Verizon Bringing Service to 36 NYC subway Stations

It doesn't matter that Verizon has the best 4G network when you are in the subway and have no service. Verizon is joining rival cell carriers AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile by inking a deal with Transit Wireless to bring 3G and LTE voice and data to 36 subway stations later in the year. These stations already have wireless service, it's just a matter of Verizon adding its own hardware. The network will begin to rollout service in the next few weeks in Chelsea and midtown in Manhattan.

Big Red is also participating in phase two of Transit's coverage project. This phase brings coverage to 40 new stations, including Grand Central, Herald Square, and Bryant Park, in early 2014.

Verifone's Way2Ride app lets riders NYers pay for their cab via Ultrasound

VeriFone has launched a new amenity for NYC taxi riders this week, letting customers pay for a cab by tapping their smartphone. Way2Ride uses Zoosh ultrasound technology, allowing secure transactions via the mic and speaker in your smartphone and the terminal on the other end. The app for iOS and Android let's you pre-select payment information and even include a tip. To start a transaction, just tap your phone at anytime during the ride and then just hop out of your cab when you reach your destination. You will get a receipt in the app once your transaction is complete. You can also use the app to hail a cab, estimate your fare, and report a lost item.

Yahoo Acquires Tumblr

Yikes, according to The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo's rumored-acquisition of Tumblr has been approved. It has been said that the company is going after the hip micro-blogging site because of its young user base. The deal has been all-cash and worth $1.1 billion. CEO Marissa Mayer will mostly likely officially announce the acquisition tomorrow in NYC, where Yahoo is having an impromptu press conference, that was hastily put together.

Many (most) of Tumblr's users have been crying out in outrage as they try and prevent the merger. Unfortunately, their efforts seemed to not be enough to stop the acquisition.

MTA App Quest Hackathon Recap

Wow, what an amazing hackathon! There were great apps built this weekend; I am very impressed with what was built. These developers only had 24 hours to build their apps and have something ready to show off. Congratulations to the first, second, and third place prize winners; SubCulture.Fm, MTA Sheriff, and ACCESSWAY. These apps will truly impact the New York City's mass transit in a bright way. Check out below for a quick summary of what's cooking in the app division of NYC public transit.

SubCulture.Fm is an iOS app that allows you to interact with subway musicians. The app mostly works through QR codes. Each artist would have a QR code that the user would scan. This would give the user information about the artist; such as social media, albums and songs, etc. You can share information about the musician using Facebook or Twitter. The app also allows you to track nearby musicians, and even where your favorite musician will be playing. SubCulture.Fm won first place at the hackathon.

MTA Sheriff is a quick and easy gamified way to report issues within the MTA's system. As you report more issues, your character upgrades until you become the "MTA Sheriff".

ACCESSWAY is an iOS way-finding app to help visually-impaired or wheelchair-assisted New Yorkers find their way in the NYC Subway. It allows you to track elevator and exit status. The app currently looks pretty good, but should try and implement real time status updates.

Good Night Nerd Heads to New York

Hello, Big Apple! GNN is heading out to NYC this weekend to cover the MTA and AT&T's App Quest Hackathon. This is a hackathon devoted to creating new and creative apps for public transit in New York City. I will be covering the demos/presentations and awards on Sunday starting at 4 pm EDT, so be sure to stay tuned for my liveblog. The liveblog will be here: jmtek.info/24. I can't wait!