sprint

Controlling interest in Sprint Nextel has been purchased for $20.1 Billion by the Japanese mobile operator, Softbank. The announcement came today at a Tokyo press conference and represents the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.

Softbank will invest $20.1 billion into Sprint with $12.1 billion to be distributed to Sprint Stockholders and $8 billion of new capital to strengthen Sprint's balance sheet and fund efforts to expand Sprint's network reach.

Good night, sweet prince: HTC Arrrive 2011-2012

We reported a few weeks ago that Sprint threw down the flag on the venerable HTC Arrive, giving the device end-of-life (EOL) status.  Now tonight, we can sadly report that Sprint has all but wiped the device from its online site, making the Arrive officially a has-been. Store availability is expected to be very limited with only replacement devices available for order.

Launched in March 2011 the Arrive was Sprint’s only Windows Phone offered on the CDMA network and the only other Windows Phone with a horizontal physical keyboard (the other being the LG Quantum), carving itself a nice little niche for itself. Though slightly bulky with an underwhelming LCD screen (as was common with Gen 1 devices), the phone has a loyal following and some of the highest satisfaction ratings from customers...

With AT&T, T-Mobile and even Verizon reportedly on board with Windows Phone 8, Sprint is the last holdout for a major US carrier in supporting Windows Phone 8. While some of our readers erroneously entertain notions that the carrier will embrace Microsoft’s next iteration of their OS, we’ve been very cautious in agreeing.

In a recent interview on All-Things D, Sprint VP David Owens is once again pouring some cold water on customer’s hopes for a big Windows Phone 8 push this fall. The carrier has 90% of their late 2012-2013 lineup already in place but what role Microsoft will play in that in unclear.

Speaking to Ina Fried, Owens notes that they are interested in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 but they may not be the leader this fall...

Chris Weber, president of Nokia’s North America unit, is at it again, teasing us with the possibility of seeing Nokia Windows Phone devices on all of the major carriers across North America.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Weber reiterated comments that he made back in January, when he said that the key to Nokia's comeback would be offering "unique propositions" to each carrier so they can set their phones apart from the iPhones and Androids of the world. Weber shared,

“We’re back in the U.S., we’re back in Canada -- it’s exciting, but there’s more work to do.”

Nokia's partnership with AT&T has been hugely successful for the Lumia 900, and others to a lesser extent. The Lumia 710 is on T-Mobile now, but it is rumored that a Lumia 910, a slightly-modified version of the 900 with a 12MP camera, is headed there as well. Verizon Wireless is also rumored to be getting a Nokia handset as well.

While Weber's words of building special relationships with different carriers are certainly encouraging, these deals still need to come to fruition, so temper your expectations. While Weber didn't get into any specifics on what work is to be done, don't expect to see any carrier get some completely new and different device that nobody else has.

Heck, we'd be happy enough just to see Verizon and Sprint step up and get any Nokia phones at all.

Source: Bloomberg

This isn't the first time we've seen the LG Windows Phone LS831.  It's appeared on WP Bench and we first caught wind of the device being at the FCC back in October 2011 but only had the FCC ID label to show for it.  There's even some speculation this is the LG Fantasy.  Now we have pictures (doesn't look like the leaked pics of the Fantasy) and more information that could make the LS831 Sprints new Windows Phone.

FCC documentation on the LG LS831 indicates this Windows Phone support CDMA in the EMSR 800MHz band. A band used by Sprint.  The LG Windows Phone also supports the 1900MHz CDMA band.  Along with the banding, you also have a Sprint/Nextel Waiver included in the FCC Documentation that ties the mysterious device to Sprint.  

As far as device specs, beyond the 5mp camera everything else seems to be a bit of a mystery.

The LS831 appears to have a front facing camera and the screen size could be, what?  Four inches?  There is mention of a microSD card slot in the owners manual along with instructions on how to check available storage and formatting your microSD card.  But based on the side images, I don't see a microSD card slot exposed. Maybe under the hood?

The LS831 definitely sparks interest with all the Sprint connections.  That and it's nice to see LG still working on Windows Phones. Could this be Sprints next Windows Phone?  Or could the LS831 swing in Verizon's direction?

source: FCC via: Phonescoop; thanks, mamacita42, for the tip!

File this under odd and speculation, but possible.

The Sprint HTC Arrive has received some love in the in the form of updates--both Mango and a previous security-fix. But as of late, Sprint has bee quite silent on the device and overall not too keen on Windows Phone.

In the Sprint Arrive help forums, a moderator/Sprint tech named Tom Deaver has posted in the past that the HTC Arrive does not support tethering aka phone-as-modem and therefore will not be getting that enabled anytime soon. Obviously, this was false but it was posted way back in November.

Today, two curious things happened though:

1. Tom Deaver edited his post today and crossed out the "does not support" section
2. He wrote a new post which simply said "Re: ICS/Hotspot/Tethering? We appreciate your feedback.  Stay tuned to the Arrives' forum for any updates to a software maintenance release."

We agree with reader Todd M. who forwarded us the thread at Sprint--this does seem curious. Why would Tom both edit his post from November and add that note about a "software maintenance release"? Could the Sprint Arrive be on the verge of an update? Perhaps, but we're about 50/50 on the matter at this point. Tom could also just be revisiting old topics and giving the old company line. After all, he did leave in the part that says "Sprint will not offer a phone as modem option or tethering for this device." (We should also point out that Sprint TV & Movies app was just updated too.). Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Source: Sprint Community Forums; Thanks, Todd, for the heads up

Waiting for Sprint to introduce a new Windows Phone? I wouldn't expect anything too soon.

Sprint's Vice President of Product Realization David Owens let it be known that while the wireless carrier is bulking up its LTE lineup it will be with Android devices for now. Sprint may take another chance at Windows Phone in the August-September time frame.

"We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire. We told Microsoft: You guys have to go build the enthusiasm for the product."

Owens also stated the the number one reason the HTC Arrive, Sprint's only Windows Phone, was returned was the user experience. Sprint's Director of Product Development Lois Fagan added,

"We want to participate in the market, but we can't build that brand by ourself. We're cautiously optimistic, but [Windows Phone] just hasn't taken off."

The news shouldn't be much of a shocker. While the Arrive has been on Sprint for some time, Sprint has done very little to promote the Windows Phone platform.  Android devices, on the other hand seem to be centerpiece of their ad campaigns. Can anyone remember any Windows Phone commercials from Sprint?

While Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers should do their part in promoting Windows Phone devices, but Sprint needs to step up to the plate as well. 

source: pcmag; Thanks, Brianna, for the tip!

Postscript: Just received a tip from a reader suggesting we look at the HTC Arrives ratings over at Sprint.com.  It makes you wonder where Owens is seeing poor user experience?

Thanks, venom5150, for the tip!

It was less than two weeks ago that we told you that Sprint made the HTC Arrive the posterboy for their trade-in program for people to upgrade to the iPhone.  Then, two days after the story (not that we're taking credit) they changed their mind, thinking that the Arrive may be a handset worthy of holding onto (the same cannot be said for the LG Lotus Elite). 

Now, in the latest edition of Sprint Connection, they are actually promoting it.  The caption praises the Arrive, now with WP 7.5, as a great tool for business owners, touting it's ability to stay connected to people and easily take notes using the text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities.

Like we said, we're not saying we had anything to do with this, but it sure is refreshing to see Sprint give props to its only WP7 phone, and one of the better first generation WP7 phones across the board.

Source: Sprint (Thanks for the tip, Mike!)

It's the last major feature that differentiates Sprint from its competitors, but according to DSLReports, Sprint may be slowly moving towards killing off their unlimited data service. As more and more of their users have picked up smart devices on the US network, Sprint has made big changes every few months to their policies regarding unlimited data, and it looks like only time stands in the way of the company making that final decision to axe this unique offering (something the other major carriers did long ago).

Sprint hasn't said anything officially about this yet, but their actions are clear. First they added a $10 monthly fee to all 4G data users, then they capped their mobile hotspot subscribers to 5GB a month. Two days ago Sprint made another announcement via their website, saying that this data cap is expanding to include everything from tablets to netbooks to USB cards and beyond starting in November. The only thing left untouched is your average smartphone.

While Sprint has been gaining new subscribers over the last year from its one-of-a-kind unlimited data plan, the company continues to struggle to gain much of a financial profit. It may not be happening just yet, but here in the next year we may well see Sprint make a final decision and join the other carriers in capping their service, since they obviously aren't beating them yet. It's all speculation at this point, but from looking at the series of events up until now, that assumption just can't be helped.

As of right now, there are only a few Sprint WP7 device owners out there, but if you're one of them, this likely isn't the best news to hear. What do you take from all of this? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Sprint; Via: DSLReports