irev210

Yup, I think for a while Dan has said that in Sprint's current state, they've pushed through all of the price increases they can. Once the network is better (superior?) to verizon/AT&T, they'll be able to justify higher prices to consumers. Logically, it makes sense - however with every price increase, the internets will be upset. On a personal note - the "reinvigorated" t-mobile might make raising prices a bit harder in 2014 than they might think. I suspect sprint will take a very close look at what T-Mobile is doing, and do something similar (just as AT&T followed Big Red into the shared data world). At the end of the day, there has to be a pay-off for all of this capital spending.

Sprint has already said they are going to hike prices in 2014. T-Mobile did change their price plan, but at least the tremendously valuable $30 for 5GB data/unlimited message/100 minute plan is still available... so I don't really see what you mean that T-Mobile did that. They left those plans in place. Considering the heavy investment going on in the wireless world, do you expect prices to go down?

Unlimited is a marketing tool - marketing tools don't do well with "*" attached to them. I am sure unlimited will poof once sprint is stable. They've already talked about price hikes in 2014 - margin expansion time. I am guessing at that time, they will probably shift to a similar strategy that T-Mobile has deployed - which is to offer unlimited but make other plans more economical/practical so that's where people move. Following that, they'll just drop unlimited all together saying "oh, well nobody buys this plan anyway..." When that day happens, I'll have to mail you a cake. I am sure people will rant saying "well I paid for 5GB, I have to USE all 5GB every month!!!!"

I think idealistically, that sounds great - but what about in practice? Market share is dynamic - spectrum holdings are a way to take risk. Look at what softbank is doing with sprint, you could draw a similar comparison. Both T-Mobile and Sprint need to be different than Verizon/AT&T. They are increasing risk by acquiring more spectrum. Regardless if you agree/disagree with the strategy, they should be able to do it. Now, what shouldn't be allowed is spectrum squatting by the incumbent carriers to prevent competition. Given T-Mobile's extremely aggressive marketing tactics and extremely aggressive pricing, I would say they are helping keep the industry competitive. $30 for 5GB 4G data is a great example of this. At any rate, I am pumped that T-Mobile will have 50MHz of AWS and 20MHz of PCS spectrum to play with and Sprint will have ~200MHz of spectrum to compete against AT&T and Verizon in my Boston market.

There is a nv site right in back bay that is on top of the back bay expo center. I am pretty sure it is the longest running 3g only nv site. Once they flip that, back bay should be in much better shape. Right now back bay is getting 4g from the south end. I agree with you though... In urban areas it seems like the coverage maps aren't even remotely realistic.

It's been pretty quiet in Boston lately... Hopefully the warmer weather brings more updates!

I think Clearwire specturm is what will give Sprint the ability to differentiate itself from competitors. Nobody will be able to have the capacity Sprint has in urban "hot spots" or stadiums, or anything else that has a mass of people trying to gobble up tons of data. In these scenarios, Sprint will outshine.

Dish's problem is Charlie. I mean, given how I've seen Sprint's management act over time, I don't think they would want to partner with someone like Charlie. Maybe 2 years ago when Sprint was desperate for anything/anyone, but times have changed. Sprint doesn't need to force itself into a relationship. I am guessing Charlie is just making life miserable for Sprint because he is pissed whatever terms he wanted from Sprint, Sprint said no way. Based on comments from Sprint's management, they are not amused.

If it was Verizon making a stink, I would be concerned - they can get traction. Dish is just being Dish - I wouldn't think much of it.

Interesting. I much prefer the feel of the nexus 4 (hardware and software) even though they are very similar. I also like the HTC sense over the LG overlay. I do like how LG did at least attempt to make it minimalist.

They only commented on TD-LTE - not sure on ESMR support. Either way, no ESMR LTE or EBS/BRS TD-LTE for the Galaxy S 4.

It's not going to. source: sprint management (hesse and co.)

Well, the upside is the amount of time I spend using all google services in the google ecosystem. I get it, reader doesn't have ads, doesn't have the analytics that google+ has - but google used to just offer innovative products because it would lead to more usage of all google services. That's changing.

From the leaks, the hardware doesn't seem all that impressive. I suppose some of the software tweaks might be interesting, but who knows how practical they will be. The most interesting thing is that Samsung is working its way out of OLED. While Samsung does make PLS display (which is similar to IPS) for mobile devices, their recent equity purchase in Sharp gives them some options away from OLED. So, only thing I am curious about is how the display will look. At this point, amazing IPS 1920x1080 in a ~5" phone is becoming the norm. OLED hasn't kept up, so I'll definitely want to compare displays vs. other flagship phones.

This drives me bonkers. I spend an absolutely ridiculous amount of time using the Google Reader app on my android phone and on my desktop. RSS feeds are absolutely awesome. It's annoying that google is turning evil - I am getting sick of them trying to force everyone onto google+. A platform change is probably in my future. Hello microsoft/yahoo.

Makes sense. I am sure Sprint's new sites have connections that don't allow moisture to get in.

Obviously the structure they are mounted to differs greatly from location to location... but for the most part, most will look like that with six antennas inside feeding into the remote radio units. The exact configuration also can differ. There are ground mount options as well, which robert has written about on the main page. Hopefully this is helpful.

Not sure what you are asking but I'll try to be helpful. Sprint's 3G and 4G LTE runs into the same antenna enclosure. Here is a picture: So there are actually multiple antennas in that enclosure. Does that help?

Interesting - at 50 miles you would figure they would be in the clear.

Maybe they are just pointing it up the 5 to cover the marine camp. That area is rough to cover without ESMR. If they are just pointing it north, not much of a IBEZ violation, no?

Sorry, I was talking about their next generation phone. It's just been an industry trend, moving towards faster lenses that let more light in.

The EVO 3D was definitely selling into a trend that did not materialize. I think the trend for higher quality camera bits is a trend that all of the major players will continue to focus on. It's very straight forward that if you have the same size senor you can either cram more pixels closer to have a higher MP count or cram less pixels in and make each one bigger to capture more light. At the end of the day, smartphone cameras don't have problems when it is very sunny out. They have problems in low light situations and situations where you need dynamic range (shade+sun). In that sense, it makes absolutely perfect sense that HTC is making sensor pixels bigger. Nobody else in the smartphone industry has the balls to do it - HTC deserves a LOT of credit for bucking the trend. I am guessing that HTC will combine the 4MP pixel with even a faster lens (f/1.8 perhaps ) HTC has really paid attention to sound quality, display, and camera since the release of the HTC One X. The high quality display found on the EVO 4G LTE is really apparent when held up to a device such as the optimus G. Anyway, I think it's rather obvious I am sold on the getting One.

given spacing between FCC OET and sprint release dates of HTC phones - I'm thinking mid to late march release date. Any other takers?

I remember those days. It was awful.