Cellphone Critique

Thanks for taking a quick look at my page. My intent here is to provide useful information regarding cell phones across the 4 Major Carriers in the United States. I have worked in the Business for a number of years now and have come across some great and unfortunately some not so great phones and practices of certain companies. My intent is simply to inform consumers of my personal experiences over the years. I am employed by one of the Big 4 at this time however I will be as open and candid about all companies as possible.

3/29/10 Sprint's Android Phones

Sprint is getting into the mix and is soon going to be offering some of the best Android Operating System Phones on the market. They currently have the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment in their stores ready to be bought. Coming soon to Sprint will be the 4G HTC EVO, the Motorola I1(first push to talk android os phone) and the Nexus One which is already available with Tmobile and ATT wireless.
The addition of these 3 phones in the coming months is going to give Sprint some of the most powerful and popular Android OS phones on the mrket. Their HTC Hero is already getting better reviews than the Iphone. This coming from independent magazines such as pcworld.
For a quick look at these new phones and what they are capable of, take a look at this article on phonearena.com
Will these phones be enough to keep Sprint afloat and turn the tides of losing customers? Perhaps! It is ddefinately a step in the right direction. Their value can not be beat by any of the other 3 major U.S. based carriers. Their customer service is turning the corner. The fact that they have a 4G network working at this time helps put them in the lead. I believe they need to work on improving their lower tier phone offerings. The LG Rumor Touch is a step in that direction.

3/19/10 Supersonic One Step Cloer to Coming to Sprint

It seems as though the folks over at Sprint are getting ready for something big. This aryicle was just posted on Phonearena.com What does this all mean? Its just a packing slip or purchase order. Well it simply means that the Supersonic from HTC is on its way and SOON. Many speculated that HTC Supersonic would not be out until later this year. My guess is with the expected "official" announcement next week, that we are looking for a lauh within the next month possibly. This announcement paired with the expected release of the Nexus One is definately putting Sprint in a Prime position to be a Game Player in the Business.
Here is the Article from Phonearena.com
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The other day we reported that the HTC Supersonic could be introduced at CTIA next week. For those who somehow missed the story, this is the handset that seems designated by Sprint to launch the 4G WiMAX network. For such a monumental task, you would expect to find a studly beast of a phone,and the Supersonic lives up to the billing. Sprint has said that it would launch a 4G handset by summer, so you would expect to start seeing the signs that this is true. And thanks to a tipster, Engadget has obtained a screen shot of some internal Sprint communication that appears to show the Supersonic. The model number of the handset, A9292, appears on a warehouse portal used by indirect third party dealers. It might not be as much proof of an imminent introduction as a press release from Sprint might be, but it still means something and with the amazing specs like a 4.3 inch AMOLED screen, 1GB of ROM and 1GHz of Snapdragon power under the hood, not to mention the 4G connectivity, it all means a lot.

3/18/10 Sprint - Tmobile Merger closer to Completion?

Today it was announced on Phonescoop.com that a possible deal between Clearwire and Tmobile might be in the works.

It has long been speculated that the #3 Carrier Sprint and the #4 Carrier Tmobile would possibly merge into one company. Highly unlikely because of the two different networks from each company and a third if you count the Nextel IDEN network.

Here is the article from Phonescoop:

"According to Reuters, T-Mobile USA is looking at different ways to boost its spectrum capacity. As part of that goal, the company is considering forming a joint venture with one or more other companies. "We continue to look at JV opportunities for additional spectrum... there are a number of different options we look at, (we) have been talking with cable companies, with Clearwire," Robert Dotson, chief executive of T-Mobile USA. The company does not believe the national broadband plan, recently forwarded to congress by the FCC, will be of help in its goal. Notably, Dotson responded to a question about a merger with Sprint, "What you never want to do is take one company that is going through challenges and take another company going through challenges" and put them together. T-Mobile didn't detail how a joint venture with Clearwire would work. Clearwire is Sprint's partner in building out a national WiMax network. T-Mobile has committed to bringing Long Term Evolution (technology that competes with WiMax) to market as its next-generation technology. Both T-Mobile and Sprint lag market leaders Verizon and AT&T by a growing margin."

3/17/10 Sprint has not only 1 but now 2 Great Phones coming

Ok it looks like March 24 might be the big day Sprint and everyone else have been waiting for. SUPERSONIC , will be announced and confirmed.

Well at this time it seems like today is a big day for Sprint. the forthcoming announcement concerning the possible release of the 4G Supersonic and now this,,,,,

The Announcement that Sprint will also be carrying the Nexus One.It is not yet known if they will be sold in stores, like Verizon, or if they will need to be purchased directly from Google, like Tmobile. Either way this is a great day for customers of all the Big 4 National carriers.
Customers will no longer need to switch companies if they are interested in the Nexus One. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a Company(HTC & Google) offering the same phone for all companies to partake in. Of course there might be subtle changes from one carrier to the next but that isnt a bad thing.

3/16/10 Sprint offers "Demo Anywhere"

Sprint is allowing customers fullaccess to a New Phone before committing to purchase it. Sounds great, give me 2 of these phones please.

Oh not so fast. The free demo is on their website. OK its not quite like the real thing however for those of us that actually like to research a litlle before making that committment, its a great option. Think of this as an additional accessory for your service with Sprint.

Sprint is Demonstrating 34 handsets on the Sprint website. What good is this? Well if you want to know if you can link attachments to your email. You can do that here. If you have troubleshooting issues with your phone, you can look up the workarounds here.

I think the program is designed to help customers avoid long lines at service and repair centers that are common. This will give most customers the ability to trouble shoot their own issues from home. Often times its just a small thing that needs to be tweaked.

I think this will benefit customers looking to switch carriers most. They will be able to see exactly what a new phone is capable of doing or not doing before deciding. Click Here to see what Sprint is offering.

3/14/10 Sidekick Re-done???

Microsoft is planning on releasing devices that are currently called "Project Pink". They are going to be geared towards teens looking for a possible first smartphone. This is a way for Microsoft to reintroduce a sidekick like device since they recently aquired Danger Inc. the former maker(aong others) of Sidekick phones.

Many of us heard about the sidekick issue late last year. If you didnt here ya go. Sidekick user info such as contacts, messages etc... are stored on an external server(Danger Inc. which was bought by Microsoft). Well these servers crashed causing sidekick owners to lose most if not all their information on the phone. Yay!!!!!

So this is an attempt it seems to reintroduce a "sidekick" like device for tweens.
The problem I see with "Project Pink" is just that, the name. I sioncerely hope that it changes when released otherwise they are just limiting their target audience.

Good luck with it though. I know how popular those sidekicks were and still are despite the problems they have recently experienced.

for more info: http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/More-leaked-images-of-Microsofts-Project-Pink-Phones---targets-April-20-release-article-a_10043.html

3/13/10

Rumors are floating on the web that the Iphone is going to be coming to a Carrier near you soon, sometime this year accoring to many. Now this may be true. I, however, dont feel that this will be happening for quite some time. Reason being is this. Apple has recently agreed to allow AT&T the rights to sell the Ipad in the United States. By doing so they are committing to AT&T some exclusivity yet again. Yes I know this is not a phone however is shows some type of arrangement by the two in my opinion. Yes I have read reports of Iphones being tested on the Verizon network by some. This very well may be true. The way I see Apple running though is this, they like to be in control. Having multiple carriers selling the Iphone may diminish the control they have over their product.

Other companies have had to step up their game to combat Iphone sales. The Iphone is and will always be iconic. Does this mean there are no other worthy competitors to the Iphone? Hardly not. HTC and Motorola offerings of Googles Android OS are worthy competitors for sure. This open source platform is the stiffest competition to Apple. Without getting into specifics on paticular phones running ther Android OS the biggest feature is the Android Market as a challenger to the Apple App store.

www.phandroid.com is a great place to see what the competition has in store for Apple.

The bottom line is this, do you need the Iphone? Probably not. There are many phones out there that are capable of doing what it does. Some do it even Better. Do some research, ask questions and by all means test drive your phone before you buy it.