Sprint's early upgrade program to launch on September 20

Sprint is reportedly preparing to launch an early upgrade program for smartphones in the wake of similar offerings from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Known as Sprint One Up, the glorified handset rental service is expected to debut on September 20. Better late than never, right?

One Up is said to allow customers select a smartphone with no money down and spread the cost of the device over 24 monthly payments. For example, a handset that sells for $649.99 would be around $27 each month on top of the monthly rate plan. After one year, the customer can elect to trade in the original device and start making payments on a new phone.

Sprint will allow existing customers that have been on contract for at least a year to sign up for One UP although they will need to trade in their current phone unless they are eligible for a full upgrade. Prepaid customers aren’t eligible for the program.

Sprint’s plan seems more in line with T-Mobile’s Jump plan in that a break is given in exchange for the monthly installment plan. Programs from AT&T and Verizon continue to charge the same monthly rate plan on top of having to also pay extra for a new device.

Of course, once you do the math, you’ll quickly realize that all of these early upgrade plans are a complete sham. Assuming you take the upgrade as often as possible (either once or twice a year), you’re basically renting a phone at a premium and will never have anything to show for it (a phone you own).

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No Lumia 900 on T-Mobile in Germany, related to WP8 upgrade path?

An unlocked version of the Lumia 900 launched in Germany last week but when the phone was notably absent on T-Mobile, customers became suspicious. When the question was presented on a T-Mobile support forum, a customer service representative reportedly checked around the office and learned they wouldn’t be carrying the phone because the operating system wouldn’t be upgradable to Windows Phone 8 when it launches in a few months.

A T-Mobile spokesperson from the region has since issued statements to various media claiming the forum response isn’t an official statement from Deutsche Telekom and they have no idea where said information came from. The spokesperson concludes that such a statement would never be communicated and noted the phone was not being offered due to market conditions and customer needs.

This only added fuel to the rumors that current Windows Phone device would not be compatible with Windows Phone 8. Following Microsoft’s sneak peak at Windows Phone event earlier today, we now have confirmation that Windows Phone 7.5 devices will not be able to run Windows Phone 8. Instead, legacy device owners will receive new features through Windows Phone 7.8. Details are still scarce at this point but we suspect 7.8 would be pushed out to handsets around the same time as WP8 devices launch.

The Microsoft upgrade path announcement certainly lends some credit to the Lumia 900 / T-Mobile fiasco but we don’t expect the telecommunications company to actually admit it.

AT&T talks to sell assets go cold, merger with T-Mobile looking less likely

Talks to sell some T-Mobile USA assets as a precondition to closing a merger deal with AT&T have "gone cold,"according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper says the companies no longer believe such a deal would help persuade regulators into letting the merger go forward. They are not ruling out an acquisition yet, but AT&T is apparently already looking at other options, such as a partial takeover or a joint venture with the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier.

Companies involved in the talks reportedly included small wireless operator Leap and Dish Network, which has shown serious interest in diversifying their business beyond pay television in the last year.

AT&T is currently the second largest wireless operator in the U.S. Should its planned $39 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of T-Mobile USA  go through it would add around 34 million customers and effectively vault them into the leading position in the U.S. wireless market, overtaking Verizon Wireless.

But the companies are having a hard time convincing the FCC and the Department of Justice that a merger will not hinder competition for wireless services across the country. AT&T withdrew its merger application with the FCC in late November just days after the latter hinted it would not back the planned acquisition. They subsequently recorded a $4 billion charge against earnings this quarter to cover the $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum licenses it agreed to turn over to Deutsche Telekom if the deal faltered.

Dish Network interested in T-Mobile deal if AT&T acquisition fails

Dish Network may be the next in line to strike a deal with T-Mobile should the acquisition by AT&T fail. Dish CEO Joe Clayton said in an interview with Reuters that the company is serious about getting into the wireless space but that a few conditions must first be met.


Before anything could happen, the FCC must first issue Dish a wireless license. At that point, it would be a waiting game to see what happens between AT&T and T-Mobile. The judge overseeing that case has granted a request by both parties to postpone the proceedings until January 18, giving AT&T more time to evaluate all options.


According to reports, Dish has spent over $3 billion on wireless spectrum and assets in the last year in preparation to diversity their business beyond pay television. Dish lost nearly 250,000 subscribers in the past two quarters, citing a weak economy as the primary reason.


AT&T withdrew their merger application with T-Mobile in late November just days after the FCC hinted it would not back the planned acquisition. AT&T subsequently recorded a $4 billion charge against earnings this quarter to cover the $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum licenses it agreed to turn over to Deutsche Telekom if the deal faltered. The company still insists that the deal isn’t dead and they are exploring all options.  


Regardless of the outcome, Dish would either need to find a partner or acquire a wireless company to move forward. A deal with other carriers including Clearwire, Sprint, LightSquared, MetroPCS or Leap wasn’t ruled out.

T-Mobile details upcoming Samsung Galaxy S 4G, LG G-Slate

T-Mobile offered up some fresh details about two upcoming flagship devices that will run on its HSPA+ network: a 4G version of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphone and LG's G-Slate Android tablet. The first is an update to the Vibrant, with the most notable addition being the front-facing camera and a slight battery capacity bump to cope with the beefier radio.

Other specs include a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, 5-megapixel rear camera, a 16GB microSD card, and Android 2.2 "Froyo". A number of applications are bundled with the smartphone, including DoubleTwist with AirSync, Slacker Radio, Amazon Kindle for Android, and Qik for video chats, while T-Mobile is also bundling a copy of Christopher Nolan's Inception with every phone.

As for the LG Slate, this is the first time we've seen any solid details on the device after it's short appearance at CES. It will run on Google's tablet-specific Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb, and boast an 8.9-inch, 3D-capable multi-touch display powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 mobile platform. The G-Slate will also feature 32GB of internal memory and a dual-lens 3D stereoscopic camera on the back to record 3D photos and videos, which can be viewed on the device or an external display via an HDMI output port. Unfortunately, viewing 3D content on the G-Slate will require special glasses.

In addition, the tablet will have a two-megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing over either Wi-Fi or the mobile network, and comes equipped with a gyroscope and accelerometer. The G-Slate is reportedly coming "this spring" for an unspecified value price, while the Galaxy S 4G smartphone is expected to arrive this month.