Sprint Becomes Second U.S. Carrier To Launch Android Phone

Sprint (NYSE: S) announced today that it will begin selling its first Android handset on Oct. 11, making it the second U.S. carrier to roll out a phone based on Google’s platform. Release.

Up until now, T-Mobile USA had been the only carrier in the U.S. to sell an Android phone. Many theorize that the Android platform won’t start see a dramatic uptake in usage without multiple handsets and carriers using the platform. A wave of announcements are nearing, especially with Motorola (NYSE: MOT) set to unveil its Android strategy next week in San Francisco.

Sprint will be selling the HTC Hero, which has been
available in Europe since early this summer.
It will cost Sprint subscribers $180 after $150
in rebates and will require a two-year contract.
They will also need an unlimited
data plan, which costs $100 a month for unlimited
minutes or $70 a month for 450 minutes. Sprint’s
Hero is the first in the U.S. to feature HTC’s user
interface overlay, called “HTC Sense.” Users will
be able to switch between “Scenes” to reflect
different roles in their lives, such as work, social,
travel and play. For example, the companies said
a work Scene can be set up to include stock
updates, work email and calendar, whereas a
play Scene could have music, weather and a Twitter.
In a release, Andy Rubin, Google’s VP of mobile
platforms, said: “Sprint and HTC are helping to
drive openness and innovation in the mobile
industry with the introduction of the Android-powered
HTC Hero.”

Some of the features and specs:

—Camera: 5 megapixel camera and camcorder.
—Email: POP, IMAP, and Exchange Active Sync
accounts.
—HTC Footprints: An app users use to chronicle
their moments by capturing a digital postcard
on their phone, and taking notes and an audio
clip of that favorite restaurant or special place
while identifying its specific location.
—HTC Hero is a full-featured smartphone with
Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen
with pinch-to-zoom capability and a fingerprint
resistant coating, integrated GPS navigation,
and trackball navigation.
—Stereo Bluetooth 2.0 Wireless technology
—accelerometer, light sensor and home screen
widgets for improved usability
—multimedia capable with microSD slot
(32GB capable, 2GB included)
—Sprint TV with live and on-demand programming
—NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup
MobileSM
—easy access to social networking sites,
including Facebook®, Flickr® and Twitter
—visual voice mail for quick and easy access to
specific voice mail messages

Source : http://moconews.net/article/419-sprint-marks-second-u.s.-carrier-to-launch-android-phone/

Motorola focus on Android

We have already heard of different reports of Motorola expanding their development team or to work on an Android social networking handset but it appears that Android will take an even bigger part in Motorola's next year's linup.

At their Q3's conference call, Motorolo Co-CEO Sanjay Jha spoke of their plans to focus solely on three operating systems: Android, Windows Mobile and their own P2K platform for low-costs handsets. This will reduce OS development costs and Motorola will focus on handsets to offer high ends smartphones.

As far as Android is concerned, Motorola plan to release several handsets, going from medium end to high end ranges at different prices. The first Android phone should land at Christmas 2009. This is later than we expected, with the original date announced for second quarter of 2009.

Will Motorola get back to the top thanks to Android? They seem to believe so.

Related articles

• Motorola cuts platform options to Android and Windows Mobile
• Motorola's 'Focus On Android' Won't Yield an Actual Phone Before Christmas 2009
• The mask has fallen: Moto to ditch Symbian

More on the Motorola Android phone

As we already discussed it previously, Motorola plan to release an Android-powered phone, orientated towards social-networking.

Thanks to a report in Business Week, we have more details on the phone. It should feature a touchscreen interface, similar to the iPhone's one, a full slide-out qwerty keyboard, very much like the T-Mobile G1 and will come with a whole lot of social-nertworking features.

Motorola, a member of the Open Handset Alliance said:

"We're excited about the innovation possibilities on Android and look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google"

The phone is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2009.

The timing could not be more perfect for Motorola, as these details were leaked only three days before the release of the T-Mobile G1, the first Android-powered phone. The race for Android phones has indeed started.

Related articles

• Motorola hires for a mysterious Android project
  
• Inside Motorola's Android Phone
• Motorola to Jump On the Android Bandwagon

Motorola hires for a mysterious Android project

Motorola, who already declared their interest in Android, are looking to recruit for an "Android Social Networking SmartPhone" project.

The Motorola Interaction Design Team have posted an job add on Coroflot and it clearly gives away the fact that Motorola is going droid.

"As a Senior Staff Interaction Designer, you will be responsible for leading and actively participating in the concept, design, documentation and development of user interfaces for our mobile products including our new Android Social Networking SmartPhone. You’ll lead brainstorming and work sessions, usability and innovation reviews and other forums of design development. In addition to your primary responsibility in the delivery of great design, you will also be expected to mentor other designers, bringing your personal strengths to the rest of the team."

There are few details as to what exactly an "Android Social Networking SmartPhone" is but it sure is intriguing!

Related articles

• Motorola Works On Android Social Networking Smartphone
• Motorola Working on Android-Based Social Networking Smartphone [Android]
• Motorola Working on Android-Based Social Networking Smartphone
• Motorola maybe working on Android phone for social networking

Android shakes it up

After last week's presentation of the first Android phone, many brands seem to now consider it's time to step up for an Android push.

Motorola, for example, seem pretty confident in Android's potential as one of their Android team's developper announced that they will expand their team going from 50 to 350 developpers (click here for the article).

The article most interesting news though concerns Nokia. Nokia who now own Symbian, the OS that powers all their S60 phones, could also have their own Android team. Since Nokia have their own OS, this could simply be for competitive reasons but imagining an Android powered Nokia phone is not that foolish, especially if Android proves to be a serious challenger on the mobiles market.

On another article by reghardware, this time, it's Sony Ericsson that are rumoured to be more than interested in Android. Dick Komiyama, President of Sony Ericsson, said at a summit in Sweden that not only SE are interested in Android but that they should "look at this application". Komiyama was quick though to remind that SE are only studying their options and that they were not in a position to develop an Android phone at the moment.

It's one for the future, we guess but there is definitely a true buzz among phone manufacturers around Android.

Related articles

• Nokia buys rest of Symbian, will make code open source
• Smartphones: Sony Ericsson and Motorola Plan Superfriends of Smartphone Platform Development
• Nokia buys rest of Symbian, will make code open source