Sprint

AT&T, Verizon and Sprint won’t support the iPhone 5 HD voice at launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 13, 2012

Of all the three major carriers in the United States, none is able to support the iPhone 5 high-definition voice technology at launch. Specifically, carriers AT&T and Verizon don't yet support wideband audio and Sprint's HD Voice technology is only compatible with CDMA x1 technology whereas the iPhone 5 taps WCDMA networks for the feature. There is, of course, hope that major U.S. telcos will catch up and update their backend for the iPhone 5 wideband audio...

Everything you need to know about today’s iPhone 5 event

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

The iPhone 5 is finally here.

After Apple in 2011 unveiled the iPhone 4S -- when everyone and his mother expected the iPhone 5 -- the wizards of Cupertino introduced a smartphone for everyone. Want something smaller? Check. How about a big screen? Got you covered. Need power? No problem. Although this was the first post-Steve Jobs iPhone rollout, there was enough technology and geekitude on display today that even the Man in Black would have had a tough time fitting in just one more thing.

Most of the rumors about the iPhone were confirmed. The iPhone 5 sports a 4-inch (1136 x 640) display enclosed in an aluminum and glass shell. That larger display is becoming defacto on smartphones. Not to be outdone designwise by Android, Apple pushed suppliers to use an in-cell manufacturing technique that embeds the technology used in an edge-to-edge touchscreen, eliminating the need for a separate layer.

Sprint names a hundred cities getting 4G LTE in “coming months”

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 10, 2012

Sprint two weeks ago added four more United States cities to its 4G LTE network deployment efforts and today the company announced that it will deploy the speedy network technology across a hundred major cities in "coming months", including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Sprint is late to the LTE party, having commenced the high-speed network deployment on July 15. Contrast this to AT&T and Verizon, the nation's leading carriers, that began upgrading their towers to 4G LTE last summer and are expected to wrap up commercial deployment of their nationwide 4G LTE by the end of 2012 or in early 2013...

The next iPhone could hit Sprint on October 15, training manual indicates

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2012

Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest wireless operator, could start offering Apple's next iPhone beginning October 15, a leaked training document indicates. According to an alleged Sprint Training Manual, that's when the carrier will begin offering in-store iPhone support.

October 15 contradicts the assumed September 21 availability, as reported by iMore's Rene Richie who accurately predicted the next Wednesday's iPhone presser, so perhaps not all major U.S. carriers will get the device simultaneously?

LTE iPhone could be a game changer, especially for Verizon

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

If you're looking to handicap which iPhone carrier is ahead in the LTE horse race, one Wall Street analyst points to Verizon and Sprint as the big winner and loser. Indeed, an LTE-enabled iPhone 5 would "change everything," making it "the biggest consumer product launch ever."

Jeffries & Co.'s analyst Thomas Seitz Thursday advised investors to buy Verizon shares, hold onto AT&T and sell Sprint-Nextel. Verizon now has 230 million LTE POPs -- more than all other US carriers combined. As a result, Seitz sees "a share shift towards Verizon, primarily at AT&T's expense."

Sprint expands LTE into four more US cities

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Sprint has added four more US cities to its 4G LTE network. Baltimore, Gainsville, Ga., Manhattan/Junction City, Kan., and Sedalia, Mo. were added to the high-speed network the carrier launched on July 15. Baltimore residents gain not only LTE, but an upgrade to 3G, Sprint announced.

"As consumers all over the country are becoming more dependent on their smartphones, network quality is becoming more important," according to a statement. Sprint's LTE network began by introducing LTE in 15 cities. The carrier hopes to complete its LTE build-out by the end of 2013.

Major US carriers, Google form mobile payments alliance, Apple not on board

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

In another sign that the industry has high expectations for mobile payments, four major carriers in the United States along with Google and a bunch of other players have struck a mobile payments alliance called Mobile Payments Committee.

The initial members include carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, but also Google, Isis, VeriFone and PayPal, in addition to financial institutions Wells Fargo and Capital One plus credit card giants American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.

Apple is conspicuously absent from the list, as is mobile payment startup Square, which last week announced an interesting partnership with Starbucks. The iPhone maker, of course, is believed to be putting NFC circuitry inside the next iPhone and just recently acquired NFC and smart sensors maker AuthenTec for $356 million...

Sprint heavily discounts the iPhone 4S ahead of iPhone 5 launch

Sébastien Page ∙ August 4, 2012

We just got words that Sprint was currently selling the iPhone 4S 16GB at a $50 discount, for a total price of $149.99. According to a Sprint retailer who reached out to us, the company has been notifying stores that this new pricing would be in place until September 14th.

The timing seems very appropriate as the iPhone 5 next iPhone has been rumored to be announced at an event on September 12th, and will supposedly be available for sale on September 21st...

Sprint’s CEO reaffirms plans to keep unlimited data, for now

Cody Lee ∙ July 26, 2012

With recent moves by both AT&T and Verizon to nudge their remaining customers off of unlimited data and onto their new share plans, the spotlight has turned to Sprint.

Sprint is the last remaining major carrier in the US to still offer an unlimited data plan for smartphone subscribers, and everyone wants to know how long that's going to last...

Verizon tops J.D. Power customer service report

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

If you're looking to start up new cell phone service in the US, there are dozens of choices. If you want a big-named, nationwide carrier though, that cuts the field down to four options: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

You can narrow it down even further if you want an iPhone. Currently, only the top three carriers properly support Apple's handset. And if you're looking for the company with the best customer service, there's only one...

Sprint activates 1.5M iPhones in the second quarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 26, 2012

U.S. carrier Sprint, the nation's third-largest, announced its June quarter earnings today. The company reported no change in iPhone activations which remain steady at 1.5 million units, the same as in the March quarter. In this quarter, 40 percent of iPhones went to new customers versus 44 percent for the quarter-ago period. However, the company's loss dropped from $863 million in Q1 2012 down to an operating loss of $629 million this quarter ($1.38 billion net loss), which was again partially blamed on high iPhone subsidy...

Sprint says it won’t charge for FaceTime over cellular

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

There's been a lot of talk over the past few days regarding AT&T and the new FaceTime over cellular feature in iOS 6. The carrier has yet to deny accusations that it will charge customers extra for Apple's video calling service.

But it looks like Sprint customers can rest easy. A spokesperson for the company has just confirmed that it has no intentions of charging their subscribers extra for the new FaceTime feature...