Monday, January 10, 2011

HTC Evo Shift 4G Now Available

The recently announced HTC Evo Shift 4G for Sprint is now available through Radio Shack and Sprint, both online and in retail stores. The phone costs $149 with a new two-year contract or eligible contract through Sprint. (Sprint)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Sprint Releases Mifi 4G Hotspot

If you are looking for a 3G/4G dual-mode mobile hotspot for Sprint, and the Overdrive wasn't your cup of tea, then prepare for the Mifi version of dual-mode hotspots. The Mifi is very similar to the Overdrive, having external indicators for battery life and signal strength, and a micro USB port for charging the device when the battery runs down. It also features a microSD card slot that can support a card of up to 32 GB, presumably for storage available to anybody connected to the Mifi device. You will have to wait a while to get your hands on the new Mifi, though, which will be available on Feburary 27 for $50 with a two-year contract. (Engadget) (Sprint)

Blackberry Announces 4G Playbook Tablet for Sprint

For all of you email fanatics out there that are locked to your Blackberry, or for everybody that is looking to get a new tablet and wants to get the fastest speed on their new device, you will now find that the Blackberry Playbook will be coming to Sprint with WiMax in tow. The tablet shouldn't be released until sometime this summer, but it is good to know that RIM is still commited to the latest network technology, even if they still have EDGE phones available for purchase. (Both picture and information via Engadget)

Monday, December 13, 2010

In a Shift from Nextel's Network, Sprint Releasing Rugged CDMA Phones

Although Sprint has already announced their plans to phase out their iDen network acquired by Nextel, they haven't given customers on the aging network a real reason to switch over to CDMA. In a first move to change this situation, Sprint has released the Sanyo Taho, a rugged flip phone that runs on the CDMA network. Although the phone isn't totally waterproof, it can withstand total submersion in up to one meter of water for thirty minutes, along with other military-grade specs. The phone doesn't have any type of push-to-talk service that doesn't use iDen, however, so this is only a phone for Nextel customers that like the rugged style of some of the phones. Sprint also has the Motorola ES400S smartphone, which is also a rugged phone. The ES400S has a full QWERTY keyboard on a candybar design and is running Windows Mobile 6.5.3. (Sprint)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sprint 4G Launches In Sacramento, California

If you live in the Sacramento area and haven't already figured it out, Sprint 4G launched on November 15th. This makes the 62nd market to have the Wimax technology. So everybody with an Epic, Evo, and Overdrive, turn on 4G and start experiencing the Wimax! (Sprint)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Samsung Galaxy Tab Available for Preorder by Sprint Premier Customers

For the next three days, Sprint will be taking preorders for their version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The seven inch tablet is expected to be a major iPad competitor, and has been announced for T-Mobile and Verizon, too. The Galaxy Tab features a seven inch capacitive touchscreen, dual cameras, and Android 2.2. The tablet also has support from Google and features the Android Market and Google apps, something that some other tablets have failed to get. The tablet has already been reviewed by a few sites, such as Engadget, with one of the major complains being that some of the apps don't scale properly for the different screen size of the Galaxy Tab. Pricing is $400 with a new two year contract, and the smallest data plan is $29 a month for 2 GB of data. Oh, and for all you 4G fans out there, this is a 3G only device, so sadly no Wimax.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

ZTE Peel Creates a Mobile Hotspot On Your iPod Touch

For Sprint fans that like the idea of carrying aaround an Apple device that is internet connected, but don't like the idea of being tied to AT&T's network, now have another option for their devices. The ZTE Peel is a case that is used for your iPod Touch that has a Mifi-like device built into the case. The case has a power button near the top of the case, and will run you $79 with a new two--year contract. The monthly charge for the case is $29, but unlike a normal Mifi, you can only connect two Wifi devices to the ZTE Peel at a time. So for road warriers that like their iPod Touch, the ZTE Peel is a device to consider, but a Mifi or Overdrive might better suit your needs if you want to connect more than two devices to your mobile hotspot, especially if you wannt the ability to access the Wimax network. (Sprint)

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

T-Mobile Claiming It Has the Fastest 4G Network

T-Mobile recently started an ad campaign claiming that they have the nation's largest 4G network. Although this sounds horribly familiar to Verizon making ads about it having the largest 3G network, their ads weren't false and actually made sense. T-Mobile currently operates a 3G network based on the HSPA+ standard, which T-Mobile claims is a 4G network as far as consumers are concerned, along with LTE and WiMax. Yet this is not true. Although WiMax and LTE aren't technically considered 4G networks at this point, they are based on a 4G standard, while HSPA+ is just another evolution of 3G. T-Mobile claims the consumers won't notice the difference, because they don't know enough about 4G networks and standards yet. But calling a 3G standard 4G is just false advertising and further confuses the consumers. Once T-Mobile finally does release a network based on 4G standards, what are they going to call it? I'm sorry, but false advertising is not going to help you in the long run, T-Mobile.

Sprint 4G Launched In Five New Markets, Including New York City

Sprint has finally launched WiMax in New York City, along with Hartford, New Haven, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Tampa. For everybody out there with 4G devices, this means you can finally get a taste of 4G speeds in all these locations. The addition of these five markets brings the total number of markets with 4G coverage to 61, which is a good number considering that no other wireless carrier has publicly launched a 4G network yet. (Sprint)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Sprint Plans to Phase Out iDen

Sprint has plans to end its iconic push to talk network within the next few years, according to CEO Dan Hesse. Although the service is popular with customers looking for the very best push to talk service, the network technology used for the service is aging rapidly and doesn't work well for data transfers, which are quickly becoming the most important thing in mobile phones. Although they won't be ending the service right away, as time goes on it should be easier to end it with the amount of customers that have been leaving the iDEN network. Sprint plans to get customers to use the more popular CDMA network. When they eventually shut down the iDEN network, they will use the spectrum for other services. (Engadget)

Sprint Announces Third Quarter Results

Sprint has announced another quarter of results recently. Sprint kept up the customer increases, adding a total of 644,000 customers last quarter. 354,000 postpaid subscribers were added to the network, which are valued customers because they sign new two-year contracts. Sprint also did well in the prepaid department, gaining a total of 471,000 prepaid subscribers. A whopping 1.2 million of those customers are new to the CDMA network, but the total number of additions was dragged down by 700,000 prepaid customers leaving the iDen network. Although Sprint is gaining customers again, they lost an average of thirty cents per share this past quarter. The strong customer gains are good news, but the loss might be troubling to Sprint investors. (Sprint)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Sprint Announces WiMax for New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles


Three of the largest cities in the United States have also been three cities that don't have 4G coverage. Sprint and Clearwire have finally announced the launch dates for these three cities. New York City will have WiMax coverage on November 1, San Francisco will be lit up in late December, and Los Angeles will get WiMax on December 1. The WiMax network will be shared by Sprint, Clearwire, Time Warner, and Comcast. Time Warner and Comcast will use the network for their mobile internet service, rebranded for the respective company. Hopefully, the long wiat for service in these three large and tech-centered cities was to make sure the service thoroughly covered the cities, and to make sure that speeds would be top notch for everybody using a 4G device. If you have 4G in your area, or have spotted 4G coverage in any of these three cities, let us know in the comments how the speeds and coverage are for you.

Sprint Announces the Blackberry Style, With Blackberry 6


Sprint has announced the Blackberry Style flip phone, the first flip-style Blackberry with a full keyboard and the first CDMA Blackberry to launch with OS 6. The phone features a 360 by 400 pixel internal display, a five megapixel camera, GPS, b/g/n wifi support, and support for dual-band CDMA Rev. A. The Style will come in both black and purple, and is exclusive to Sprint, at least for now. The Blackberry experience is even better with the addition of OS 6, bringing an improved Webkit browser, universal search, and Blackberry Media Sync, although the phone's style isn't the most attractive. The phone will be available on October 31 for $99 with a new two-year contract and a mail-in rebate. (Sprint)

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Sanyo Innuendo Full QWERTY Messaging Phone Now Available from Sprint


The Sanyo Innuendo, an update to the Sanyo Incognito, is now available from Sprint. The phone is very similar to the Incognito, featuring a "glow-thru" display and dial pad on the outside of the display, which means that when the keypad and outer display aren't lit up, they blend in with the rest of the phone. Other features of the Innuendo are a 3.2 megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, Sprint OneClick interface with dedicated Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter apps, GPS navigation, and threaded text messaging. Although the phone is currently only in bright blue, messaging phones are frequently available in multiple colors. The phone is available from Sprint for $49 with a new two-year contract. (Sprint)

Sprint Launches the Blackberry Curve 3G


The Blackberry Curve 3G smartphone, the next phone in the large Curve line from RIM, has been launched on Sprint. Besides a few minor cosmetic tweaks, the phone is very similar to the Curve 8530, featuring a 2.0 megapixel camera, a QWERTY keyboard, and an optical trackpad for navigation. The differences lie in the internals of the phone, where the Curve 3G sports double the memory as the Curve 8530. This means that the phone will be upgradable to Blackberry OS 6, which gives the Blackberry a much-improved web browser and other features, such as universal search and a redesigned home screen. The phone is available now for $49 with a new two-year contract, and an eligible data plan. (Sprint)

Samsung Intercept Now Available on Virgin Mobile


Virgin Mobile, the prepaid, no-contract carrier that operates on the Sprint network, is now offering the Samsung Intercept. The Intercept, which is an entry-level Android handset that has been available from Sprint, features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen, and Android 2.1. The phone is the first Android handset to be available from Virgin Mobile. The Intercept will cost $249, but you won't have a contract to deal with when buying the phone, and can cancel your service at any time without an early-termination fee. (Sprint)

Sprint Finally Offering Refurbished Phones for Regular Sale


Sprint has finally decided to let customers buy refurbished phones in addition to new ones, a great way to save some money the next time that you buy your next phone. Something that other phone carriers have been doing for a long time now, refurbished phones used to only be available when you got needed to get a phone replaced. Some of the phones that are available to be refurbished include the HTC Hero, Blackberry Bold 9650, and the Sanyo 2700. Hopefully, more and more phones will be available refurbished soon, since you can save over $100 buying a phone refurbished instead of new from Sprint. (Sprint)

Sanyo Vero Launched on Sprint


While there has been lots of talk about smartphones lately, there have also been other, more basic phones released on Sprint, like the Sanyo Vero. The basic flip phone features a 1.3 megapixel camera, a large and easy to use keypad, and text and picture messaging capability. The phone can hold 600 contacts in it's phone book, and it's name means "true" in Italian. The Vero also has a "glow-thru" external display that, when not active, blends in with the rest of the phone. The phone also has great battery life and a soft-touch backing for a better grip. The phone will be available for $9.99 with a new two-year contract from Sprint. (Sprint)

Sprint to Release Third-Quarter Earnings on Wednesday


This Wednesday, we will find out whether Sprint has been able to keep gaining subscribers to their network, like they did last quarter. They will be announcing their earnings information on the thirteenth at 8 a.m. (Eastern Time). If you want to listen in, you can call 800-938-1120 in the United States and Canada, and enter the ID 11720738 to listen in on the conference call. If you are not withing the United States or Canada, but still want to listen in (for some reason), you can dial 706-634-7849 and enter the same ID number. To make sure that you can listen in, you should call the number ten minutes before the earnings report starts. A webcast will also be available after the announcement at sprint.com/investors (Sprint)

Boost Mobile Launched Blackberry Curve 8530


Boost Mobile, the prepaid service running on the Sprint and Nextel networks, has now launched another smartphone on their service, the Blackberry Curve 8530. The Curve features a full QWERTY keyboard, a two-megapixel camera, and 3G data services. The addition of the 8530 improves the lineup of phones for Boost mobile, which is known for its cheap unlimited plans that also feature free push to talk on phones that support it. The phone will cost $249, with no contract agreements. (Sprint)