I’m actually starting to feel really bad about this and I was about to post a different piece so that I don’t have 2 negative Sprint stories side-by-side, but news is news. According to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) published today said the operator’s customer satisfaction rating fell by more than 8 percent in the first quarter. According to ACSI, Sprint’s customer satisfaction rating has fallen to an all-time low score of 56 on a 100-point scale. We may be seeing yet another subscriber loss in what seems to be a never-ending stream of loss and bad press.
Monthly Archive for May, 2008Page 2 of 11
It’s not even that the news is crucial but we have covered so much to do with Sprint’s troubles I feel I have to publish it. Sprint has lost a patent lawsuit filed by Enovsys LLC over location-based technology. A Los Angeles jury awarded the company damages in the amount of $2.78 million. These damages seem to be just another loss tagged onto the giant losses from last quarter. I hope things improve for the company.
BGR has an interesting post regarding AT&T’s offering of free WiFi to laptop users with a laptop card. Here is the quote:
Effective tomorrow, May 20th, the long-awaited FREE WiFi Access to over 17,000 WiFi locations throughout the U.S. launches for Laptop Connect Customers with plans $60 or higher. This exciting new feature will allow customers unlimited access to over 17,000 WiFi locations at no extra charge including locations in Starbucks and McDonalds. Customers will need three things for this free access:
* A laptop card. FREE WiFi for Smartphones is not available yet, but will be later in 2008.
* The latest version of Communication Manager (version 6.8). Once loaded this version will automatically log onto AT&T hotspots.
* A Laptop Connect plan of $60 or greater.
If you’ll notice the first point, it says “FREE WiFi for Smartphones is not available yet, but will be later in 2008.” So I guess there you have it, AT&T may be giving out free WiFi to Smartphone users later in 2008.
[Via BGR]
SK Telecom’s MVNO Helio is still in talks with Virgin Mobile but in the mean time they’re offering the Ocean for $99 after rebate. With the imminent release of the Ocean 2, it may be wise to put off jumping on this opportunity. The release may also be tied to the current price lowering.
[Via Engadget Mobile]
Recently, Apple filed patents that give us a glimpse into upcoming mobile features such as GPS and gaming. Three of the patents that have been featured around the Blogosphere, show that Apple is really pushing the iPhone as a mobile web 2.0 device. Apple is imagining a device that receives a menu when you walk into a restaurant or changes it’s UI based on your needs. Some quotes from the patents after the jump. Continue reading ‘Apple patents tell us a lot about the iPhone’
HTC is predicting that the Diamond will sell at least 2 million units. The HTC Touch Diamond, being the flagship device and WinMo functional touchscreen, will be really important for HTC to prove that it can produce a great consumer device. Personally, I really like the HTC devices as professional tools but consumer wise, they are lacking in the marketing department. The Diamond should turn this all around.
There is a great video making the rounds of the Internet that shows a new Sony Ericsson device. Sony is definitely pushing the convergence angle on its new phones. The video clearly demonstrates that Sony Ericsson wants to push a phone that has total multimedia access. Will keep you posted.
We have been covering a lot of negative news regarding Sprint and today is no exception. Sprint has capped its unlimited data plan at 5GB (or 300MB while roaming). Sprint “reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred and to deny, terminate, modify, or suspend service” if that soft cap is violated. This cap is a double edged sword in the sense that it will likely reduce bandwidth costs and thereby help the company recover it’s lost profits but at the same time will likely push away its heavy data users thus lowering subscriptions once more.
It’s official: SmartPhone Cool is going to BREW 2008. What am I looking forward to? BREWfest clearly! BREWfest 2008 will feature the band Live. “Lighting Crashes” was a great jam so it should be awesome.