Verizon Wireless Announces Educational Empowerment Program With Local Boston High Schools

Verizon Wireless announced last week that it’s offering its educational empowerment program at two Boston Public Schools in partnership with Samsung. First introduced locally in 2012 at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, the Verizon Wireless Education Empowerment Program is being offered again at O’Bryant and has also expanded to include Boston Green Academy. The curriculum focuses on mobile learning, teaching students how to leverage technology in and out of the classroom, preparing them for entering higher education or the workforce.

The program’s signature component is its student application development competition. Ten teams of three students, all selected by the schools’ administration, will work to develop unique app concepts and create marketing plans. Students will attend workshops facilitated by Verizon Wireless team members, covering topics relevant to high school seniors, such as creating resumes and sharpening job interview skills. At the end of the project in May, teams will present their app concepts and marketing plans.

A panel of judges from Verizon Wireless will select the top three finalists of the four-month project and a public online vote will determine first and second place winners. Each member of the winning team will receive a $5,000 scholarship, a new Samsung tablet and Verizon Wireless summer internship opportunities. Each member of the second and third place teams will receive a Samsung tablet.

(Source: http)

After surgery, a robot may be at your side In quest for efficiency, savings, hospital is testing at-home mechanical monitors

When Erin Tally took Aidan, her 2-year-old son, home from Children’s Hospital Boston on the day after his urinary surgery, she brought along a new friend: a 4-foot-6, 17-pound, two-wheeled robot to help care for her recovering child. Overthe course of  two weeks and five video consultations, the robot, made by Vgo Communications Inc., of Nashua, eliminated the need for Tally to drive Aidan into Boston every three days for post-surgical checkups.

Vgo Communications worked with Verizon Wireless’s Innovation Program center in Waltham, where the telecom company helps incubate new technologies, to embed Verizon’s cellular communications technology into the robots. Through its connection to the cellular network, a Vgo does not need to rely on Internet broadband connections.

“Eventually, I see a whole fleet of these robots being sent home with patients,’’ said Dr. Hiep T. Nguyen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of Children’s Hospital’s Robotic Surgery Research and Training Center. “With this technology, we’re going to be able to replace hospital monitoring with home-based monitoring.’’

For more information, please see boston.com.

Verizon Wireless is expanding 4G service west of Boston

Verizon Wireless will expand its 4G LTE network service to an additional 29 suburbs of Boston, most of them west of the city, 4G subscribers will get faster Internet surfing and better video streaming on their 4G enabled smartphones, tablets, and other devices. 

Communities set to get 4G coverage tomorrow include:

Ashland, Bellingham, Boxborough, Dover, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Groton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Plainville, Sharon, Sherborn, Stow, Sudbury, Tyngsborough, Walpole, Wayland, West, Bridgewater, Westford, and Wrentham.

Customers can type in their addresses to see if they live in a 4G coverage area here: http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/#/coverage

(Source: Boston.com)