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CBS signs on for programming on Sprint TV
Sprint Nextel is further sprucing up its Sprint TV service by adding content from CBS Broadcasting, according to both companies. CBS will provide live mobilecasts, full episodes and video clips from the CBS network. A rundown of the soon-to-be programming on the Sprint TV-capable handset includes the CBS Evening news, clips from hit shows like CSI and Survivor, daily-updated clips from the Late Show with David Letterman and even clips from classics series like The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy. The goodies CBS will receive in this partnership will allow the network to sell advertising across its programming on the Sprint TV platform. Just fan-bloody-tastic there, Sprint -- can we have a commercial-skipping DVR with that, please?[Via Wirelessinfo.com]
Hands-on with the Samsung Ubicell
While we're all patiently waiting for UMA to go national (any carrier want to step up to the plate here?), Samsung's taking a decidedly different approach to mobile VoIP with its Ubicell product unveiled this week. Carriers are apparently keen on embracing it, too, with Sprint planning on offering it later this year at a to-be-determined price. We had a chance to check it out this morning, and it looks decent enough; it's reasonably small and it won't stand out in most decor (especially if you can just set it next to your wireless router). The craziest feature might be the integrated GPS that -- get this -- locks you out if you try to get all clever and take the Ubicell outside of US territory. In other words, Sprint has no interest running a femtocell in, say, Madagascar.%Gallery-2339%
Sprint gets rugged with Sanyo SCP-7050
Nextel tends to get the lion's share of the beat-'em-up handsets in Sprint-Nextel's stable, but that's not to say the Sprint side of the equation doesn't have a few heavy duty customers of its own. The freshly announced SCP-7050 (or simply "7050," if you will) from Sanyo rocks mil spec 810F compliance for dust, shock, and vibration resistance -- and eschews the oft-banned camera -- for those all-work-and-no-play types out there. Besides the ruggedized shell, major features include dual displays, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and GPS that can continue to track without a signal from the overlords at Sprint. Look for it to hit in early April for $150 on a two-year contract.[Thanks, Brandon]
Sprint fills in a few more WiMAX deets
Ever since Sprint promised to blanket 100 million people with WiMAX by the end of 2008, we've been wondering just who exactly those people would be. Well, in addition to a few other specifics, Sprint is finally coming clean about nineteen of those markets. The promised cities are as follows: Motorola is prepping service for Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Minneapolis; Samsung will develop Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Washington D.C.; and Nokia will work on Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Seattle. There'll be more location info to come, but that should get us started nicely. Sprint is still promising the limited initial launch by the end of 2007, and that 100 million target for the 2008, but also has an April '08 goal for launching a "number" of markets. Today Sprint is also announcing that Samsung, ZTE and ZyXEL will be building WiMAX modems of the PC card, ExpressCard, USB and built-in varieties, and Sprint is also launching a new "WiMAX Device and Chipset Ecosystem" program for getting as many manufacturers on board as possible. Sprint says they'll be showing off Mobile WiMAX at its CTIA booth this week, so we'll be sure and peep what they've got.
Sprint announces Samsung UpStage, 99 cent songs over the air
As expected, Sprint has announced the SPH-m620 "UpStage" dual-faced musicphone today, giving Sprint a decided "wow" factor in its lineup -- for the moment, at least. Manufacturers seem to be turning to unusual form factors in an effort to gain some differentiation in a crowded high-end and specialty phone marketplace, and the UpStage fills the bill nicely with a full side devoted to traditional phone activities -- "calls, text messaging, and contact management" to use Sprint's verbage -- while the entirety of the flip side takes the form of a traditional MP3 player; a button press switches between sides. Naturally, the phone offers a microSD slot for up to 2GB of external storage, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and stereo Bluetooth, while an included 3.5mm jack adapter lets folks use more traditional headsets if they so choose; even cooler, incoming calls are announced via text-to-speech while you're jamming out. Also included is a Music Manager app for sideloading tunes to the phone via USB and a unique "battery wallet" boosting the phone's stamina for playing music up to a solid 16 hours or 6.3 hours of talk time (up from 2.5 hours talk time without) -- you sacrifice a bit of girth from the phone's normal, svelte 1.73 x 4.07 x 0.37 inch form, but for music junkies, the tradeoff may be worth it. Simultaneously with the phone's release in early April, Sprint will be offering 99 cent over the air (nice!) music downloads good on its entire Music Store catalog, which we reckon is just perfect for a phone of the UpStage's nature. Look for it to hit shelves for $149 on a two-year agreement with a $50 rebate available.%Gallery-2281%
Samsung m620 to be christened "UpStage" for Sprint
So it won't be called the "Flipper" or the "Ultra Music" -- no, it seems Sprint wanted a name all its own for the very unique m620 musicphone from Samsung. When it launches at CTIA this week, the two-faced handset will get slapped with the name "UpStage," which in our opinion really doesn't convey the craziness of the phone's form factor appropriately -- but does give a nod to its unusually strong audio capabilities. As the Flash presentation points out, the UpStage's key features include touch-sensitive music controls, a 1.3 megapixel cam (which is shared with the phone side's face), stereo Bluetooth, built-in speakers for rockin' out the old-fashioned way, and microSD expansion. We're hoping that everyone is going to be able to waltz into their friendly local Sprint store in the next few days and pick up an UpStage of their own, but either way, expect some serious hands-on action from the floor of CTIA![Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint bundles TeleNav with data
For some data subscribers, Sprint's TeleNav-sourced navigation service just got a little more accessible. The Power Vision "Ultimate Pack" and "Business Pack" bundled data packages now include unlimited nav use -- great for folks prone to getting hopelessly lost on a regular basis -- instead of paying for it a la carte. An entirely new package, Power Vision "Navigation Pack," also includes unlimited use plus the usual suspects (unlimited on-device data, mobile email, and so on, but don't even think about tethering) for $20 / month. Not worried about losing your bearings daily? Subscribers to any other Sprint data pack can now get their nav on for $2.99 per 24-hour period, too.
Sprint dropping Sirius streaming music?
When Sprint added some popular Sirius satellite radio channels to its streaming data customer packages years ago, it seemed like a great solution for those that like low-fidelity satellite radio through those (at the time) 1xRTT handsets. When Sprint's EV-DO handsets started shipping, Sirius was right there as usual but sounded the same (read: not that good). Those music channels did suffice in a pinch, but the value was just not there. Well, Sprint must have finally realized this, as a recent billing insert to customers states that Sirius streams will be going away in favor of 10 new genre-themes music channels, though no date was given on when the change / transition will take place. Could those eye-squinting Sprint Movies be on the chopping block next?
Sprint launches Samsung m620 teaser site (we think)
We think we've got a pretty good -- nay, perfect -- idea of what this is, but Sprint's doing its darndest to keep us all guessing about its upcoming handset that's "redefining flip." We can't really say we blame them; Samsung's curiuous two-sided musicphone is pretty innovative even on a bad day, and it's likely in Sprint's best interest to ride the hype for everything it's worth here. Anyway, the latest marketing antic has us looking at an official countdown to the Samsung "Flipper" m620's reveal at CTIA (at least, that's our best guess as to what's going on here) toward the end of this month -- a phone Sprint promises will offer "a perfect trifecta of voice, music, and unique, stylish form-factor." Their words, not ours, but if the buzz the m620's GSM cousin has been generating translates well to the CDMA version, they may not be too far off the mark.[Thanks, tuolumne]
Sprint adding Treo "755p" mid-year?
Remember that Palm "Sherlock" Sprint talked up in its 1H '07 roadmap? Looks like we might be finally developing some concept of what it is -- and if the rumors are right, Palm OS fans have cause to celebrate. We've now received several independent tips (in addition to the Brighthand article here) suggesting that Sprint and Palm are prepping a so-called "755p" to re-up the 700p that's been kicking around for a while. Details are thin, but the model should lack an aerial (a la the pictured 680) and rock EV-DO data -- and as the "p" in the model number suggests, Garnet OS is in the cards. Brighthand is liking May 14 for a release date, which is a little earlier than our roadmap was showing for the Sherlock. But hey, if it wants to pop in a month early, we're totally cool with that.
Palm to serve up "ultra thin" WiMAX smartphone this year?
Plant this firmly in the "unsubstantiated rumor" category and take it with a boulder-sized grain of salt, but there's one thing here we can say with certainty: whether it sells or not, Palm is in desperate need of fresh product. Like, not a new Treo with a little more memory or a slightly better camera -- we mean seriously fresh product. We're sure there are some reasonably smart folk kicking around at Palm that realize the very same thing, and it's only because of that assumption that we're forced to give this rumor some amount of credit. Anyhoo, here's the deal: Sprint will start flipping the switch (wouldn't it be cool if there actually was a giant switch they flipped?) on its WiMAX network later this year, or in a worst case scenario they'll at least be trialling it. Well, ya need product for that new network, right? Palm allegedly is going to swoop in late this year (think October time frame) with an "ultra thin" (tipster's words, not ours) smartphone that'll rock WiMAX out of the box. No word on what platform it'll sport or really any other detail of consequence, but "Palm" and "thin" aren't typically two words you hear in the same sentence, so by the time you throw in some blazing fast data, this could be quite a treat indeed.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
HTC Titan all up in the FCC's business
The existence of HTC's follow up to the venerable Apache comes as a surprise to no one; after all, we've seeing it time and time again. Still, there's some sort of wave of reassurance that washes over us when we see a promised new handset get two thumbs-up from our boys and girls at the Fed. Still no word on exactly when we'll see the device materialize -- which is expected on Sprint and Verizon alike as the PPC6800 and XV6800, respectively -- but this filing should at least clear the path for both carriers to hold to their roadmaps; with EV-DO Rev. A, Bluetooth 2.0, and beefed-up internal storage all in the cards, those roadmaps really can't come quickly enough.
Motorola ic902 iDEN / CDMA hybrid approved by the FCC
Our revealing pals over at the FCC have just approved the Motorola ic902 iDEN / CDMA hybrid handset, which will be the flagship hybrid sold by Sprint Nextel sometime very soon -- we hope. Specs so far include dual color displays with a nice 2.2 inch QVGA main diplay and stereo speakers for that onboard music player. Of course, no iDEN / CDMA handset would be complete without one of those 2 megapixel shooters and a microSD card slot. If you're into the EV-DO world of Sprint but like Nextel's Walkie-Talkie feature (formerly Direct Connect), this may be your new love. Now that it has been approved by the FCC, we expect an announcement from Sprint Nextel -- the question, though, is when?[via phoneArena]
Novatel's Merlin EX720 ExpressCard hits Sprint shelves
The world just became a little less of a cold, dead, meaningless (or at least data-less) wasteland for Sprint customers rocking ExpressCard slots (of either the /34 or /54 variety) thanks to the official release of Novatel's Merlin EX720 modem on Sprint's website. Riding atop Sprint's glorious EV-DO Rev. A airwaves, the EX720 should deliver up to 1.4Mbps down and 500kbps up to virtually any ExpressCard-equipped device that needs it (MacBook Pros included), provided that the requisite $179.99 (after contract and rebates) has been forwarded to the appropriate bean counters over at your network. We can almost picture Cingular and T-Mobile folks seething -- for what it's worth, we feel your pain -- but hey, Sprintheads, go get your WWAN on.
Nokia and Qualcomm ready to play nice because of WiMax?
Qualcomm and Nokia, the two heavyweight fighters in a long and drawn out nasty battle over intellectual property rights are possibly burying the hatchet (just not in each other's backs.) Both companies are having a press conference along with Sprint Nextel a week from tomorrow (Feb. 28). Now, when you get Qualcomm and Sprint Nextel together, nothing seems out of place. Inject Nokia in there and there is something afoot -- but what? With Sprint Nextel committed to WiMax for its 4G plans and Nokia shaking hands with Sprint Nextel on that turf, maybe Nokia and Qualcomm are close to shaking hands in some form after years of issues that left Nokia holding an expensive but worthless 1xRTT bag of, well, nothing. Maybe WiMax will be the glue that reseals that relationship.
Sprint bailing on VUE, MediaFLO?
Just days after AT&T announced it had selected Qualcomm's MediaFLO to power its upcoming mobile TV network, it sounds like Sprint's moving in quite the opposite direction. Despite a promising (or promising sounding, anyway) trial last fall -- heck, they even had the "VUE" name picked out -- the company is shelving any immediate plans to move forward with a MediaFLO-based service of its own. Though we're always sad to see a promising new tech get pushed back, a part of us is reveling in the fact that Qualcomm might yet fail to secure a lock on the American mobile TV market in the face of its biggest competitor -- DVB-H -- and its stateside backers, Modeo and Hiwire. So for the meanwhile, it sounds like Sprint joins the ranks of T-Mobile in the "watch Lost while you're driving" department: all trial, no action. Does Verizon stand to gain from the chaos?[Via MocoNews]
Bank of America to introduce m-banking
Are you one of those early adopters (of course you are, 'cause we are too) that wants to take care of your banking over your beloved cellphone? Well, the largest bank in the good ol' USA -- Bank of America -- is about to roll out a mobile banking service to all of its 21 million online banking customers pretty soon according to reports. From the wires, "Subscribers to the free service will be able to use their cell phones and smartphones when they're on-the-go to check account balances, pay bills and transfer money." Sweet -- so whip out that WM5 (or WM6) phone or standard wireless handset and get those bills paid -- although the PR mentions just four carriers -- Verizon Wireless, Sprint-Nextel, Cingular AT&T and T-Mobile. We knew it would be hard to let the Cingular brand go, and Bank of America is with us. Will this service compete with Cingular / Citi's offering, though? Of course.[via Textually.org]
Sprint boosts protection plan fee, early out for contracts?
Major carriers' contracts have had the sticking power of Teflon lately, what with everyone suddenly deciding that 15 cents is the fair market value for text messages (no price fixing there, of course). Sprint's about to open the floodgates one more time, though -- this time with a bump to the monthly fee for its TEP (Total Equipment Protection) plan. The service goes from $6 to a whopping $7 on February 18 for both new and existing subscribers, giving folks partaking in the plan one more 30-day window to jump ship penalty-free and move to greener pastures (perceived or actual). Samsung i760, anyone?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Update: We're getting intermittent reports that this price hike may not lead to a get-out-of-jail-free card, possibly due to the fact that the TEP is not managed by Sprint proper but by a third party. As with past ETF skating opportunities, mileage often varies from day to day and from customer service rep to customer service rep; ultimately, we may not know until February 18 rolls around and reports start filtering in from the field whether folks are having any luck.
BlackBerry worldphone coming to Sprint
It looks like the long-rumored GSM / CDMA hybrid variant of the BlackBerry 8700 series might find itself a home on Sprint later this year. We didn't see it in the alleged 1H '07 product pipeline earlier today, but a tipster noticed a document describing Sprint's marketing partnership with the Super Bowl floating all willy-nilly on the official Super Bowl XLI site -- and lo and behold, it reveals that a "global BlackBerry" is waiting in the wings featuring EV-DO, GSM, and a GPS receiver, to boot. Granted, we don't know that this will be an 8700-based product, but we can say with some certainty that there are hybrid 8700s kicking around, so it's a logical move. Don't get us wrong, we're pulling for an 8800 here, but we're trying our best to stay realistic until we see something a little more solid than an ominous silhouette on Super Bowl paraphernalia. [Warning: PDF link][Thanks, Brandon]
Hands-on with Sprint's 1H '07 roadmap?
Authenticity is tough to verify here, but what we've heard from an inside source here regarding Sprint Nextel's launch estimates for the first half of the new year -- including some devices that have already hit the streets -- seems totally plausible, if not probable. Samsung's been tapped to provide three: the m300 "Vivace," m510 "Fantasy" (apparently a minor update to the m500), and -- most interestingly -- the m620 "Flipper," which we've now heard from multiple sources will be a CDMA version of the nifty F300 Ultra Music Edition, scheduled to launch with Sprint on April 1. Sanyo brings a total of five to the party, two of which have already launched: the 3200, 7000, 7050, Katana II (hopefully sporting EV-DO this time), and M1. Sierra Wireless and Novatel will team up to bring three more data devices to market, the 595U, 597E, and Express (the XV620, we're guessing?). Moto's on the hook for three devices, the Q (wow, we haven't heard it called "Franklin" in ages) and a pair of iDEN / CDMA hybrids, the ic502 and ic902. Rounding out the offerings will be the 6800 -- an HTC Titan variant -- and the previously-unmentioned Palm Sherlock (a CDMA version of the 680 or 750, we'd wager). Not a bad lineup considering this all theoretically goes down in the first six months of the year, eh?[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
