jeffcarp

So Spark is just a marketing term? Triband is triband? Some blog posts had me wondering if there would be Spark triband devices and non - spark triband devices.

I understand triband but what is Spark exactly? Is that just a marketing name for a triband phone or does it imply a different hardware and/or software requirement above and beyond just being a triband phone? I am set to order the rumored Nexus 5 once it is announced and Sprint compatibility is confirmed. But this Spark thing today made me pause and wonder. Could a phone like the Nexus 5 be triband but not Spark?

It is hard to compare really. Great specs with a Wacom digitizer and pen. Not much to compare it to If you want that functionality.

As noted by many blogs this morning this device releases on Oct 10 in the US with pre-orders by Samsung and "some retailers" tonight at midnight. Pricing is $550 for 16GB and $600 for 32gb (wifi only). No announcement of any carrier support for the LTE versions that I've seen.

The only thing that I'll be surprised about from this article is if this phone indeed gets offered with 8gb as the baseline. That would be insane in my opinion. Minimum should be 16 at this point.

I received 5 SMS failures today within 30 minutes all in Urbandale/Clive along Hickman Road near 80/35. They were all from shortcode 9230 and all said Msg 2127 as the error code.

I was prompted through Sprint Zone app to do a prl and profile update this morning. My prl went from 25015 to 2000. Anyone know what is going on? My wife's S3 still shows 25015 after an update as does my daughter's EVO 4G.

After reading the latest list of 28 market roll-out it made me wonder what the criteria is that Sprint uses to update a market. A few of these markets are towns that I honestly have heard of. And many more that I have heard of I know are small towns. It made me wonder what are the largest markets that currently have Sprint 3G service but no mention of 4G? (Not that they haven't started or finished yet but no mention of the market at all). My market is Des Moines, IA - a market of about 500,000 people. To my knowledge, Des Moines, or any town in Iowa for that matter, has not even been mentioned by Sprint as of yet. Unusually, or are there many, many examples of this?

What I did not realize about the keyboard is that the default Samsung keyboard either is actually SwiftKey or licenses the new SwiftKey Flow technology from them. I had read elsewhere that flow was a coming feature in an upcoming beta of SwiftKey but was very shocked to find it in the galaxy Note 2 in the default Samsung keyboard. So far, I have not strayed from the default Samsung keyboard and I'm not sure that I see a reason to at this time. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.

In the Mobile Network / Network Mode settings, do these settings have any impact on battery life? In other words, does it actually turn on and off the various radios or is it simply a roaming setting? I had mine set to Automatic which I presume includes GSM/UMTS. But if I am not traveling anywhere that would need GSM, does setting this to LTE/CDMA actually turn off the GSM radio? Likewise, if I am in an area that doesn't have LTE yet, does setting the phone to CDMA turn off the LTE radio? Just wondering if I can save battery life here or if I should just set it to Automatic and forget about it?

I just saw and read the thread about signal strength bars so clearly I do not know (now) what my LTE signal strength was there, as I was using only the signal bar graphic as my indication. I also read from that thread that the About Phone menu isn't even accurate for LTE signal strength. Since I don't know how to access the LTE Engineering screen on a Galaxy Note 2 I guess I have no idea how to determine what my LTE signal strength is.

I was in Kansas City yesterday which was my first time in a LTE market. I was at Arrowhead Stadium at the Chiefs game. Even though I had a good 4G signal on my phone it was unusable. I got absolutely no usable bandwidth at all. I brought my verizon 4g mifi and had to use that to get any use out of the phone while at the stadium. Disappointing first LTE experience. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk.

Sprint's announcement on October 15, 2012 and posted in the community.sprint.com forums indicated pre-orders for the device will start on Thursday, November 1. Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2

Continuing with the network vision roll out takes capital. Capital is something that Sprint does not have unlimited access to. Their ability to get capital is probably what is setting the rollout schedule of network vision more than anything else. If this deal gives them greater access to more capital so that they can speed the network vision deployment out much more aggressively then I think customers win in the end. Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2

Why would there need to be technical compatibility for this to make sense? If it is a financial investment does technical compatibility really matter? If they see a chance to make a diversified financial investment in another country, can acquire a financially struggling carrier at a good price but a carrier that seems to have a strong plan for technical improvement, then why not? I don't see technical compatibility between the two countries to be an issue at all. Unlike a domestic merger where the goal is consolidation, increased leverage with suppliers, and cost reductions on the overhead side, this deal would seem to be all about an ROI on investment.

Nope. You've got it. Perfect. I just needed to hear from someone that also has the same use case. I wasn't sure how the constantly connected fitness device would impact things. Thanks. Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Sure, but as I understand how 4.0 low power works, devices are basically "always" connected. They may exchange data at a ping rate of every 10 seconds or so continuously. IF that is true, then how does that work with multiple devices because you no longer have a situation where a device is on/off or in range and out of range. I would have a fitness device on my belt 12 hours a day constantly talking to my phone. So what happens when I get in the car and want to stream Pandora? Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2

Not sure if this is the right place for this kind of question, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I am going to buy a new Android smartphone soon and it will have bluetooth 4.0. I mainly use bluetooth to connect to my Toyota in-dash enTune system, so it is a voice and data bluetooth connection. I also have an interest in using the new FitBit personal exercise tracking device. Their new model is bluetooth 4.0 so instead of having to connect it to your computer to download the fitness data, it communicates with an app on your Smartphone continuously using the new bluetooth 4.0 low power standard. Here is my question....does bluetooth 4.0 allow multiple devices to communicate with the phone? In other words, while I don't really care if my FitBit is actually communicating with my phone while I am driving my car, I don't want to have to manually connect or disconnect bluetooth profiles multiple times per day when I get in my car. Likewise, if I am walking around the office and the my Fitbit is communicating with my phone, when I get in my car I want my Toyota enTune in-dash to work without turning off my Fitbit connection and connecting to my car every time. Does anyone know? Will this all happen fluidly and without my intervention? Thanks!

Will LTE 800 be deployed nationwide or is it isolated to certain markets? Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I live in Des Moines Iowa so it will be quite a while before we have LTE here. I do travel to some areas that have LTE so I could use it periodically if my phone supported it. I am currently running the Cyanogenmod 9 beta on my galaxy s2. It is probably the best Android experience I have had yet on any phone so I am very reluctant to upgrade before I need to. However, I am eligible for an upgrade from Sprint now. One option is that I could update now, enjoy a little bit of LTE in some markets when I travel and be in a position for my next update in the fall of 2014 after the network is completely ruled out. The other option is to keep this current phone, enjoy cyanogenMod 9 and 10 and wait to update until Des Moines gets LTE in late 2013 (hopefully). My question is, I have read something in these forums about Sprint using different frequencies for LTE once they get rid of all of the Nextel stuff. Does this mean that in order to take advantage of the entire Sprint LTE capability of the completely built out network, that the user would need to have a phone with radios that do not exist today in the current LTE phones? If that is the case, then I would really be inclined to hold on my update and stick with my Galaxy S2 solution running CyanogenMod and wait until those phones came out (next year?). If that is not the case I may be leaning towards updating now, enjoying LTE where I can and then be in a position for a new update in 2014 after the rollout is complete. Then again, the Galaxy S2 runs so well with CyanogenMod even if this is not true about the radios, just the natural evolution of how much better phones will be in a year makes me inclined to wait until Des Moines is live as well. Obviously I'm confused and talking myself into and out of each option. What would you do? Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Excellent, excellent responses. Thank you to both. As an electrical engineer, but not related to the cellular industry, I like facts and logic. I appreciate your technical logic pyroscott. I currently have a 5GB MIFI wtih Verizon through work and the more that I think about it after reading both of your posts, the more that I think that I currently have the best of both worlds. If pyroscott's long view of the Sprint technology is correct, then I the ability to benefit from my long relationship with Sprint while being able to supplement with the Verizon MIFI when I get into trouble on Sprint. Given that I know that Verizon would be +$50 if I switched, I could add a regional 4G MIFI with maybe US Cellular for $25 and supplement my wife's Sprint phone for awhile too if necessary. I'd still be financially ahead and not give up the long term benefits of Sprint or the unlimited data. One piece of information that I didn't find here after reading and searching is to try and validate my premise that Des Moines will likely be a long wait for LTE - late 2013 / early 2014. Anyone have any better insight on that premise?

I have been with Sprint for ever - like back to the Motorola brick with the 4" fixed rubber antenna days. I've never switched carriers, ever. But I am not a Sprint fanboy either. They've just met my needs. I need some educated advice - not the kind you get from typical Sprint forums. I have been very frustrated lately with Sprint's 3G performance in many markets, including my own of Des Moines, IA. I understand Sprint is in a growing pains stage with 3G as they try to implement Network Vision. I am willing to ride those growing pains out, to a degree if I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I just that I am just trying to figure out where the line is for me. I am resigned to the fact that I probably won't see 4G LTE here until late 2013 or 2014. But I am also not necessarily the type of user that feels that I MUST have 4G either. Good, solid 3G meets most of my needs, supplemented with WIFI. So, I think I am fine with not seeing LTE for quite awhile. I have 4 devices on my line. I am at a rare point where I could start a transition to Verizon on September 1st. I could move 2 of my lines on that date, with the other 2 to follow in 1 year. This is not a financial decision for me - the costs of doing this are fine. I am "supposed" to have Sprint 3G coverage in pretty much every area of the Country of interest to me. Whether I do or not in reality depends on where Sprint is with their 3G growing pains. At the same time, by reviewing Verizon's coverage map, I'd have 4G in all of those same markets. But I also understand that maps are theoretical and that Verizon could have coverage complaints too. My first question is: does Network Vision provide for some hope for 3G improvements even in markets that are not destined to have LTE for several years? Or do existing 3G problems stay with us until the market becomes a LTE market? Second question is: is there something inherently better about Sprint's network strategy such that the long view suggests that in a couple years, when it is implemented, that Sprint makes sense to be the carrier of choice? I like the fact that data is unlimited. But in reality, I could spend $40 - $50 more per month with Verizon and be more than covered for my current data usage of my 4 Sprint lines. I am willing to spend that money for better service. Just looking for some advice I guess to make the right long term carrier decision.