Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Samsung, Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, CDMA

Quick: what’s the diff between the two flips on the left? Very good, one’s branded T-Mobile and the other wears a Sprint badge. The SPH-M500 for Sprint (pictured left) and SGH-T619 for T-Mob (center) are virtual dead ringers for one another, the only obvious difference being that the T619 sports GSM with EDGE data, while the M500 is a CDMA piece with EV-DO. Other notable specs include dual color displays, 1.3-megapixel shooter (“notable” might be a stretch there), and a microSD slot. Moving to moderately more interesting Sprint equipment, we told ya about the A720 a while back — and thanks to our pals at the FCC, we no longer need to go cross-eyed looking at shoddy cameraphone pics of this thing. The squarish clamshell is clearly music-oriented thanks to external controls (touch-sensitive, no less) and A2DP — a viable alternative for folks turned off by the name of LG’s Fusic.

Read – SGH-T619 for T-Mobile and SPH-M500 for Sprint
Read – SPH-A720 for Sprint

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Filed under: Multimedia, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

Just in time for the playoff race to heat up, Sprint’s inked a deal with Major League Baseball to provide every — yes, every — major league game via streaming audio to Vision and Power Vision-enabled handsets. What’s more, each game will be available via both team’s flagship stations in addition to a Spanish feed. Called “Gameday Audio,” the service will run ya $5.99 and should be available this month. Now just throw in a little A2DP, maybe some Sirius for entertainment during the seventh-inning stretch, and you’ve got yourself a pretty wicked setup for baseball on the move.

[Via PhysOrg.com]

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Filed under: Sprint-Nextel, CDMA, Misc

The endless barrage of legal fallout resulting from Sprint Nextel’s merger continues, the latest onslaught coming from iPCS, a Sprint affiliate operating throughout much of the Midwest. According to Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, the merger violated Sprint’s agreement with iPCS to not infringe on their territory (a common theme in affiliates’ lawsuits) and is demanding that Sprint file a plan for divesting itself of its Nextel operations in Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Nebraska by September 6. Naturally, Sprint intends to appeal “vigorously,” though as in so many other cases, an acquisition ultimately seems possible — if not probable.

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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Sprint-Nextel, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

The 700wx looks to be trickling into Sprint retail locations as we speak, and it seems everything we’ve been told about the device so far has been spot-on: it really is bound for Sprint, the addition of the “x” to the name is legit, and it rocks double the RAM (much to the chagrin of plain ol’ 700w users everywhere), though we weren’t necessarily expecting the big, scary floating head on the box. Still no solid word on an official availability date, but stores who’ve received them have apparently been instructed to keep them under lock and key until Sprint proper starts offering them, meaning the previously-reported August 27 date for business customers still seems perfectly plausible. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a Treo 750 rumor mill to attend to.

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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: Multimedia, Reviews, Sprint-Nextel

It seems like staring at a sub-3 inch display for hour upon hour could prove to be a punishing experience, which is exactly what Sprint is asking bleeding-edge customers to do with their new Sprint Movies service — but in practice, how does it pan out? LAPTOP Magazine spent a few minutes straining their way through Spiderman 2 on an SPH-A900 and found that the image quality and sound synchronization were both surprisingly good; in fact, it sounds like they’d actually have come away with a positive recommendation if it weren’t for the fact that the viewer is restricted to an approximately 1-inch area of the phone’s screen. Obviously, the screen’s small enough as is, so we share LAPTOP’s sentiment that Sprint needs to maximize the available real estate and provide a full-screen player if they’re actually going to go through with this (especially at $4-6 a pop). Otherwise, they saw the occasional (expected) dropout, but came away with the belief that this might all actually make for a compelling product one or two iterations down the road. If true, we’re hoping California drivers don’t start feeling the urge to catch a flick on the 10.

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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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Filed under: Multimedia, Sprint-Nextel

Despite some evidence that mobile TV isn’t the coolest thing since Elvis in consumers’ eyes, carriers are pressing on with efforts to build out their made-for-mobile video offerings. Most recently, Sprint has announced its Power View network of sports programming, and the use of the term “network” is surprisingly appropriate here — most, if not all of the content will be produced specifically for Power View, with a full 15 camera crews shooting on-location footage of sports events. A host of big-name anchors are filming weekly segments, too, and any handset compatible with Sprint TV will be able to rock the new service at no charge. Let us see the action full-screen (that goes for Sprint Movies, too) and you can count us in.

[Via MobileTracker]

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Filed under: Handsets, Sanyo, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, CDMA

No this isn’t what a mobile phone would look like in an A-HA! video. (Actually, it is, but that’s not really the point.) Pictured here is the best eye candy Sanyo saw fit to provide the FCC of its upcoming SCP-7000 for Sprint, a phone that SprintUsers suggests will debut on November 5 for $180. Not much else is known, but it should be a ruggedized version of the SCP-2400 (hey, isn’t that Nextel’s job?) with the same parental controls, Ready Link, speakerphone, and customizable faceplates.

[Via phoneArena]

Read – SprintUsers
Read – FCC

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA, Misc

We hate to see a nifty technology like FOTA (firmware over-the-air) getting such a bad rap early on in the game, but in the same breath, our mommies always told us “measure twice, cut once” — and we think that’s an eminently appropriate adage in the aftermath of Sprint’s recent attempt to re-up Fusics already in the field. It seems the firmware update, pushed just a couple days ago to customers’ handsets, quickly and efficiently bricked each and every one of them. The whole situation is a full order of magnitude more frightening than Nokia’s similar experience with the E70, seeing how Nokia’s update was optional and at least required the user to manually perform the upgrade. Naturally, Sprint’s pulled the bogus firmware and is offering a free replacement to affected customers, but it’s still a shame that they’ve cost Fusic owners a trip to the Sprint Store.

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

As expected, Sprint has come forth today with their very own SLVR from Motorola, the L7c — the latest in a barrage of popular Moto products conspicuously missing from Sprint’s lineup until just very recently. The announcement is particularly notable for two reasons; first and foremost, Sprint’s press release marks the first carrier introduction of the CDMA SLVR anywhere. The more interesting secondary story here, though, is that Sprint has finally beaten Verizon to the punch in announcing an anticipated handset — music to the ears of Sprint customers that have watched their carrier sit idly by as their rival scoops hotness after hotness. Sprint hasn’t yet announced pricing or availability for the L7c, but now that they’ve laid their… uh, SLVRs out on the table, we’re thinking it won’t be long now.

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