Sprint affirms Palm Pre exclusivity "through 2009"

Ready for your daily dose of obvious? Good. After Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam proudly proclaimed that America's largest mobile operator would be painting the Palm Pre red "in about six months," Sprint has come forward to make sure we know that said statement is probably right on the money. According to Sprint spokesman James Fisher: "We have the Pre through 2009." Short, sweet and chock full of pent-up rage. 'Course, six months after the Pre's launch on Sprint lands us in December, giving VZW just enough time to cripple the phone's hottest features and push it out before Valentine's Day. Sounds pretty reasonable, no?

[Templarian @ May 29th 2009 10:06AM]

Makes sense... sucks those of you not in sprint regions have to wait that long. Hopefully by then they would have updated it a little to give users a incentive.

[leitxo @ May 29th 2009 11:07AM]

It's ok.. half of 2009 is over already.

[p3t3b2 @ May 29th 2009 11:50AM]

"Sprint was the one network that decided to risk it with the Pre." Does that mean Palm shopped the Pre to other US carriers? If that's the case, screw Verizon and ATT, I have no doubt Sprint will extend the contract, especially if the Pre does well. Yesterday Rubenstien said there aren't any relationships between Verizon and ATT regarding the Pre. Other words, Palm is not even working on a network branding for Verizon and ATT, so even if Sprint doesn't extend the contract it could be another 3 to 6 months after the 6 month exclusive before any other US carrier gets the Pre.

[Matthew @ May 29th 2009 11:57AM]

Does anyone know if I'm allowed to get this phone with a plan other than the Simply Everything Plan, like my family's, more or less, simple Family Plan. Or do you have to get a Simply Everything Plan?

[mikey @ May 29th 2009 10:10AM]

It's not as bad as having to wait over a year. I was actually considering one of these, but being on Sprint was a big turn off for me.

[kempcross @ May 29th 2009 11:06AM]

Why, is sprint bad? I was considering moving from t-mobile to sprint because all i've heard is how great sprint has become.

[JamesR @ May 29th 2009 11:12AM]

I've been on Sprint about a year now and so far have no complaints. Their customer service is quite good, the signal is strong, data is quick and the plans are good. What's not to love?

[DonatoM3 @ May 29th 2009 11:19AM]

I've been a Sprint customer for 9 years. I really haven't had the customer support issues others have had. That being said, support and service has gotten much better in the past year, devices are much better now, and I get signal where my friends on other networks do not.

[Kaitou KID @ May 29th 2009 12:01PM]

I second and third what they said. I've been a sprint customer for maybe 10 years or so with a SERO plan which I will not let even the Pre pry from my cold dead hands. Sprint has other good phones coming up, but besides that it has the best and cheapest plans.

[b1g4lalan @ May 29th 2009 12:08PM]

I just left sprint recently because of the iPhone, but I really, really loved Sprint. Their customer service was second to none, when I lost my job, they let me go an absurdly long time without paying my bill (about 3 months I think.) My phone never dropped calls (except for one particular place, like clockwork) and my data rates were pretty speedy, about 1.2MBit down when tethering.
I moved into a brand new large building and complained about the signal. Within a day and a half I went from 2 bars to 5.

[Roger @ May 29th 2009 12:23PM]

I guess Sprint bashing is still in vogue.

Count me in as another satisfied Sprint customer, going on 10 years now without a problem.

[mikey @ May 29th 2009 12:47PM]

Honestly, I've had no issues with their service overall. My main gripe is that they don't use sim cards (back when I was with em') so I had to call them up to get a different phone provisioned, rather than simply switching sim cards.

[teej @ May 29th 2009 2:08PM]

@mikey,

it all depends where you're located. i'm in northern va/washington dc metro area, and sprint/nextel is the suck here; probably the worst of the top carriers. however, i've heard sprint rocks the socks off other areas. just ask around your area!!

[Matt @ May 29th 2009 3:09PM]

Yeah, Sprint is the worst of the large 4 carriers to get here in Western New York. The second you start heading upstate, the connection is non-existant.

[offtheheezi @ May 29th 2009 10:12AM]

Negative, Ghostrider.

[bob @ May 29th 2009 10:12AM]

Why exactly does Verizon reduce specs on their versions of phones? I've never read an explanation for this.

[Derry Quinn @ May 29th 2009 10:14AM]

I don't get it, if Verison is so suck, why is it your largest carrier?

[ash @ May 29th 2009 10:16AM]

Derry, I've always wondered the same...

[krische @ May 29th 2009 10:22AM]

@Derry

My guess would be a mixture of customer service and marketing.

[Darren @ May 29th 2009 10:30AM]

Because they swallowed Alltel. Until they took Alltel over, they weren't the largest. In other words, they paid their way to the top in terms of customer base size.

[mikey @ May 29th 2009 10:32AM]

Not sure. I never had any problems while I was with them. My dad's got Verizon now. But do this day I have yet to see a group of people with laptops and stuff following his every move to make sure his signal is good.....

[Brazell @ May 29th 2009 10:42AM]

@Derry -- Verizon was one of the companies to come out after the regulation adjustments of the 1990s with a working network and they really innovated with great cell phone coverage early on. Verizon has, generally, the best service around the country... their customer service sucks like anybody else and they commonly nerf all of their phones with shitty specs and Verizon branding/software.

I freaking hate how they ticker the VZ logo all over the place too. Giant red, ugly brand.

[Chad @ May 29th 2009 10:42AM]

I suspect it has to do with market saturation and people's reluctance to change. For example: I know I can probably get a better rate on my car insurance and I see ads telling me that every day but it's such a PITA that I don't bother looking into changing. Verizon also does a pretty good job of convincing it's customers that they have the best network and that their V-"Feature" is better than anything they could get elsewhere. Marketing beats functionality almost every time.

[Dorf @ May 29th 2009 11:12AM]

They have the largest 3G network in the United States. Their 3G footprint totally blows away AT&T's tiny 3G footprint. (I don't know much about Sprint's. I think Sprint and VZW have roaming agreements.)

AT&T has just started to deploy 3G in smaller states where VZW has been for years which is why AT&T needs to hold on to the iPhone for a long time... Combine the most popular smartphone on the far superior voice/data network in the States and I think you are gonna see some numbers swing big time to VZW. I have several friends with iPhones that would go to VZW in a heartbeat due to no AT&T 3G in sight.

[Kamokazi @ May 29th 2009 11:16AM]

@Derry

Coverage.

Where I live in west-central Ohio, Verizon is the only viable option for most people. Town of about 10,000, and running across someone not on Verizon is quite rare. If I go a few miles north or east of town, I lose AT&T signal, and it's spotty at best in town anyway. Sprint is decent, but there are lots of small holes around the contryside, and going in metal buildings will often kill your signal. (When we have service reps come to our facility, they always have to go outside to get ATT or Sprint reception) T-Mobile is completely non-existant.

I have traveled a decent amount, and the only place I ever had trouble with signal is driving on I-70 through the Appalachians.

And to answer your question on why Verizon does it? Because they can get away with it because they know so many people are stuck with their network due to coverage. Sure, they're only saving $5-10 per unit or so in most cases, but add that up over tens or hundreds of thousands of phones, and it's a decent chunk of change.

[roole @ May 29th 2009 11:30AM]

@bob: They have grown aggressively through acquisitions, that is why: GTE, MCI, Alltel, and sundry others. Their 'organic' growth had been much smaller.

See http://investor.verizon.com/profile/history/

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ May 29th 2009 4:58PM]

Marketing + Coverage.

I avoided Verizon like the plague due to their crippled phones, even when coverage for Cingular/T-Mobile was worse. Finally had to give in and use the big V when I moved to a new apartment that had no GSM. That's been remedied, I'm on AT&T and have coverage everywhere. Everyone's improved their footprint.

It was nice to kick Verizon to the curb. They illegally charged me the full $175 termination fee after 1 year, despite the fact that they had switched to a pro-rated model before I signed my contract. So I joined the class action suit. Don't get me wrong, I suspected I might pay the full amount, and it was worth it to get away from them. But if I see a few bucks from the suit I won't complain.

[jonnylightning @ May 29th 2009 10:13AM]

I hope vzw doesn't cripple the hell out of it.

[Frankenstein Black @ May 29th 2009 10:44AM]

For years Verizon has acted like the “Anne Marie Wilkes Dugan” of mobile operators! They rightly deserve ALL of the phone gimping criticism that they have received. And I’ll tell you what, if they think there going to bring this disturbing practice to LTE devices they have another thing coming.

PS They cripple/hobble/gimp/maim/bludgeon and some times outright murder functions like WiFi and bluetooth because they want to GOUGE YOU by having you only use their network for data and file transfers. Its cooperate GREED plain and simple. What was shocking and surprising about it when the started this practice was the blatant/obvious nature of it...

[m3nphls @ May 29th 2009 10:51AM]

@Frankenstein Black: I'm with verizon and i got no problems....I agree they cripple their regular phones, but a lot of customers don't like to go through the pain of learning to use their new cellphones when they upgrade. So a kudos for VZW for having the same UI on all regular phones.

As for Wi-Fi on pda/smartphones, VZW requires you to add data plan no matter what and their 3G network is reliable and big. Most carriers that offer pda's with wi-fi does not have a reliable data network, that's why they have it included.

[Anonymous Coward @ May 29th 2009 10:55AM]

Anne Marie Wilkes Dugan, eh? A little inside?

[japongt @ May 29th 2009 10:13AM]

Cripple the phone's hottest features... LMAO, that always sounds so funny.
Good thing I'm with Sprint, even if I'm not getting the Pre.

[kjb434 @ May 29th 2009 10:14AM]

So just after christmas, everybody else can get one. Not that bad, at least you can let everybody else test drive it and work the kinks out.

[Hackettman @ May 29th 2009 10:14AM]

Finally sprint has a phone worth getting.... Ive been with my Mogul for a time now..... touch pro 2 or Pre? Hmmmmm......

[DonatoM3 @ May 29th 2009 11:23AM]

After having a Mogul and a Touch Diamond, I'll have to say screw Windows Mobile, and go with a Pre. Sure Windows Mobile is highly customizable and has alot of programs out. It's also unreliable and archaic in alot of senses. I'm even running a custom 6.5 rom on my Touch Diamond right now. I may not even wait till August which is when my 22 month new customer pricing is up with Sprint.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ May 29th 2009 10:17AM]

I love Verizon's network quality, but hate pretty much everything else about the company, particularly the fact that they put their own crappy menu system on the phones they sell. And like Engadget has said before, their logo/branding is in desperate need of an overhaul.
...Whew, I feel better now.

[Templarian @ May 29th 2009 10:22AM]

Luckily on this phone, their logo doesn't show up anywhere (except over all their software).

[Dorf @ May 29th 2009 11:30AM]

We are talking about smartphones... not dumbphones.. they don't put their UI on smartphones.

[Hardcore @ May 29th 2009 5:48PM]

Verizon Wireless is SHIT
Verizon FIOS is THE shit

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ May 30th 2009 1:07AM]

I understand that it's not on smartphones, I never said it was. What I hate is having to find some feature on a parent's or friend's Verizon phone in the horribly designed Verizon menus. It's as if they let their marketing team design everything, while throwing away all the work on intuitiveness that engineers have already done and constantly improve upon.

[upsidedown @ May 29th 2009 10:22AM]

Without starting a flame war, is Sprint really that bad? I have Verizon and am happy with the service, but getting any cheap smartphone plan for VZW is impossible.

With my company discount, I can get Sprint Everything Data Family 1500 for about $102 / month.

I also have ATT service for work and am not that happy with their coverage based on where I travel. (nothing horrible, but not as good as Verizon).

[Templarian @ May 29th 2009 10:24AM]

Sprint is very very dependent on your region. Michigan it's really good in most areas.

Yea, I would check out the reception map.

[krische @ May 29th 2009 10:26AM]

Nah, it's just the cool thing to hate on Sprint right now. They have an old reputation for not getting any cool phones and having crappy customer service. But honestly, since their new CEO took over like a year ago, they have really been turning around. I mean they are getting the Pre and other great phones so the 'shitty phones' argument is moot. And I would say their customer service has improved greatly. Hell I just called them last week and only had to sit on hold for like 10 seconds.

[cocoviper @ May 29th 2009 10:29AM]

Reception map + testing the Pre with one of their 30 day trial deals would also be good (it's possible that if one of us had them in a given area 3 or 3 years ago that their coverage might have improved).

[cocoviper @ May 29th 2009 10:31AM]

Reception map + testing the Pre with one of their 30 day trial deals would also be good (it's possible that if one of us had them in a given area 3 or 3 years ago that their coverage might have improved).

[Joseph @ May 29th 2009 1:34PM]

Yeah, Sprint's been great for me. I've had them for 3 years, and I've had maybe 3 dropped calls, EVER. And I travel a lot.

They're data is great, and they're plans really beat the competition.

[sitruc @ May 29th 2009 8:33PM]

No need to worry about starting a flame war with your comments. Engadget made sure to do that with their swipe at VZW in the last lines. They really don't cripple everything.

[psirex @ Jun 1st 2009 10:54AM]

I wonder why the exclusivity is so short...

[Templarian @ May 29th 2009 10:41AM]

Palm probably wants to sell the phone and sprint really wanted it. Simple compromise.

[DA @ May 29th 2009 10:25AM]

I have a Centro through Verizon and I don't notice anything that Verizon did. What has Verizon done in the past to other phones to cripple them?

I want to find out as much as I can so I know if I should risk a penalty and get out of Verizon and over to Sprint.

Thanks.