- April 1st, 2008, 11:41 pm
#168404
Hey Sly, looks like I'll be switching phones again in June! I've heard all the rumors before saying this and that will be better than the Iphone but finally I havent read many reviews that disagree with that statement made by Sprint.
Not to mention now that a lot are switching to the unlimited plan you can use this phone as a wireless modem for your laptop using the EVDO system as well as WiMax (currently testing in Chicago and Washington D.C.)
Not to mention now that a lot are switching to the unlimited plan you can use this phone as a wireless modem for your laptop using the EVDO system as well as WiMax (currently testing in Chicago and Washington D.C.)
By DAVID HO
Cox News Service
Published on: 04/01/08
Sprint Nextel Corp. sought to reverse its recent troubles Tuesday, unveiling with fanfare an iPhone-like handset and reaffirming its support for a next-generation wireless Internet technology.
Chief Executive Dan Hesse, speaking to the wireless industry at its annual convention, said No. 3 Sprint is positioning itself to become "the wireless company of the future."
Sprint
(ENLARGE)
Sprint executives reportedly said the Instinct, which goes on sale in June, will be less expensive than the iPhone, which starts at $399.
BUSINESS
Hesse said nothing in his keynote speech about recent reports that Sprint has been trying to get top cable companies to help the carrier deploy a WiMax network. That wireless technology offers speeds akin to cable modems or digital subscriber lines with range much greater than Wi-Fi.
However, Hesse emphasized his support for the service, called Xohm. He said it will give Sprint a two-year market advantage over its rivals in deploying a next-generation high-speed network.
It was the new Sprint Instinct handset made by Samsung that made a big splash at the show on Tuesday. Sprint plans a massive marketing campaign.
"This is an answer to the iPhone," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst based in Atlanta. "We started to see answers to the iPhone come out last year. Those devices were good, but we knew they were just the first wave. This is the next wave."
Kagan said that for Sprint to turn itself around, it will have to find a way to excite wireless customers as it did years ago when camera phones first appeared.
The Instinct handset "looks like something Sprint can ride to success this year," he said. "Every year there's a hot phone. This could be it."
Hesse didn't mention Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone by name, but it was clearly the rival to beat.
He said the Instinct "is like no other touch-screen phone. Period. None are faster. None have more content pre-loaded."
Sprint executives say the Instinct, which goes on sale in June, will be "significantly less expensive" than the iPhone, which starts at $399, said Avi Greengart, research director of mobile devices for Current Analysis.
"For the last few years, Sprint hasn't had a compelling marketing message," he said. "They intend to use the Instinct as a showcase."
The Instinct features a 3.1-inch touch screen with three dedicated buttons on the bottom: phone, back and home. It uses vibrating "tactile feedback" to make it easier to navigate with fingers.
The handset lacks the iPhone's multi-touch abilities, which allow people to use multiple fingers to do things like zooming in and out of photos.
However, the Instinct does have features not found on the iPhone.
It uses Sprint's fastest available wireless network, providing faster online access than the iPhone. A faster iPhone is reportedly in the works, but for now it runs on an older and slower AT&T network.
The Instinct also uses Global Positioning System technology for location-based services. The iPhone pulls off similar tricks by using wireless networks to determine an approximate location.
Sprint's announcements come after some hard months for the Reston, Va.-based company. The carrier said in January that it would cut about 4,000 jobs and close 125 stores to save up to $800 million a year in labor costs this year.
Sprint has struggled with a lower stock price and fewer new customers compared to its rivals in the last year. The carrier had 53.8 million subscribers at the end of 2007.
Sprint in December replaced Chief Executive Gary Forsee with Dan Hesse, former CEO of Embarq Corp, a local phone company and Sprint spin-off.
"They got off track during the last few years," Kagan said. "The new CEO is fixing Sprint. He's spent the last few months cutting some senior executives, eliminating many locations, getting the budget under control. This is a process that's going to take a while."
Many of Sprint's woes began when it acquired Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005, a merger that left the company struggling to reconcile incompatible networks.
The company also faces problems because of many Sprint poor-credit customers who now may be having trouble paying their bills.
The problems have raised doubts about Sprint's WiMax effort.
Sprint plans a commercial launch this year and the service is deployed for testing with Sprint employees in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
News reports last week said Sprint and the wireless Internet provider Clearwire Corp. were negotiating with cable and technology companies to form an alliance behind the service.
Comcast Corp. may put up to $1 billion into the WiMax project, with Time Warner Cable kicking in $500 million, the reports said, citing unidentified sources. Other potential partners mentioned include Intel Corp. and Google Inc.
Sly Fox wrote:In my experience with the Falwell family over the past 30+ years, they have never been shy about stating what they believe and standing by it. If anything it should be on their family crest.
- By LU Armchair coach
- By Ill flame
- By Sly Fox