Sprint to provide YAHOO content:
Wednesday August 11 10:58am
Sprint Brings The Power of The Wireless Internet to The Palm of Your Hand With The Introduction of The Sprint PCS Wireless Web
PR Newswire
New Wireless Data Offerings Feature Sprint PCS Wireless Web Browser, Sprint PCS Wireless Web Updates from Yahoo!, Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection And The Introduction of The Sprint PCS Phone NP1000 'Smartphone' Manufactured By NeoPoint, Inc.
CHICAGO, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint today announced a bold entry into the wireless data arena with the introduction of the Sprint PCS (NYSE: PCS) Wireless Web, a suite of simple, user-friendly wireless data products and services. The Sprint PCS Wireless Web will be available nationwide throughout the Sprint PCS network* in late September. Unlike recent announcements by other carriers, this is not a test or a partial data offering. It's complete, and it's ready now! The Sprint PCS Wireless Web represents a pivotal development in the company's effort to offer consumers and businesses a single clear and simple tool for all of their wireless voice and data communications needs. The Sprint PCS Wireless Web features three distinct offerings that will allow consumers and business users to access the information they need -- when they need it -- anywhere on the all-digital Sprint PCS nationwide wireless network:
SPRINT PCS WIRELESS WEB BROWSER: Sprint PCS customers whose phones are equipped with a simplified Phone.com microbrowser designed especially for wireless phones will be able to connect to select Internet-based content "real time," whenever they want, using their Sprint PCS Phones to interactively browse special text-only versions of popular web sites. Sprint PCS has licensed the Phone.com UP.Link Server Suite, which enables the microbrowser functionality on Sprint PCS Phones. Via partnerships with industry-leading content providers of weather, news and travel, Sprint PCS customers will be able to stay in touch with important, personalized information while "on the go."
SPRINT PCS WIRELESS WEB UPDATES FROM YAHOO! This service allows customers to receive automatic updates straight from Yahoo! directly on their Sprint PCS Phones. The customized updates from Yahoo! include such topic areas as sports, weather reports, stock quotes, horoscopes and news headlines. Users simply set up a personalized page on the Yahoo! website (using any computer with Internet access), and select in advance what updates they want and what time(s) they want to receive the updates on their Sprint PCS Phones. This service operates as part of the Sprint PCS Short Messaging Service which is currently available to all Sprint PCS customers.
. -- SPRINT PCS WIRELESS WEB CONNECTION: Sprint PCS customers will be able
to do virtually anything they do today while tethered to a wireline
modem -- "on the go," and wirelessly. Sprint PCS Wireless Web
Connection will allow users with laptops, palmtops or other personal
digital assistants (PDAs) to connect to the nation's largest all-
digital, all-PCS nationwide wireless network. Designed with the mobile
workforce in mind, connectivity is the latest offering within The
Sprint PCS Clear Wireless Workplace -- a suite of simple, flexible
wireless business solutions. Connection allows Sprint PCS customers to
use their Sprint PCS Phones in place of a modem to connect to their
important, personal information tools and corporate networking content,
such as email, schedules, task lists, contacts/address books, order
forms and key documents.
Unlike the complicated and expensive wireless data offerings of the past, pricing for the Sprint PCS Wireless Web will follow the same clear and simple value-oriented principles that Sprint PCS has brought to voice calling. Sprint PCS customers may add Sprint PCS Wireless Web services to their current price plans $29.99 and above for a flat rate of just $9.99 per month. Additionally, Sprint PCS will offer a range of Sprint PCS Wireless Web Options that include both voice and data minutes in a single bundle, enabling customers to mix and match their voice and data minutes as needed.
"We're sending the message loud and clear that Sprint PCS is Internet ready when you are," said Andrew Sukawaty, Sprint PCS president. "Several things separate the Sprint PCS Wireless Web from the competition. It's simple to use with easy to understand pricing. It's available nationwide on our all- digital, all-PCS network. And it works with all types of devices, including Sprint PCS phones, laptops, PDAs and smartphones. Our approach to wireless data is defined by the same clarity, nationwide coverage and value propositions that have made Sprint PCS the fastest growing wireless carrier in the United States for three consecutive quarters."
Sprint PCS Is First Carrier to Offer Much-Anticipated "Smartphone"
Manufactured by NeoPoint, Inc.
Sukawaty added that one of the phones expected to have substantial consumer appeal with the launch of The Sprint PCS Wireless Web is the much- anticipated Sprint PCS NP1000 "Smartphone" manufactured by NeoPoint, Inc. Sprint PCS today announced that it will be the first U.S. wireless carrier to offer the Sprint PCS NP1000 -- a feature-rich, compact device that integrates a personal digital assistant (PDA) and wireless phone to offer advanced features like an Internet microbrowser, real-time email capabilities, contacts, personal scheduler, to-do list, wireless modem, voice-command dialing capabilities and crystal-clear voice calling. The Softsync Plus software (included) enables customers to synchronize information on the phone with a variety of desktop personal information managers, such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer or ACT. Expected to be available in September, the Sprint PCS NP1000 will have a suggested retail price of $399.
"We're pleased to announce this exciting offer with NeoPoint, Inc., to bring the Sprint PCS NP1000 to our customers," said Sukawaty. "This phone is most certainly one of the year's 'must have' devices and a prime example of our commitment to wireless data and its applications."
"By being the first to offer the Sprint PCS NP1000 in the United States, a feature-rich, compact, affordable smartphone, Sprint PCS is providing its customers with nationwide, premium access to wireless information services," said William Son, CEO and president of NeoPoint. "Sprint PCS clearly is a leading-edge wireless service provider and together, NeoPoint and Sprint PCS are at the forefront in delivering advanced products and services. The Sprint PCS NP1000 delivers what consumers need and want - a great, clear CDMA digital wireless phone that also offers convenient access to the latest information resources available today such as the Internet and email, plus outstanding organizational capabilities through its built-in personal scheduler."
In addition to offering the Sprint PCS NP1000, Sprint PCS is making it easy for its customers to access wireless data on nearly any Sprint PCS Phone. All Sprint PCS Phones have text messaging capabilities -- such as the existing Sprint PCS Short Messaging Services and numeric paging -- and automatically will be capable of supporting Sprint PCS Wireless Web Updates from Yahoo! Most Sprint PCS Phones launched in 1999 and beyond will feature microbrowser and mobile connectivity capabilities out of the box. Additionally, many older Sprint PCS Phones can be connectivity-enabled with a simple software upgrade and the purchase of a Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection Kit (one modest cable and Sprint PCS Dialer software). And, later this year, Sprint PCS will offer new smartphones, such as QUALCOMM's new Internet-capable pdQ. In simplest terms, the Sprint PCS Wireless Web won't require expensive and elaborate computer accessories or network alterations to work.
"Business users and consumers will be amazed by how affordable and simple it will be to access select text-based Internet information or dial up their corporate network remotely," said Charles Levine, chief sales and marketing officer for Sprint PCS. "Customers can begin to connect wirelessly in a matter of minutes, without the frustration often associated with new software. Users can connect today in the exact same way that they used to dial in with a wall-mounted telephone jack."
The Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection Kit enables a customer to access information simply by connecting one end of the cable to the serial port on most popular portable computing devices (such as a laptop, Palm Pilot, Windows CE device or other PDA) and the other end to the port on the Sprint PCS Phone. No special changes are needed on the corporate network or "back end" for the customer to use connectivity to access information "real time." The Sprint PCS Dialer software contains a user-friendly installation wizard and diagnostic "troubleshooting" tools which identify possible connection errors and solutions. According to Levine, Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection is expected to have the most appeal among business users, but, as with Sprint PCS Wireless Web Browser and Sprint PCS Wireless Web Updates from Yahoo!, any Sprint PCS customer may select this service.
The Sprint PCS Wireless Web Connection Kit has a suggested retail price of $199.99 and will include a simple cable, user guide and Sprint PCS Dialer software. Through December 31, 1999, Sprint PCS customers who sign up for one of the Sprint PCS Wireless Web "all in one" voice/data options $59.99 and above may purchase the connection kit for just $29.99. Additionally, Sprint PCS is offering the connection kit at a special introductory price of $99.99 through the end of the year to customers who purchase the kit without selecting an "all-in-one" voice/data option.
Sprint PCS operates the largest 100 percent digital, 100 percent PCS nationwide wireless network in the United States, already serving the majority of the nation's metropolitan areas including more than 4,000 cities and communities across the country. Sprint PCS has licensed PCS coverage of nearly 270 million people in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, visit the Sprint PCS web site at sprintpcs.com . Sprint PCS is a wholly-owned tracking group of Sprint Corporation trading on the NYSE under the symbol "PCS."
Sprint is a global communications company at the forefront in integrating long distance, local and wireless communications services and one of the world's largest carriers of Internet traffic. Sprint built and operates the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber optic network and is a leader in advanced data communications services. Sprint has $17 billion in annual revenues and serves more than 20 million business and residential customers.
Yahoo! the Yahoo! logo and Yahoo! Everywhere are registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Up.Link Server is a trademark of Phone.com, Inc.
*All Sprint PCS markets will offer the Sprint PCS Wireless Web in October, except Sprint PCS service areas managed locally by Sprint PCS Network Partners, Horizon PCS Portsmouth/Athens/Chillicothe/Zanesville/Welston/ Jackson, OH), US Unwired (Beaumont/Longview/Tyler, TX and Lafayette/ Shreveport/Alexandria/Monroe/Baton Rouge/Lake Charles, LA) and VIA Wireless (Fresno/Stockton/Modesto/Merced/Visalia, CA).
Contact Chris Comes, Regional Communications Manager, 630-575-3987 (O) or e-mail ccomes01@sprintspectrum.com , or Tom Murphy, Director of Media Relations, 816-559-6703 (O), or pager 888-347-1660 ,e-mail tmurph01@sprintspectrum.com , both of Sprint PCS.
Source: Sprint PCS
Contact: Chris Comes, Regional Communications Manager, 630-575-3987, or e-mail, ccomes01@sprintspectrum.com, or Tom Murphy, Director of Media Relations, 816-559-6703, pager 888-347-1660, or e-mail tmurph01@sprintspectrum.com, both of Sprint PCS
Ticker: PCS (Nyse)
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