sprint

Apple's iPhone 4S drops to $149 with Sprint

Apple fans may be quick to read into this: over the weekend, Sprint dropped the price of its iPhone 4S from $199 to $149.

Could this be in anticipation of the iPhone 5?

Sprint's $50 price cut, first reported on by AllThingsD, comes before competing carriers have dropped their prices. AT&T's iPhone 4S is still $199, as is Verizon's.

According to AllThingsD, rumor has it that the price slash is a Sprint promotion but with Apple's approval. A spokesperson for the carrier told CNET that the price drop is simply a back-to-school promotion.

Apple … Read more

Get ready to download apps to your Chrysler Ram or Viper

Two of Chrysler's cars are morphing into smartphones, sort of -- right down to the ability to access their own "app store."

The 2013 models of the Ram 1500 pickup and the SRT Viper sports car, expected to hit the market later this year, will come with a few features born from Chrysler's partnership with Sprint Nextel, announced in March. Among them: the vehicles can act as mobile WiFi hotspot, send text messages via voice command, and offer emergency and location services using the Sprint 3G network.

Automobiles represent a new frontier for the wireless carriers, … Read more

SEC looks into Sprint's tax collection practices

Sprint Nextel said today that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the company's tax collection practices, following a related lawsuit filed by the state of New York.

In April, New York Attorney General Eric Schniederman filed a lawsuit against the Overland Park, Kan., wireless carrier, alleging it had stiffed New York state out of $100 million in taxes. Schniederman sought $300 million as a penalty.

Specifically, the suit deals with whether Sprint properly collected taxes from its customers to be paid to New York.

The SEC probe could suggest that the issue goes beyond New York. Sprint … Read more

Get to know America's carriers, big and small

How well do you know your carrier options?

Maybe very well, if you happen to follow the ins and outs of changing plans and perks. However, you may not be aware that Cricket has a roaming agreement with Sprint, or that Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile now have 4G.

If you're a beginner, or just happen to enjoy carrier trivia, check out this quick guide to carriers.

Republic Wireless reopens $19 service, sells Motorola Defy XT

Remember Republic Wireless?

The wireless service, which made headlines for its cut-rate $19 unlimited voice, text message, and data plan that relied more on Wi-Fi networks than cellular ones, opened and quickly closed its beta last year. Now the company is ready to reopen its beta to a new wave of customers, and has added the Motorola Defy XT to its lineup, Engadget first reported.

Republic Wireless captured a lot of attention for its plan, which many believed would be disruptive to the more traditional contract wireless plans, and even the less expensive prepaid plans. But the company has gotten … Read more

Sprint's ZTE Flash could have 12-megapixel camera, 4G LTE

Sprint and ZTE appear to becoming fast friends as details for yet another collaboration surfaced over this past weekend. Apparently called the ZTE Flash, the handset's specs could rival those of other high-end Android smartphones.

According to TalkAndroid, the ZTE Flash will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and feature a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.5-inch HD (1,280x720 pixels) IPS display, and offer support for Sprint's 4G LTE network.

The Flash is expected to have a standard 1-megapixel shooter, but the rear-facing camera will feature a huge 12.6-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED … Read more

iPhones just work better with simpler plans, Sprint CEO says

People love the iPhone because of its simplicity and ease of use. It's for that same reason Sprint Nextel's unlimited plans are so popular.

So says Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who claimed his company's simple plans just work better with the iPhone and reiterated his commitment to them.

"We think unlimited is important," Hesse said during a conference call today. "They are significantly simpler."

While the other carriers are throttling -- or slowing down the connection of -- their customers, or capping the amount of data people can use each month, it's … Read more

Sprint turns on LTE in four more cities, still no major hubs

Sprint announced today that it will bring LTE to four more U.S. cities before Labor Day, lifting its count to 19 cities outfitted with the 4G technology by September.

The four cities are Baltimore; Gainesville, Ga.; Manhattan/Junction City, Kan.; and Sherman-Denison, Texas.

The Now Network launched 15 LTE markets earlier this month, concentrated in Texas and Georgia. Many are waiting for Sprint to enable LTE in a major urban center like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago to gauge how well Sprint's LTE network performs alongside the more established Verizon and AT&T.

Sprint was the … Read more

Sprint CEO: Verizon benefited most from Nextel turnover

Verizon Wireless got fat off the customers that left Sprint Nextel's iDEN network over the past few years.

That's according to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who told investors today that Verizon has nabbed half of the customers who left the ailing Nextel service over the past few years. AT&T grabbed roughly a fifth of the departing customers, while Sprint got a quarter.

"The iDEN (Nextel) network was a big source of customers for our rivals, particularly Verizon," Hesse said.

More recently, Sprint has shifted its strategy and rededicated its resources into winning back Nextel … Read more