sprint

Sprint gun-shy, not ready to place a bet on Windows Phone yet

January 14, 2012 | By Surur

Its pretty clear Sprint is not a massive fan of Windows Phone 7, and , Sprint’s VP of Strategy, Russ McGuire has explained to Patrick Hefner from Zune Tracks exactly why.

What I do know, as the strategy guy, is that every company has to make decisions about resource allocation – that requires prioritizing, selecting, and deselecting. These days, there are four mobile OSes worth discussing – Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows. As the #3 player, Sprint has fewer resources to apply, so it’s more critical for us to make good decisions about where we focus our investments. In the past, we’ve been willing to go against the crowd and bet on unproven OSes. Some of those have been good bets (being one of the original Android supporters). Some have worked out less well (WebOS). For now, there’s no opportunity to gain a differentiation advantage by taking a risk on Windows, so we’re better off focusing most of our resources on proven market winners (iOS and Android).

It is clear Sprint has become somewhat risk adverse after making failed bet after failed bet, first on webOS and then on WIMAX. No wonder they went all in to the tune of $20 billion on the safe bet, the iPhone.

The big problem is of course is that people like McGuire are the gate keepers for millions of customers on their network. Ignoring the petitions, the only real way to show these companies that one does not agree with their decisions is to leave, take your $1000 per year with you and go to a company that does provide what you want, and in USA that is clearly AT&T.

I therefore propose a new petition, and it is much more practical – when your contract comes up, and they do not have the phone you want, leave Sprint and let them know why.

Via Flesheatingzipper.com

33

Petition Sprint AND Verizon to bring new Windows Phones!

January 13, 2012 | By Livven

Sprint users have created an online petition that implores America’s third largest wireless carrier to release some new Windows Phones to join the ranks of the first-gen HTC Arrive.

This comes after a recent interview in which several higher-ups at Sprint blamed Microsoft for not doing enough to build enthusiasm for Windows Phones, further citing high return rates due to poor user experience. In fact, however, Sprint’s only Windows Phone device thus far, the HTC Arrive, is rated very well in its online shop, beating several other popular smartphones.

Moreover, we’d suggest that, with the Arrive being its only Windows Phone and not a particularly outstanding one at that, lackluster sales are well to be expected. This thought is echoed in the petition, with the focus being laid on “more choice”:

As customers we are asking for a choice in what devices we buy and not be forced to choose from a single phone for this platform. Every other OS on Sprint has more than one device to choose from, even Brew MP.

Definitely true words, so if you do not want to wait till Apollo for Sprint to get some new Windows Phones, check out the petition and sign it. It’s currently standing at over 1,300 signatures, with almost 700 to go before reaching its goal of 2,000.

Update: There’s a similar petition for Verizon users going on.

The Verizon petition states:

We need to convince Verizon Wireless that there is a strong demand to diversify its smartphone lineup by adding the upcoming Windows Phone 7 phones (HTC Titan I or II, Nokia Lumia 800 or 900, etc.) VZW should not limit its users to just its “Droid” brand nor the latest trend of Apple products. We, as users of all mobile gadgets, request that the Windows Phone 7 phones are given equal treatment in both support, promotion and competition.

The Verizon Petition, which already has 300 signatures, can be found here.

Source: SignOn.org via WPCentral, Thanks Chris for the tip.

19

Sprint blames HTC Arrive sales performance, returns on ‘user experience’, may be hinting at timeline for Apollo roll-out

January 11, 2012 | By Surur

sprintarrive A few months ago Sprint was encouraging their users to recycle their 6 month old HTC Arrive’s for an iPhone. I guess the hint then should have been pretty strong that Sprint did not think much of Microsoft’s new OS.

PCMag has been able to confirm that much in an interview with Sprint’s VP of product realization David Owens.

"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. We’ll train our reps on why it’s great…[but] the number-one reason the product was returned was the user experience," he said.

The HTC Arrive on Sprint has a 4.5/5 star rating from 232 reviews on Sprint’s website, with 89% of users willing to recommend it to others. This rate is higher than the 16 GB iPhone 4S, which scored 4.4 stars and an 85% recommendation rate from 170 reviews.

Sprint director of product development Lois Fagan blamed perception and awareness in part.

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

Implying it might in fact be too late, he continued:

"There’s a tremendous market momentum that Apple has…and I think Ice Cream Sandwich, and what Android’s doing, will continue to have momentum. It squeezes down to such a small subset what’s left."

Giving somewhat of a hint at the timing of Microsoft’s “Superphone” Apollo release, David Owen noted Sprint is looking at giving Windows Phone another stab in the "August-September time period," but he couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for the platform.

Other CDMA carrier Verizon is also expected to sit out this round of Windows Phone 7 handsets until the arrival of Windows Phone 8 in Q4 2012.

Thanks Brianna for the tip.

78

Rumour: 3 new Windows Phones coming to Sprint in H1 2012

December 17, 2011 | By Surur

We are just complaining a short while ago about the poor choice of Windows Phones on USA’s third and 4th network.

Now it seems Sprint subscribers at least will have some more choices if the rumour from Sprintfeed is true.

They believe up to 3 new Windows Phones will be released by the Now network, with some possible being announced at CES from the likes of Nokia, HTC and Samsung.

So far these are the first Windows Phone rumours we heard for Sprint, so we are taking it with a large pinch of salt, but it would be rather great if true.

Via WindowsPhoneSource.com

Thanks Joe for the tip

17

Sprint removes HTC Arrive from iPhone 4s page

October 17, 2011 | By Surur

sprintbuyback

After a concerned outcry and quite a bit of publicity, Sprint has backtracked and replaced the HTC Arrive, released in March 2011, with the the LG Lotus Elite, released in January 2010.

I still suspect malicious intent from the graphics artist, notorious iPhone fanboys, who originally placed the HTC Arrive there, and hope he had his ear suitably bent by a supervisor.

The updated page can be viewed here.

Thanks Adriel for the tip.

25

Sprint encouraging WP7 HTC Arrive users to dump their phones for an iPhone 4

October 16, 2011 | By Surur

sprintarrive

The HTC Arrive is less than 6 months old, and Sprint has already decided to throw the device under the tires of the oncoming iPhone 4. The device’s page on Sprint features a pretty large Windows Phone 7 display, encouraging users to recycle their “old” phone for as much as $240, presumably to buy the iPhone 4.

Of course the HTC Arrive was introduced little more than 6 month ago, which would make for a very interesting definition of old.

The ad is still there to be seen, but if I were Microsoft or HTC I would get on the blower straight away and see about getting the ad, which is rather disrespectful to both the OEM and the OS, removed ASAP.

Via WPCentral.com.

Thanks Figure 8 Dash for the tip.

Update: Adriel asked Sprint what’s going on, and got this reply:

Original Question: Enter what you are looking for

Question: Why did you guys use the HTC Arrive as the poster child for your Go-Green program? Why not one of your countless Androids. I only just purchased the Arrive and I love it and want more people to know about it but I believe what you did will retard it’s growth.

Sprint Customer Solutions ecare3@cc.sprintpcs.com ecare3@cc.sprintpcs.com responded:

Dear [Name Removed],

Thank you for contacting Sprint.

It is our policy at Sprint to make advertising decisions based on the demographics of the audience and not on the nature of the associated event or media broadcast, provided it does not promote racist, sexist or other offensive views. Our goal is to reach our current and prospective customers through this venue; our advertising is not an endorsement for or against any particular cause, candidate or political viewpoint.

Your feedback is important and we appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

We value your business and appreciate the opportunity to answer your questions. Please reply to this email or visit sprint.com if we can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Scottie G.
Sprint

So basically a form letter response, but I suspect a few more complaints on their contact page will get things moving.

Thanks Adriel for the tip.

44

LG LS831 is a Windows Phone 7.5 handset for US CDMA carriers

October 5, 2011 | By Surur

The LG LS831 has just passed through FCC. The device is known to be a Windows Phone 7.5 handset as it has shown up before in WP Bench Benchmarking rankings. The FCC entry now reveals the handset is a CDMA device, meaning it is likely heading for Verizon or Sprint in the USA.

The information should be some reassurance to CDMA users in USA, many who have been complaining that they appear to be left out of the new wave of Windows Phone 7.5 handsets coming this fall.

Sprint: Mango update to be pushed out in 90 min at 1 PM CST

September 27, 2011 | By Surur

Contrary to Microsoft’s Where’s my update page, which deflated expectations a bit, Sprint has just announced that they will be starting the Mango push at 1 PM Central Standard Time, which is GMT – 5 hours.

That would mean we have about 90 min before we see if Mango is really, really going to show up today.

The announcement can be seen on Sprint’s forums here.

Via Neowin.net.

29

T-Mobile USA still saying Fall 2011 for Mango, Sprint have no idea at all

September 27, 2011 | By Surur

In this chat log with a customer rep for T-Mobile USA the company is sticking close to the party line of the Fall for the release of Windows Phone Mango.

There is some hint though that something may be happening in September, but maybe the rep was genuinely mistaken after all.

No such confusion from Sprint however , who clearly says (on the eve of the roll-out by other carriers) that they do not have a release date at all for the OS update.

Thanks SixSeven for the tip.

17

Another HTC Arrive with Mango shows up at a Sprint store

September 25, 2011 | By Surur

HTC Arrive with mango at Sprint

We strongly suspect Mango will be rolling out next week in USA, but if you have been waiting for the update before buying an HTC Arrive it seems you could walk into a Sprint store right now, as another one running Mango just turned up there.

The above handset was spotted at the Sprint store in Boulder, Colorado and is clearly showing off a bit of fast app switching.

Have any of our readers seen Mango handsets being retailed already? Let us know below.

Update: We had a tip from a Sprint store manager saying while the demo handsets are running a build of Mango, the ones in the boxes are all unfortunately still solidly NoDo

Picture thanks to WolfGallery.com

24

Is the Samsung Omnia 7 coming to USA with a front-facing camera in tow?

September 8, 2011 | By Surur

The Samsung Omnia 7 is one of the most attractive Windows Phone 7 handsets, and so far could be found mainly in Europe.

Now a dual mode GSM/CDMA version of the handset, the SGH-i708, has just passed though the FCC sporting a front facing camera.

The handset sports an extra button on the left of unknown purpose, and has a 2000 mAh battery, but otherwise seems to be the same Samsung Omnia 7 we know and love.

The handset may be coming to Verizon or Sprint, where I suspect it would have done well earlier in the year. However, despite the handset never being available in USA, we are in a global village, and I believe most potential Windows Phone 7 users will know it is an old design, which rather suggests either laziness on Samsung’s side or a massive delay.

Would our CDMA-using readers still buy the handset? Let us know below.

And then there were three: Sprint drops the HP Pre3

July 10, 2011 | By Surur

dead-pre_1_270x182 According This is my Next’s trusted sources Sprint has refused to carry the HP Pre3, Palm’s latest webOS handset. The carrier has apparently been burned by high support costs for webOS handsets, which has suffered from very high hardware failure rates and a laggy OS.

While the CDMA carrier is still carrying the low profile Palm Pixi , which it is giving away for free, this does in fact spell the death knell for the OS on USA’s 3rd biggest carrier. WebOS is not being offered on T-Mobile at all.

While This is my Next contends that Sprint will be concentrating on Android instead, the effect will be that if one is looking for a device which is not Android on Sprint, the choice will be between the waning Blackberry and an increasingly competitive Windows Phone 7, which already has much higher customer satisfaction rates than both Blackberry, webOS and even Android.

27

Spectrum Sprint released for WP7

June 16, 2011 | By ludibrium

Turku, Finland — June 15th, 2011 — Finnish independent game developer Ludibrium Ltd announced today the launch of their second Windows Phone 7 game Spectrum Sprint. The game is available world wide for free on the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

Spectrum Sprint is an old school arcade-style game where you try to get the high score by running and jumping as far as you can. Buttons on the screen can be used to change the color of the sprinter. The sprinter must be the same color as the platform he is landing to or he will fall trough! Gray platforms are always solid no matter the color of the sprinter.

Game features:

hours of addicting old school arcade action
3 difficulty levels
global leaderboards
awesome rainbow pixel graphics

Spectrum Sprint can be found in Marketplace here.

About Ludibrium LTD:

Ludibrium Ltd is a newly founded, independent game development studio based in Finland. The company focuses on creating fun and high quality games for Windows Phone 7 and for other mobile platforms.

Contact:
info@ludibrium.fi
http://www.ludibrium.fi
http://twitter.com/LudibriumLtd

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