To watch the commercials for the Verizon Droid, being released tomorrow morning, one might get the impression that this is the very first android handset to be released. It certainly has garnered more attention and excitement and previous devices, but there are already a number of android handsets on the market that are actually quite good. I recently had a chance to spend a week with Sprint’s version of the HTC hero, and I found myself more than a bit impressed. So with that in mind, I thought we might take a good look at a fantastic Android device that’s been on the market for a number of months already.

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Billshrink.com just did an analysis comparing the iPhone 3GS on AT&T,  the Palm Pre on Sprint, and Motorola Droid on Verizon.

If you are looking at an unlimited voice and data plan, you will spend $1,250 less over two years.  There are still substantial savings even with more limited plans.  The phones, on paper, have fairly similar specifications and capabilities and in terms of Network quality, speed, coverage ranking I would say Verizon, Sprint, AT&T in that order.

It makes it all the more painful why Sprint had such bad results as discussed earlier today. Sprint really is one of the best valued carriers at the moment.

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One of Boost’s unique features, in addition to traditional voice and text messaging, is the ability to connect subscribers using a walkie talkie type connection (formerly known as Direct Connect) accessed by pushing a button on the side of the Boost phone.

When the phone’s button is pushed you  connect almost instantly to another walkie talkie capable phone without any need to dial (other than the  unique walkie talkie number of the person you’re calling which is different than their phone number). These phones can also connect to Sprint/Nextel phones, participate in group chats and  work locally as well as nationwide.  Continue Reading

It seems you can’t catch a break these days.

Most will agree that Sprint has:

• Good coverage.  Not the best, but very decent.
• Excellent pricing for ‘all you can eat’ data and data/voice plans
• Very aggressive calling circle scenarios including inexpensive options for unlimited calls to any cell phone 24×7.
• Their advertising is everywhere (at least everywhere I look).  Tons of creative web ads, all over Hulu, lots of product placement work such as Heroes etc
• They got the first true iPhone competitor this year with the Palm Pre.
• They have substantially improved customer service
• They just released the HTC Hero Android Phone.  So except for the iPhone, they have almost major smartphone and device available.

And yet… This came out today:

• They lost 478 million in the last quarter.  Significantly worse than a year ago, even with these new devices.  (Yes, I know the Hero won’t affect things until the next reporting quarter)
• Revenue slipped 9%
• They lost 545 thousand subscribers net, including 801 thousand from traditional ‘post paid’ plans.  This while AT&T added 2 million and Verizon 1.2 million.  (The power of the iPhone…amazing)
• They trade at about $3.18 per share.  Just 2 years ago they were trading at around $20/share

You almost have to feel sorry for them.  What does a CEO have to do to win these days?

Sprint announced yesterday at their 2009 Ope\n Developer Conference that they’ll be doing away with extra charges for subscribers using conditional call forwarding to connect their cell phones to third party voice providers such as Google Voice. Previously the carrier was one of the few who charged a per minute fee to their subscribers who programmed their phones to forward incoming calls that were unanswered.

The  new policy:

Although no charges will be applied for conditional call forwarding (meaning busy calls or calls not answered), some Sprint customers may incur a $0.20 per-minute charge if they choose to forward calls directly into voicemail or to another number without first allowing the call to try to reach the number and getting a busy signal/no answer. This is called unconditional call forwarding (immediate)

Sprint

Over the past few days, I’ve been reading a lot on the rumors related to a Sprint/T-Mobile merger.  Honestly, I was really surprised when I initially heard this. From a business point of view, it makes tons of sense; but from a technology point of view, it really has me scratching my head.  Let’s stop and take a look at this for a moment…

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Picture this: You live two and a half miles from your front gate, and you want to know who is entering or leaving your property; or you own a half million dollar mobile home that is kept at a storage facility, and you want to check in on it daily without actually driving to the edge of your city; or you own a vacation home that is only visited a few times a year, and you want to make sure that no one is squatting there when you are gone. Those are just three examples of why someone might need the new Brickhouse Security cellular-enabled Global Watchman.

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Well looks like calling to any mobile number for free is the “Game Changer” that Sprint was talking about, I’m not sure that I would consider it a game changer…but who am I to judge. What it does do is put pie in the face of the ‘Fav 5′ of T-Mobile, and completely steals the thunder of AT&T starting a similar ‘Fav’ plan. So much for editing your 5 monthly, now you get to call any mobile phone. Now if Sprint could only shake that “Are you really dating HER?” reputation they have!

This new plan will be automatically added to Everything Data plan subscribers and allows for unlimited free calls to or from any mobile phone. There’s no need for a limited circle of friends or to worry about only calling subscribers on your own carrier. This is free mobile to mobile calling without restrictions on the carrier. Sprint’s Everything Data plans smartly roll in unlimited SMS, MMS and BlackBerry Internet Service with no added fees. If you’re not on an Everything Data Plan you can swwitch without renewing your agreement.

Any Mobile

OK, so I am browsing the blogosphere and came across this; now Sprint is up to something else? The message boards have been burning up since this email came out early Wednesday evening. Word is Sprint is unveiling their new Unlimited Voice/data/MMS/SMS @ $70/month, but the voice is unlimited to only mobile phones….again this is only speculation, but I will update when an official release comes out. Competing carriers should hope Sprint’s Data package prices don’t go any lower.

If you’ve been waiting for the new US CDMA version of the HTC Touch Pro2 that Clinton, Drew and I reviewed earlier this summer, then now is the time to pay attention to the Sprint network – they have their version of the Touch Pro2 out on September 8, and phonedog.com has the unboxing.

$349.99 after rebates with the two year contract. It’ll cost you, but man…what a sweet unit.

I would be soooooo tempted  if I didn’t dislike Sprint so much.

phonedog.com via coolsmartphone

The HTC Hero is the first device to include HTC Sense, an intuitive experience designed to put people at the center. HTC Sense allows the device to be completely customized encouraging the user to put what is most important to them at their fingertips. A seven panel home screen features the ability to change scenes from work, home, travel ect… thus providing the most important information at the right time. Being built on the Android platform, the HTC Hero offers rich mobile internet capabilities with built-in Google mobile services, including Google Search, Google Maps, and YouTube as well as access to thousands of applications available in the Android Market.

You can get your own Hero for $179.99 (with contract) from Sprint starting October 11.

The Palm P120 and C40 have made an appearance on a computer screen that Precentral is claiming came from a Sprint store. These two models could possibly be follow on devices to the relatively new Palm Pre. It’s unknown whether these are entirely new devices or could be a slight configuration tweak (more memory, removal of camera, etc). This discovery comes close on the heels of a similar screen from Verizon which displayed a P121VZW and P101VZW)

New Palm phones in Sprint computer inventory – P120 and C40

In celebration of the overwhelming success of the Slacker Radio mobile application, Slacker is giving away free BlackBerry Curve smartphones to listeners.

All the major carriers are available (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) and every one of them offers a Blackberry Curve smartphone in the handset lineup.

Each rate plan differs from carrier to carrier but the phone is free regardless of which one you choose.

To be eligible for the free phone you must follow the carrier’s rules on new activation or contract extension and each one differs.

All the information about the promotion is available here.

Sprint’s just out with an earning’s report and other than news that losses are not growing – there aren’t many happy surprises. The quarter showed a loss of $384 million and a total revenue decrease that measured 10%. Total subscribers slipped another net 991,000 subscribers which puts the total subscriber loss over the last 7 quarters at an eye popping 7 million.

WSJ

For those with Palm Pre’s, you’ll remember that Apple recently released iTunes 8.2.1 that disabled the Pre’s abiltiy to sync with your iTunes library.  This latest update appears to be a direct response to last week’s iTunes 8.2.1 Update.

Apple Insider is reporting that Palm’s Blog announced the update yesterday. The update should appear as an OTA (over the air) update, expected to hit Pre’s around the country over the next few days.

Palm declined to detail how they worked around Apple’s latest update, and for now, Pre users can again enjoy iTunes content on the go.  However, I’m not certain how Apple will (and you KNOW they will) respond; but I would anticipate downloading & installing iTunes 8.2.37 some time within the next few weeks as the two companies play app and OS ping pong.