Sprint on Tuesday announced that it plans to cease service on its iDEN Nextel network as early as June 30th, 2013. The nation’s third largest wireless provider is looking to migrate business and government customers from the old push-to-talk technology onto Sprint Direct Connect, which operates on the carrier’s 3G CDMA network and offers improved in-building coverage, and increased voice and data capacity. Sprint will begin sending written notices to iDEN customers beginning June 1st, 2012. The da...

A new Motorola iDEN phone has just been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The phone is referred to by two names in FCC documents — the i475 and the i235 — and offers a candybar form factor with a full QWERTY keyboard. As expected, it features push-to-talk support and offers Bluetooth connectivity, 2.5mm headphone jack, camera, speakerphone, and an FM radio. Motorola has yet to officially announce the phone. (more…)

In a press release today, Sprint announced the successor for its push-to-talk (PTT) iDEN network, Sprint Direct Connect. Running on the company’s nationwide CDMA network, Direct Connect will offer users a larger coverage footprint, improved in-building coverage, and increased voice and data capacity. The new protocol will also add several new features, including 200 participant Direct Connect sessions, Land Mobile Radio (LMR) interoperability, and availability notifications. The company expects the move...

We have just been informed that as of February 15th, Telus in Canada will be offering SIM unlocking options on almost all handsets and devices. To qualify, you will need to be an active post-paid customer with an account that has been open for a minimum of 90 days. Telus will charge $50 for the unlock code and will unlock both iDEN and GSM devices. Not a bad offering, right?

Today, U.S. wireless provider Sprint published a press release outlining its “Network Vision” to be implemented over the next several years. As the PR reads:Today, Sprint uses separate equipment to deploy services on 800MHz spectrum, 1.9GHz spectrum and, through its relationship with Clearwire, 2.5GHz spectrum. Under the terms of the new contracts, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung will install new network equipment and software that brings together multiple spectrum bands, or airwaves, on a si...

Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, was speaking with FierceWireless when he noted that his company would eventually shut down their iDEN network. The move isn’t really all that surprising, especially when you take into account that Hesse asserted that there was “no timeline” and it would be a “gradual process.” The shuttering of Nextel’s iDEN network would, as the CEO put it, “free up some channels to put CDMA services onto Sprint’s 800 MHz iDEN spectrum.” One thing i...

Just like we said last night, June 20th will see the U.S. retail release of the Motorola i1. It will be available from Boost Mobile retailers as well as from both Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile. Pricing was not disclosed (we imagine it to be around $350), but we did get confirmation that you’ll be able to hook up the world’s first Push-to-Talk Android smartphone to Boost’s $50 unlimited voice and data plan. (more…)

Thanks to one of our connects, we’ve scored a shot of Sprint’s playbook which contains some upcoming launch dates. The first on the list confirms that the Motorola i1 we scooped way back will definitely launch on June 20th in stores. However, it won’t be available in stores for purchase until July 11th. Next up is the Samsung Intercept M910 (what some have referred to as the Samsung Moment II). The presumably Android-based Samsung Intercept is due to launch on July 11th as well, for online a...

Big news today for iDEN fans who have been jonesing for the Opus One that we scooped and spec’d way back when in December as today it has been formally announced Motorola. Officially known as the Motorola i1, the device is the world’s first Android Push-To-Talk smartphone and it will be offered “this summer” by Sprint. While pricing is currently unknown, we do know practically everything else about the phone and its specs which include a 3.1″ HVGA display, 5 megapixel camera wi...

Remember the Opus One, the Android-powered iDEN handset from Motorola we scooped and then spec’d just before Christmas? Well apparently it’s going to be made official sometime in the next few weeks (hello, CTIA!) and will feature one added but obvious goodie: MOTOBLUR. Since we know most of you don’t have encyclopedic memories, here’s a bit of a refresher on what we’ve been told this phone is all about:3.1″ hVGA 320×480 capacitive touchscreen display3 megapixel autofocus cam...

Some thought Sprint was teaming up with LG to launch a killer WiMAX smartphone at CES but the big press event came and went with nary a mention of an LG-branded WiMAX handset on the horizon. A leaked inventory list from Sprint reveals that we all might have been barking up the wrong tree. First on the inventory list is not an LG phone but the HTC A9292, an Android-powered WiMAX handset with a candy bar form factor. HTC already has one WiMAX phone in its portfolio, perhaps the A9292 will become the second. Our...

When we say we have specifications, boy, do we mean it. One of our connects has sent us the full rundown on Motorla’s Opus One (their first iDEN Android handset) that we revealed a little while back. The features on the device are actually pretty reasonable, and we’d imagine it to sell for a reasonable attractive price-point at release. The Motorola Opus One will run Android 1.5 with iDEN service enhancements, make use of a “Zeus” CPU, and will feature a 3 megapixel autofocus camera.De...

We’re a little light on details at the moment, but we’ve just received a couple photographs of what we’re told is Motorola’s first Android iDEN handset, codenamed the Opus One. Original, huh? While these images come from a new connect, we’ve heard mumblings about this sort of thing for a little bit and the phone in the pictures mostly fits the description. We’re waiting for confirmed specifications, but in the meantime, enjoy the rest of the photos after the break! (more...

Sprint seems to keep bleeding, keep, keep, bleeding subscribers. After losing 801,000 post-paid subscribers, which is slightly better than the 870,000 that analysts expected, Sprint might need to really change its game to do more than just stay afloat. Consequently, Sprint’s losses for the quarter are a whopping $478 million compared to $326 million YoY. Revenue dropped about nine percent to $8.04 billion. Interestingly enough, Sprint’s prepaid service, Boost, added over 600,000 subscribers thanks...