Hasta La Gadget!

The latest move in the standoff between Softbank, Sprint, Dish Network and Clearwire has been made, as Dish stated today it will not submit another bid for Sprint. This comes after Sprint sued to stop Dish from buying Clearwire, which the satellite company called an attempt to deflect attention from its own unfair dealings. If you’ll recall, Dish Network jumped in with a $25.5 billion offer to buy Sprint, but after Japanese carrier Softbank improved its proposal slightly, Sprint put Dish on a deadline to respond. That time limit expired today, and Dish is choosing to consider its options on Sprint, while focusing on completing the Clearwire deal. Dish cited some specific changes in the Softbank deal that made it impossible to meet the deadline, including higher break-up fees if the deal didn’t go through. so what’s next? Softbank’s still waiting for FCC approval before it can go through with the acquisition, and reports it expects to close the deal in early July.

Filed under: Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, Dish Network

Sprint warned Clearwire in early June that it viewed Dish’s latest attempt to buy it as illegal, and now the carrier is following up with legal action. Big Yellow has just announced that its filed a lawsuit against Dish and its acquisition target in Delaware, as it believes the buyout would violate state law and the rights of shareholders and investors in both itself and Clearwire. The Now Network is asking the court to prevent the completion of the deal, rescind certain parts of the agreement and seek “declaratory, injunctive, compensatory and other relief.” In the outfit’s own words, the suit “details how DISH has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire’s shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in an effort to acquire Clearwire’s spectrum and to obstruct Sprint’s transaction with Clearwire.” Stand back folks, the legal fireworks are just starting.

Filed under: Sprint

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Source: Sprint

More than a year after Sprint stopped launching WiMAX phones, it added a new paragraph to its terms and conditions that indicate its impending breakup with the wireless standard. According to PCWorld, the change (originally noticed by an S4Guru forum user) was implemented on May 22nd. You can read it in its entirety after the break, but to summarize: if you have a WiMAX device, you’ll eventually have to decide whether you want to keep using your phone without it, deactivate your contract or transition to the carrier’s LTE network. You won’t have to pay an early-termination fee if you choose deactivation, while you’ll get a “standard” LTE device (Sprint didn’t specify which) if you opt for transition. The Now Network didn’t say how long it will continue supporting the flagging wireless standard, but it’s clear as day it’s focusing its efforts on widening its LTE coverage.

[Image credit: William Ross]

Filed under: Networking, Sprint

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Via: S4Guru, PCWorld

Source: Sprint

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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It’s not everyday that you get to mill around rooftops like Spider-Man, so when Sprint invited us to visit one of its LTE cell sites in San Francisco, our answer was a resounding “yes.” While the company’s been testing LTE in the city by the bay for several months now, we’re still a few weeks away from an official rollout. Cell site SF33XC664 is located high above Van Ness Avenue with phenomenal views of the Golden Gate and Telegraph Hill. Sprint showed us around the various pieces of equipment and let us run some speed tests. Take a look at our hands-on gallery below then hit the break to join us on a complete tour.

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Sprint

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