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Sprint names wireless sales veteran Marcelo Claure as its new CEO
There were murmurs that Sprint was about to shake up its leadership, and today it's official. The carrier has named Marcelo Claure, the head of wireless distributor Brightstar, as its new President and CEO. He'll take over from Dan Hesse on August 11th. The company doesn't have a direct explanation for the change, but it does allude to refocusing now that its attempt to buy T-Mobile has gone awry; while it would prefer "industry consolidation," it's only concerned with self-improvement in the short term. How Claure will fare isn't certain. He's known for his entrepreneurial skills and has been involved with Sprint's board for months, but this will be his first time running a provider. He'll have to get up to speed quickly if he wants to reverse the company's ailing fortunes. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Apple reportedly teaming up with Brightstar to start in-store iPhone trade-in program
Bloomberg reports that Apple will be starting an iPhone trade-in program in an effort to increase the uptake of the iPhone 5. According to the always erudite "people with knowledge of the plans," Cupertino has tapped wireless distributor firm Brightstar to help run the exchange program through Apple stores -- allowing customers instantaneous trade-ins instead of having to deal with the endless shipping wait times of online exchanges. We've reached out to Apple for comment, but if the news is true, you can bet that Cupertino isn't likely to confirm it until next week at WWDC.
Sony Xperia S, P and U to visit America, Brightstar to buy the tickets
Sony may be readying the Xperia Ion for US shores, but we haven't heard any news yet on whether the phone-maker's NXT family of phones will ever visit all those states. That's where Brightstar comes in. The wireless distributor has announced that it'll be offering up the Xperia S, P and U -- but hasn't yet offered up any concrete dates or specific markets. This means we may see the three Sony phone appearing on smaller, possibly lesser-known carriers -- Brightstar mentions its "regional and local expertise." The distributor's excitable press release is right below.
