All of the hullabaloo about Sprint’s new CDMA-based
Direct Connect service was not for naught, as the Now Network has finally confirmed that it will indeed be launching in a limited number of markets this upcoming Sunday, with broader expansion coming in early 2012. To get things started, however, the network ought to have a phone or two that have the tech built in, right? The
Kyocera Duramax will receive the honor of being the very first phone to work with the new plans and will be a certified 810G military-standard clamshell handset with a 3.2MP camera, stereo Bluetooth, a 2.5mm headphone jack (not a typo) and a Dura-Grip rubber casing. What about the Kyocera Duracore and the
Motorola Admiral? They’re still forthcoming, but Sprint only mentions that both devices are coming out before the end of the year. The sooner the better here, because the lack of options can’t possibly be a selling point for the brand new service. The nitty-gritty details are in the presser after the break.
Continue reading Kyocera Duramax ready to kickoff Sprint’s Direct Connect service on October 2nd for $70
Kyocera Duramax ready to kickoff Sprint’s Direct Connect service on October 2nd for $70 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Is there still any lingering doubt that something big’s getting cooked up in Overland Park in time for October 2nd? We’ve already seen leaked screenshots showing that Sprint’s aiming to launch its CDMA-based
Direct Connect service that day, as well as a Sprint-backed vid of
the Motorola Admiral, the first smartphone to sport the new feature. Courtesy of
SprintFeed, another gem has been unearthed: the
Direct Connect-compatible Kyocera Duramax. Said to start at $100 with a two-year agreement, the rugged clamshell bears a great deal of resemblance to a large number of legacy iDEN handsets. It’s nothing to write home about, but it still sports the proper military specs to keep it protected, as well as a 3 megapixel camera and a non-slip surface. Anyone who isn’t looking for a smartphone but is in need of a Direct Connect device will want to keep a close eye on this one as we get closer to the day of destiny. Oh, and Sprint? The cat’s out of the bag — perhaps it’s time to make it real.
Kyocera Duramax is in the batter’s box, launching with Sprint Direct Connect October 2nd originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It may not have quite as many views as Admiral Ackbar, but a chieftan of
Sprint’s CDMA-based Direct Connect service was officially outed by the carrier via YouTube earlier. Our device in question,
the Motorola Admiral, has now been given a speedy lookover despite the fact that the company hasn’t even seen fit to acknowledge its existence otherwise. ‘Course, we don’t imagine this was accidental in the slightest — the video of the rugged Android device has been up for several hours without getting pulled — but it’s still a curious way to introduce one of the first phones featuring a
brand new service. Regardless, we now have the clearest shots of the portrait QWERTY smartphone that we’ve seen yet; the two-and-a-half minute teaser didn’t list off a lot of specs, but it did confirm the handset’s 3.1-inch display and five megapixel camera with LED flash. That should count for something, right? Still, it likely won’t be long before we get a real announcement with the full rundown, so just keep yourself entertained by watching the “related videos” section in the meantime. Check out the vid after the break.
Continue reading Sprint’s Motorola Admiral quietly displayed on YouTube as America watches dancing cats
Sprint’s Motorola Admiral quietly displayed on YouTube as America watches dancing cats originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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That
unnamed Motorola smartphone coming this fall to help usher in Sprint’s new CDMA-based Direct Connect service? It appears to be the Admiral. If the name sounds familiar,
its trademarked logo actually appeared simultaneously with the
Samsung Epic 4G Touch. But it’s so much
more than a name now, thanks to a tipster who sent in an image of the device next to some well-detailed specs. The Admiral will likely be a
portrait QWERTY Android 2.3 device powered by a 1.2GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU, and will feature a 3.1-inch VGA display, 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording and a stellar 1,860mAh battery. Oh, and it’s a rugged phone that’s built according to 810G military specifications. If this truly is the mystery Motorola Direct Connect smartphone we’ve been waiting for, it’s bound to turn a few hard-hat-donning heads.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Motorola Admiral outed as mystery Sprint Direct Connect device, strikes a pose for the camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re guessing that this isn’t the riveting Q4 announcement that Dan Hesse promised us last week at Sprint’s Kansas headquarters, but it’s a shock to the system nonetheless. The outfit’s legacy iDEN network is still kicking around (and in turn, eating up valuable resources to run it), and while we’re told that those push-to-talk users are some of the most loyal, it looks as if 2012 will be the year they’re forced to try something new. The company’s CDMA-based Direct Connect alternative is officially slated to launch this winter, with those who buy in treated to triple the square miles of the company’s current push-to-talk coverage area, broadband capabilities and a smattering of new devices.
The Kyocera DuraMax and DuraCore will be joined by an unannounced Motorola smartphone, all of which should be rugged enough to handle the expected field work. Furthermore, Sprint will be adding international push-to-talk (alongside “additional capabilities”) in early 2012, and users should see a marked improvement in in-building coverage. Finally, we’re told that voice and data capacity is expected to increase significantly as Sprint leverages its spectrum holdings in 800MHz, 1.9GHz, and — through its relationship with Clearwire — 2.5GHz. And with that, we’d say your iDEN handset stash just became quite the collector’s item. Full details are tucked away in the PR just past the break.
Continue reading Sprint details Q4 CDMA Direct Connect launch plans and handsets, quietly waves goodbye to iDEN
Sprint details Q4 CDMA Direct Connect launch plans and handsets, quietly waves goodbye to iDEN originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:51:00 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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