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By S4GRU
by Scott Johnson
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 12:01 AM MST
Many of us enjoy the freedom that rooting or jailbreaking our phones gives. Adding custom ROMs, removing “bloatware” or Carrier IQ, and adding additional controls are just the start. We knowingly take the risk that that we may turn our phone into a brick, and our warranty will likely not cover repair or replacement. But will we knowingly commit a criminal act to unlock our phones?
Apple has claimed that jailbreaking the iPhone was in conflict with copyright laws. Given the amount of time they spent locking down iOS, it’s no surprise they oppose it. In July 2010, the U.S. Copyright Office eventually decided that jailbreaking and rooting was not a violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), as long as it was not done with the intent of circumventing copyright. However, this decision was not permanent. If it is allowed to expire next month, jailbreaking and rooting could be considered breach of the DMCA.
Development websites like XDA started out with the public perception that they were underground gatherings of hackers and pirates. Since the U.S. Copyright Office published the finding that jailbreaking and rooting was not illegal, those development websites have become widely popular and have largely changed the public's perception. Even Steve Kondik, aka “Cyanogen”, creator of the widely popular Android ROM CyanogenMod was hired by Samsung.
Due to the liberties that millions of us enjoy about to be removed due to the sunseting DCMA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has begun a campaign to keep our phones free. They are undertaking a campaign to convince the U.S. Copyright Office that we should have the right to unlock not only our smartphones, but our tablets and video game consoles. They have a petition that they will send to the U.S. Copyright Office, and they are asking for Concrete examples of legal uses of jailbreaking that “will help show the Copyright Office why they should renew and expand the exemptions for jailbreaking.”
You can visit the EFF’s jailbreaking page here: https://www.eff.org/...ee-your-devices
Photo courtesy of iphonefreakz.com
Source: http://www.phonearen...l-again_id26246
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By S4GRU
by Scott Johnson
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
Friday, February 3, 2012 - 2:00 PM MST
The iPhone is something many people see as a status symbol. Many who have never owned one, long for their upgrade date so they can go out and buy the "exclusive" iPhone that they have been denied access to for years. Even some who had the iPhone, and then switched carriers, long to repurchase another. Yes, the iPhone is a well made smartphone with access to a loaded app store, and has many desirable features. But is it really better than Windows Phone, Blackberry or Android models?
When Apple entered into a contract with AT&T, they remanufactured the RAZR craze and how the artificial scarcity of the device created such huge demand. The RAZR was a good device, and you may argue it was well ahead of other phones at the time of its release, but the other manufacturers caught up quickly. Apple used a similar strategy and it has paid off immensely. The iPhone is now available on the top 3 carriers in the U.S., but is still seen as a status symbol in many circles. As if only a few people have access to it. One could make a strong argument that the Samsung Galaxy SII is a superior smartphone, but still many customers line up to get the iPhone instead, because their inner hoarder says they NEED it, and the products perceived coolness and limited availability only add to the whole experience.
The concept of artificial scarcity is simple. You take a product that is plentifully available to manufacture in mass, but limit distribution to a limited time, limited area, or in the case of the iPhone, limited retail outlets.
The strategy has worked perfect for Disney. Why let your movies make the gradual descent to the $3.99 Wal-Mart bargain bin? Just keep "taking them out of the vault" and offering them at full price for a few months every couple years and people pull their credit cards out to pay $17.99 for an 85 year old movie and thank Disney for "allowing" them the opportunity to purchase Snow White. Oh, and you get to be a part of a limited privileged club.
Another notable example is McDonald's McRib. If it was on the menu full time, many people either wouldn't bother going to McDonalds or would order something else, but artificial scarcity commands us to rush in to McDonalds and get several McRibs at a time because we won't have another chance at it for another year. What do we end up with, besides a belly ache and a reason why we don't normally eat at McDonalds?
We should be immune to this form of advertising by now, as we are constantly inundated with limited time availability and special edition products all around us. However it is still alive and well here on Planet Earth, because it still works. Big time.
Can Apple keep the air of exclusivity over its iPhone as it continues to broaden its distribution? Or will smartphone buyers move on to other devices? Only time will tell. But many doubt that Apple will play its hand as well in an era post Steve Jobs.
Photos Courtesy of iPhone5rumor.net
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By S4GRU
CONTEST CLOSED!!!
LIMITED TIME PROMOTION!!!
YOU COULD POSSIBLY WIN A NEW iPHONE 8 IF YOU DONATE TO SUPPORT S4GRU
**OR COMPARABLY PRICED ANDROID DEVICE!**
The Goal
The goal is to have some fun and raise some money to support S4GRU. If we can raise enough money to cover the device by 8 PM Pacific Time on Friday, October 27th, then we will schedule the raffle. The contest winner can select the color from what's available. The winner can also select the carrier (not limited to Sprint).
The Plan
If we are able to raise at least as much as the device costs us plus incidental charges like taxes and shipping, we will add any additional proceeds to the S4GRU general fund. If we can't raise enough, we will provide opportunity to refund.
And which model it ends up being depends on how much money we can raise. If we raise just $750, it will be the iPhone 8 64GB ($699 value). For each additional $500 we collect beyond $750, we will give another $100 in toward upgrading to the iPhone 8+, iPhone X or memory/apple care upgrades. The winner can select any variant or upgrades, but they will need to pay any cost difference, from the prize value. Increases in prize vales will be announced in this thread. THE WINNER CAN SELECT AN ANDROID DEVICE IN LIEU OF AN iPHONE, IF THEY CHOOSE. Like a NOTE 8, Pixel 2, LG V30, Essential Phone, etc. Equal or lesser value to the winning iPhone prize.
The Raffle
Each donation to the iPHONE 8 PROMO will receive a range of numbers, equating to one number for every dollar you donate. The minimum donation to the cause is $10. If you donate $10, you get a range of 10 numbers. If you donate $100, you get a range of 100 numbers. The more you donate, the greater your chances of winning. There is no limit to the amount you can donate...in amount or frequency. But it needs to be at least $10 per donation to the iPHONE 8 PROMO.
You will receive a Private Message (or email if you are not a S4GRU member) from S4GRU giving you your numbers after your donation. Most likely within 8-12 hours, but could take a day or two.
We will stop accepting donations at 8PM Pacific on Friday, October 27th. Any donations received after that time will not be counted toward this promotion. Date and time of the drawing will be announced after the close of donations acceptance. We will select a number at random using my random number generator app in my Pixel XL. You do not need to be present in the live chat to win.
All money donated to the raffle will be credited to your S4GRU accumulation total and will count toward future upgrades. If you are not currently a S4GRU Sponsor, you will be given Sponsor status for six months with the minimum $10 raffle donation.
To Enter
Go to the S4GRU PayPal Donation section by clicking on this hyperlink or by by clicking the donate button in the upper right hand corner of most S4GRU pages. Enter an amount you want to donate for this promotion, minimum $10. In the notes section, tell us your screen name and type iPHONE 8 PROMO. If you forget to do that in the PayPal donation, then send me a Message. You will get a message response giving you your raffle numbers by 11 PM Pacific on 10/27/2017. If you don't get them, message me.
Rules
S4GRU Membership is not required to enter. S4GRU Staff Members and their families are ineligible to win. Dollars spent on the promotion will count toward future member upgrades. There is no cash value of the prize. S4GRU will pay the shipping costs to send the prize to the winner. The winner will be offered options as to network selections, device options and colors based on availability within the winning prize amount. S4GRU cannot guarantee availability of any products, types, varieties or colors. Although many devices can be used on several networks, S4GRU cannot guarantee operability on any network. A SIM card purchase for the winner's preferred network may be required and is not paid by S4GRU. This contest is void where prohibited. Pre-scheduled automatic recurring payments to S4GRU during the contest period will not be eligible for entry in the contest. Should the winner desire a phone other than the iPhone product offered at contest conclusion, they can request an Android device of equal or lesser value. If a device more expensive than the iPhone offered is desired, the winner will need to pay the difference before the product will be ordered. If winner selects a less expensive phone than the prize offered, S4GRU will retain those funds as a donation. The contest may be subject to amendment, extension or cancellation as necessary. S4GRU reserves the right to provide a gift card or PayPal payment of the value of the prize for convenience or difficulty in sourcing the prize occurs.
Photo Courtesy of Phone Arena
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Posts
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I received a Sprint Business email over the weekend. Closing could be as early as April 1, 2020. -
Great article! Good find!! Thank you! -
I didn't see that volte had become an option with the Android 10 update. it's been off, so that isn't the issue. Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk -
By bigsnake49 · Posted
A great article by Jim Patterson on rcrwireless.com. Some nuggets format 2.5GHz: “Braxton, Mike and John have authorized me to do some work at risk this year in getting ourselves ready to deploy the 2.5 gigahertz spectrum as soon as the deal closes. Nobody is more impatient for this thing to close than me. I wish I was deploying 2.5 radio on the network right now, but we’ve done work at low cost in terms of securing, permitting, and authorization to deploy 2.5. So as soon as this deal closes, we’re in a position where we can start laying down 2.5 radio on the new T-Mobile network.” Enterprise: T-Mobile inherits not only a trough of spectrum with the Sprint acquisition, but hundreds of seasoned enterprise sales executives. As Mike Sievert recently acknowledged in his appearance at the Citi conference a month ago, T-Mobile is under-indexed in enterprise. Sprint’s enterprise roots are significant, having commanded close to 20% of the enterprise data market as recently as 2006. There are many sales executives who cut their teeth with fleet management solutions (Nextel and Sprint), wireless access solutions (Clearwire and Sprint) and IP MPLS (Sprint). *Without going through all of the details it’s important to note that the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 (and their variants) have the 2.5 GHz band already installed in the GSM (T-Mobile) version, and that the CDMA (Sprint) version of these devices already has T-Mobile’s Low Band 700 MHz spectrum, a.k.a. Band 12 (and Band 66 in the case of iPhone 😎 already enabled. The CDMA version of the iPhone SE also has Band 12 enabled. Bottom line: there is the potential for backwards compatibility within the current handsets. And the iPhone XS (and variants) and iPhone 11 (and variants) are universal devices and include T-Mobile’s 600 MHz band which will be have a big benefit for Sprint customers. https://www.rcrwireless.com/20200216/analyst-angle/the-sunday-brief-new-t-mobile-cat-5-hurricane -
Good. I bought shares in Shentel (SHEN) and US Cellular (USM) a year or two ago when their stock prices went down. Waiting for a business consolidation event that causes their value to double or more.
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