SprintPCS + bluetooth?

[btooth]

Is SprintPCS offering any bluetooth phones? If not, when?

[symbiat]

Back in April or May, SonyEricsson announced the T608, supposedly the first Bluetooth phone for US CDMA networks. I waited and waited and waited. No phone. In June (when the release was supposed to happen) I saw a press release that SonyEricsson were scaling back their future projects and one area affected was CDMA markets in the US.

So my guess is that this project was quietly shelved and we never heard from it again. Its a shame because SprintPCS needs to get cooler phones. They have NO Bluetooth phones. The phones they *do* have are not what I would call "brand-name" phones - mostly Asian manufacturers with one Nokia model (mediocre). (Im also sick of the silver cases that scratch easily and look like crap after a few weeks). It seems to me that T-Mobile and AT&T have the best phones and after November 24th Ill be ditching Sprint (after 5 years as a loyal customer) and buying either the P900 or Nokia 77xx or their announced successor to the 9290. (I am an old Psion user who finds anything non-Symbian - like the Treo 600 - as offering very basic functionality). BTW, they have some damn cool phones on Symbian's home page: http://www.symbian.com

UPDATE: I just saw this today: http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/b...TOOTH&read=996
confirming what I suspected.

[btooth]

symbiat,

i have the same feeling as you. i have been using SprintPCS for the last 4 yrs and i think they offer very fair pricing as well as above average coverage and signal quality. i live in the SF Bay Area and many friends on other networks are very frustrated with their coverage and signal quality while i hardly have any problems.

the phone choices on the other hand leaves much to be desired for. Samsung makes nice phones, but so do many other phone companies. and Samsung isn't exactly the market leader in terms of style and function. the resale value of SprintPCS phone are also very bad. SprintPCS marketing should start realizing that phone is now a fashion as well as function.

[pkastl]

I e-mailed SprintPCS last week (customer service). They replied that they still are planning to offer a Sony Ericsson phone, but they won't say when.

[pkastl]

Actually, here is the text of the e-mail that I got from Sprint PCS on 10-27-2003, from Stanley S.:

Hello,


This is in response to your inquiry regarding the Bluetooth enabled
phone.


We have not yet launched a Bluetooth enabled phone. However, we will
soon be launching the Sony Ericsson T606 which is Bluetooth enabled
device. However, for competitive reasons, I cannot provide you with
the exact date its launch. When we do launch, you will be notified
through a high-profile promotion.

[btooth]

T606. excellent, look forward to the release of this phone.

[symbiat]

Originally Posted by btooth

...i think they offer very fair pricing as well as above average coverage and signal quality. i live in the SF Bay Area and many friends on other networks are very frustrated with their coverage and signal quality while i hardly have any problems.

The weird thing is that among the phone dealers here in New York, Sprint's name is like dirt. They always ask me if I have problems and try and sell me into T-Mobile or AT&T. I have a friend with Cingular who has gone through about 3 phones in the past year. My old StarTAC has been dropped many many times, the antenna has broken off and the case is cracked but it still works fine!

Originally Posted by btooth

the resale value of SprintPCS phone are also very bad. SprintPCS marketing should start realizing that phone is now a fashion as well as function.

I once had a conversation with some knowledgeable guy saying that the reason Sprint dont carry any Nokia phones for example is that there was a major falling out between Nokia and Sprint - this is why Nokia has basically turned its back on CDMA for a long time. OK, now we have ONE Nokia phone available for Sprint, <sarcasm>wop-dee-doo!</sarcasm>

[symbiat]

Originally Posted by btooth

T606. excellent, look forward to the release of this phone.

This looks exactly like the T608.

[btooth]

Originally Posted by symbiat

The weird thing is that among the phone dealers here in New York, Sprint's name is like dirt. They always ask me if I have problems and try and sell me into T-Mobile or AT&T.

that's gonna be depending on your location. here in SF Bay Area, i have a friend with AT&T, and my gosh, his coverage is horrendous. while my SprintPCS service is pretty good and that's a reason why i haven't switched away from it. i see that a fancy phone doesn't really replace good signal unfortunately.

I have a friend with Cingular who has gone through about 3 phones in the past year. My old StarTAC has been dropped many many times, the antenna has broken off and the case is cracked but it still works fine!

yes, i have one, the good ole StarTAC, i only replaced it coz i got a new phone as a present from my gf.

[btooth]

symbiat,

so did you ended up switching phone?

[symbiat]

Originally Posted by pkastl

We have not yet launched a Bluetooth enabled phone. However, we will
soon be launching the Sony Ericsson T606 which is Bluetooth enabled
device. However, for competitive reasons, I cannot provide you with
the exact date its launch.

For competitive reasons?! That made me LAUGH!
SprintPCS are bringing up the REAR in terms of having Bluetooth phones - are they are trying to surprise their competitors (who ALL have Bluetooth phones!) ? That's a joke right? :-)

[symbiat]

Originally Posted by btooth

so did you ended up switching phone?

Well Nov 24th came and went and I here AT&T customers are having problems switching (taking up to a week to switch).

Im determined that my next phone be Bluetooth (of course) but also should have some smartphone features. I have been salivating over the P900 which is not quite here yet.

My other main problem right now is that that sort of phone is gonna take a big bite out of my wallet so Im gonna save up a bit longer. Meanwhile, the P900 should become more widely available (or maybe we'ill see the successor to the 9290 too?).

My other current fave is the T610 (or T616 if you're with AT&T) which is a nice stylish cute phone but not much of a smartphone compared to the P900.

[symbiat]

Originally Posted by btooth

here in SF Bay Area, i have a friend with AT&T, and my gosh, his coverage is horrendous. while my SprintPCS service is pretty good and that's a reason why i haven't switched away from it. i see that a fancy phone doesn't really replace good signal unfortunately.

My GF once tried to switch to Voicestream (well, back then they were still Voicestream). The dampener was that it worked great at home, but walk 5 blocks west to work and no coverage at all! A phone is worth jack if it doesn't even make a call...

I dont know what T-Mobile or AT&T coverage are like. Supposedly AT&T is pretty good and are attractive now that they are finally migrating from TDMA in favor of GSM - about frigging time. (What is it with you Americans and you "not-invented-here" syndrome - just plain silly ;-)

I also need to take some time researching the data access options - I want mobile browsing and email too. When it looked like noone was buying, all the carriers were offering unlimited data plans - looks like that has gone now because people are buying.

[btooth]

i wonder if SprintPCS will ever come up with a bluetooth phone. i have waited for a while. and as it happens, i lost my phone and now i am looking for a new one. all the phone in their offerings do not have bluetooth support. needless to say, i am quite disappointed.

i haven't seen the Sony phone mentioned above either. i wonder what is going on.