Sprint promises '4G event' with Microsoft at CES
By CAROLINE GABRIEL
Published: 23 December, 2009
rethink-wireless.com
Among the companies tantalizing the market with mysterious launch event invitations for next month's Consumer Electronics Show is Sprint Nextel, which has two announcements planned. One is a '4G event' on January 6, led by CEO Dan Hesse, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer and Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn. The other, the following day, is co-hosted with LG and is likely to focus on the Lotus 2 smartphone.
All the first invitation promises is to "showcase Sprint's 4G leadership" and so, presumably, will revolve around the Clearwire joint venture. The advanced state of Clearwire's WiMAX network, compared to other 4G plans, certainly does give Sprint (and the cableco MVNOs) a headstart in true mobile broadband, and Best Buy might well be part of a program to expand the formats and outlets for devices in 2010. The retailer already sells Clearwire services and all carriers are increasingly looking to closer ties with the big electronics chains, as wireless becomes embedded in gadgets that go well beyond smartphones.
The retail model will be important to WiMAX, as the technology has an open ecosystem closer in many ways to that of consumer electronics than phones. And it will need new device types, and the distribution to go with them, to offset the established relationships that LTE operators have with traditional cellphone vendors and channels.
Microsoft's presence at the Sprint gig is more puzzling. Clearwire and Sprint have both been heavily focused on alliances with Google when developing their software platforms for the mobile web, and the search giant - and Microsoft foe - is an investor in Clearwire. However, any 4G operator will welcome support and applications platforms from any major player, and Microsoft may see the wireless broadband networks as rich growth opportunities for Windows-based netbooks, its biggest mobile growth area.
In its likely bid to upstage Verizon Wireless' LTE progress report, scheduled for January 7, Sprint has also enlisted non-technology celebrities - comedian Frank Caliendo and celebrity chef Mario Batali.
And actress Brooke Shields will headline its other event, with LG. Some bloggers believe Sprint could be the first carrier to unveil the highly anticipated LG Prada III, but this could be wishful thinking - the previous two Pradas never attracted a US carrier deal, even though they were very highly rated elsewhere (and the first one pre-empted many of the features that made the original iPhone such a success).
A more probable handset to feature at the launch is the LG Lotus 2, which will be a successor to the Lotus LX600, also a Sprint model. The Lotus was far less stylish than the Prada, and positioned firmly in the midmarket, though its successor should sport a touchscreen. It will have a similar form factor to the original, according to sources, with a square shape and Qwerty keyboard, and a screen on the outer face (but this will be touch-based). There will also be expanded storage, up to 32Gb via microSD. |
