iansltx

Ordered my SIII (32GB blue) a few minutes ago, as an (early, see my thread on the topic) upgrade. Didn't get the e-mail Robert did, but did get an upgrade confirmation email with the phone purchase info etc. One thing I'm curious about is whether the phone will come with a 32GB microSDHC card preinstalled, for a whopping 64GB of total storage. The phone description page seems to indicate this...and then you see a 32GB card being hawked (for a disgustingly expensive $99.99) on the accessory purchase page. Speaking of which, I didn't buy any accessories. I've got plenty of stuff that runs on microUSB, and I like my cheapie Skullcandy wired stereo headset more than, say, some Bluetool product.

Is this the first mention on the board of the LTE 800 FITs? When I saw "FIT" I immediately thought, "Wait, Waco?" In any case, in rural central TX the two providers with the most coverage are the CLR licensees, AT&T and Five Bar...er...Five Star Wireless. Sprint and Verizon are limited to 1900 there, though VZ has put up multiple towers in the area such that their coverage, depending on where you are, is better than Sprint's (sometimes it's the reverse however). Put another way, you *can* do 1900MHz as a rural solution if you're forced to, but it's far from ideal...but you may have to, if your roaming partner in the area decides to stop CDMA investment at 1x and switch to GSM/EDGE (and, recently, HSPA/+).

Quick update: my upgrade eligibility got moved up to 6/1/12. Just ordered the SIII (32GB, Blue). Fingers crossed, hoping it gets to me on launch day From what I hear, I can keep my current (SERO Premium) plan by calling Sprint when I activate the device. Which means that I'll be paying ~$67 per month, inclusive of taxes and fees, for 500 minutes + any mobile + unlimited n/w + unlimited messaging and data (on LTE when it comes out) + unlimited calling to my parents' landline + insurance. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Why is the parents' landline listed in there? I asked for 5pm nights and weekends as well as Pick 3 back in 2008...and got both added to my then-$30 SERO plan ($43.28 including insurance, taxes and fees). 5pm nights and weekends became unavailable when I went to SERO-P, and my parents' cells were two of the three Pick 3 numbers I picked, but that left me with unlimited calling to the number that I called most during college. End result: it's been a long time since I've used more than 100 anytime minutes Oh yeah, and I'm looking forward to my new phone. The OG Epic is awesome and all that, but I want download speeds above 2 Mbps when NV comes out, and the added speed won't cost me anything extra per month since Premium Data was required when I got this phone anyway.

Funny how Google Voice Actions have been around since Android 2.2 (iirc a year prior to Siri)...and yet Apple decides to attack S Voice now. It's not like the folks who are buying the GSIII will switch to the iPhone 4S due to the delay. They might grab an HTC One S/X instead but that doesn't help Apple any. The iPhone is in a completely different category than either of the two new monsterphone models, so trying to prevent its existence in the US is just silly in my book. If Apple wants more sales, they should at least put an LTE radio into the iPhone, and maybe upgrade the CPU to an A5X while they're at it...

Meh, I've bought a number of devices shortly after they came out. My 3rd-gen iPad (bought in a store before many had their online-shipped orders) is the latest one to come to mind. I think my MacBook was similar. I only waited on my Epic because Sprint didn't start SERO Premium until 9/30/10 or so. I played with Windows 7 on a first-gen MacBook Air before the taskbar changed from a carbon copy of Vista's, and used Vista in a production environment at RC2. My Epic has had leaked firmware on it nearly as much as it has had stock So yeah, I know the crap that happens when you're an early adopter, and am prepared to deal with it. If I wanted a solid, somewhat bland phone I'd just get the Galaxy Nexus. But I want something with a microSD card slot EDIT: I will also maintain the insurance plan that I've had since I came to Sprint nearly five years ago. When the device screws up, I'll hop over to the Sprint store a couple miles from where I'll be living, starting in August, and see if the store will make it right. There's a Panera right below the Sprint store so I can wait while they repair/replace

That would be interesting. I'd look up the FCC docs, but I'm in a lazy mood right now

I noticed the upload speed issue when I first got my Epic. Then I applied the software update and the problem went away. I had GPS issues with the phone, but that was mainly due to running pre-release firmware (e.g. DK28). For the times I've used GPS on the phone recently, it's been fine. I guess I'm also lucky that the roaming I've needed to do on the phone has always been on the cellular band. Go figure. If the SIII ends up having crappy radios, of course I'll take it back and swap it for the Evo, though I'll miss being able to swap batteries when one gets old. I've owned HTC devices before (Mogul, Touch Pro) and they've served me well, with crystal-clear voice quality, etc., and my former roommate's Rezound looks awesome, but there are a few touches on the Samsung (e.g. better camera software) that I want, so I'll try the SIII first

As an avid Apple user (my VZW iPad 4G is sitting next to my OG Epic, near the 2007 iMac I'm typing this on; my 2009 MacBook, recently upgraded to 8GB of RAM, is also nearby)...Apple is being petty. If their hardware is so awesome (in the case of the iPad, it is) and they can stay ahead of the competition, they don't need to litigate. People can tell the difference between an iPhone and a competitor before someone even turns the device on, and Apple is eating any single manufacturer up in terms of sales/market share. What are they complaining about? Personally, I hope that HTC, Samsung or Motorola come out with some awesome innovation, patent it, then force Apple to play nice on cross-licensing when Apple wants to get into the game. It's not like Apple hasn't copied from other manufacturers before...the pull-down notification bar in iOS 5 is very, VERY similar to the notification shade that has been in Android since its inception. Then again, it's kind of tit-for-tat; Google copied Apple's multiple-apps-in-one-icon UI element with Stacks in ICS. Maybe, from Apple's viewpoint, it's sad that they have to actually compete for customers with Android devices that have superior hardware specs (though iOS tends to be smoother than Android despite these specs). But for the rest of us it's a very good thing. Also, I'd rather have an Android phone than an iPhone. Fragmentation notwithstanding. For one thing, I love me some AmazonMP3 (as an actual app, not their web app that works on iOS). For another, even with the iPhone's awesome keyboard, a 3.5" screen is pretty darned small for doing useful stuff. It almost feels like an upsell for the iPad at this point

I'm willing to take a chance on the Samsung's radios. Yes, it only supports 5x5 LTE (I'll bet it could support 10x10 with a firmware upgrade, though I think it will be awhile before Sprint refarms non-G PCS such that they can do 10x10 channels). However it has a removable battery and as much RAM as the cheapie nettop I bought last summer. That's saying something. Doesn't hurt that I also purchased Beautiful Widgets (so i can get a Sense-like clock) a couple years ago, and I just run LauncherPro on my phones anyway

So...I'm impatient. Just got off the phone with Sprint and "bought out" my upgrade eligibility from 8/1/12 to today, for $45. So, barring issues with my "SERO Premium" plan (I paid $10 more per month starting 10/1/10 in order to be able to use an Android device, plus another $10 for premium data, over the old $30 rate), I should be able to preorder a lovely blue 32GB Galaxy SIII later on today. Yes, I could have waited until the phone is actually out to buy out my eligibility, or waited a month and a half beyond that and gotten my upgrade without paying a buyout fee. But, the way I figure, preordering the phone now will ensure that I get it as soon as Sprint possibly can send it (barring customs disputes, a la Evo 4G LTE). I'll also have that much less usage on the replacement OG Epic that I got yesterday, potentially increasing resale value enough to offset the $45. Anyway, has anyone else checked out early-buyout opportunities in order to get an LTE phone soon and (relatively) cheaply? How long did you have before normal upgrade eligibility, and how much was the charge to move it up? Did you take it? Which phone are you going to grab with the newfound upgrade ability? Oh, and if anyone wants a very gently used, albeit likely refurbished, OG Epic on or about 6/21, drop me a PM. A reasonable offer that's better than what I could get from Sprint is very likely to be accepted I'll even pre-root and install a custom ROM on it if you'd like (it's running stock Gingerbread for the moment).

One quick note re: using Sprint as an ISP: Millenicom currently offers a semi-unlimited (~50GB/mo) package on 3G/WiMAX. However my bet is that it doesn't transition to LTE, and 50GB is less than Comcast's 300GB (with the new cap update) anyway. Also, my bet is that, where Clear puts up TD-LTE hot zones, they'll sell unlimited (fixed and mobile) broadband there. They are the only provider with enough spectrum to be able to get away with this (and small enough cells to make sure speeds stay halfway decent). So, kind of like their WiMAX service right now, but better, albeit potentially with limited coverage expansion beyond "hot zones." Sprint does have more cell sites than VZW/AT&T, and has a decent amount of PCS spectrum in a number of markets...this contributes to their willingness to offer unlimited smartphone data, as well as discounted data card data compared to AT&T, Verizon and even T-Mobile (depending on how you slice T-Mobile's packages). However when peak speeds on Sprint's LTE network can be matched by a mid-tier cable internet plan, you know that there isn't going to be enough capacity there to mount a wholesale assault on wireline broadband. Maybe if they do spectrum hosting with Dish...

Samsung has made it a point that the Sprint version is NOT physically different from the others. It would be lovely if Sprint had a black version (AT&T is getting a red one), but probably not going to happen. In any event, cases will be available without any issue. As a side note, I looked up the dimensions of this phone and compared it to the Palm T|X I used to carry around. The SIII is longer, but narrower by about three-eighths of an inch and a heck of a lot thinner, compared to my old PDA (which I replaced functionally with the HTC Mogul in 2007). So, while the thing's definitely a monstor, it looks like it will still be somewhat pocketable

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did Especially with everyone mentioning the possibility of a rural CLWR deployment.

Honestly the RCA should rename themselves to "Non-Duopoly Cellular Association." I sincerely doubt that MetroPCS, Leap or TMo will make a serious push for rural service any time soon,,,they don't own cellular-band spectrum and have historically stuck to urban/suburban markets for the primary thrust of their expansion. Clear wire joining is even more laughable. Sure, they have deployments live in places like Amarillo...plus the Protection Sites...but their spectrum is too high frequency to offer anything reliably in rural areas without a high-gain (fixed) antenna. Fixed wireless works just fine over that frequency, but mobile...yeah, no.

I will probably grab the 32GB blue version, since it's the same price as I paid for my OG Epic. Add in my Epic's 16GB microSD card and I've got a TON of storage on that thing

Re: TWC fiber, at least around here fiber customers take a completely different traceroute path than HFC folks. It's odd, but in your case it may work out well enough that getting TWC fiber would be fine from a latency perspective. I know that around here the "tbone" is very reasonable latency-wise. But we are in a completely different market (Texas). And yes, I'm bouncing between Colorado and Texas, so I can use "here" to mean both TWC and Comcast territory

A cableco's HFC network is no indication of how well it does at pushing bits point-to-point over fiber. Though if your cableco were that bad at getting a low latency fiber connection, they likely wouldn't meet the backhaul provider specs anyway and thus would not be used. Who is the cableco in your area btw? In the Denver area Comcast actually does a good job with their network from a latency perspective; I can get to local sites in Denver in about 12ms, 10ms of which is latency due to being on HFC. Granted, across the street at my alma mater I can get to those sites in 1.5-2ms, but my guess is that if I had MetroE on Comcast I'd have similar performance. Also, where did you get the idea that residential FTTH is crappy? Do you work for Level3 or something? I've never heard a bad review of network performance from someone who actually has FTTH (none of this AT&T U-Verse crap). That said, it's highly unlikely that an AAV provider would slap a cell site onto a shared GPON branch, the fiber tech that's used in most areas for residential FTTH (some use active Ethernet, which is the exact same tech that the "big boys" use for serving up MetroE circuis to cell towers anyway).

How are you defining AAV? I thought that AAV simply described fiber (or maybe microwave?) connectivity provided by someone other than the area ILEC. This connectivity would serve as a private line between the tower and Sprint's backbone network. If I understand correctly, Metro Ethernet from someone like Zayo or Comcast (yes, cable companies are HUGE in cellular backhaul...Verizon and T-Mobile both use them, as I'm sure does AT&T when they feel like it) would fit in here. It's not like Sprint would be running a NV tower off of a business-class HFC connection; there isn't enough bandwidth available there anyway.I'd be surprised if something as small as a DS3 (delivered over fiber) would get used, even for a single tower. Honestly though, if an AAV vendor (which, using my definition, would include Level3, though last I checked they didn't do much cell tower backhaul) offers (and lives up to an SLA for X latency, Y bandwidth and Z uptime (where Z is four or five nines), the service could be delivered over two tin cans and a string and it wouldn't matter. Though I'd be curious of the modulation techniques involved in sending 100 Mbps over non-fiber-optic-grade string more than a few meters