Verizon Wireless: 4G coming soon here

Verizon Wireless started demonstrating its much-awaited 4G network expected to be 10 times faster than its current 3G network to more than 500 clients who gathered this week in Rosemont.

The Chicago and suburban market will one of 38 major metropolitan areas that will get 4G “by the end of the year,” said Illinois/Wisconsin region President T.J. Fox.

Considering there's only about eight weeks left to the year, you can bank on it being sooner rather than later.

Verizon, which has its Midwest headquarters in Schaumburg, has been calling out all the stops to promote the new network for consumers and businesses alike. The provider was touting it for a variety of professions, including construction, health care, government and professional services.

The network is currently being tested here and is expected to be good for your hand-held devices as well as “turbocharge your laptop,” said Fox.

The service provider follows Clear and Sprint, which launched 4G about a year ago. Clear/Sprint uses WiMax, while Verizon uses a different technology called LTE, or Long Term Evolution.

In the meantime, Verizon will maintain the current network for your 3G devices. The 4G devices will be “backwards compatible” so when you're not in a 4G LTE coverage area, they remain connected on the 3G network.

The only 4G devices available at the launch will be modems for laptops.

Verizon will announce the first 4G LTE smartphones early next year.

But you'll have to wait to learn how much those will cost.

Surfing: Arlington Heights-based Bang & Olufsen (www.bang-olufsen.com), a maker of high-end home theater and custom music systems, will introduce a 32-inch version of its BeoVision TV in November. The HD LCD TV will start at $4,707.

ŸWarrenville-based ShopAsYouGive.com is a new online store with brand name products where nonprofits receive 30 percent of the gross profits from each sale.

ŸDeerfield-based Walgreen Co. is offering customers ways to recover deleted or corrupted digital photo files through its Media Recovery Service available in its stores. Recovery prices are based on media size and begin at $39.99. The recovered files are saved to a CD or DVD. The customer's card or drive is returned and there is no charge if the recovery is not successful.

ŸComcast customers, who currently pay a monthly subscription charge for its digital service, now have access to a library of current and classic content online by signing in with an ID and password. Xfinitytv.com offers digital customers about 150,000 videos. Comcast has its Midwest headquarters in Schaumburg.

ŸChicago-based U.S. Cellular said its first mobile tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, will be available for the holidays. But pricing and data plans aren't available yet. See the video at http;//galaxytab.samsungmobile.com.

ŸSpeaking of the holidays, a sneak peek at Black Friday ads are already online, including at http://blackfriday.gotadeal.com.

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