Sprint

While we're not in the habit of praising marketing campaigns, this one from Sprint and RIM at least shows that some people are trying things beyond such cliches as mystery ads and countdown commercials. In pushing the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone, the two companies are advertising "the first $10.5 million cell phone--an exciting limited-time offer for billionaires."

According to its special site, the phone comes bundled with with an "exotic island" for $10.5 million--$199.99 for the handset and $10,499,800.01 for the land. It even goes so far … Read more

The LG Rumor is one of LG's more popular fall offerings, and there's a reason why. The Rumor is one of those rare phones that has a built-in QWERTY keyboard but is most definitely not a smartphone. This messaging-centric device has a hidden slide-out QWERTY keyboard that is vaguely reminiscent of the LG F9200, plus it comes with a few multimedia extras like a 1.3-megapixel camera and a music player. Another nice touch is the instant access to Facebook right from the Messaging menu. Don't get your hopes up about the Rumor being a good Web … Read more

Could it be that Sprint has a heart? According to a proposed settlement for a California class action lawsuit it may just have one. Sprint announced today that if the settlement is reached the carrier will provide customers with the necessary codes to unlock their handsets for use on other carrier networks.

If enacted, the move would allow departing Sprint customers to take their phones with them when they leave the carrier. Locked phones, or handsets that are tied to one carrier, have have long dominated the U.S. market but in the last couple years the practice has earned … Read more

Starting this month, five Hewlett-Packard business notebooks will be come packaged with Sprint's mobile broadband network.

The HP Compaq 2710p convertible notebook, 6510b, 6910p, 8510p notebooks and 8510w mobile work station, are the first offerings from HP to be eligible for embedded Sprint service. Prices for the five models range between $959 and $2,049. HP says to expect additional models to be added later this year.

The companies will jointly market the notebooks, which will have access to Sprint's 3G EV-DO network beginning sometime in October. Customers who sign up for a one- or two-year service agreement … Read more

Today, Sprint officially announced its plans to offer the HTC Touch smartphone with availability starting on November 4 for $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. If you'll remember, we reviewed an unlocked version of the Touch back in June, which made headlines for its all-touch-screen interface--pre-iPhone release. Though we had major issues with the poor text entry input methods (or lack thereof), it didn't seem to bother too many CNET readers, garnering an average 8.5 user rating.

The Sprint HTC Touch features some enhancements and carrier-specific services not found on … Read more

Despite the impending sale of Sanyo's cell phone division to Kyocera, handset sales are still trucking along according to schedule. The Sanyo S1, for example, is a slim candy bar phone for Sprint that is available now via RadioShack. It seems to be a pretty simple device, with Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and access to Sprint's Vision services. RadioShack is getting a tremendous head start here, as the Sanyo S1 won't even go on sale via Sprint until January of next year. By then, the phone might be renamed the Kyocera S1, for all we know. Stay tuned … Read more

Lately, Palm's come under a bit of criticism for dragging its heels in the innovation department, and the Palm Foleo fiasco certainly didn't help. However, the company's latest project, the Palm Centro, is looking like a better prospect. It's certainly not the type of innovation we were looking for, but the combination of a more compact design, full feature set, and affordable price, makes the Centro an attractive option for those looking for their first smartphone. Check out the photos and review here.