Make sure to head on over to www.mobileappsshowdown.com/ and take a look at a new contest for developers of Mobile apps being held on Jan 9, 2010 at the CES in Las Vegas, NV. Encourage any developer you think should be there to enter their app for consideration.
SU Blogger Jeff Estep is the expert judge on behalf of SprintUsers.com!
Although no specific release date was mentioned, Sprint released a statement saying they would release their version of the popular BlackBerry Curve 8530. No pricing was available, but the phone can be had in either black, purple or red (although I have not seen images of a red one at this point).
Update You can sign up to get notified of the release here
Photo Credit: Sprint
If you have a Google Voice account but can’t use the visual voicemail feature on Sprint due to the current $.20 per minute charge for call forwarding take heart!! According to Google sometime THIS month Sprint is doing something that will eliminate this problem. Details are scarce but the guess is that Sprint will either eliminate the charge altogether or at least for the conditional call forwarding required to do visual voicemail. Since employees aren’t charged for call forwarding I was able to set it up and fully test it on Sprint using the Palm Pre and IT WORKS beautifully!!!
I currently have it set to send a me text and I also use Gdial Pro from the Sprint app catalog. I actually now have 2 ways to READ my voicemails and other than it having trouble figuring out names (for instance Lynn Croad was translated as link road) It is very accurate and timely. There is a lively discussion about Google Voice here:
http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184712&highlight=google+voice
Fed up with all the fancy schmancy smartphones recently released and don’t need a full QWERTY keyboard, well this might be for you. This compact phone sports a large, easy to use keypad, GPS, Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera and Sprint Mobile Email. You can also expect to see a vibrant 2.4″ internal screen. Available in two color choices, Regal Red or Black Onyx. The SCP-3810 will be free with a 2 year contract and rebates.
Photo credit: Sprint
Sprint has done much better this time than they have have in the past. They have only lost 135,000 net retailer subscribers.
““Sprint achieved its best net retail subscriber results in more than two years and improvement in both post-paid and prepaid gross subscriber additions in the third quarter,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel CEO. “Sprint is beginning to attract more customers with the industry’s best device line-up and the clarity and simplicity of our offers, seven sequential quarters of improvement in customer care satisfaction, a network declared to be most reliable by PC World magazine, and recognition from Newsweek magazine which ranked Sprint 15th of 500 companies on its 2009 Green Ratings list — the only telecom company in the Top 100. ”
At only $99 bucks on contract, the Paml Pixi offers WebOS at a bargain price. You’ll get WebOS, a full QWERTY keyboard, a Multi-Touchscreen and a new Facebook app. You can get all this starting on November 15th.
and yes, an Everything Data Plan is required.
Per the Sprint statement
“Palm Pixi requires activation on a pricing plan including unlimited data, such as Sprint’s Everything Data plans with Any Mobile, Anytime”
Don’t kill the messenger.
Sprint and Clearwire when and where it will launch WiMax service in 2009. Sprint, Clearwire and Comcast will each launch WiMax service in Philadelphia in the next few weeks. Chicago will follow some time in November and the Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., markets will go live in early December. Clearwire and Sprint will also launch 4G service in Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; and Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas, in November. Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii, will be coming in December as well. There is no word on 2010 releases as of yet.
BGR and Engadget have both reported that T-Mobile is about to announce Project Dark (or Project Black) that includes several new initiatives including installment plans for phone purchases and so called “all you can eat plans” for prices previously unheard of in the post-paid side of the industry. They are also going to be greatly increasing their 3G footprint with internet transfer speed of up to 21Mbps. (CDMA 3G max is 3.1Mbps)
Sprint is currently in no danger of being surpassed by T-Mo as the #3 carrier having tens of million more subscribers. Sprint helped to re-create the currently accepted idea that unlimited isn’t only for large corporations anymore in large part when it announced its “Simply Everything” plans last year and again by recently enhancing its Everything Data to include Any Mobile Anytime allowing unlimited voice calls to any cell phone. This move by T-Mobile has the potential to to bring large numbers of subscribers from other companies seen by consumers as “expensive but worth it”. Stay tuned for details as they emerge.
Got a Pre? Now you can browse the WebOS applications online. The site offers screen shots and descriptions, but you will still need your phone to access user ratings. Click the link below for more info.
Today Sprint Nextel and its affiliate iPCS announced that Sprint will buy iPCS for the cool price of $831 million. As part of the acquisition agreement, both parties have agreed to close all pending litigation between them (iPCS has sued Sprint for a number of reasons, mostly citing breach of contract). The deal also puts a halt to Sprint’s planned divestitures of its iDEN network in regions where iPCS operates. Of course this deal is subject to regulatory approval and should be completed later this year or early 2010.
Update: Apparently iPCS shareholders are not going down without a fight.