Sprint announced that it will offer the Motorola ADMIRAL, the first Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) PTT handset with support for its new CDMA-based Direct Connect network, on October 23rd. The phone will cost $99.99 with a new two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. The ADMIRAL meets Mil-Spec 810G ratings for dust, shock, vibration, solar radiation, low pressure and high and low temperatures. It is equipped with a 1.2GHz processor, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p vid...

Sprint announced on Tuesday that it will deploy its CDMA-based push-to-talk network on October 2nd. “Our customers are asking for broadband and push-to-talk,” president-Sprint Business Paget Alves said. “We’ve seen steadily increasing demand for faster data speeds, better and broader coverage, and more applications on push-to-talk devices. Sprint Direct Connect is designed to solve for all three.” The new service supports Group Connect and TeamDC for connecting with up to 20 or 200 o...

Sprint will revamp and deploy a new Direct Connect push-to-talk service on October 2nd, SprintFeed reports. According to a purported leaked internal screen shot, the new service will support international push-to-talk direct connect, an option that isn’t available from competing services offered by Verizon Wireless and AT&T. In addition, the service will support Land Mobile Radio interoperability (LMR), which is typically used by the military or emergency services and is also offered by Verizon Wi...

Sprint may be preparing to launch a beefier version of its QWERTY-sporting XPRT smartphone. Thisismynext has obtained screenshots and specs for a new phone dubbed the Motorola ‘Pax’ that could be launching in the near future. The Pax will come equipped with a dual-core processor, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and support for Sprint’s upcoming CDMA 1X Advanced push-to-talk network, Thisismynext said. The thickness also suggests that it’s equipped with an extended battery, although that̵...

It looks like the rumors were correct: Sprint announced on Monday that the rugged Motorola Titanium phone will be available on July 24th for $149.99. The Motorola Titanium runs Android 2.1 (Eclair) and meets Mil-Spec 810G ratings for dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation, high temperature and low temperature. The Titanium, which supports push-to-talk, is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 2GB microSD card and a 1,820mAh battery. Rea...

A leak document picked up by SprintFeed suggests that Sprint will launch the Motorola Titanium, an Android smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, on July 24th for $149.99. The Titanium is no secret as Motorola officially announced it in May, but the company didn’t provide pricing or launch details at that time. The phone supports push-to-talk and offers a military-grade ruggedized design that’s resistant to dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation, high temperatures, and low tempera...

Sprint on Thursday unveiled two new Android smartphones from Motorola — the Motorola XPRT and the Motorola Titanium. The XPRT is a dual-mode smartphone capable of roaming internationally on GSM networks, and it’s also the first Android phone from Sprint to feature enterprise-class security. Spec highlights include Android 2.2 (Froyo) with MOTOBLUR, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard with BlackBerry-style buttons, a 1GHz processor and Adobe Flash 10 support. Th...

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...

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...

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...

When you think of push-to-talk you might conjure up images of construction workers on job sites wielding yellow ruggedized handsets. However, recently Verizon rolled out push-to-talk to its business-centric BlackBerry Tour handset in an attempt to bring PTT to new industries and work places. The adoption rate for this $5 monthly service has apparently a bit sluggish amongst Tour owners, as Verizon is reportedly launching a new promotion that will allow 9630 owners to add the PTT service to their line…fo...

One of our ninjas let us know that Verizon Wireless will be making the much-awaited BlackBerry 5.0 OS upgrade available to BlackBerry Tour 9630 owners come Tuesday. It will also have PTT built in.