Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, CDMA

If the i880 wasn’t really doing anything for you when it surfaced in the wild, perhaps this here i885 will. Motorola’s upcoming halo iDEN devices will see service on both Nextel and Boost, sporting pleather and faux snakeskin exteriors — pick your poison — and a trick button-operated flip mechanism. (If they’re going to get creative with case designs on us, we can only hope they deep-sixed the standard Nextel “beep beep” while they were letting those creative juices flow.) Besides minor cosmetic differences, the phones’ guts are presumably identical; both should be rocking 2-megapixel shooters, music players, and dual color displays. We’re getting mixed reports on whether these are CDMA hybrids, but even if they aren’t, the pair gives Nextel much-needed love in a market segment they aren’t typically accustomed to servicing.

[Via Mobile Magazine]

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel

Moto sure is giving its iDEN-only product line a healthy sendoff before CDMA hybrid handsets start to drop later this year. Besides the upcoming high-end i880 and the virtually indestructible (we’ll eat those words, we’re sure) i580, Nextel looks to shore up their low end by adding the i670, a basic clamshell whose main selling point appears to be its “color display.” Of course, no-frills is a big selling point among some Nextel clientele, so the phone should find its niche. Other features include Direct Talk (off-network walkie talkie) support, speakerphone, and a reasonable $49.99 price tag on two-year contract.

[Via phoneArena]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel

[Via Mobile Whack]

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, CDMA

Filed under: Culture, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, Misc

Reaching deep into its bag of marketing tricks, Motorola is working with Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs to install its i580 iDEN clamshells at Wrigley Field to create the ”League’s first wireless bullpen communication system.” We’re hard-pressed to find the difference between a “wireless bullpen communication system” and “a couple of Nextels mounted on the wall,” but as the name implies, the phones will give managers the capability to get through to the bullpen from the dugout without all those pesky wires that plague traditional systems. Tonight’s game marks the first for the new system, after which the phone used to make the first call will be immortalized for all to see at the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (no, seriously). For the record, the i580 supports Bluetooth, so don’t be surprised if you catch Dusty Baker sporting a chic headset in the dugout.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, EV-DO, CDMA

We have to admit that we're not big fans of the whole push-to-talk thing -- something about that annoying "chirp chirp" followed by both parties repeatedly querying "where you at?" -- so we were naturally a bit disappointed to learn that Sprint-Nextel will begin releasing dual-network phones that only incorporate iDEN functionality to feed people's nasty PTT habit. As we'd heard last month, Sprint-Nextel will start rolling out a series of these iDEN/CDMA with EV-DO Rev. A handsets near the end of the year, and now the first pictures of two models from Motorola have surfaced. Besides their ability to jump on iDEN for walkie-talkie action, nothing really stands out about these devices; they both incorporate the same function-over-fashion design that we've come to know, if not love, from the Nextel-Moto alliance. PCS Intel reports that these two unnamed handsets could go on sale as early as November, for an unknown price, with more feature-filled (read: multimedia-centric) models popping up in the second quarter of next year.

[Thanks, John R.]

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel

If push-to-talk isn’t too sissy for you now that those href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/02/cingular-goes-live-with-push-to-talk/">Cingular kids can do it, Motorola
is prepping a rugged version of their href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/31/motos-i870-antibacterial-widen-phone/">i870 iDEN phone, the i580. The
phone has the same WiDEN connectivity, PTT (of course), Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, and dual displays of the i870,
though the external display on the i580 is a smaller grayscale one. The phone does lose the external MP3 controls,
though it can still play your tunes off of the internal microSD slot. Of course, the main addition is the rubberized
shell and military grade resistance to rain, dust, shock, and vibration that the new handset includes. The i580 should
be available in Q2 of this year for an undetermined price.

[Thanks, Allen]

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Filed under: Boost Mobile, Sprint-Nextel

Where we come from, common sense dictates that you push the products that are doing well for you and dial back the ones that aren’t. Perhaps that’s what separates us from the fancy-pants businessfolk within Sprint’s corporate offices who’ve decided to “slow Boost down quite a bit.” Boost’s been doing extraordinarily well for Sprint, accounting now for some 8% of Sprint Nextel’s customer base — largely because it’s an inexpensive way to get in on Nextel’s iDEN PTT goodness — and therein lies the problem, it seems. With the radio interference iDEN’s had with public safety frequencies, Sprint’s been forced to dial back its total iDEN capacity in some markets, and at the end of the day they’d rather give that limited capacity to their more lucrative Nextel customers than the prepaid Boost crowd. How Sprint ultimately intends to “slow Boost down” remains to be seen, but if you’ve been jonesin’ for an i885, we might suggest you keep your eyes peeled and get it while the gettin’s good.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Boost Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, CDMA

After Sprint’s threat to dial back Boost in favor of its more lucrative Nextel brand, the question begs asking: what’s next for equipment? Anything? Yeah, we’ve got the i885 to look forward to (hopefully), but beyond that, we hadn’t heard much to keep Boost customers excited through the end of the year and into 2007. Fear not, folks. Hot off the tip line, we have a scoop that should restore some of the hope dashed by now-departed COO Len Lauer in his vitriolic comments regarding the young, prepaid iDEN division. First off, we’ve heard that Boost will be adding postpaid options next year, which will interestingly threaten to put it in almost direct competition with sibling Nextel. Second, hybrid iDEN / CDMA devices will launch on Boost in Q1 of 2007, and at least some of them will offer EV-DO. Lastly — drum roll, please — our tipster has seen prototype devices with a distinct “Sidekick appeal,” full QWERTY and all. If this is Sprint’s way of killing a brand, then we’ve gotta say, there are worse fates.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, CDMA

They wouldn’t give us the much anticipated early peek at Motorola’s i880 that we would have liked, but the FCC definitely did pass the phone through with a thumbs up. That, of course, indicates as always that the phone isn’t long for the general market, even though by this point the original market that Sprint-Nextel envisaged a year ago that might be interested in a hybrid CDMA / iDEN device have probably moved on to a regular old CDMA (or — gasp — EV-DO) Sprint handset. Still, we know our place: they make ‘em, we write about ‘em.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel

Nextel’s always seemed to be a solid choice for those whose lot in life involves inflicting brutal damage to their phones. The trend continues with the military-spec i615, a candybar (though the term doesn’t really seem to do this thing justice) that makes up in ruggedness what it lacks in appearance. It comes packing Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and what appears to be a pretty healthy-sized display, but lacks Direct Talk for off-network walkie talkie action. The i615 can be had immediately (before you go and break another handset) for $250 on contract after discounts.

[Thanks, Reemusk]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, CDMA

We knew it would only be a matter of time before Sprint-Nextel got their act together and were going to release the ic502. The handwritting was on the wall from the FCC approval, to the eBay auction for the device pre-launch, and finally to the leaked launch documents stating November 5th. Well it is after November 5th and all, but we think that it’s better late to the party then never. Sprint-Nextel has decided to (finally) launch the hybrid CDMA / iDEN phone, equipping it with a 65k color screen, A-GPS for directions and local searches, walkie talkie functionality via iDEN, and voice service compliments of Sprint’s CDMA network to ease some of the heartache of network capacity.

[Via PhoneArena]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola

Yeah, we knew Motorola was still committed to making old-school car phones — heck, Telus carries one of ‘em — but we still can’t help but chuckle a little when we catch wind of a new one in the pipeline. The latest, dubbed M710, rides on Motorola’s own iDEN, suggesting that it might find its way to Nextel at some point (or not; after all, Telus operates an iDEN network north of the border, as do a good number of carriers across the world). Given the M710’s supposed lease in life as a commercial device, iDEN seems like the perfect fit considering that corporate customers account for an overwhelming majority of their base, but we’re still somehow having a difficult time picturing anyone taking this over an i880.

[Via Slashphone and infoSync World]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.