer faster and more reliability to passengers.

The broadband Wi-Fi upgrade has already been completed on Acela trains that run between Washington and Boston. Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner, San Jaoquin and other state sponsored routes in California have been upgraded as well. Amtrak says that remaining Wi-Fi trains, including Northeast Regional, will be upgraded towards the end of summer. The one thing that sets apart Amtrak’s Wi-Fi offering from its competitors in the sky is the fact that Amtrak’s is offering it for free, albeit it does impose some restrictions, such as file downloads being limited to 10MB and data intensive activities such as video and music streaming not being allowed.

At I/O 2012, Google launched the Nexus Q media player, however it was short lived. The company yanked Nexus Q, vowing to reintroduce it in the future. Prior to Google I/O 2013 it was rumored that the company won’t be introducing its revamped media player at the conference, which it definitely did not. However, a new media player device made by Google has stopped by the FCC for approval. Called the Google H840 device, it is said to function “as a media player.”

Usually with FCC filings we’re able to get product drawings, if not actual images. There’s nothing of the sort which relates to H840, no instruction manuals, specifications or pictures. It is shown in the test reports that the device does support 802.11b/g/n, not exactly a shocking revelation. The H840 was also tested by being connected to a 24 inch Dell monitor, which is reason enough to believer that it’s not an iPod-esque media player. Google’s alleged new media player carries a H2G2-42 model number, and there’s no saying when the company will officially announce it. What do you think, a revamped Nexus Q or a new product altogether?