Hasta La Gadget!

All signs are pointing to a Sprint blowout at CTIA next week — and we’ll be there, of course! But ahead of that, BGR’s claiming a few additional details on the headline devices we scooped not long ago that Sprint should be showing for the first time at the show — namely, the EVO 3D and EVO View 4G tablet. On the EVO 3D side, this bad boy is shaping up to be a proper EVO 4G successor with a newer 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 processor, 4.3-inch glasses-free 3D 960 x 540 display (which, like the rumored Pyramid, suggests HTC is following the qHD trend set by Motorola), a whopping 1GB of RAM, 1080p video out, 1.3 megapixel camera up front, and — of course — dual 5 megapixel cameras around back for stereoscopic capture. The rumor also pegs Gingerbread at launch along with 3D versions of the Blockbuster and YouTube apps to make sure users have plenty of 3D content out of the gate; that tidbit seems particularly believable considering that YouTube introduced high-quality mobile playback on the EVO 4G last year.

As for the EVO View 4G, it’s shaping up to be a CDMA / WiMAX remix of the Flyer — as expected — complete with pen input. They’re also expected to confirm that the Xoom will be coming in a Sprint flavor (with WiMAX in place of Verizon’s LTE, of course) and will be launching “in the coming weeks or months.” Looking like it’s going to be tough for any other carrier to go this deep at the show — but hey, we invite ’em to give it a shot.

HTC EVO 3D, EVO View 4G specs revealed ahead of Sprint’s CTIA announce? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Road warriors riding the Sprint WiMAX truck will be pleased to know that there’s a new mobile hotspot device in the house. Dubbed the Overdrive Pro 3G / 4G, users can now simultaneously connect up to eight devices — as opposed to just five previously — to the mobile web via this little 802.11n router from Sierra Wireless. Better yet, Sprint has halved the price for this new model to $49.99 after a $50 rebate with a two year $50 service agreement, yet you still get the usual goodies like microSD expansion and built-in GPS support to boot. You can pick one up at Sprint stores starting on March 20th, but of course, the previous Overdrive is probably sufficient for most humble uses, anyway.

[Thanks, r0fl]

Continue reading Sprint announces Overdrive Pro 3G / 4G mobile hotspot router, available on March 20th

Sprint announces Overdrive Pro 3G / 4G mobile hotspot router, available on March 20th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wait, didn’t they try this already? Looks like Sprint is gearing up to take another shot at its seemingly unsinkable (but aging) iDEN push-to-talk network that it inherited from its Nextel acquisition — which is a good thing seeing how it’s only signed up for another three years’ worth of maintenance. The new so-called Sprint Direct Connect service is slated to launch in the fourth quarter of this year using CDMA underpinnings, a throwback to the QChat-based push-to-talk network that Sprint launched back in 2008 but never gained traction. Presumably, Sprint thinks that it knows how to make the transition work this time around, promising wider coverage, better in-building signal strength, user availability notifications, support for up to 200 chat participants, and — of course — far faster data services than iDEN could ever deliver. Sprint says that it’ll offer “an ultra-rugged camera flip phone” along with a QWERTY Android device this year, with more devices in the pipe for 2012. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Sprint Direct Connect will replace iDEN with CDMA, launch late this year

Sprint Direct Connect will replace iDEN with CDMA, launch late this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, that’s just $100 per screen, right? Sprint has just announced that Kyocera’s unusual dual-display Echo clamshell will be launching on April 17th for $199.99 on contract, though you’ll be able to notch your interest early — March 26th, to be exact — via pre-order. As a refresher, the phone offers a 5 megapixel cam with 720p video capture, 1GB of onboard storage augmented with an in-box 8GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB), Android 2.2, and — of course — a pair of 3.5-inch WVGA displays that should set it apart from the crowd. We’d have liked a dual-core processor to go along with the trend here, but you can’t have it all, can you? Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Kyocera Echo hits Sprint on April 17th for $200

Kyocera Echo hits Sprint on April 17th for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We imagine that many of you, like us, have been making frantic calls to friends and family in Japan over the last few days without regard to the costs. Now, in the face of otherwise devastating news, we have some good news to share courtesy of AT&T. Ma Bell is offering wired and wireless billing relief for calls made on AT&T between March 11th and March 31st. Under the plan, AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for international long distance or text messages to Japan from the US and Puerto Rico. Likewise, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct dialing to Japan. Sure it’s a shameless publicity grab but this one seems genuinely helpful.

Update: Sprint and Verizon have both now elected to waive call and text message fees (in Verizon’s case, the move applies both to landline and wireless numbers).

Continue reading AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too)

AT&T makes calling Japan free until the end of March (update: Verizon and Sprint, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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