Makkari

Blind date

Well, tomorrow has come and gone and still nothing from Sprint. I was really looking forward to this feature.

I also want to believe that it's a guarantee, but an official announcement would add to the excitement: new plans, new phones, new features, new (and expanding) markets with Spark (or LTE in general), represents a new Sprint.

As far as I know, they are. I think there's a mistake in the chart: Verizon, as of Q1 2014, provides service to 122 million customers and AT&T has a 116 million.

That's not going to happen under any circumstance.

Couldn't have said it better.

That I was aware of, I just wasn't sure that they were both sold unlock. It's not a common practice for Sprint to sell phones unlocked. That's why I asked. It is $50 more on Sprint, but I guess they have to make money somehow. Thanks. Thanks. Edit: I might have to borrow my friends's N5, which he's currently not using. It has a broken screen, but works well enough for me to test out Spark in my area. Would like to see what I'm in for when I get a new phone.

Is the one that you buy from Sprint unlocked or the one that you buy from Google Play?

As far as I know, the N5 doesn't support Wi-Fi calling, not even on T-Mobile. I think the OEMs have to bake it into the software and the carrier, of course, has to support the feature. On T-Mobile, all the Android devices (except for the N5) support Wi-Fi Calling, along with the BlackBerry and Windows phones.

I wanted to edit my post after I realized exactly what you pointed out, but it was too late. T-Mobile making the announcement is just part of their PR game. I also don't see any reason why they wouldn't support it.

Well, to be fair, they can't give specifics on something that isn't true. Network Vision hasn't failed. Perhaps it has failed to meet certain people's unrealistic expectations--particular for sensational journalism--and certainly there were managerial and execution issues along the way, some self-inflicted and some external, but oftentimes people's expectation exceed their understanding of how complex and difficult such an undertaking is or can be. I know there's plenty of work yet to be done, but sometimes, we in the tech world, need to be a bit more patient and understanding. These so-called journalists, especially, need to stop writing like they’re preparing for some coming apocalypse. They do this every time they write an article about Sprint, BlackBerry or Apple's quarterly report. Some people's expectations are so ridiculous that it borders on clinical paranoia. I remember reading somewhere, probably GigaOM, about Apple's iPad sales (or tablet sales, in general) declining, and while that might be true, they made it sound like it was a problem that would either sink Apple or kill the iPad altogether, when, in fact, the iPad accounts for something like $30 billion in revenue. Sounds like a huge problem for Apple. Similarly, when they write about Sprint, I wonder how many actually use Sprint, have a Spark enabled phone, or whether they just write recycled ideas. Sprint has improved in many areas, and if you're a journalist, you have to give equal play to that as you do to the many problems Sprint has and continue to have. To just focus on the negatives is biased reporting. They don’t do this when they talk about Verizon or AT&T or T-Mobile, all of which have had there share of struggles over the years.

So far, Sprint hasn't announced whether they will support Wi-FI calling on the iPhone, only T-Mobile has. It's a simple enouch announcement to make, even if they bury it in a press release about somehing else, but I guess they have more important things to foucs on or they're not going to support the feature at all. Either way, it would make my decision so easy if they annouced it.

It would help Microsoft, if they bought BB, but I don't see them making any big purchase so quickly. BB, along with Nokia, would bring more talent and patents, but utlimately what Microsoft needs is strong leadership and someone with a vision who knows how to execute and sell a product.

Miscalculation is certainly one way to think about it. Verizon, for one, is too big to ignore. Moreover, it took them six months to make a 920 variant for Verizon and T-Mobile, so I'm not sure it's just about CDMA, since T-Mobile is a GSM carrier. In today's market, the more people you can get thinking about and talikng about your phone, the more potential sales you could generate; this means getting it on as many carriers as possible.

I really don't understand Nokia's strategy. If they want to sell phones, they have make them available on as many carriers as possible. An exclusive deal with AT&T will not work. It worked for Apple, because, at the time, the iPhone was seen as a revolution product. Today, there's just too much competition to go exclusive and not even Apple does that anymore or has done that for years. The iPhone is even available on prepaid carriers. As to the OS wars, this isn't about whether WP8 is better than Android or iOS, there are people who like it and want it. That said, I don't think we'll see a Nokia phone on Sprint. Sprint doesn't even carry Sony Android phones. I believe only AT&T and T-Mobile does.

I've read this site and many other sites, I just don't post very often, but don't let my post count fool you into thinking that I don't understand a basic concept, such as testing or upgrading a network. My point is that they shouldn't have a press release saying that LTE will launch in an area, then when it does I actually end up with less LTE coverage than I did the day before the launch. If they're still testing, that's fine. I'm not disputing that. It's just saying don't make a press release. I've been reading about Network Vision for years. It's nothing new to me. I've also been waiting for years. I didn't just become a Sprint customer. I'm telling you my actual experience where I live. I wasnt expecting condescension. All I read in your post are assumptions about what I have or haven't done. Along with my plan, possibilities about where Sprint will once everything is complete are the only reasons I stick around. I would have left a long time ago if I wasn't excited about what is to come.

AJ, you don't know me, but I remember you from HoFo. You were one of the few posters that I respected there and one of the few who knew what he was talking about. I miss your contribution, but then again that place has become an echo chamber for fanboys. And by the way I agree with you on cellphone usage. I teach teenagers and nothing annoys me more than people who cannot look away from their phones, as if the world would end otherwise; well that and sagging pants, but I suppose I'm just getting older. As to the Moto X, I so wish that Moto was not a Google company. I wish they were making different devices, because I don't use Android, but I always prefer Moto phones to any other manufacturer.

I'm in the Bronx (the Parkchester area, to be exact) and while there are places where I get LTE, for sure, there are also places that had LTE before July 30th (the official launch date for LTE in the Bronx and Brooklyn) that no longer show LTE today. I can't say that I haven't seen improvemenst at all, because there was a point when my phone was completely unusable. Still, it is really bothersome, because I want to stay with Sprint, considering that my plan is better than any plan from any other carrier, but the inconsistency in service makes it very difficult. I just don't understand how LTE can be there the day before the official launch, but then disappear when LTE officially launched. I was so excited when I read that LTE would launch in the Bronx on July 30th, because when it comes to most issues the Bronx often gets treated like the "red-headed stepchild" in NYC, but we were finally first with something good, or so it seemed. My biggest gripe is with a press release that says Sprint will official launch/offer LTE in the Bronx, but then, in my experience, it seems as if they're still testing it. One would think that sites that had LTE before the launch would maintain that on and after the launch, but that it just not the case. What is Sprint doing? I certainly have no idea, but they better sort it out very soon: my patience are wearing thin and thinner each day.