MarshieZ

I just noticed in the current "Family Share" commercial they have 1 of the 10 people as a dog... because dogs totally need to be on the family's plan so they can receive calls from kitty! 

I would assume a security fix?

That's what I was going to ask, seeing as it's not very big, it's probably that or a bug fix.

An update has appeared on my tablet this morning

16mb update??  

Who still watch TV ads?

I'm not only a marketing major, but a small business owner and I know first hand how important they are. TV ads are EXTREMELY important, but only if they are done correctly. They are also the biggest amount of money that companies in the US spend on advertising, and it's continuing to grow. 

Television is saturated with ads, so having an effective one that will "stand-out" from the rest is what every company hopes for when designing/creating an ad. And honestly that's why they probably did the Framily commercials the way they did. Because the average person is not expecting a hamster in a ball, or someone looking like Gordon on their TV. It catches your attention, think about it, you may have not "liked" the Framily ads, but it made you remember Sprint and the Framily plan.

So while we can laugh about it, the move they make on this is important. If done correctly, it may boost sales, it may get people talking and it may show that Sprint has changed. But if done incorrectly, it's going to get lost in the rest of the ads on TV.

On a side note, there are dedicated sites and shows that showcase ONLY TV ads, because people do care about the advertisements. Just think of the Super Bowl... people want to see the ads, like they want a deal on black Friday.

This is pretty neat, I'm scared to know what the price tag is on him though.

 

They should market this to the "forever alone" people. I could see it now, walking down the sidewalk holding hands with your "robot friend." 

From watching that press conference, Son said about 198,000 yen which is equivalent to about $1,884.00. FYI.

This is pretty neat, I'm scared to know what the price tag is on him though.

They should market this to the "forever alone" people. I could see it now, walking down the sidewalk holding hands with your "robot friend." 

I was killing some time searching through articles and came upon this gem....

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sprint-network-jointly-awarded-1-ranking-in-call-and-text-performance-in-new-hampshire-2014-08-27

This is proof that the new Sprint IS here, and it's here NOW. While New Hampshire is probably not the biggest market compared to others, its still a great step in the right direction... oh, and another way to stop the Sprint bashers in their tracks. 

I thought I'd look at Waldo worlds website... and most of the Wal-Mart stores around by me don't have any/some of the phones in stock.

So I'm taking it, even though they have a massive selection of 3 phones to choose from - and only 1 being LTE capable - consumers must be liking this new custom plan. 

Though one thought I have, I have seen ZERO advertisement for it beyond the website? Do you think it's needed or that much of a market/profit to push it?

I just got the Tab 3 as an Oops gift from Sprint when they messed with me over comp-ing me an Airave. I noticed that same problem with Netflix.

 

In the time since your post, Zballer, have you found a way around the problem of barely there menus?

No, unfortunately it sounds like it's a designer flaw of Netflix going against how the Tab 3 and/or Kit-Kat runs. Since my Tab is my business tablet I did uninstall Netflix, so I have not checked it since my last post. However I can say, that the app runs flawlessly on my LG G3! No menu problems at all and Bob's Burgers looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Honestly I'm glad to see they are keeping both the "Framily" plan and the "Family" plan going at the same time.

It gives people options. And that is what consumers want, options. Sure it might be more expensive for me with option A, but that doesn't mean that option A is more expensive for someone else and vise versa. Like a couple people mentioned in here, it gives flexibility. 

I like it, and I'm even more interested in the individual plans to see what is coming our way! 

Done! I followed you too... I'll follow you on my business Twitter page as well. (I'm proud to say I'm powered by Sprint!)

Not sure if this means anything, but Sprint has a totally different data usage number than I do, as calculated by my phone. Of course, I'm not sure if the phone can be trusted, but what other way is there to track it, other than at the device side or the network side?

 

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

I use the feature in AVG's widget to have another comparison of how much data I'm using. It seems pretty close to my phone/Sprint's tracker.

AFAIK the rest of my family (all on Ting) couldn't data roam on VZW or USCC in western NC this past week. Voice and SMS worked fine though, as expected.

 

Re: Custom, I just checked and it'd save my family (four lines, ~1K minutes, ~1k texts, 1-2GB data) on the order of $5 per month, depending on the month. Now, it might allow one of my brothers to stream Pandora or the like as much as he wants, but then he'd have to give up my hand-me-down GS3. For that matter, to get LTE phones every family member would have to pay $130 per phone again. So no sense in switching to Custom, particularly since Custom doesn't have tri-band phones yet.

I agree completely with you. If they want this "option" to be successful, they definitely need to look at expending their line up of devices. I also think they're kinda limiting themselves by having it be a "Wal-Mart Exclusive" type program...

I was able to roam on Ting 1x on VZW here in South Dakota and use data. However, it would not work for me in Philly/South Jersey.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk

Is there a special allotment for roaming data or is it part of the normal rates?

My feeling is that if they don't qualify for assurance wireless for the freebie phone, I'll point them towards Ting for their flip phones and basic smartphones if they will be on Wi-Fi most of the time. Otherwise point them towards Virgin Mobile Custom if they will need more data, and depending on their needs point them to the normal Virgin Mobile plans.

What do you guys think? 

Backup Plan

Yeah, I would think many would need a wireless phone "manager" with some of these options -- such as FreedomPop... even Ting could end up with a $500 bill if one learns how to watch a video over cellular (I manage the VZW for my MIL and occasionally she will use 3gb in one crack and I discover her WiFi is turned off)...

I guess the fortunate (or unfortunate) part for me, is I might be that person. I'm the one who gets called in for all the tech in that building!

While I'm perfectly okay helping anyone of them with questions, I can't be a manager of 64 different residents! 

Thankfully for the data portion, they have access to free Wi-Fi when they are there. So data would only be important if they go into town or are visiting family. But for some, they don't understand what MB and GB mean. I need to either find or make a chart to help explain/breakdown what it means in simple terms. 

But I am happy that they WANT to learn, and I'm sure it's reassuring to know for them and their family that if they are out or what not, they have a way to get a hold of family or call for an emergency. 

What about FreedomPop?  I actually signed up for it the other night to replace my Sprint line for awhile cause it seems very cheap (and a fun geeky project) -- but had to back out since they couldn't port my wireless number for whatever reason. (Can't port my numbers to Google Voice either, I blame it on the local telco)...

 

Or Republic Wireless?

I was looking at Freedom Pop, but my fear is is that the site is kind of "sketchy" for some of these older people who barely know how to use a computer. The simpler the better.

Republic Wireless would be perfect for the ones who only need Wi-Fi, but the rest is steep for low income people. The other issue is that I don't know if some could swing $150 for a new phone. But it is an option that I'm including in there! 

Everyone in there is in different situations, so I would prefer to have every option available for them to use. And Virgin, Ting & Republic Wireless are all I'm giving as options.

Should HUD point them to Lifeline providers which I think they usually qualify for a free phone service.

Yes, they do point them to this, but the unfortunate part is that some don't qualify for it. Other times they see that they need a basic smart phone, and the free phone that you get is so basic it doesn't meet the needs for some.

Typically if they qualify, they get the JAX S1360 or a similar model phone like this: http://www.cnet.com/products/kyocera-jax-s1300-virgin-mobile/

And Sprint is the only option, AT&T is almost non-existent here and in a 50 year old big brick building that sucks your voice signal, it doesn't work and Verizon doesn't offer anything, just typical prepaid devices, but at $40 or $50 a month - none of them can afford that. Verizon too has very... "iffy" voice service here, especially in and around the building.

Does virgin mobil allow voice roaming like ting?

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

There is a $5.00 add on service for roaming:

$5.00

I didn't think Ting allowed roaming?

So long story short, my mom works for a HUD apartment complex (government housing) where people with low income or disability come. Typically if a resident would ask for options for a "value oriented" phone plan, they would point them towards Air Fire Mobile.

But seeing as they don't exist anymore, I was called to help them find a new provider that my mom and her co-workers could point them to. I thought I'd share the spreadsheet that I'm currently working on comparing prices for. I made this one special for the blog to compare the rates and prices against the options of the Virgin Mobile "Custom" to Ting's standard rates... 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqO0-m4_zVnOvm4MwRJJpjj5vQjm6gcWTYjliUuddsY/edit?usp=sharing

Here are the links to each site:

Ting: https://ting.com/rates

Virgin Mobile: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/custom/?ID16=spot2:All:virgin%20mobile%20custom#/

Just thought I'd throw this out here in case you haven't played with it yet... for whatever reason - it sounds like Kit-Kat and the Netflix app butts heads against one another.

If you watch something and you need to rewind, fast-forward, change the volume, etc. you won't be able to as the menu with it all on only appears for a millisecond. Which means you have to fully back out to the menu and restart what you're watching before the buttons disappear.

Since I'm using my Tab as a business tablet, I ugh... *cough, cough* wasn't watching Netflix on it... 

I read this article this afternoon:  http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-110-2011-year-in-reviewsprint-4g-rollout-updates/

 

Oh, har far we have come since the end of 2011.  Read the article if you have a moment.  It gives some background about how S4GRU started.  Fun times!

 

Robert

My, my how time flies when you're having fun and getting things accomplished! 

Does Jan Brady sound happy?

 

 

AJ

To answer your question, yes because now days that's a lot of peoples happy tone! 

Back on topic though, my G3 froze after opening an app through a notification. 

Every time I see MarshieZballer post, I cannot help but think "Marshie, Marshie, Marshie!"

 

 

AJ

I'll take that as a good thing!? 

So... I have not read through all 33 pages of this thread yet, but I broke down and bought one.

And after owning it for about 8 hours, I'm liking it quite well!

Any quick notes or things I should be aware of?

I'll read up on this thread this weekend when I have a little more time.