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Sprint Guardian now available, allows parents to limit texting and keep tabs on a kid's location
Sprint Guardian has been in the oven for some time now -- we actually heard about it during our interview with John Tudhope and David Owens at CTIA 2012 -- but now, at long last, the service is available. Concerned parents nationwide can locate Guardian on "many" Sprint Android-powered phones through the Sprint Zone. The program itself features apps from Safely and Lookout, enabling parents to "protect their phone-carrying children through location checks and limits on texting while driving or at school." In other words, you can prevent a child's phone from being able to call or text whilst the user is driver, and lost phones can be located more easily. Naturally, such luxuries don't come free: Sprint Mobile Controls, Sprint Drive First and Sprint Family Locator are available as a Family Safety bundle for $9.99 per month for up to five lines on the same account. Or, you know, just give your youngin' a Hamilton each month for not acting like a lunatic with phone in hand.
Sprint launches New Ventures arm, adapts ID and Zone apps for foreign markets
Like any money-hungry corporation, Sprint's branching out to pursue greener (as in the color of dolla dolla bills) pastures. The Hesse-led co's just announced the creation of its New Ventures unit, an overseas- and wholesale-focused entity which is set to expand upon Android's rapidly growing user base to generate some lucrative B2B handshakes with manufacturers and foreign operators. First up on the organization's plate is the white labeled extension of the company's branded apps, now nestled under the carrier agnostic Mobile ID and Mobile Zone monikers. Those software packs will function much like they do here in the US, offering subs a pre-selected assortment of skins containing applications, ringtones and wallpapers, in addition to a centralized hub for account management. No word yet on what international partners have signed up for the licensed service, but with Mobile World Congress only a few days away, we're sure those necessary details will be forthcoming.
Mobile Miscellany: week of January 30th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This week, we've spotted a leaked Android 4.0.4 ROM for the Nexus S 4G, and we've also come across a price and release date for the Droid 4. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride. Let's explore the "best of the rest" for this week of January 30th, 2012.
