Sprint lovers rejoice! Even though the beloved Sprint SERO plan has been put to rest, Sprint still have an employee referral offer. Their new plan is one of their “Simply Everything” packages and costs $59.99 per month. The plan starts at $59.99 and comes with 500 minutes as well as unlimited access to all the other Sprint services (including Blackberry Internet Service!).

The one downside to the plan is was that you had to actually know someone who works for Sprint. But that issue has been taken care of, courtesy of their Senior VP of strategy, Russ McGuire. Mr. McGuire posted his own personal details so anyone can now take advantage of this plan. Kudos to him for recognizing this opportunity!

My e-mail address (you’ll need it) is russ.s.mcguire@sprint.com and the 3 digits you’ll need are 383.

The Sprint signup page for the deal itself can be found here.

Source: McGuire’s Law (blog)

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The ride is officially over. This weekend Sprint put an end to their fantastic SERO mobile plans. SERO was intended for employees and their friends and family. Back in 2006 someone discovered a way for anyone to signup for these plans, and Sprint apparently loved the new signups enough that they kept the loophole open. Until yesterday.

The new employee referral plan starts at $59.95 and includes the same things as the current plan, but adds unlimited TV, GPS, Blackberry and music. But it is only open to people who actually have access to a Sprint employee account (and the last three digits of their account ID).

The good news is that current Sprint SERO subscribers will be able to stay on their plan, but any changes, including upgrading your phone will force you onto the new plan.

I’m undecided about the whole thing. On the one hand it was great of Sprint to keep this open for so long, but to change it and shut it down will only hurt them in the long run. They generated a lot of goodwill with this, and to remove it on the same weekend AT&T introduced the new iPhone seems pretty stupid.

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Sure, it isn’t as exciting as that “other phone” released today, but it’s still a decent release for Sprint. The Treo 800w is a Windows Mobile powered EVDO Rev.A (=fast) device with GPS.

It comes with the usual Sprint applications (TV, music store and navigation) and has a list price of $349; but reports from people who actually purchased one say that Sprint is quite aware of the iPhone and is matching the price.

Oh, and ignore the screen shot if the 800w with PalmOS; the new owner thought it would be funny to use Styletap and see how well it runs Palm applications!

Source: Treocentral.com

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According to "a reliable source", the Sprint SERO (Sprint Employee Referral Offer) plan is going to cease being offered on July 10th.

The SERO plan was in my opinion the one thing that made Sprint interesting. $30 a month got you 500 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited messaging and unlimited nights/weekends. Thousands of people have joined or returned to Sprint thanks to this plan.

Sprint is replacing SERO with a much less interesting $10 discount on their cheapest "simply everything" plan. I’m not entirely sure that Sprint understands the consequences of their actions. Thankfully they’ll allow existing customers to stay grandfathered in on SERO, but any changes to the plan like picking a new phone, will require you to upgrade to the new plan ($59.99).

This is horribly poor timing by Sprint, especially with the new 3G iPhone arriving in the same week. One would think that an operator losing this many customers would do everything they can to keep people loyal to them.

Source: Sprint users forum

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If you are in the market for a Blackberry plan, then Sprint has what I consider to be one of the best offers out there. The new Sprint "simply everything" plans really do include everything; including Blackberry Internet Service!

For $69.99 you get 450 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited data (on 3G EVDO), unlimited Sprint TV and Navigation, unlimited text, picture and video messages and even the Blackberry service. If you need more minutes, then the plans become even more attractive: 900 minutes for $89 or unlimited minutes for $99. Other operators have $99 unlimited voice plans, but none of them include every service the operator has to offer.

A similar plan from T-mobile (just 300 minutes, unlimited weekend minutes, unlimited messages and Blackberry service)  is $65 a month. But since T-mobile data is still stuck in the middle ages, you’ll understand why I consider the Sprint deal to be the best out there.

Of course, if you plan to take your Sprint phone abroad, you’ll need to make sure you order a "World Edition" Blackberry with GSM support (Sprint will supply you with a SIM card).

Sprint Plans

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The best mobile phone leaks always seem to be made with the worst possible cameras. And this leak is no different. It’s meant to show the a new HTC phone, with a Sprint logo.

The existence of a CDMA (the system Sprint and Verizon use) version of the Touch Diamond/Touch Pro was already confirmed, but this photo means Sprint is probably going to be the first to get it.

Of course, a blurry photo doesn’t necessarily mean it’s real, and it wouldn’t be the first prank photo made in Photoshop, but I’m cautiously optimistic that Sprint will indeed have this phone in stores within the next month or two.

Of course, this also means that the Sprint answer to the iPhone (the Instinct) will be "extinct" pretty soon.

Source: PPC Geeks

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If you have ever found yourself stuck in a hotel with no mobile phone signal AND are a Sprint Customer, then this product might just brighten your day.

The Sprint AIRAVE (made by Samsung) is a portable cellular base station with a network port.

Simply plug it into an Internet connection, and hey presto; instant Sprint signal.

Coverage is about 5000 square feet, which should be enough for even the largest hotel room. The device is secured, which means only the phones you register to it will be able to access the signal (up to three at a time).

The AIRAVE should be available from July 15th, and will cost $99 plus $15 per month for a currently unknown calling bundle.

When connected to a cable or DSL line, the AIRAVE will support voice and data signals, as well as provide location based support thanks to an included GPS antenna.

The Sprint FAQ’s don’t mention anything about using the device abroad, but chances are it’ll work just fine; though it may not be legal…

Sprint AIRAVE

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XOHM announced this week that it will be launching its first commercial market in Baltimore, Maryland in September 2008.

Up next are Chicago and Washington, DC, with commercial service planned to be ready by the end of this year.

WiMAX network preparations continue in Dallas, Fort Worth, Boston, Providence, and Philadelphia. Launch dates for those cities have not yet been decided.

Forget the 3G iPhone and the HTC Diamond… this is the technology I’m waiting for.

Source: Xohm.com

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WiMax has long been seen as a potential competitor to cellular-based data networks, allowing a combination of high speeds and reasonable range.  Plus roaming between access points is supposed to be way easier to manage than normal WiFi connections.  Of course, it also requires a whole new infrastructure to be built out and it isn’t backwards compatible with other technologies such as WiFi, so it is a bit of a hard sell to drive adoption.  Still, companies are developing solutions.  Sprint has been working on their XOHM network for a while now, with a launch expected any day now or in several months, depending on who is giving statements to the press on any given day.

Things like this seem to take off more quickly in Europe, with more densely populated cities and a populace generally more willing to adopt the new technologies.  And so it is that Amsterdam was the target of a WiMax network launch this week.  With access priced at 20 Euro per month and unlimited download capacity the offering is priced lower than most other broadband options, so they’ve got a chance to take over a decent market share.  At the same time, however, the company’s management acknowledges that unless they are able to expand their coverage area and their subscriber base pretty significantly that they won’t be able to stick around too long.

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Tomorrow is a big day for Sprint. It’s when their newest and "most advanced" smartphone goes on sale. The Sprint Instinct will sell for $129.99 (after a $100 mail in rebate). This is quite a bit lower than the $199 I had expected it to launch for. To get the phone, you’ll need to commit to one of the "simply everything" plans which start at $69.99 (for unlimited data and 450 minutes).

Family plans (with unlimited data and 1500 minutes) are $129.99.

Over the course of the 2 year contract a family using 2 of these phones will pay $3379, which seems quite insane for what is essentially a fairly basic smartphone. The features of the Sprint Instinct match the other smartphones in their lineup (the Touch and Mogul). Needless to say, I doubt we’ll be seeing iPhone like madness at the local Sprint store tomorrow.

Sprint press release

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