Sprint’s HTC Touch Diamond is now showing online at Sprint.com and available for web orders at the price of $249 after 2 year commitment and $100 mail in rebate (must activate with specific plan to qualify so read the rebate fine print). Judie has an HTC Touch Diamond for review and is in the process of testing the performance. Mitchell reviewed an international version of this device back in July 2008 and has lots of pictures and some pros and cons in his HTC Diamond Review.

Sprint HTC Touch Diamond via WMExperts

Remember when Sprint closed all of their retail stores on a Sunday about a month ago? Looks like that was training for a new program called “ReadyNow”. Sprint customers who need extra help setting up their phones can search online for stores identified as ReadyNow sites. Appointments can be made online and store personnel will help with setup of features and demonstrations of how their phone’s work.

Sprint customers can choose how much or how little they want to learn about the features and applications on their phone. Customers also have a choice of sitting down with a Sprint retail associate while in the store, or they can make an appointment for a later time. For additional customer convenience, Sprint customers have the flexibility to schedule appointments either in the store, or online via Sprint’s store locator tool. Customers can visit www.sprint.com/readynow to schedule an appointment.

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Look at Sprint getting all the cool devices now that I am no longer a customer! What’s up with that?!

Fresh on the heels of their Palm Treo 800w release comes two new HTC creations, the Touch Diamond and the Touch Pro. I have a Sprint branded Touch Diamond review unit coming, and it will be interesting to see if I have better luck with the US version than Mitchell had with his Euro one. I’ve also been told that there is a Pro review unit with my name on it; that’s the one I have been dying to try. In the meantime, here are some drool-worthy photos to whet your appetite. The full press release is at the bottom of this post…

HTC Touch Pro

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in September and will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The HTC Touch Pro will be available in all Sprint retail channels beginning Oct. 19 for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

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It seems pretty likely that the long awaited Sprint HTC Touch Diamond may arrive in September after all. At least one store is chock full or promotional posters. And according to forum members on SprintUsers, the phone is showing in the Wednesday night Sprint dealer playbook - with cost rumored to be:

$549.99 - SLP
-$150.00 (New Activation or Qualified Upgrade)
-$100.00 MIB (applicable ONLY to those line that already have data included
in their plan or have a data plan that is $25.00+

Price $299.99 Please be advised that this price may drop $50.00 as their is ” talk” of an “additional” $50.00 Instant Savings w/ the qualified $150.00 off with new activation or renewal of a 2yr agreement

PS - Before you plunk down your hard earned cash - check out Mitchell’s review here. Betcha too that cost slides to the magic $199 level within 6 months or sooner.

Sprintusers

Word is spreading via discussion forums that corporate Sprint stores will be closed this Sunday August 17 for an all hands meeting. No word on whether this will be your typical retraining (Airave is scheduled to launch August 18 and rumors have placed the HTC Diamond as arriving soon too) or if a motivational pep talk like the one Alec Baldwin delivered in Glengarry Glen Ross is on tap. Whatever it is - here’s hoping that it lifts Sprint’s fortunes. Despite their many issues, they remain the only carrier that offers reasonably price plans that include all the features (text and picture messaging) most other carriers are nickle and diming us for.

There’s a certain irony that a new ANTENNALESS iDen based Blackberry Curve appears on Sprint’s roadmap for Q4 2008 just as recent rumors of an iDen selloff swirl. According to the specifications this Blackberry will sport the standard Curve features: Wi-Fi, 2MP Camera, GPS, MicrSD, Bluetooth 2.0. The Boy Genius also has a slew of other Sprint phones that are rumored for release.

BGR - Sprint’s ‘08 to ‘09 Roadmap
Sprint eyes sale of iDEN network

If you’re a Sprint subscriber using a “@sprintpcs.com” address as your main phone email address - then you best be picking a new email provider. Sprint posted a notice that as of December 31, 2008 their email service is going away (picture mail remains unchanged and continues to route through yournumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com). This means you’ll no longer be able to send/receive emails via the Sprint mobile email servers. Instead Sprint suggests using their Sprint Mobile Email application (free) in conjunction with a regular email address from Google, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL.

Sprint PCS Mail to be discontinued as of December 31, 2008

Yesterday Sprint reported a loss of $344 million. This was due to a number of factors, but losing 776,000 contract customers sure didn’t help matters. I’m really quite surprised that nobody has vocalized Sprint’s true problem. I don’t think that it’s bad customer service (read Joel’s article on Verizon - and see if you don’t think the cell phone companies all have challenges). Heck, I don’t even think that it’s the loss of the SERO plans in favor of more expensive options. There’s one huge glaring oversight that I have not seen a single person pick up on. Want to know what I think Sprint’s doing wrong?

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If you’re using a WM smartphone on the Sprint network you’re probably familiar with the limitations Sprint places on the sending and receiving picture mail. The receipt of pictures occurs through a klunky web interface requiring WM users to navigate to a web site to view their picture mails. There is a program available for the WM platform that automates the process of navigating to the picturemail web site to view photos. sMMS automatically detects and downloads incoming MMS and displays them on your phone.

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Engadget has spotted an article in The China Post quoting HTC officials as saying the HTC Diamond will begin sales through Sprint Nextel Corp. in August 2008. Barring some type of a mis-quote (unlikely since the Sprint roadmap we spotlighted seems to agree) by the newspaper, it seems that this article clears up the speculation of when the HTC Diamond may wash up on the US shores. Prior spy shots have uncovered an HTC Diamond in Sprint clothing, so the only real mystery is exactly when to expect it. Expect to see this phone again limited to certain Simply Everything plans - just like the Samsung Instinct. PS - Before you part with any hard earned dollars - check out Mitchell’s hands on review of the HTC Diamond which left him less than impressed.

The China Post via Engadget