Samsung’s YOUM – Flexible Displays

A very interesting video from CES 2013 featuring Samsung’s newest discovery – the flexible screen.

Preparing for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration

With an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people expected to attend the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, Sprint  is well prepared to help ensure customers and public safety officials in Washington, D.C. can seamlessly use their smartphones, tablets and hotspot devices to talk, text, email, and post memorable moments to their favorite social media channels.

Sprint has been aggressively preparing for the inauguration since April 2012 – boosting wireless voice capacity by 25 percent and increasing data capacity by 37 percent for numerous cell sites around the National Mall and downtown Washington, D.C.

Other Sprint preparations include:

• Deploying three Cell Sites on Wheels (COWs) at key locations near and around the National Mall – including the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – to further enhance the wireless experience of inauguration attendees.
• Installing in-building repeaters at the Capital Hilton hotel, the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel, and The Mayflower Renaissance Washington DC Hotel to boost wireless coverage throughout these locations for hotel guests and the venues’ numerous inauguration events.

Sprint Selects Samsung and HTC for Windows Phone 8 Launch with Truly Unlimited Sprint 4G LTE

Sprint (NYSE:S) today joined with Microsoft to announce the upcoming availability of Windows Phone 8 smartphones on the Sprint nationwide network. Sprint will bring two initial handsets to customers by summer – one each from Samsung and HTC.

Sprint is the only national carrier with Truly Unlimited? 4G LTE data, text and calling to any mobile with no metering, no throttling, and no overages. Sprint will bring the unlimited data experience to Windows Phone 8 with Sprint’s Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, Anytime^SM including unlimited Web, texting and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint Network, starting at just $79.99 per month. This is a savings of $20 per month versus Verizon’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and 2GB Web (excludes taxes and surcharges).

“Sprint has had a strong relationship with Microsoft for many years so we are excited to reinforce our commitment to the Windows 8 platform by sharing the details and timing for our first Windows Phone 8 smartphones,” said Fared Adib, Sprint senior vice president, product development and operations. “These smartphones combine a robust new operating platform with the benefit of Sprint’s unlimited data plans. There is no doubt these phones will quickly become an extension of your PC experience right in the palm of your hand.”

Windows 8 Devices Headed to Sprint

Sprint told PC Mag that it would bring on new Windows 8 devices this year. Currently there are no Windows 8 devices in its lineup but this will soon change and will make Sprint more competitive.  As Sprint increases its 4G reach it will increase its LTE network as well with the recent deal with US Cellular.  So, good things are on the way for our fellow Sprintusers.

Let’s hope that these new handsets come sooner rather than later.  If you’re up for an upgrade, you may consider waiting a bit before using it.

Sprint’s Pay As You Go

There is documentation that shows Sprint jumping into the prepaid phone market.  While there are options available now even with Boost Mobile, a subsidiary of Sprint, it’s interesting to note that starting January 25th this new service will kick into play. Sprint has not officially announced this as of today but documentation meant for employees has been shared on the web.  The phones available for this service are not spectacular and the flagship models (Samsung Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Note II, etc) cannot be used with this new service.

If you choose this route, you will be charged the for phone (no contract to sign) and will need to pay $70/month for unlimited web, text and talk – not really a bargain.  The biggest difference is that Boost and others slow your access to 2G speeds after 2.5GB of data.  Sprint does not look like it will do this.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Swarm – New Campaign to Help Avoid Distracted Driving

As parents and teens across the country juggle shopping, parties and numerous trips in the car during the busy holiday season, Sprint (NYSE:S) will be releasing a new advertising campaign titled “Swarm,” informing wireless users how they can avoid the distraction of texting while driving.

The 30-second ad, created by Sprint and its agency, Team Sprint – Digitas and Leo Burnett – will begin airing Dec. 24 and features the Sprint Drive First™ mobile application, which can block and send automatic replies to text messages while you drive. The overarching message is we can live without the “&” when referring to texting & driving, and the Sprint Drive First app can help remove the temptation to do both at the same time.

6 New Areas Get LTE!

Sprint (NYSE:S) announced that it is delivering the speed, power and value of its all-new 4G LTE network to customers in six new areas. Customers can use Sprint 4G LTE to send holiday pictures, upload funny home videos, and check social networking sites for friend updates on holiday traditions – all faster than ever before on their Sprint devices. Beginning today, customers in the following cities/counties can access 4G LTE service from Sprint:

• Indianapolis/Carmel, Ind.
• Santa Rosa/Petaluma, Calif.
• Vallejo/Fairfield, Calif.
• Southern Puerto Rico (including Ponce, Coamo and Guayama)
• York/Hanover, Pa.
• Franklin County, Pa.

Samsung Exynos Processor Vulnerability Found…..Fix As Soon As Possible

 

This past weekend a code exploit was discovered in the Exynos Kernel. The exploit would give a malicious application the ability to have full access to the devices RAM, which would allow it to take complete control over the device. However the good news is that in order for an application to do this, it would have to be specifically coded to take advantage of this exploit. Samsung has quickly responded to the issue and made the following statement to Android Central.

“Samsung is aware of the potential security issue related to the Exynos processor and plans to provide a software update to address it as quickly as possible.

The issue may arise only when a malicious application is operated on the affected devices; however, this does not affect most devices operating credible and authenticated applications.

Samsung will continue to closely monitor the situation until the software fix has been made available to all affected mobile devices.”

Sprint to Buy Out Clearwire

Via: New York Times

“Sprint announced on Monday that it had reached an agreement to buy the nearly 50 percent stake in Clearwire that it did not already own for $2.97 a share — a bump up from the $2.90 a share that was offered on Thursday.

The improved $2.2 billion offer, Sprint said, represents a premium of 128 percent over Clearwire’s stock price in early October before speculation emerged — following SoftBank‘s investment in Sprint — that Sprint would seek to buy out the wireless network operator.

Sprint already owns 51.7 percent of Clearwire. Buying the rest would give it full control over spectrum that it could use to build out its network.”

SoftBank of Japan has come to help in this acquisition and we will see Sprint grow steadily in the coming months.  This of course will keep Sprint from being overshadowed by the top tier cell phone providers, AT&T and Verizon.  Everyone seems excited about this purchase.  Let’s see how this affects competition in the future.

Android Game Controllers Review

If you’re a fan of games on your Android phone, you’ll love this review of handheld controllers for your phone or tablet.  Time magazine rated a few of the best out there and gave them some promising ratings.  Of course, if you want to use a Wii or a Playstation wireless remote you’ll need to root your device.

Wireless Controllers for Android Devices