Sprint

SoftBank gives U.S. right to OK Sprint board member -- report

In a further attempt to ease national security concerns over its proposed acquisition of Sprint, Japan-based SoftBank has agreed to give the U.S. government the right to approve one of the members SoftBank would appoint to Sprint's board of directors, according to a report.

The U.S.-approved board member would make sure a SoftBank-owned Sprint honored whatever security agreement is hammered out with U.S. regulators, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

Regulators are also seeking oversight of Sprint's network equipment purchases to prevent gear from Chinese suppliers Huawei Technologies and ZTE … Read more

Clearwire board OKs Sprint's revised, $3.40/share bid

Just a day after Sprint upped its bid to acquire Clearwire, the latter's board has said that it's the right deal for the company.

In a statement released Wednesday, Clearwire's board announced that it has approved the new deal with Sprint. The board has also asked shareholders to vote in favor of the acquisition when they meet to place their ballots on May 31.

Sprint made a surprising announcement Tuesday, saying that it would up its initial offer to buy the remaining 50 percent of Clearwire that it doesn't own from $2.97 per share to $… Read more

Must-see videos from CTIA 2013

LAS VEGAS -- The 2013 CTIA kicked off today. The last event of the wireless show season, CTIA tends to be a bit quieter than Mobile World Congress and CES. Yet, there are plenty of new handsets, hotpots, and accessories on display at the Sands Expo. Keep on clicking in this gallery to join CNET's team of reporters as they search the show floor and capture the best of CTIA on video. And as we shoot more videos we'll be expanding this list.

Sprint says more to come from BlackBerry

LAS VEGAS--Sprint Nextel is planning at least one more BlackBerry to join its line up this year.

"We're not done with BlackBerry," said Lois Eichelberger Fagan, director of product portfolio for Sprint Nextel, in an interview with CNET on Tuesday here at the CTIA Wireless conference. "There's more to come."

Sprint plans to launch the Qwerty keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Q10 late summer. The company opted not to sell the flagship BlackBerry Z10, which was the debut product for BlackBerry 10.

Sprint has teased another product from BlackBerry by the end of the year, but wouldn'… Read more

Boost Mobile wants to be its customers' digital wallet

LAS VEGAS -- Sprint Nextel's prepaid arm, Boost Mobile, is taking its own stab at the digital wallet.

The company on Tuesday unveiled its Boost Mobile Wallet program, which is an Android application that allows its prepaid customers to manage their funds, transfer funds, send money overseas, and pay bills.

While the heavy-hitters such as Google and Isis -- which is a joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile -- are going after the high-end, tech-savvy user with their own digital wallets, Boost is going the opposite route. The company is instead targeting customers who tend … Read more

Three tri-band hot spots join Sprint's ranks

LAS VEGAS -- Sprint just announced a trio of tri-band LTE mobile hot spots today at CTIA 2013. The devices are the Netgear Zing, the Netgear 341U, and the Novatel Wireless MiFi 500LTE.

The most striking product is the Netgear Zing, which not only connects to Sprint's 3G and 4G networks to supply up to 10 users simultaneously, it also features a large LCD touch screen. In fact Sprint claims it's the first hot spot it has offered with a touch-controlled display. Another added bonus to the Zing is it's capable of roaming globally on GSM networks. … Read more

Sprint CEO: Clearwire offer our 'best and final' one

LAS VEGAS -- Sprint's sweetened bid for Clearwire represents its "best and final" offer, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told CNET on the sidelines of the CTIA Wireless show here Tuesday.

"You can take that to the bank," he said.

Sprint earlier today raised its offer for Clearwire to $3.40 a share, valuing the company at $10.7 billion. The offer is a substantial premium over its original $2.97 a share offer, and 10 cents a share more than Dish Network's competing bid for Clearwire.

Clearwire shareholders had been agitating for a better … Read more

Kyocera announces waterproof Hydro Edge (hands-on)

LAS VEGAS -- At CTIA 2013, Kyocera unveiled one of the newest members of its waterproof Hydro line: the Kyocera Hydro Edge.

Kyocera also introduced its slightly higher-end Hydro XTRM for U.S. Cellular. The Edge, however, will be available through Sprint and the prepaid network, Boost Mobile, and will run on both carrier's 3G network.

Through exact pricing and availability are unknown, CNET was told by a Kyocera rep that the Edge will most likely have the same initial $129.99 pricing as the original Hydro. It will arrive on both carriers by this summer.

Design The Edge … Read more

Sprint ups bid on Clearwire to $3.40 per share to outdo Dish

Sprint has decided that it doesn't want to let Clearwire out of its sights.

The company on Tuesday announced that it has revised its $2.97-per-share offer for Clearwire to $3.40 per share. The increased offer represents a 14 percent increase from Sprint's previous offer, valuing Clearwire at $10.7 billion. More importantly, it's 10 cents higher than the $3.30-per-share offer made by Dish.

Sprint already owns about 50 percent of Clearwire. The company had previously said that its offer was superior to the one Dish brought to Clearwire earlier this year, and Clearwire's board agreed. … Read more

Customers not as happy with iPhone as they were last year

More customers are satisfied with Apple's phones than any other handsets, but they're not as happy as they were last year, a new report said.

According to an American Customer Satisfaction Index report issued today, Apple received a score of 81 (on a scale of 100) in terms of customer satisfaction. But the company dropped 2 percent from its 2012 position, and the iPhone lags the customer satisfaction rating of 86 for Apple's desktop, laptop, and tablet business.

At the same time, satisfaction with Motorola phones jumped 5 percent from 2012 to 77, and Nokia grew 1 … Read more