Heart set on that brand spankin’ new iPhone 4S? Sorry, but I come bearing bad news. Your window for placing a hassle-free pre-order may have just closed, hard. AT&T has extended its shipping time to 3-4 weeks, while Sprint and Verizon are fresh out of the 16GB model. In other words, it looks like you may be bundling up for a wait in line. → Read More
It’s beginning to look like CDMA iPhone 4S customers may have the edge when it comes to international roaming. Macworld reports that Sprint will be selling their version of the iPhone 4S with an unlocked microSIM card slot right out of the gate.
That’s right: no arguing with CSRs and no warranty-voiding unlock procedures. It would seem that since Sprint knows you’re bound to them for two years anyway, they’re more than happy to keep sending you bills while you’re living in up in Mallorca. → Read More
Sprint has today announced its plans for a forthcoming 4G LTE network, which should cover 120 different U.S. markets by the end of next year.
By 2013, the company expects that over 260 markets will benefit from LTE coverage. The “aggressive rollout” should begin on the 1900MHz spectrum, and Sprint hopes to launch on the 800MHz spectrum in the future. Sprint also hopes to build out their LTE network using LightSquared’s 1600 MHz spectrum, although the deal is still awaiting FCC approval. → Read More
Sprint is taking a huge risk by carrying the iPhone, if reports from the Wall Street Journal are to be believed. Details about Sprint and Apple’s quiet dealings have begun to emerge, and if true, the country’s third largest wireless carrier is stuck in a precarious position.
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has reportedly told the company’s board of directors that in order to nab the iPhone, they would have to commit to purchasing at least 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years. It’s a huge investment by any stretch — WSJ pegs it at around $20 billion at current rates — but it’s made worse by the fact that Sprint will be locked into the purchasing agreement regardless of whether or not the iPhones actually sell. The board was said to have accepted Apple’s terms. → Read More
By now, we all know that the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Sprint and C Spire Wireless (formerly known as the Cellular South) have filed suits to that same effect, but AT&T has asked the court to reject those companies’ complaints.
The reason? AT&T believes that Sprint and C Spire are fighting for their own sakes, and not for the public’s best interests. → Read More
Your cell phone knows all sorts of stuff about you. It knows where you’ve been, which websites you’ve visited, who you call most, and, depending on how many times you’ve found yourselves drunk with your cell phone handy, what you look like without pants on. But still, you can be comforted in knowing that all of that information can be destroyed with little more than a brick and a bit of unchecked rage.
But what about the stuff that doesn’t live on your phone? The other half of the wireless formula, the carriers, know a hell of a lot about you too. Who holds onto that data the longest? → Read More
Sprint is clearly in a tough spot. It’s been a step behind in getting the iPhone which should be remedied soon, but the yellow carrier is also facing a mega-merger between AT&T and T-Mobile that would drop it way below the competition.
The good news, however, is that it looks like Sprint has a plan, a piece of which involves the deployment of its 4G LTE network in early 2012. → Read More
Rumor has it that the iPhone 5 will be headed to Sprint in the coming weeks. In the lead-up to that, Sprint’s implemented some big cut-backs/price hikes, including a jacked up early termination fee and the discontinuation of Sprint Premier.
But one thing has remained the same, and according to Sprint, it will remain the same through the launch of the iPhone: unlimited data. That is, of course, unless that data is coming through a mobile hotspot data plan, in which case unlimited is no longer an option.
According to a leak out of Sprint Feed, good ol’ yellow will be adding a 5GB cap to their mobile hotspot plans on October 2, with overage charges at five cents/MB. → Read More
As we predicted yesterday, Google has just announced the official launch of Google Wallet. Google Wallet, if you recall, allows you to pay for products in the real world by tapping your NFC-enabled Android phone against a compatible card reader.
Now, there’s a bit of a catch: even if you’ve got an NFC-enabled Android phone, you might not be able to dive into Wallet just yet. Google is initially launching Wallet exclusively on the Sprint Nexus S, leaving AT&T/T-Mobile/etc. Nexus S owners waiting for their little taste of the future. → Read More
After months of teasing, the long wait is finally over: Sprint’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II has launched today, and is available for just shy of $200 with a new contract on Sprint.com.
Though it happens to sport an unfortunately cumbersome name, the Samsung Galaxy S™ II, Epic™ 4G Touch stands firmly in the upper echelons of Sprint’s collection. It’s surrounded by devices like the Motorola Photon 4G and the Evo 3D, but hopefully Samsung’s handset will go without the sort of launch day issues that its high-end compatriots had.
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Oh, what’s this? Sprint is reportedly blacking out vacation days between September 30th and October 15th? For a “major phone launch”?
Major phone launch. Early October (right when the iPhone 5 is said to be launching.)
Yeah, the rumor mill just caught on fire. → Read More
Reports of the iPhone’s forthcoming launch on Sprint just don’t seem to quit, and today is no exception. Sources close to the situation say that Sprint plans to retain their unlimited data plans for use with the iPhone when it makes it official debut some time in October. → Read More
And the fun just goes on, and on, and on.
Following this morning’s news that Sprint is suing AT&T/T-Mobile in an attempt to block their proposed merger, AT&T has just returned with a response. As you might expect, it pretty much boils down to “Yeah, yeah, see you in court. Oh, and here are some reasons we’re awesome.”
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Sprint’s clearly no fan of the pending AT&T/T-mobile merger: in recent memory, they’ve pledged to complain to Congress, commissioned a study to illustrate how awful it would be, and cheered on the Department of Justice as they filed an antitrust suit to halt the proceedings.
Now, instead of just sniping from the sidelines, Sprint is taking a more active stance on situation. Their first step: filing their own lawsuit against AT&T, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom. → Read More
It’s no surprise whatsoever that Sprint isn’t down with the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and with good reason. There’s no telling just how severe the effects of this deal may be on Sprint, but we know for sure that it won’t be good. So with no other option, the carrier has campaigned against the merger since day one. We’ve seen statement after statement, release after release… but this time Sprint is taking a new approach.
Today Sprint threw their weight behind a study which debunks claims made by AT&T and the Economic Policy Institute that this merger will create “tens of thousands of jobs,” and even goes so far as to say the deal will result in a reduction of American jobs. → Read More
This whole system of two-year contracts and early termination fees is far and away the worst thing about owning and enjoying a smartphone. Granted, contracts reduce the actual price of the phone by quite a bit, but it’s still super annoying to sign on with some brand new superphone only to have some super-duper phone launch a few weeks later.
And if the contract itself wasn’t annoying enough, Sprint decides to raise its early termination fee by $150. → Read More
It’s coming! It’s finally coming!
After months of gallivanting around the world with launches everywhere from South Korea to Canada since May (plus a one day delay thanks to Hurricane Irene) Samsung’s Galaxy S II Android superphone is finally heading to the US.
As expected, Samsung used their press gathering in New York today to announce aesthetically unique Galaxy S II variants for three major US carriers: T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T. Verizon, meanwhile, is holding out for something else. → Read More
As we once again enter the iPhone 5 breach, one would do well to keep their grains of salt at the ready, but the Business Insider reports that Sprint will be among the few carriers to sell the iPhone 5. → Read More
Not long after Clearwire announced their intent to begin lighting up a 4G LTE network, Sprint and a cabal of cable companies have begun to discuss the idea of a possible Clearwire acquisition.
Last we heard, Clearwire was waiting on $600 million in additional funding before any work on their LTE rollout could begin. Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House are currently in talks with the nation’s third-largest wireless provider to get Clearwire the necessary funds to build out their LTE network. → Read More
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly three years since Swype first made a splash at TechCrunch 50, and since then it’s quickly popped up on handset after handset. Easily one of the most popular alternative input methods out there, Swype has announced today a special agreement for users of the Sprint Nexus S 4G: you bring the hardware, they’ll bring the latest version of Swype.
While the concept behind the keyboard remains the same, the new update packs some few nifty new tricks. The biggest by far is the keyboard’s newly added support for gestures: basic moves like Cut (Swype key -> X), Copy (Swype key -> C) and Select All (Swype key -> A) are all here, but the new Swype integrates with certain apps with aplomb. → Read More
