Hasta La Gadget!

It almost goes without saying that Sprint has probably been opposed to AT&T’s recent proposed purchase of rival cell phone carrier T-Mobile.

Now it’s official.

On Monday afternoon, Sprint issued a press release publicly condemning the potential merger between the two carriers, asking the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. In the release, the company claims a takeover of this proportion “would reverse nearly three decades of actions by the U.S. government and the courts that modernized and opened U.S. communications markets to competition.”

The argument cites an approval as very bad news for Sprint, which would rank in last place in U.S. wireless providers behind Verizon and AT&T if the deal went through:

AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. If approved, the proposed acquisition would create a combined company that would be almost three times the size of Sprint in terms of wireless revenue and would entrench AT&T’s and Verizon’s duopoly control over the wireless market. The wireless industry moving forward would be dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically integrated companies with unprecedented control over the U.S. wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs, such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete.

But the statement reads as an appeal almost as much to the general public as it does to the government agencies monitoring the case. The company claims the “Ma Bell duopoly” created by the potential takeover will harm consumers “at a time when the country can least afford it.”

AT&T’s statement of intent, issued on March 20, defends the deal in a more attractive appeal to rural cellular subscriber, claiming the extension of coverage to “95% of the U.S. population,” or an “additional 46.5 million Americans, including [those] in rural, smaller communities.”

The deal is still being reviewed by the DoJ and the FCC.

See Also:

• AT&T’s Purchase of T-Mobile Will Face Opposition, Thankfully …
• AT&T to Buy T-Mobile, Becomes No. 1 U.S. Wireless Company …
• With AT&T/T-Mobile, Wireless Net Neutrality Should Be Back on the …
• Ingenio to Keep its NSFW Holdings in AT&T Deal?
• Verizon ‘Not Interested’ in Sprint: CEO

Yes, you read that right. Sprint is actually going out on a limb and officially opposing AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA. Apparently, it thinks that the transaction would “reduce competition and harm consumers” if it’s allowed to go through, and it’s vowing to “fight this attempt by AT&T to undo the progress of the past 25 years and create a new Ma Bell duopoly.” It further goes on to note that the combined company would be almost three times the size of Sprint in terms of wireless revenue, and that it and Verizon would “overwhelmingly dominate” the US wireless industry and have “unprecedented control” over the post-paid market. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Shocker! Sprint officially opposes AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile

Shocker! Sprint officially opposes AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that Google Voice integration for Sprint we mentioned recently? Today at CTIA we got to see it in action, and it promises to take us one step closer to our robot overlords — well, those of us who are Sprint customers, anyway. The most exciting feature is that the integration works with almost any Sprint number and device, and is not limited to just smartphones or the newly minted Nexus S 4G. Basically, you can pick your Sprint number or your Google Voice number to be your mobile number, and switch between them if necessary. Either way, this is the number that appears on other people’s phones when you call them, and you still benefit from all the Google Voice perks. See it for yourself in our video after the break.

Continue reading Google Voice for Sprint hands-on (video)

Google Voice for Sprint hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Driving whilst distracted is becoming enough of a problem for our various government agencies to start looking into ways to proactively prevent it, rather than just pass laws against it, but Sprint is being more proactive than most. It’s announced an app called Drive First, developed by Location Labs, which won’t be available until sometime in the third quarter. The app runs on Android and basically puts your phone into lock-down mode “when driving is detected,” automatically sending incoming calls to voicemail, auto-replying to texts that you’re unavailable, and preventing you from using much of any applications outside mainstream navigation fare. As always with these apps we’re not sure just how they’ll differentiate between driving and, say, sitting on a train, and we’re guessing they’ll be just as effective at locking out those riding shotgun, but for parents worrying about whether Junior is texting when he should be driving home from band practice it could be a good solution. That solution, however, will cost those ‘rents $2 per month — and certainly won’t earn them any love from their angsty teen.

Continue reading Sprint announces Drive First app to stop distracted driving, expects you to pay $2/month for it

Sprint announces Drive First app to stop distracted driving, expects you to pay $2/month for it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just put our paws on the EVO 3D for the first time, and what struck us immediately is that it’s not as beefy, bulky, or overwhelming as the 4.3-inch display or specs might have you believe — if you’re familiar with the EVO 4G, you’ll feel right at home here (and you might even be pleasantly surprised). The screen’s stereoscopic 3D effect is about as good as what we’ve seen on the Optimus 3D in the past — very good head-on with decreasing effectiveness as you move your head to the side. The 2D / 3D switch along the side is for the camera, not the display; it seems that all management of the screen’s capabilities is managed in software alone. Check out the shots in the gallery below; now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go play with this monster some more!

Continue reading HTC EVO 3D first hands-on! (video)

HTC EVO 3D first hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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