Mountain View Cellphones

11/5/2008 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

The FCC has approved and the Justice Dept. had given a preliminary ok to the combination of Sprint Xohm and Clearwire to quickly accelerate WiMax deployment nationwide.  This will be a huge advantage for Sprint versus other carriers going forward and it will be the best wireless data network for the next 3 years.

This is pretty much the last major hurdle to full deployment across the country and the major spend of billions to get this all going at the scale a national network needs. 

Coming to a town near you is a wireless broadband card that runs on both the established Rev. A network and WiMax,  so you get the best speeds where available.

Pricing of WiMax services is a no brainer.  My price check on the Xohm website was $45/month for 2.0x the speed of Rev. A today.  100% faster than anything today at 25% less than current service…where do I sign up…  I read somewhere on the news that service equipment sold out in the first week.  No contracts…again…where do I get one…

I saw a test of this working at the annual Sprint conference in Nashville.  It was moving about 6Mbps download and 4Mbps upload.  The ratings on the Xohm website are a less, but still remarkable, 2.0-4.0 Mbps download and 0.5-1.5Mbps upload.  However, the blogs and reviews clearly get higher and lower speeds depending on coverage.  This is still enough for me to get rid of my business DSL service from crappy ATT when WiMax rolls our here in California.   

WiMax devices will be plenty…it will usher in a new generation of mobile devices that may or may not be phones.  This has been the saying for the last 5 years, but now, its real.  There is a production quality network deployed.  Simple products like embedded WiMax on laptops will be a no brainer in many businesses.  What is more interesting is innovative products like Nokia Nseries phones/tablets (N810 in particular).  I saw this device at the beginning of this year and it’s a very nice solution.  They even connected a Skype call in the demonstration to exhibit the low latency of the WiMax signal (of course this is a demonstration environment and not moving), but it work very well, just like a computer.  The Nokia runs Linux and supports Mozilla as the browser.  It is also a full MP3 player and has expandable memory to 10GB (2GB internal + 8GB expandable).  Lastly, it does have WiFi as well.  It’s a great device to fill the need of the “Internet is everything for me” crowd. 

The ultramobile computing market may become more main stream with this jump start with WiMax.  It has all the power of a PC except in the palm of your hand.   

Consumer reviews on the web appear very good for future adoption and I think we have another hit on our hands. 

Lastly, what I think will kick WiMax into high gear is its open structure.  Sprint doesn’t have to approve the device for its network.  Manufacturers can now build it and sell it as fast as they can innovate and produce.  I’m not certain LTE has the same business model structure in mind, and given $22BN in debt Verizon will take on in closing Alltell and the billions spent on airwave licenses, I doubt they will just open up given things have been working well in the past closed carrier model.  This will be the singular reason WiMax has a great chance of sustaining and proliferating much faster.  I predict there is already a Google WiMax device already in the works somewhere in that company.  Intel must also have a ton of things in the works to put chipsets in.     

No contracts…fair pricing…rapid hardware innovation…and a national network…mobile solution…Sounds like a recipe for taking market share from DSL, cable, and current customers of Verizon and ATT.  

Unfortunately for Qualcomm…if this really works…they are in big trouble.  They bought Flarion a few years ago when Sprint Nextel was testing their OFDM stuff, but Sprint decided to go WiMax instead.  Qualcomm’s only choice so far is the ride the LTE bandwagon…but oh…so crowded a wagon.  If WiMax is stable and VOIP works well enough…then the world of communication will change dramatically in Sprint’s favor and to the favor of manufacturers in this new ecosystem.  

11/3/2008 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

The HTC Touch Pro is a hit.  This is the best Windows OS product we have seen move so quickly.  Although at the higher price point of $299.99 per unit, it definitely provides the value for the smartphone user.

Here are some killer features of the device.

1.  Virtual Touch Flo screen (virtual keyboard) with phenomenal resolution.  640×480. 

2.  Expandable and REMOVABLE memory up to 16GB.

3.  A REAL PHYSICAL QWERTY keyboard.  A must for composition of someting more than TTYL. 

4.  WinMo 6.1. A great advancement for WinMo.

5.  3.2 MP camera and camcorder (still missing on IPHONE).

6.  Wi-Fi Capable

7.  EVDO Rev. A speeds elsewhere.

8.  The best in the business, location based verbal search with Microsoft Live Search. 

9.  The best in class GPS navigation on phones with Sprint Navigation.  No problems when you receive a call, it hides in the background, till the call is done.  No need to reboot the app.

10.  Great proven synchronization with Active Sync and Microsoft software and Exchange server. 

11.  A still compact form factor for all you get, the slide out keyboard design helps a lot.

12.  Opera Mobile Optimized for faster page loads…wonderful and beautiful with the screen resolution.

 In other words, I think it’s the current best business tool on the market.  It does still have a little windows menu drop down quirkiness but you can program the carousel to quickly get to your 9 favorite programs.        

10/28/2008 by www.mountainviewcellphones.com

The biggest grudge about early termination fees (ETF) is paying it.  So, this marketing tactic that has been the staple of the wireless business for about 10 years now is going the way of the dodo.  Sprint has announced the change in termination fees once their new billing system is in place…so that will be about another 3-4 months away (given how billing systems tend to never get installed flawlessly).

All the carriers are now moving to pro-rata early termination fees that decline over the time period of the contract.  I think this will increase churn throughout the industry as this was the #1 reason why people don’t change carrier relationships.  How many times have I heard “I’m under contract” when in reality customers got discounted hardware and don’t want to pay full value for it.

The ending of early termination fees could put a big dent in hardware manufacturers, also.  As carriers move more and more in the direction of letting the consumer bear the total cost of hardware (not subsidized by services), manufacturers are being put in front of the customer without subsidizing revenues for their products.  This will continue to push margins down for this sector as carriers can no longer subsidize the hardware thru service fees (in effect financing the hardware purchase with a loan to the customer).

As phones can do more and more, the cost goes up for everyone.  Carriers and manufacturers of major carriers have kept these costs from the consumer while prepaid services have passed on everything to the consumer.  Contract carriers will move more and more in the prepaid direction…even nearly identical phones in the prepaid versus contract worlds cost much different.  The carrier shield is being lifted and the manufacturer must face the consumer not only on features but on price, eye to eye.

Again, I say this is a good thing.  Carriers can dictate features of phones so it works with their networks (that’s ok) but manufacturers should be able to sell whatever they want that is tested and works to specification.  Consumers can get educated on the true price of a phone or smartphone, and we could probably eliminate some worthless positions in the carrier industry that do nothing but compare cost and benefit of phone pricing with services rather than letting the market and manufacturer decide on prices for handsets.

It’s an inevitable trend.   Sprint has had a no contract plan for 2 years now, but you would not know about it because no one is incented to sell it and it’s a horrible deal.  Verizon recently introduced no contract plans also but again…I’m certain this is more for goodwill with the FCC or some other State attorney general than actual corporate strategy.

Sprint’s One Touch is the first carrier attempt (that I know about) to put a standard GUI interface on all of the Carrier’s phone in addition to the manufacturer’s GUI.

This is a great standardization and a good way for Sprint to have a more seamless experience for customers with any Sprint handset.

For now, the One Touch is a carousel of items at the bottom of the screen that can be programmed to quickly do the 10-20 things you do all the time with your device.  You can program the carousel tiles to access a particular site (rather than taking 2-3 steps to find the web app, open the browser, and then pick your favorite).  Not only will with work with web sites, but it will work with specific phone features, IM Mom, email Bob, calling home, applications like facebook, etc…

This is unique to Sprint and allows Sprint customers to be able to get the best phone they want and still be able to do what they want with a push of a button.  Secondly, it helps the carrier provide a difference versus other carriers by making their products easier to use.  Ease of use will be key to driving Sprint’s data centric strategy going forward.  As phones can do so much more, it’s critical Sprint to focus on making the features easy to use or people just won’t adopt it.  Sure you have the 20% tech crowd that will go thru much trouble to adopt the coolest features, but the other 80% of the population will try once or twice and then just give up.

A great move for the carrier.

Lastly, we have tested One Touch internally and it works great.  It’s simple and easy to use and does allow you to customize your phone experience to what you like quickly and to improve the experience quickly.

The turnaround is working.

10/27/2008  By www.mountainviewcellphones.com

Sprint has a great new line up of phones releasing into the Christmas season.  Here is everything new now and going into the near future.

1.  Samsung Rant  (EVDO Rev 0 version of the popular LG Rumor Phone).  Better and slightly bigger in all respects, yet has the same price point of $49.99.  Comes in Red and blue.

2.  LG Lotus.  A great compact flip phone with a QWERTY keyboard.  Purple and Black colos.

3.   HTC Diamond and HTC Touch Pro.  The Touch Pro is a smoking product.  Windows 6.1, virtual keyboard and real keyboard, expandable memory, 3.2 MP camera, AWESOME screen resolution.  It will sell well for those who want the top of the line unit.

4.  Sprint Air RAVE.  Discussed previously, but allows your own cell phone tower at any location with a high speed Internet connection.

5.  Samsung 220 and 320.  New basic phone line up.  The 320 is FREE phone with mail in rebate.  Buy 5 get 5 Free!!! as marketing would say

6.   Samsung Highnote.  This is THE music phone.  It’s much better than the UpStage it replaces and comes with a high quality compact speaker that can fill a room with your beats.  You can bring the party with you anywhere now.  I’m certain some amateur film student will be using this as background music to save time and money during the shoot.

7.  Sanyo Eclipse refresh with One Touch.  Illumination phone…pretty cool looking…otherwise a great multimedia phone that easy to find in your purse.

8.  New Nextel Blackberry.  Curve with a PTT button.  It will be a good device.

This is the best handset line-up Sprint has ever had.  The turnaround is actually producing some very real results now.

By: www.mountainviewcellphones.com  9/14/08

When you get a new phone or upgrade with Sprint, you will be asked whether you want Total Equipment Protection with the phone.  As a service center, we of course promote this because we want users to be protected in their investment, but the reality is, we really don’t understand the risk profile of each customer.

First, let’s understand the economics of Sprint’s insurance or service and repair program.  Sprint has divided the service criteria into four quadrants for walk in customers.  These prices are for walk in customers without insurance.  On the X axis, we have damage classifications as “Normal Wear and Tear” and “Physical Damage.”  On the Y axis, we have “Phone and Mobile Broadband Cards” and “PDA” devices.  My little diagram is below for clarity. 

Normal Wear and Tear                    Physical Damage

Phone & MBC           $35                                                 $99

PDA                            $55                                                 $119

Normal Wear and Tear on devices is considered anything outside of physical damage.  Physical damage is considered cracked or broken screen or housing, cracked or separated flip or hinge assemblies, cracked or bleeding LCD, cracked or broken lenses, and/or a broken charging port.  In other words, any significant repair is going to cost you $99 or $119 dollars.

However, not included in this chart is that basic software problems with the phone that can be fixed free of charge.  These use to be $15 service charges but are now free for all Sprint customers.       

I would highly recommend you get the insurance if you are a “high” risk profile.  How do you know you are high risk.  Here are some questions to ask yourself.

1.  Have dogs or other animals that like to play with things you touch?

2.  Have little children that take things and drop/throw them or put them in their mouth?

3.  Are active outdoors and have the phone on you while outdoors?

4.  Are you in a profession requiring you to use the phone while outdoors or on the road?  (Sales, construction, mobile technicians, mobile nursing etc…)

5.  Have you destroyed many phones in the past?  (Left in pocket and went thru washing machine?)

6.  Are you prone to losing items?  (Frequently leave your personal belongings on airplanes, restaurants, client sites, etc…)

7.  Are you a heavy phone user?  Use more than 2000 minutes per month?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then I would consider you as “high” risk.  

If you are high risk, then it makes the greatest sense for you to get the Equipment Replacement Program for the Physical Damage coverage or the Total Equipment Protection program.  This is assuming an incident happens to you and you are able to redeem the benefits you have pre-paid for.  However, the advantage here is that you the consumer know more about how you treat your phone than the carrier.     

For physical damage, the cost with the Equipment Replacement Program is $4/month + $50/deductible.  Assuming the replacement cost of a new phone is about $280 the first year, you would save about $226-$184 for the year.  Your savings for the 2nd year, if an incident happened would be $102-$68 versus a 1 year upgrade eligible phone.  After this point, it becomes a better value proposition to buy a new phone with the upgrade credits provided in the 2nd year.

The Total Equipment Protection program would yield a benefit of $223-$148 in the first year and $43-$7 in the second year.

For a phone that costs more than $280 in value for replacement and you are in a high risk category, it almost always makes sense to get either protection program.  All PDA and smartphones fall in this category.       

If you were hesitant about spending $7/month, get the $4/month Equipment Replacement program as these are the incidents that cost the most money and pay for walk-in service as needed.    

The recent release of Windows Mobile 6.1 on the TREO 800w at first made us hesitant.  Was this a real upgrade or just another more advance software that freezes continually?  To our surprise, Windows Mobile 6.1 is a real competitor in operating systems for smartphones now.  I don’t know what Microsoft did, but 6.1 has fixed all the major complaints about phone stability of the past.

I’m writing this because it’s our own results and the results tested by our Windows customers. 

The great news:

1.  The device doesn’t crash or freeze up like its preceeding versions (6.0 & 5.0). 

2.  It is responsive and fast with the user.  In other versions, system performance slowed as you opened more applications and did more things on the phone.  6.1 has fixed this to a great degree.

3.  Great new Windows features…I can’t believe I’m saying this but its actually good.  It has many more advantages than the IPHONE and is does more than the Blackberry in many respects.  Here is the list from the http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/6-1/default.mspx. 

• Instant messaging-like texting
• Improved Internet browsing
• Simpler e-mail and Bluetooth setup
• New Home screen interface
• New Getting Started Center
• Security enhancements
• Easier Wi-Fi connection
• More personal choice

 4.  You still get to work with many Windows applications native on the mobile device.  This is very useful, especially for Windows centric businesses.

What does this mean?  There is a shift in the tide towards windows now that this is real.  In coordination with Palm 800w comeback and new phone releases of the HTC Diamond and HTC Touch Pro, Windows & HTC & Palm are back and they combined will begin to take market share from other vendors.  There is no better ecosystem right now for mobile wireless applications as most applications developers don’t want to develop to 5 or 6 constantly changing operating systems.  They can stick with windows and make a better application now on a stable and working device, so windows and the application developer and hardware manufacturer can now win.  It’s also much easier for application developers to just extend their windows enterprise applications wirelessly now.  It’s finally here…a Windows phone that just works!!!  And net net, this is a good thing for the world.     

By: www.mountainviewcellphones.com  8/22/2008 

By: www.mountainviewcellphones.com 8/2/2008

I recently reviewed the tentative ruling by the Alameda Superior court awarding damages to the plaintiff’s for ETF’s and essentially stating early termination fees as illegal due to their premise not based on damages for the liquidated damages. AKA (Ayyad vs. Sprint, case number RG03121510, http://apps.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/service?ServiceName=DomainWebService&PageName=itree&Action=21704699). It was tough reading due to the poor resolution of the documents, but it was very interesting.

This case pertains to subscribers and actions that happened from around 2000 to 2006, a time of great change and innovation in the wireless business. Plaintiff’s claim that early termination fees (ETF) were not legal under California Civil Code 1671 because of the punitive nature of the fees. However the court, because of a mixed up jury decision, found that ETFs were not illegal provided they take into consideration the ACTUAL DAMAGES incurred.

Here is a rewrite of the major conclusions:

1. Sprint proved it was impractical to calculate actual damages by the early termination of contracts (due to complexity of business and measuring avoidable costs).

Other court evidence: The courts analysis on this matter clear found the Sprint GREATLY underestimated damages from ETF fees and was inconsistent in this regard versus a true liquidated damage for the contracts.

2. Sprint did not prove that ETF was created or set based on analysis of damages.

I think the court correctly determined that the marketing department of Sprint made ETFs to keep up with the other carriers and lower the risk of the business with its main competitors.

3. Sprint did not prove ETF varied with amount of ACTUAL DAMAGES.

This is an actual criteria in case law as a test for liquidated damages being legal in California.

4. Sprint proved that the ETFs actually underestimated damages.

So, given points 1 to 4, under the Civil Code 1671 of California, the motivation and purpose (another case law test) of the ETF was something outside of collection of damages brought about by early termination of the contract. This makes them illegal.

This opens up the can of worms that had Sprint made better efforts to align actual damages to the ETF provisions and set up systems for this, this would have been very legal.

Remarkably, the judge ruled that despite Sprint’s unlawful ETF, the plaintiff (consumers) benefitted from Sprint’s UNDERSTATEMENT of actual damages estimated by the court had the ETF been legally structured.

In a strange ruling of damages, Sprint is ordered to return the $73MM that it has collected already from ETF damages in the form of $18.3MM payment and reversal of $54.7MM in charges.

In concluding, this was a mashed up decision due to a jury that did not make a consistent decision and a judge that tried to rule (”I think rightly”) on case law and the actual structure of the fees.

Read the rest of this entry »

The AIRAVE product has rave reviews about the technology and the value proposition to Sprint customers.  With AIRAVE you will not have any more coverage problems as long as you have high-speed Internet access at your home. 

From Sprint Press Release 7/30/2008 

“The technology behind the AIRAVE has received several awards, including Best of Innovations at CES 2008, Emerging Technologies Award – 1st Place: Network Infrastructure Category at CTIA 2008 and Best of CTIA 2007 “Best Cell Phone Accessory” Award from LAPTOP Magazine.

Starting August 17, Sprint customers will be able to purchase the AIRAVE at Sprint stores across the country for $99.99 (taxes excluded). Customers are required to subscribe to the AIRAVE enhanced coverage plan, which is priced at just $4.99** per month in addition to the customer’s regular wireless voice plan. Customers who do not have one of Sprint’s unlimited voice plans, such as Simply Everything, can get unlimited in-home calling by subscribing to the optional AIRAVE Unlimited Voice plan for an additional $10 per month** for individuals or $20 per month for families.** For more information, customers can visit www.sprint.com/airave.” 

 For an extra $4.99/month per user, you can have coverage with your regular cell phone plan and for an additional $5.00/month you can have unlimited home calling to your cell phone from your home.  This is similar to the T-Mobile options but uses a technology strictly for cellphone service and expands the Sprint Network to work in your home or within 5,000 feet. 

This does two great things for consumers. 

1.  Eliminates the marketing BS about coverage and reliability.  Now the network has a cell tower inside your home.  What could be better?

2.  Provides coverage to anywhere you get high-speed Internet access inside buildings.  In building coverage is always a problem for any carrier and this provides an elegant solution.

3.  You still get a price advantage with Sprint over other carriers even with the additional $5.00 charge.  For example, you get the Unlimited Talk & Text Plan and an AIRAVE.  You are paying just $94.99/month for unlimited voice & unlimited texting.  This still saves you $20-$30 per month over AT&T and Verizon unlimited plans.  This is more than enough to off set the cost of the device at $99.99. 

Lastly, this is a Samsung product, so you will have great quality and ease of use. 

Another great Sprint innovation. 

For the heavy cell phone user, the best way to go is the unlimited talk & text for $89.99/month or the Simply Everything plan for $99.99/month.  For the quality of network coverage, roaming included (with Verizon), great data network, and great international rates, Sprint can often save $40-$50/month versus AT&T and Verizon. 

Sprint’s messaging is focused on being value driven.  Not the highest and fairly priced for the services.  Sprint’s leading the charge toward cell phone migration and cutting the cord.  There is no reason to pay AT&T or Verizon for a landline for service tied to a wire.  This saves $25/month to $60/month in additional cost. 

There are prepaid ways to cut your cellular communications costs, but I would not recommend them as the quality of service will be limited (coverage) and the customer service will be non-existent if you have a real problem.  Sprint has a network of service center operations throughout the country to help with phone matters and these centers have very knowledgable staff.

Lastly, Sprint has some great benefits with larger employers.  If you are an employee of Bank of America, you can get 23% off your cell phone bill.  If you are a member of ANY credit union, you can get 15% off your cell phone bills.  This is a savings that gives Sprint an immediate cost advantage versus other carriers of $100 to $200 per year (get a better phone and save).  Ask about corporate or association savings you may be entitled to. 

Save money today and Sprint ahead.