Sprint Has Something New Tomorrow

UPDATED

Check out the new plan Sprint has. Very interesting!

Any Mobile, Anytime

For only $69.99 per month, Anytime offers up unlimited minutes to any US-based mobile in addition to unlimited data, SMS, MMS, Sprint TV, GPS navigation and more. The catch? You only get 45o minutes of good old fashioned land line calling.

So I'm reading through all of my usual blogs tonight and see this cool little image.




The comments on the different blogs are very interesting. It appears that some Sprint people have commented on the BGR post. Sprint is very pumped about this and continue to claim it will revolutionize the wireless industry.

From the text I'm guessing it's a new plans with great new features. I bet it has something to do with 4G and some type of plan that will allow users to have unlimited data on either 3G or 4G where available. I also think there will be new hardware to show off. New pricing for the existing everything plans would not surprise me either. Oh and they are sending me my HTC Hero tomorrow also. Just kidding. :)


I guess we'll see in the morning when the new hits the interweb.

STAY TUNED

The Next Palm WebOS Device

Palm released information today about their second WebOS device the Pixie. This looks like a Pre without the slider. The QWERTY keyboard is on the front of the device thus reducing the screen size. This device is being compared by some to the Palm Centro. It is a more mainstream device vs a business device. I read a few comments on some of the other blogs and many people are saying they would consider this device over a Blackberry so maybe this device will be a cross over device and be used by both business and non-business users. I really like the look of the device and look forward to seeing one live. Hey Palm send me a tester. :)

Here are the tech specs:
Operating system: Palm webOS™ platform
Network: Sprint Dual-band CDMA2000 3G: EvDO Rev A
Display: 2.63-inch touch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color 320x400 screen resolution Sub-HVGA display
Email: Microsoft® Exchange email with Microsoft Direct Push Technology POP3/IMAP (Yahoo! Mail, Gmail™, AOL, Hotmail®, etc)
Messaging: Integrated IM, SMS, and MMS
GPS: Built-in GPS
Digital camera: 2 megapixel camera with LED flash
Sensors: Ambient light, accelerometer, and proximity
Media formats supported:
Audio Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV
Video Formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264
Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
Memory: 8GB (~7GB user available)4
Connector: MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Headphone jack: 3.5mm stereo
Palm Synergy™: Includes aggregation for Facebook®, Google™, Microsoft® Office Outlook®, Yahoo! Mail, Google Talk™, AIM Instant Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.5
Universal search: Searches user's applications, contacts, dialing information, and web.
Activity cards: Third party7 and ROM applications accessible as movable, multi-view cards.
Palm Services: Includes over-the-air backup, restore, remote erase, and software updates.
Palm Touchstone™ Charging Dock Compatible
Dimensions:
Width: 55.0mm (2.17 inches)
Height: 111.0mm (4.37 inches)
Thickness: 10.85mm (0.43 inches)
Weight: 99.5 grams (3.51 ounces)

Palm Pre is Here

One of these years I'm going to get to CES. You know the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. My favorite PDA/Smartphone company Palm made a major announcement today. There is finally a new Palm OS and a new device. The OS is called Web and works more like a full size PC than a smartphone OS. The device is called the Pre. The device and OS look to be the equivalent of an iPhone Pro with slide out QWERTY and touch screen. The exclusive carrier for the new device is Sprint. Go figure. The device is supposed to be out in the first half of 2009 so expect to see it in June. Please click the Palm link above and go see this thing for yourself. Take a second and read the specs below.

Here are some quick specs.
Cordless charger!
Multi-tasking OS
Touch Screen
8 GB of on board storage
Merge all your contacts from Outlook, Facebook, and other mail services
Merge your calendars and events
Wi-Fi
GPS

3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320x480 resolution HVGA display

3 megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field

The Latest on XOHM

I was in the process of looking for an update on the XOHM WiMAX effort and found this new post on engadget.

Baltimore WiMAX Experience

Thank you for your interest in the Baltimore WiMAX Experience Program sponsored by Intel and XOHM. The XOHM WiMAX network combines broadband and mobility. You get the same broadband internet experience you get at home anywhere in the XOHM coverage area… even on the go. Think of it as the mobile version of the basic DSL or cable internet service.

Should you be selected to participate, you would be among the first to experience XOHM WiMAX service in the Baltimore area and you would be provided with a new Intel Centrino 2 processor technology notebook computer that would be yours to keep in exchange for providing feedback on you experience.
To see if you qualify for this exciting opportunity, please answer the following questions to the best of our knowledge. Please be assured that the information you provide be used only for this program, will be kept confidential, will not be provided to any third parties not involved in this experience program and will not be used for the marketing purposes.

Thanks Darren Murphy at engadget!

AT&T v. Sprint

Sprint and AT&T have released their flagship phones over the past month and I've been doing a lot of research about which new device and plan makes the most sense. I'm currently not under contract so I don't have to worry about an early termination fee, and that's a major consideration. What are the flagship devices?

The two devices are the Instinct manufactured by Samsung that utilizes the Sprint 3G Network, and the iPhone 3G manufactured by Apple that utilizes the AT&T 3G network. Can you compare these devices on an Orange to Orange basis? The answer is yes, but. The Instinct does not have the same quality on the web browser and utilizes miroSecureDigital memory vs built in memory like the iPhone has. The Instict will cost you $129.99 with a two-year contract, and the iPhone will cost you $199 for 8GB (black) and $299 for 16GB (black or white) with a two-year contract required.

What about the plans? Below are the plans copied directly from the respective company websites. AT&T has two components to their plan; 1) Voice + Data(email/Web), 2) Texting add-on




















Sprint Everything Plan












It looks like if you text or talk a lot each month then the Sprint plan is what you need, so you just have to decide if you can live with the not as good web browser and having to buy a 4GB microSD card.

I'm still not convinced that I want the Instinct, but based on the data I'm certainly leaning that direction. I guess I need to go see and use each device before I can really make a decision. If anyone has either or has used both of these devices please leave a comment and let us know which device you prefer.

The New 3G iPhone - It's Here!

The day I have been waiting for is here. July 11 will be the day that the new iPhone is available and I'm all over this one. My time with Sprint has been good, but the day has come to jump ship. There is no device that Sprint has or has coming that can compare to the new iPhone. It's a phone, iPod, Internet Browser, highspeed connectivity available worldwide, GPS, new Application Store, and last but not least Microsoft Exchange integration for the Enterprise users. It will be available in either 8GB or 16GB models with either black or white available in the 16GB version. Check out all the tech specs. This device truely has everything that any mobile business user might need, and you can listen and watch your favorite music/movies/tv shows. Did I mention that TomTom has a GPS solution ready to buy for the new device? It does and Sling Media is working on a SlingPlayer client for the new device with a working prototype already shown to the media. So now the debate will be do I need a physical keyboard I can I use a virtual touch keyboard. For me it's not a hard choice. I can't wait to see what apps will be available at the app store. I guess I need to start researching plans. Bye, Bye Sprint and Palm Treo. Visit the Apple website for all the details and lots of pics.

CTIA Big Announcement Number One

Samsung and Sprint have collaborated to develop what they feel is a true iPhone competitor. This device in many regards is superior to the iPhone because it has GPS and highspeed 3G. Check out the teaser website. Some other great features include:

• 3.1-inch touchscreen phone
• Localized haptic feedback
• Three hard navigation keys
• Visual Voicemail
• 2.0 megapixel camera with 2x digital zoom and video camcorder
• Advanced Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology with audio caller ID
• Access to corporate and consumer (POP3) email including AOL, Gmail and Yahoo!
• Threaded text messaging provides a view of the full conversation
• Full HTML web browser.
  

New Wireless Phones

I have not published any new news about new wireless phones because there really haven't been any new devices launched. However, Blackberry has launched a couple new variations of existing devices. T-Mobile and AT&T have launched the new BlackBerry Pearl 8120 sporting a 2 MP camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, external microSD slot, and Wi-Fi support. T-Mobile has released the BlackBerry 8820 that features: Wi-Fi enabled handset sports GPS, a full QWERTY keyboard, microSD slot, and a whole lot more.

Samsung has launched a device in Korea that is very interesting and I hope it makes it to the States soon.
The Anycall Haptic (model numbers SCH-W420 and SPH-W4200) phone has a 3.2-inch widescreen display, a 2-megapixel digital camera, full Internet browser, Bluetooth 2.0 and terrestrial digital TV reception.
Why is the device named Haptic? The device provides haptic feedback, information transmitted via the sense of touch, when using certain functions on the device. It means, for example, that when the volume of the radio is changed, the phone simulates both the sound and feel of the "clicks" on an old-style volume knob on a real radio, said Samsung.
I like any device that will compete with the iPhone and I'm a fan of Samsung devices, so please bring to over the Pacific.

Here's a rumor courtesy of Ken Dulaney, an analyst with the well-respected Gartner firm.
Apple may have ordered a second round of 10 million iPhones based on the 3G network. Do you know what 3G is?
3G is the closest thing to broadband data connectivity that is currently available to wireless users. High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or (GSM) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. AT&T and T-Mobile both utilize this network technology.
One of the big complaints about the existin iPhone is the lack of a high speed data connectivity. The data connectivity currently available in the iPhone is EDGE which is a 2.5G and is considerably slower than HSDPA. Many observers speculate that one of the reasons why the iPhone did not do well in Europe was because of the lack of a 3G data capability. I will not even consider an iPhone until it includes 3G connectivity.

So there are some new Blackberry models out Samsung launched a new iPhone competitor in Korea and supposedly Apple has started manufacturing of 10 million new iPhones. That's it? Rumor has it that more new device launches will be revealed at the upcoming CTIA Wireless trade show next week. I can't wait.

New Sprint Stuff

Since I am a Sprint "homer" or "fan boy" take your pick as to which nickname you'd like to use, I found this information on phonearena.com pretty interesting. First is that there is supposed to be a launch of the next generation "push-to-talk" functionality on the Sprint network utilizing the QChat product that is a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Push-to-Talk technology developed by Qualcomm in mid April. You might remember back in Oct. 2006 Sprint had a press release announcing that QChat would be deployed and would be interoperable to the Nextel iDEN network; and in 2005 Qualcomm demonstrated QChat at the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association) trade show as it worked with Nextel iDEN network.

Finally after three years the product is set to be launched, or at least four phones featuring QChat capabilities are rumored to be released on April 16.

The first phone is long rumored and even photographed LG device called the LX400 (pictured below). The next two phones are Sanyo models the PRO 700 and PRO 200. Thanks to phonescoop.com for the FCC links for these two devices. The 700 looks to be a "rugged" phone. A fourth phone rumored to be hitting the market place is the Samsung Z400 (picture below) also a "rugged" phone, thanks engadgetmobile.com.



So that's four new devices all utilizing the new QChat functionality and Sprint just in the last few weeks has really been touting the "push-to-x" product family, remember the press release on Feb. 19. It makes me think these new devices will launch with Nextel branding and not just Sprint branding. It only took Sprint 18 months to launch this new capability even though it was demonstrated back in 2005? Why so long you might ask. Well first Sprint had to have EVDO RevA network infrastructure built out to all the towers in the major markets. Then it was tested in each market by employees and select customers. Sprint could not afford to roll out a flop. Sprint has lost so many Nextel customers due to network issues they couldn't afford another network failure. Here we are on the brink of a new era in mobile communication and which company is at the front? Not only that but with Xohm services launching by the end of 2008 I really think Sprint will be turning around and will show growth by Q1 2009.

I almost forgot to mention the other device rumored to be launching on April 16 is the new BlackBerry Curve 8330. AT&T and TMobile offer this device for the GSM crowd, but unlike the GSM version this one will have EVDO which is true 3G. Check out the link here to bbgeeks.com for some pictures of the device. I think I might need to try one of these.... Then again I don't want to pay for the additional blackberry data plan. I'll just stick to my Palm 755.

More on Unlimited Calling Plans

I just finished reading a good AP article about the wireless companies offering unlimited plans and it mentions that T Mobile USA is going to be offering an unlimited plan for $99 and will include text messaging and picture messaging, details to be released on Thursday, Feb. 21. The article also mentions the $119 plan that Sprint has been testing since last May in Twin Cities, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa, Fla. Helio a smaller nationwide carrier, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that utilizes the Sprint network, is also offering a $99 unlimited plan that includes voice, data, texting, web, and picture messaging. Helio also has some really cool handsets. Look for Sprint to announce more markets that will have the chance to subscribe to the new Unlimited Plan. Stay tuned for more news as it comes out.

Sprint Names New CEO

Those of you familiar with Sprint Nextel will recognize the name of the new CEO. He comes from former Sprint local phone carrier Embarq. Yes it's Dan Hesse. Here's an excerpt from the Sprint press release.

Hesse had been chairman and CEO since Embarq's inception in 2006. Prior to the formation of Embarq, he served as CEO of Sprint's Local Telecommunications Division for one year before the spin-off that created Embarq. Hesse previously has spent 23 years at AT&T, including serving between 1997 and 2000 as the president and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, which was then the United States' largest wireless operator.

Mr. Hesse you better get busy because there is a lot of work to do. I wonder if you can make the iDEN network work better or speed up the iDEN to CDMA transition by which I mean the implementation of Qchat? As a shareholder I'm looking forward to seeing what the new vision will be and what it will and will not include. Just don't cancel or scale back that Xohm implementation and launch! Good luck!

XOHM Roll Out

On December 5 PhoneScoop reported that the first XOHM launch was eminent, but I wanted to wait for something a little more official to be published before I covered this. Todays the day! TelephonyOnline has a story from Monday 12/10 with comments from the great XOHM press relations rep John Polivka. Here are some of the details from Mr. Polivka:

The soft launches will cover the downtown cores of Chicago, Baltimore and Washington but will rapidly expand outward, following existing cellular data traffic patterns throughout their respective cities. Though Sprint has set no date for the broader customer trials, Polivka said, Sprint intends to keep the trial short, using it as an opportunity to optimize the network for a full commercial launch in the second quarter.

Please click on the link to the very well written article from Kevin Fitchard on TelephonyOnline. I have submitted my email address to be a beta tester for the service in Dallas, so if I get the opportunity I'll keep everyone posted about this new mobile highspeed internet service. I'd really like an OQO model 2 with a XOHM card to test it out around town, but I won't push my luck.

Gadgets and TV Part II

What do NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL have in common besides the fact that they are major sport conglomerates? I would like to see the NASCAR NEXTEL FanView™ migrate to the other major sports. Wouldn't it be great to have a video/stat view at your NFL venue of choice. Do you even know what the FanView is?
It's a revolutionary, handheld device designed to enhance your entire race experience — from practice and qualifying to full race-day coverage — and offers these features:

• Live race broadcasts
• In-car views from up to seven drivers
• Live driver, race and track stats
• Comprehensive audio coverage of drivers, teams, race officials and radio broadcasts
• New! Watch SPEED's Trackside Live and ESPN's NASCAR Now live on your device!

I imagine uniquely designed shapes for the different sports, so maybe the NFL version would be the shape of a football and MLB would be the shape of a baseball. Time magazine even labeled the FanView as one of the Best Inventions of 2006. There must be some kind of exclusivity clause with NASCAR for FanView, because I'm sure the other sports would love to have another item that people at the games can pay to use. Parking $20; hotdog $5; beer $8; hat $30; FanView rental $50. Why not? Some supporting venues offer free WiFi so why not just provide a device that is wireless and connects to the internet, and includes event content and advertising? Yet another WiMAX possibility that could also utilize EVDO Rev0.

Another utilization of WiMAX was announced by NEC in Japan recently, from Gizmodo; "Just in Japan for now, the NEC Lui is a system designed around a central server that will stream media to any device around the house using WiMAX and Windows Vista."
So instead of utilizing wifi it utilizes WiMAX. It will interesting to see how use of the WiMAX technology is charged to the consumer? Will there be a subscription service like Tivo? Tivo provides content and WiMAX is just a connection to the internet. I can see where Tivo might want to add WiMAX to their devices and then just charge a little more for utilizing that type of connection. Maybe the satellite providers would like to add it to their boxes as well?

So if the Xohm service from Sprint Nextel still happens the gadget crowd will have even more options to choose from.

Gadgets and TV

Ok so the holiday shopping season is in full swing, and everyone is rushing out to purchase their goodies. Top sellers seem to be the Wii and iPods. Is the iPod/iPhone/Touch the most impactful gadget of the 2000's? The cell phone has really transformed our lives, remember back when we just dialed 4 digits on a rotary dial phone to talk to our friends? Remember when we first saw a car with a phone? My first car with a phone experience was a 1986 Mercedes roadster, I remember my friends and I were amazed and could only imagine that a doctor would need such a thing. Then in 1994 I remember seeing people carrying these large phones that reminded me of the field phone used by the military at the end of WWII and Korea and Vietnam. I remember a class mate of mine in high school said his mom worked for southwestern bell mobile systems a new pager and cell phone division of southwestern bell and I thought mobile systems, what's that? Then I remember the first RIM pager/calendar thing and the first US Robotics Palm III. The year was 1995 I was working for a long distance company called US Sprint that was changing it's name to just Sprint and they were launching a wireless digital phone service, not a cellular service but a digital service called Personal Communication Service (PCS) that worked on technology called CDMA developed by some company called Qaulcom. About that same time GTE rolls out a PCS service and so does PrimeCo. Looking back on PrimeCo and Sprint they were at the forefront of the technology. So fast forward to 2001 and the launch of Apple computers new music device the iPod. Wikipedia states,"As of September 2007, the iPod had sold over 110 million units worldwide (stated in "The Beat Goes On" conference) making it the best-selling series in history." So it was just a matter of time before the PCS device and the digital music player merged. So what's next? Where do we go from here? I still believe that the future is upon us, and the days of being tied to wired high speed internet connection are numbered, but aren't their some things that require one to sit a desk? The real question is what can't one do? Do I really need a seperate GPS device, Blackberry, iPod, and laptop? Why can't I have all of this in one Pearl sized package? Is this where the iPhone is heading? If it isn't maybe it should. Why do I need a laptop? To check email and access custom applications for my company? I can already check email on my iPhone. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that most people, including me, don't want to watch TV or a movie on a two inch screen. I prefer the big home theater with full surround sound, why limit my movie/tv watching experience, but there is something to be said for being able to watch my movies or DVR from somewhere else if I'm traveling. Why should I have to wait until I get home at the end of the week? Will a wireless carrier offer me cable or satellite programming on my phone? What about on iPhone or Touch? I really think Sling Media is on to something, but I'm still dependent on a home internet connection. If Sling can manage to add a built in high speed wireless data connection to their devices, then I don't have to have a home network. Which leads me to another new device/service that Amazon has just released the Kindle. I'm still not sure about this little thing, but I must say I'm really intrigued. If I could get rid of my book library that takes up so much space, and I can access my books almost anywhere in the U.S. why wouldn't I want that? The Kindle has built in wireless high speed internet access for downloading new material from books to magazines. I can get my New York Times or Wall Street Journal everyday on this little thing. So which wireless carrier is going to blink and step out there and say to Sling use us? Did you know that some counties and police departments are not issuing carbon copies of traffic tickets any longer? I learned first hand that Dallas county is utilizing a handheld device to issue citations and I get a printed copy that's a lot like my receipt I get at National Rental Car when I return my car. My ticket is electronically transmitted to the court and no paper can get lost or shuffled. I suppose my data could get scrambled, but the chances of that happening are slim. So what's next. Apple has some great ideas, and I expect them to challenge the portable GPS market soon with an iPhone GPS service along with 3G or 4G high speed internet connectivity. Who says that Apple will only work with AT&T? What other industries will be revolutionized or infused by this growing state of mobility that people are experiencing. There's another interesting device that I have not mentioned to this point, and I'd like to pick up here next time. What do NASCAR, NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL have in common besides the fact that they are major sport conglomerates?

Sprint and Clearwire Say Psych and Stuff

Yeah that's right Sprint and Clearwire have supposedly decided that working together on Wi-MAX won't be such a good idea after all. The WSJ is reporting that sources close to the matter have said since Sprint doesn't have a CEO it would be premature to define a formal agreement. So does this mean that the planned Xohm product is soon to go the way of ION? You do remember that little revolutionary product that Sprint tried to roll out back in 1999/2000. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Clearwire's stock tanked in late afternoon and after market trading. AP - WSJ: Sprint and Clearwire Splitting Up

and STUFF
On a separate note Sprint released their customer service agenda for 2008 today. Promises of a rewards program for longtime subscribers will be nice, I wonder how that will be implemented?

Open Handset Alliance - NOT gPhone

"Android™ will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. On November 12, we will release an early look at the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) to allow developers to build rich mobile applications." OpenHandsetAlliance/Android

Open
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

So there's no gPhone, and the wireless community is working together? Here's the list of companies working on this effort.

Open Handset Alliance Founding Members
Aplix (www.aplixcorp.com), Ascender Corporation (www.ascendercorp.com), Audience (www.audience.com), Broadcom (www.broadcom.com), China Mobile (www.chinamobile.com), eBay (www.ebay.com), Esmertec (www.esmertec.com), Google (www.google.com), HTC (www.htc.com), Intel (www.intel.com), KDDI (www.kddi.com), Living Image (www.livingimage.jp), LG (www.lge.com), Marvell (www.marvell.com), Motorola (www.motorola.com), NMS Communications (www.nmscommunications.com), Noser (www.noser.com), NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (www.nttdocomo.com), Nuance (www.nuance.com), Nvidia (www.nvidia.com), PacketVideo (www.packetvideo.com), Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com), Samsung (www.samsung.com), SiRF (www.sirf.com), SkyPop (www.skypop.com), SONiVOX (www.sonivoxrocks.com), Sprint Nextel (www.sprint.com), Synaptics (www.synaptics.com), TAT - The Astonishing Tribe (www.tat.se), Telecom Italia (www.telecomitalia.com), Telefónica (www.telefonica.es), Texas Instruments (www.ti.com), T-Mobile (www.t-mobile.com), Wind River (www.windriver.com). More on members

Google will not brand a device or market a device instead they will provide a bundle of applications referred to as a "software stack". So when can I get it? Q4 2008.... The press release says second half of 2008 so that usually means Sept/Oct. so I always lean towards later instead of sooner on these type of announcements. The question I have is who/what organization is leading this effort? There has to be a team leading this effort from software, hardware, and manufacturing. With all the carriers lined up now we need to see what will be the first device that utilizes this new infrastructure. There are little details about the OS in the announcement, or was there anything? The OS is Android and the leader is Google. So now we wait and see what the details are released on 11/12 in the SDK (software development kit) and then we see what comes out next year. It will be interesting to see what the baseline processor and graphics specifications will be. Will there be a screen size standard? Will it matter if the application is GSM or CDMA or WiMAX? I guess we'll see.

More information is provided in a Forbes article, Google's Dream Phone.

Coincidence?

Is it just a coincidence that Sprint willingly as part of a lawsuit settlement offers to unlock it’s network and then a couple of weeks later Google announces it’s big mobile strategy? Add this one to “I told you so.” There are too many things happening here to be ignored. The Wall Street Journal claims that Google and TMobile USA “…it has the most traction with Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA.” But is this really the case? Which carrier has publicly announced a partnership with Google? I don’t think it was T. I believe it is Sprint per the press release from July 26, 2007 that announced “Sprint and Google to Collaborate on WiMAX Mobile Internet Services”

Here’s a great blog post by David Ingram.

InformationWeek writer Richard Martin has a good article that pulls a lot of the speculation together also. “Google Unplugged: gPhone Or Not, Google's Going Mobile”

This is the start of an evolution in the U.S. wireless industry. The unlocking of phones to be used across networks is the just the start. Google Mobile platform and devices will be on the next wave. Will we see devices launched with GSM, CDMA, HSDPA, and Wi-MAX? Why not. Verizon Wireless and Sprint both have world phones/pdas/blackberrys that will work on GSM, why not allow access to T-Mobile USA and AT&T Mobility in the U.S. via these devices? What about the MID (Mobile Internet Device) a user could avoid the use of a traditional wireless voice network all together and use VoIP over a mobile broadband connection and pay once and get everything said user could need. Instead of having a broadband aircard and a separate wired broadband at home a user would have one broadband service that is with them wherever they roam. This will also push voice response software systems to be employed in vehicles or mobile devices so the user can respond to email while spending those two and half or three hours in their vehicle either on the way to or home from the office. This should also usher in video calls so do people really even need to go in to the office? Can’t they work from home office, den, vehicle, or kitchen table? For those that work too much as it is this may be even worse, since there will be no down time or time when broadband service is not available. Instead of “crackberry’s” we’ll have crackMIDs. This could reverse the way a user utilizes a “docking station.” Instead of docking a mobile device to a wired connection it could be the mobile device providing the connectivity. Could these things really come about due to an open source device or device category? The writer believes it will. Let’s just see what Google announces in the next 90 days and then see what the world of gadgets and broadband looks like in a year. The future is bright!

Palm Centro Review

I must declare my fandom for Palm right off. I love Palm and have since my first 3x device back in 1996 or was it 1997? After owning and using several PDA devices including a few HP products with WindowsMobile I really like the new Palm Centro. The Centro is small and has some great attributes. I currently have a Treo 755p which replaced my Treo 700p and the new Centro delivers all the goodness of the 755 and adds some. The new keyboard has a great tactile feel the buttons are soft. The screen is super sharp and bright and in my opinion is the best screen I've seen on a Palm device. I did not find any functionality gap between the 755 and Centro. The bad news is that Sprint Nextel will soon be releasing the Blackberry 8130 "Pearl 2" and that device will compete with the Centro. I do think Sprint is on the right path with the Centro and with the launch of the LG Rumor slider and the Pearl 2 Sprint will be providing consumers with options to the VZW EnV and the TMobile Sidekick. I give the Centro 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Sprint CEO Resigns/Fired

Sprint announced Monday (Oct.8) that they will miss previously provided guidance of $11.0 to $11.5 billion of adjusted OIBDA and $41 to $42 billion of consolidated operating revenue and expects to report a net loss of approximately 337,000 post-paid subscribers in the third quarter. Oh and CEO Gary Forsee is stepping down as the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately. Check out the press release.

A lot has been written about this move by analysts and the common theme is that Sprint needs to re-evaluate the Xohm/4G/WiMAX effort. Many analysts feel that spending $5billion on a new network with an "unproven" technology is not a wise decision for a struggling wireless company. I for one feel that scaling back or shutting down the Xohm effort is a bad choice. Xohm has the potential to separate Sprint from it's competition and establish it as the technology leader in the mobile wireless broadband segment, which doesn't exist today. To stall or slow down Xohm is very short-sighted. The wireless phone market has all but reached it's saturation point, so a growth company would be wise to move to the next great thing. Intel has designed new chip sets for the Mobile Internet Device, Google is working on a new Mobile OS or OS standard for Linux mobile devices. Imagine if Palm, Google, HTC, and Intel all worked together to create this new line of devices that provide MP3, PMP, GPS, Phone, and enterprise application support. It's basically a cross between an UMPC and a PMP in size with maybe a 3 in wide touch screen with a slide out qwerty. The possibilities are endless for something in this space. If I can leave my laptop and smartphone at home and utilize an MID with bluetooth and voice service? Why wouldn't I do that?

I just hope that whomever the Sprint board finds to fill the CEO position does not chop things up, but takes a long hard look at all the assets within the portfolio and then makes decisions based on the future not just based on the past or present time. Only AT&T and Verizon have an equal set of assets.

Palm Centro on Sprint

Sprint and Palm released details about the upcoming new device the two have been working on. The Centro shares the same form factor as the European Treo 500v, but is a Palm OS device instead of Windows. Sprint also has launched a website dedicated to the device that let's us know that the device will be $99 after rebates and contract discount and will be released on Oct 14. "It's also the world's smallest Palm device." The url is quite clever also, moreyous.com.

Sprint Press Release

Palm Site

BusinessWire

Engadget

Gizmodo