New Sprint ad shows iPhone using WiMAX... via Overdrive
By Darren Murph 
posted March 21st 2010 3:43AM
posted March 21st 2010 3:43AM
posted March 21st 2010 3:43AM
Apple iPhone 3GS
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Clever ad! I wasn't expecting him to take a bite out of an Apple! LOL! Good job there Sprint! I really hope WiMAx can put you back into good market share. This Ad was very well done!
Very strange for Sprint to do a promo of the iPhone and Apple. Not very subtle at all. I suppose it would have been too confusing to use one of the smart phones that actually works on their network.
Add this to the list of Sprint's failures to promote the Pre.
@Luxury Guy
this isn't an ad for phones. It promotes the 4g network. The idea is to bring new subs from customers not on sprint. The WebOS is amazing and I am posting this from my pre. Sad truth is apple makes the product a cult hit. I had an iphone and went back to a blackberry pearl when the 1st gen came out. It just had no smart phone features. But it's a status thing with the biggest segment of buyers, teens and young adults.
the ad campaign is "what can you do with 4g" not say hey lets tell people make our service faster by buying our other service
The hopeful gadget nerd inside me is wishing this is Sprint's way of hinting they will be getting a WiMAX iphone this year.
Sprint couldn't blur the "AT&T 3G" alpha tag from their own commercial?
macdaddynews has an interesting view on Sprint’s commercial. they see it as a complete lie. it turns out Sprint’s 4G network isn’t really that much faster than AT&T’s 3G. Sprint’s commercial uses the average 3G speed of all the networks combined, including Sprint’s very slow 3G, and compares it to Sprint’s 4G network when it’s at its best. AT&T’s average speed of 3G is 1.4 Mbps, not 600 Kbps like the small print in their add suggests. Check it out http://www.macdaddynews.com/?p=1756
@johnblackataol Yeah, it's closer to 3X faster than AT&T if you imagine Sprint being 4.5 Mb/s average download vs the high-end of their advertised average download of 3-6 Mb/s. Sprint is going down the wrong path with these advertisements. Anyone remember all the 'Dan Hesse Wireless Revolution' advertisements with all the straight talk about how he was the new CEO and how he was going to bring us what a wireless carrier should be? Well, devolving into marketing trickery and half-truths is not how to do it.
I want them to bring back the Dan Hesse campaign and see if he has the cajones to tell the same lines to our face. When the buck stops at the CEO, his marketing staff won't be so quick to return to the same tactics they used when they were on the verge of bankruptcy.
@johnblackataol *waits* for T-Mobile's 21Mb/s 'very fast mobile web' ads.
I want to know why most of you out there is bashing Sprint's 4g network? Do we not want faster data? Do we not want to be unlimited? Do you think Sprint is not aggressively building out their 4g network so that by the end of 2010, they have a much broader network than their competitors? Please explain why the anti-Sprint campaign i see here.
And also,Darren Murph is a dufus when he posted "can theoretically enable any WiFi-capable phone to surf on WiMAX". Theoretically!?! We can theoretically travel at the speed of light but the technology does not exist. WIMAX is a real network that provides 4g speeds. Theoretically engadget does a good job of reviewing electronic products but CNET does a much better job.
Impressive!
Makes sense- Sprint finally admits they don't carry any of the phones you want but you are welcome to get a Sprint account so you can get coverage for phones you do want. As that is one thing Sprint does pretty well - particularly if you have free roaming to Verizon although you won't be able to for 4G since Sprint chose the one standard no one else will use.
Phones I wish Sprint had:
HD2 (tmobile)
iPhone (ATT and tmobile if you jailbreak it)
TG02 (ATT or Tmobile) if you want since their network isn't locked like Sprint)
Imagio (Verizon - a year ago it would have been great on Sprint)
3G on my iPhone is pretty fast. I can do without. Sucks for u sprint
I could care less if the iphone doesn't ever get close to sprint shelves! The iphone is overhyped.
It comes down to individual needs. For people who want an ipad, or want service at 15 or 30 bucks a month, they will be happy with the lower speeds for the 3g ATT service they can get on the iPad 3G. For those who want faster service and don't mind paying 60bux a month, which I personally think is ridiculous for one portable device, but may not be for sharing with couple whom works and lives together, or whom can expense out the cost, the fast speeds and multiple devices using the service can be great, and help make up for the $60 cost. Certainly it raises the bar and will kill sales of those laptop connect cards that charge the same 60 bux for 3g speeds on 1 device.
"Screen images simulated"...
I see it's a lot of Apple fanboys on here hating as usual. Hating on either Sprint or Palm. Yal really need to find something else to do.
Haha did anyone else notice the one bar the phone had. Tricky bitches.
Two bills instead of one, yipee!
@hated one
You're the kind of person other Apple users are embarrassed about.
I still think it's hilarious that they would dare to make a commercial like this. Hooray for sprint.
I love how the AT&T 3G has almost no bars in that picture. Ha Ha Ha.
Presumably the coverage is worse than AT&T. Wake me up if it is = ATT 3G coverage.
I personally do not think Sprint is out there to have iPhone owners run out and grab the pay for the Overdrive. It's really about "awareness" of the product and Sprint's 4G service. Obviously, anything iPhone will get some type of attention and they have certainly gotten the attention showing this commercial.
I actually have the Sprint Overdrive. I live in Philly (one of the close-to-thirty 4G cities in the US) and I get about 4 to 7 mbps. The service has been so reliable that I am now going to drop my Comcast internet service and be "Comcast free" completely. I have a Roku and addition to that, I connect my laptop via hdmi to my flat screen to stream Hulu. Does it work with the Overdrive? I was skeptical but it does. Also, I have the ability to use my iPod Touch and Palm Pre via the wireless connection. Is there lag? There is *some* - especially when you're streaming television shows but to have the ability to have unlimited data, drop comcast cable and FINALLY have the ability to work remotely in areas where they do not supply wifi (or free wifi for that matter), it totally worth it.
@chiliu78 BTW - no, I am not a Sprint employee. I just thought about this re-reading my post. Ha.
Wow! One of the best ads from Sprint I've ever seen! The guy eating the Apple, poor portrayal of AT&T's signal strength, the 4G blowing away 3G speeds. +1 Sprint!
Anybody else notice the "power on/off" button on the Overdrive device is the same as the on/off button for Apple laptops? Haha!
Did anybody else get this or is it just me, is sprint pissed at apple when the guy says, "and Im going to enjoy this tasty snack," and clearly shows that it is an apple?
Who wants to carry around another device? Wake me up when Sprint starts not losing money every quarter.
tthe article says "the closest sprint will get to the iphone" - ironically, sprint is the best carrier for iphone to/should be.
If ya can't beat em.....join em right Sprint. You can't deny the huge market that Apple has a hold of. Verizon did the same thing. I'm hoping they release the iPhone on all 4 major carriers!!!
I still don't see what's the point of buying their wimax when you have to pay that plus your data plan with the iPhone. If they want the iPhone so badly they should just ask APPLE. And I could care less if they leave AT&T.
AT&T Mobile Wireless Device Data Plan(5GB on 3G) - $60
Verizon Mobile Wireless Device Data Plan(5GB on 3G) - $60
Sprint Mobile Wireless Device Data Plan(5GB on 3G*) - $60
When using Sprint 4G in a city that has that network available, the data usage is UNLIMITED FOR 4G ONLY. When your hotspot switches to 3G, you begin using your 5GB allotment again.
The Sprint 3G/4G Overdrive Mobile Hotspot automatically switches between 3G and 4G, but the list of cities where 4G is available is pretty limited as of thus far. Using the Overdrive as your main internet connection is certainly viable if your city has the 4G network. The Overdrive is USB chargeable.