nextel Archive

  • Sprint and Virgin Mobile announces Beyond Talk $25 prepaid plan, new prepaid brand

    Sprint and Virgin Mobile announces Beyond Talk $25 prepaid plan, new prepaid brand

    Sprint Nextel, through its Virgin Mobile brand, has announced a pretty big shift in its business model by offering new prepaid plans that begin at a mind-blowing $25 a month. Starting on May 12, three new Beyond Talk plans will include unlimited messaging, email, data, and web, as well as 300 minutes ($25), 1,200 minutes ($40), or unlimited minutes ($60) of talk time. And that ain't all -- BlackBerry data service can be added for an additional $10. Of course, you'll be paying full price for your phone, but at least the selection is indeed better than the usual pre-paid fare, including the Blackberry Curve 8530 ($300) and LG Rumor Touch ($150). We don't know how the other carriers are going to respond, but this does prompt the question: would you put up with Sprint's handset selection for a plan this cheap? PR after the break.

    Update: The Wall Street Journal has it that Sprint is also fixing to launch an entirely new prepaid brand, and while it declined to share a name for the new branch, it did confess that it "will let customers pay upfront for cell service by the minute rather than signing up for a month at a time." As you may expect, it'll be aimed at "middle-aged Americans who only use cellphones occasionally to make calls," and it'll join Boost Mobile, Assurance Wireless and Virgin Mobile in Sprint's rapidly expanding stable of prepaid sub-brands. Is it difficult to tell these guys love the prepaid and can't quite figure out how to make ends meet on the postpaid side? Nah...

    Continue reading Sprint and Virgin Mobile announces Beyond Talk $25 prepaid plan, new prepaid brand

    Sprint and Virgin Mobile announces Beyond Talk $25 prepaid plan, new prepaid brand originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Motorola Opus One caught on video, dawg

    Motorola Opus One caught on video, dawg

    Motorola Opus One caught on video, dawg
    It's pretty rare that a tech demo starts with the phrase "you know what I'm gonna do?" But, this one certainly does, a dark, shaky, but thoroughly comprehensive exploration of the recently rumored Motorola Opus One smartphone. Jive- or profanity-averse readers (or anyone who hates zebra cake) will probably want to skip the four videos embedded below, but we'll give you the highlights: iDen is confirmed, Android 1.5 Cupcake is currently installed with Motoblur frosting, there's a five megapixel camera on the back, and with its push-to-talk this one looks to be going to Nextel or Boost Mobile. Those are the deets, but click on through if you want to do that video, dawg.

    [Via iNicc0lo]

    Continue reading Motorola Opus One caught on video, dawg

    Motorola Opus One caught on video, dawg originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over

    Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over

    It's been eons since Sprint bought Nextel, but regional iDEN affiliate iPCS had managed to keep the fallout from the deal tied up in courts for years -- a side-effect of its claim that the merger violated Sprint's agreement to stay off iPCS' turf. After a few court losses, Sprint ultimately decided to bite the bullet and buy iPCS outright, and now, that deal's finalized to the tune of $831 million including Sprint's assumption of $405 million in debt. Though iPCS customers now become Sprint customers as a result of the acquisition, they'll effectively notice no difference -- the regional was already offering Sprint service exclusively under the Sprint brand, so this whole deal is little more than an escape hatch for the head office to tie off these legal wranglings once and for all.

    Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint bails on QChat, goes back to iDEN for all its PTT needs

    Sprint bails on QChat, goes back to iDEN for all its PTT needs

    We saw the writing on the wall here for a while, but Sprint's now gone ahead and made it official that it'll be phasing out its push-to-talk offerings based on Qualcomm's QChat technology in favor of -- what else? -- good ol' iDEN. For Sprint, the move makes sense; when the EV-DO Rev. A-powered QChat system was introduced last year, a Sprint / Nextel schism was a very real possibility -- but since, the company has ended up pouring money into its Direct Connect network, sprucing it up, and placing a renewed emphasis on its prepaid Boost Mobile brand which shares Nextel's airwaves. There really isn't much use for two incompatible PTT systems on any network, so one had to go -- and yes, QChat is getting the boot. Existing customers will continue to be supported, but Sprint says that it won't be offering new models; good thing iDEN phones just got pretty for the first time.

    Sprint bails on QChat, goes back to iDEN for all its PTT needs originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce

    Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce

    It's hard to say if these guys were just looking to get this whole thing finalized before the holiday break, but either way, all the requisite i's have been dotted and t's crossed. As of today, Sprint Nextel has acquired Virgin Mobile USA -- a process that began back in late July -- and frankly, there's nothing you can do about it. The move will obviously position Sprint as a bigger player in the prepaid space, but outside of that presumably true assumption, it's tough to say what else the newfound lovers will do together. So, will the Facebook statuses be updated soon as well? Hello?

    Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint Nextel continues its buying spree with iPCS acquisition

    Sprint Nextel continues its buying spree with iPCS acquisition

    According to MarketWatch, Sprint Nextel, the number three US wireless carrier, has agreed to buyout yet another of its affiliates, iPCS. Having just recently finalized a deal to acquire Virgin Mobile USA, Sprint is looking to further shore up its customer base with the addition of iPCS’ 700,000 subscribers. Not to mention, the acquisition will [...]

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  • Motorola i856 Debut now available on Nextel

    Motorola i856 Debut now available on Nextel

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    Perhaps recognizing that the average Boost customer is more interested in the latest, greatest trendy handsets than the average Nextel customer (read: construction worker with a penchant for putting mil-spec certifications to the test), Sprint has launched a couple recent groundbreaking models -- the Clutch, Moto's first QWERTY iDEN device and the Debut, its first slider -- on Boost first before bringing them over to the big daddy. Don't fret, though, Nextel subscribers, because the i856 Debut is now available to you, bringing that crazy red / black color combo, integrated music player, and network-first slider form factor to a more grown-up audience. It's available now in all sales channels for $99.99 with a $50 rebate on contract.

    Motorola i856 Debut now available on Nextel originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint and T-Mobile sitting in a (merger) tree?

    Sprint and T-Mobile sitting in a (merger) tree?

    Paying attention, Verizon and AT&T? You might have a new monster of a mobile company (with lots of Android offerings) to deal with if Deutsche Telekom can successfully navigate a deal to purchase Sprint Nextel via its American arm, T-Mobile USA. After rumors of the German mobile giant’s interest in swallowing up the on again, off [...]

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  • FTC gives Sprint-Virgin Mobile merger a thumbs up

    FTC gives Sprint-Virgin Mobile merger a thumbs up

    Earlier today, the FTC announced that Sprint Nextel’s proposed merger with Virgin Mobile USA has received antitrust clearance, i.e. the deal can move ahead. While still too early to tell if this is a good move for the struggling number 3 carrier, at least it looks like Sprint won’t have to deal with any legal [...]

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  • Sprint puts $483 million on the table for Virgin Mobile USA

    Sprint puts $483 million on the table for Virgin Mobile USA

    In what looks to be shaping up to be another healthy week for M&A activity, Sprint Nextel is putting more of its focus on the prepaid cell phone service market with a $483 million deal to buy out Virgin Mobile USA. The acquisition, which was announced earlier this morning, calls for Sprint to pay $5.50 in stock for each Virgin Mobile share, a 31 percent premium to the MVNO's closing share price Monday of $4.21. The deal is expected to receive approval either in the fall or in early 2010. Sprint Nextel actually already owned 13.1 percent of Virgin Mobile, which uses the carrier's network to offer service to some 5.2 million subscribers. The deal cancels out Virgin's $248 million in outstanding debts and will unite Sprint's Boost service and Virgin Mobile under the same roof. Sprint says it would keep the Virgin Mobile brand and let Virgin Mobile USA's CEO Dan Schulman, run Sprint's entire prepaid business if and when the deal closes late this year or early next.

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  • Sprint set to acquire Virgin Mobile

    Sprint set to acquire Virgin Mobile

    virginSprint and Virgin Mobile sitting in a tree, m-e-r-g-i-n-g. Well, not merging per se. More like Sprint is acquiring Virgin Mobile. Seems as though this whole "pre-paid, no contract" thing is a hit and Sprint, looking to gain some ground in the mobile arms race, wants in on the action.

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  • Recently reviewed on CrunchGear.com

    Recently reviewed on CrunchGear.com

    Here’s a nostalgic look back at the items we’ve recently reviewed here at CrunchGear… Review: WickedLasers Photonic Disruptor “We’re a WickedLasers family. We enjoy shooting them at napkins to make them burn and zapping friends legs while they’re sitting at our picnic table.” Review: TuneUp for iTunes “If you’re like me, your entire music collection has been downloaded/ripped willy-nilly between hits of nitrous [...]

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  • Review: Motorola Stature i9

    Review: Motorola Stature i9

    Nextel phones are notoriously ugly. The company has never worried much about the appearance of their phones, since they were mainly intended for the construction site. They were instead more concerned about a phone that was almost mil-spec in its toughness. The good news (at least for Nextel subscribers) is that they are starting to move away from this brick phone style design, and more towards a sleeker, sexier look.

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  • Samsung Instinct S30 now on sale at Sprint: $129.99 on contract

    Samsung Instinct S30 now on sale at Sprint: $129.99 on contract


    Right on cue, Samsung's retooled Instinct (that'd be the Instinct S30, if you had any doubts) has gone on sale at Sprint. You'll also notice that the $129.99 on-contract price we heard about is completely in tact, despite the fact that Best Buy Mobile could be selling this same handset in stores later this week for $80 less. At any rate, those champing at the bit to get one headed their way can now do so after choosing between Cobalt Metal and Touch of Copper hues, and if you're looking to snag one with no strings attached, you'll be paying $449.99 in order to do so.

    [Thanks, Mike]

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    Samsung Instinct S30 now on sale at Sprint: $129.99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint looking to wholesale bandwidth to connected gadget makers

    Sprint looking to wholesale bandwidth to connected gadget makers


    So, what's a flagging cellular operator to do once it has succumbed to the grim realization that no one wants to sign up for your service and you've already collected the dough from selling off nearly all of your towers? Go wholesale, of course! Unbeknownst to most, all of the Kindle downloads on Amazon's white-hot e-reader go through Sprint's network, and given just how successful that little venture has been, the carrier is hoping to expand its revenues from wholesaling bandwidth (which currently sits at just 3 percent of its total) by inking similar deals with connected gadget makers. From internet-connected vehicles to GPS systems to cameras, the options are darn near limitless, and with so much free capacity on Sprint's network, it might as well find companies to use it. 'Course, it's not like Sprint's the only one out there trying to carve these kinds of deals into stone, but it's definitely the one that needs to do it most immediately.

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    Sprint looking to wholesale bandwidth to connected gadget makers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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