SturgeonGeneral

For comparison, the S4 mini doesn't have it greyed out (but does have a "push-to-talk" icon greyed out). If you review the filters on the left hand edge of the page you can see that there is an added choice: Sprint Spark™ It is in the "Key features" section toward the bottom. As of Dec 23rd AM, only the two Samsung devices are there. If there is a set "official" launch date, I'd suspect it won't hit until the 25th -or during that following shopping / post-Christmas sale cycle for the reasons outlined above. The longer they wait after Christmas day, the longer they risk not getting their hands on that Christmas gift cash as more people opt for the other already available Spark options. To hit the promised December launch date, they only have another week at this point anyhow.

That has long been one of those things that absolutely drives me nuts about Sprint. The problem is that it is intentional. Sprint doesn't want an easy way for their competition to send people to Sprint's OWN page to see just how horrid the coverage actually is. Maybe if they manage to implement the network upgrade and get some coverage they will start to make the map worth using. For now, I'll stick with Sensorly.

It a warped, twisted way, it makes manipulative psychological / marketing sense. Sell off as much of the old stock S4 (SPH-L720) as possible as pre-christmas purchase gifts to catch the people buying them for others (or themselves) that aren't informed of the potential benefit and are just looking for sales or "deals". You also get the most impatient people that "can't wait" out of the way. Then, Sprint/Samsung switches on or about Christmas to the S4T Spark (SPH-L720T) to catch the other people that received MONEY as gifts to spend on gifts for themselves as they please after the fact. They're either informed and ALREADY waiting or are ready for the "excitement" of any marketing announcement that will help drive impulse buys against money burning holes in pockets. Is there any benefit / downside to purchasing phone and renewing contract via Best Buy vs a company Sprint store? Sprint stores seem to have (at least around here) FAR more knowledgeable people with access to Sprint inventory levels and internal news bulletins.

Or we could wait until Next December and get a S6? At some point, a user just has to bite the bullet and get something better than the device they have now. It comes down to the threshold of pain. The cycle of "improvement" is designed to obsolete stuff. If you like what you have so much that you don't feel the pain to upgrade, then why upgrade at all? This is the best short term choice for me -and the pain level of the Motorola Photon 4G is high. MotoGoogle didn't step up, so it's time to give Samsung a chance. Has anyone found word or evidence suggesting they also upgraded the processor to an 800? (I realize the press release says proc speed - but I'm hoping it is a case of confusing S4 specs for the S4T) Exact details on the device still seem to be lacking but there were hopeful rumors. http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=5202&view=1&c=samsung_sph-l720t_galaxy_s4_td-lte_samsung_altius

Maybe I wasn't clear enough or used the wrong terminology. In the article that I read, it was the recurring inspections that were part of SOME of the delays, not the initial application/permitting process. As I understood it, there are building inspector type sign offs that have to be obtained as steps are completed in the upgrade process. The inspectors that you have to deal with and their availability and workload varies by jurisdiction. That's all I meant. I'm still looking for the exact article.

This was posted in July regarding the NYC deploy. I'd expect the same or similar problems exist everywhere. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57595175-94/why-sprint-is-taking-its-sweet-time-with-4g-lte/ I'm still trying to find the article that dealt specifically with the patchwork of permitting entities and the issues that causes. I most likely saw it here someplace.

I understand your lack of need to high storage. I simply don't agree. Aviation navigation charts and service manuals are storage pigs. This is what I want - except on the Sprint Spark network: http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=5186&view=1&c=samsung_gt-i9506_galaxy_s4_with_lteplus__galaxy_s4_advance_32gb I'd happily settle for the 16 gb version and put the balance on the SD card. It's not apparently in the US / sprint pipeline yet.

I fit into that "not much" category. I am outdoor / rural / travel a lot. I can get reprieves from charging for as long as I have spare batteries. If my battery goes bad from abuse, I can replace it with one of my spares within 5 minutes. I can "top" charge my phone instantly if I find myself going someplace and don't have access to charge power for an extended period of time, (travel in fringe signal areas in a vehicle where others may be charging) With a non-replaceable battery, you are always someplace other than at the top of the charge curve. With a u.r battery you have far more flexibility to decide when you are at the top of a charge curve. I'm not tied to an outlet or a vehicle, or having to attach a bulky external aux battery while I use the phone. With a removable data card, you have the flexibility to CHANGE and upgrade at will the storage memory on your phone and carry far more data - especially memory wasting multimedia data. I can synch a LOT more of my laptop/desktop data and have it with me for convenient reference without even a phone signal. This was even more important with my current Wimax phone. If the phone is damaged, the data is FAR easier to retrieve and transplant if it is physically removable. These two options are more important to me than a minor processor upgrade. But it'd be great to get that too if it is "coming soon."

G2 doesn't have my entire shopping list on it so I wouldn't enjoy that. It'd be 2 steps back for 2 different steps forward. Remove/replace data card, user replaceable battery, and tri-band (B26) I'd rather not "settle" for close if exact or "plus BETTER" is coming relatively soon down the pipe. I realize that eventually I'm going to have to relent and get the current best option. I was so looking forward to getting a new phone Nov 1 when I became eligible. It's tough to stay patient with an old photon in hand, but it may be worth it to push to the end and see what comes of these threats of new devices before March. Are there any renewal experts here? What happens if my contract renewal comes and goes BEFORE the best option phone releases? Is there any grace period AFTER the renewal to upgrade the phone? How would that work?

and more... http://www.androidbeat.com/2013/11/latest-samsung-galaxy-s5-rumors-say-expect-q1-launch-phone-4000-mah-battery/

Different civil entities -city, county, etc. to make happy. Different inspectors to get permits and approvals signed off on, different people you are renting land, data, and tower space from, etc. etc. it's a mixed bag of problems.

Another consideration is that they may not have them in hand yet. They may not want to deplete stock too early on a phone that is selling well on its own and the replacement may be hung up in the supply chain. This sale is for the entire S4 line: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/samsung-gs4-114738

I was in the neighborhood last night so I bs'd with a Sprint store guy that was a phone geek too. His thought was to watch for sale ads pushing the GS4s for $50 or other such November / Black Friday promos. There are thousands of them in the inventory system that corporate will want to move first. Based on previous experience he speculated that they will hold back a month and shoot for Mid December or Mid January depending on the success of the promo in rotating out the old stock. Once they get "T's" into the store's hands, the sales people will abandon the old devices in favor of the new -just to keep consumers from coming back to complain about being sold an inferior device. Not that it won't happen anyhow once the new ones release and the Black Friday sale-buyers realize WHY their phones were on sale. He got me looking at a ONE MAX, but while the thing gains the SD card (still no U.R. battery), it's too big for my taste and the reviews on it are less than glowing regarding digit scanner, camera, and build quality (back cover mostly). Is that irritating spark connection icon going to be the same on all the spark phones? What were they thinking?

The problem is that so many boards massively restrict anything that can be seen as bashing of users. You HAVE to be able to criticize a flawed opinion and poor reaction in order to fight it. When you can't point it out, you're hamstrung from the start. It's always okay to falsely bash the carriers, but not truthfully the customers. When you cannot blatantly point out the utter foolishness and mis-education these users have in their discussion of the subject, you get too watered down and become ineffective. While we're at it, the same goes for lot of the complaints about the phone hardware. They are always characterized as complete junk, yet, strangely enough, mine works.

The long awaited update has released today. I think it is taking over all of Sprint's site bandwidth and knocking it offline. It is installing on my phone as I write this.