New iPhone 5 to land on Sprint

Wireless carrier Sprint will launch Apple‘s latest smartphone, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4 simultaneously in mid-October, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal cited sources familiar with the matter that indicated the phone would arrive in time for Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter. The Wall Street Journal’s “people familiar with the matter” line is typically code for an inside source that is feeding the Journal information about a new product or company news.

Sprint is the last major carrier that does not carry the iPhone. Apple sold more than 20 million iPhones in the third quarter this year and it sold 8.4 million iPhones in the third quarter last year. The company finally launched the phone on Verizon in February, 2011.

The new reports are contrary to rumors that the phone would arrive in September, at the end of the company’s fiscal third quarter. The iPhone 4 launched on Verizon halfway through one of Apple’s fiscal operating quarters on June 24, giving the company an incomplete picture of how well the iPhone 4 was doing compared to previous iterations of the smartphone.

The iPhone 4 currently retails at $199 for a 16-gigabyte model and $299 for a 32-gigabyte model, and both require a contract with wireless providers AT&T and Verizon. That puts the phones out of the price range of many devices that run Google’s operating system, Android, which can cost as little as $50.

There are also reports of Apple building a cheaper iPhone 4 alongside the iPhone 5 that would likely replace the current low-end 8GB iPhone 3GS, which retails for $50 with a two-year contract. The 3GS?is considered dated and is nearly two years old, while new Android devices come out daily that have better technical specifications than the iPhone 3GS and sport a similar price tag.

[Image via MacRumors]

Next Story: Brightkite founders launch Forkly, a fun app for?foodies
Previous Story: United Airlines buys 11K iPads to help pilots go?paperless

Tags: iPhone 4, iPhone 5, new iPhone, new iPhone 5

Companies: Apple, Sprint

View the original article here

Sprint planning to acquire Clearwire from cable companies

Sprint has entered discussions with cable companies about an investment deal that could result in the carrier acquiring wireless network partner Clearwire, reports Bloomberg.

Sprint currently owns the largest share of Clearwire, but the company would like to purchase shares owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Brighthouse Networks. Such a move would allow the carrier to have complete control over Clearwire’s WiMax network, which it currently doesn’t have despite having the majority stake in the company.

Both Sprint and Comcast are discussing a deal to provide funding to Clearwire to build out its high-speed wireless network, according to the report. Clearwire plans to spend an estimated $600 million to upgrade its network to the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which is what Verizon, AT&T and Sprint’s most recent partner LightSquared are using.

Clearwire shut down its retail business in February to focus on improving its network. However, the company has failed to make serious headway. An investment would presumably correct this situation.

The move to an LTE network is necessary for Clearwire to stay competitive, according to the company. As VentureBeat has reported in the past, Clearwire’s WiMax network is less than desirable compared to other high-speed networks.

We have reached out to Clearwire, Comcast and Sprint for comment. We will update this report with any statements we receive.

Next Story: Tudou IPO exposes yet another China risk factor: the founder’s?wife
Previous Story: Droid Bionic internal docs point to Sept. launch for?$299

Tags: acquisition, LTE, wireless networks

Companies: Clearwire, Comcast, Sprint

View the original article here

Sprint planning to acquire Clearwire from cable companies

Sprint has entered discussions with cable companies about an investment deal that could result in the carrier acquiring wireless network partner Clearwire, reports Bloomberg.

Sprint currently owns the largest share of Clearwire, but the company would like to purchase shares owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Brighthouse Networks. Such a move would allow the carrier to have complete control over Clearwire’s WiMax network, which it currently doesn’t have despite having the majority stake in the company.

Both Sprint and Comcast are discussing a deal to provide funding to Clearwire to build out its high-speed wireless network, according to the report. Clearwire plans to spend an estimated $600 million to upgrade its network to the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which is what Verizon, AT&T and Sprint’s most recent partner LightSquared are using.

Clearwire shut down its retail business in February to focus on improving its network. However, the company has failed to make serious headway. An investment would presumably correct this situation.

The move to an LTE network is necessary for Clearwire to stay competitive, according to the company. As VentureBeat has reported in the past, Clearwire’s WiMax network is less than desirable compared to other high-speed networks.

We have reached out to Clearwire, Comcast and Sprint for comment. We will update this report with any statements we receive.

Next Story: Tudou IPO exposes yet another China risk factor: the founder’s?wife
Previous Story: Droid Bionic internal docs point to Sept. launch for?$299

Tags: acquisition, LTE, wireless networks

Companies: Clearwire, Comcast, Sprint

View the original article here