To: MileHigh who wrote (41848 ) 9/19/1999 1:57:00 PM From: Wyätt Gwyön Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Gumshoe report...Re: Sprint ads, last night I was told by Sprint reps that they are starting a nationwide ad campaign tomorrow (20th) to promote the new 14.4kbps Web services (extra cost: $10 a month for 50 data minutes on a $29.95 plan or higher, later to be replaced by flat-rate data/voice minutes plans, such as $50 for 300 data/voice minutes), which they flipped on last Monday (13th). In a month or two, Sprint will also be carrying serial port hookups for these phones. You will be able to plug your Thinphone, Samsung 2000 (I think), etc. into the serial port on your Windows laptop or Windows CE device for straight web surfing. Rep also said Samsung has some badass phones coming out, including the 8500, I believe, which will have a color display. Samsung has apparently had great phones out in Korea for years, but is now getting ready to pummel the US market, starting with the sleek 3500. Also, visiting a Circuit City store, Sprint reps told me at the end of the day that they had sold 28 new CDMA contracts (of which the majority were Thinphones, and most of the rest NOK's; plus a few upgrades to the Thinphone), but that store sold NO new ATT contracts (also sold at circuit city). CDMA 28, TDMA 0; Just one store. Watching the reps interact with first time buyers, one can see that people are incredulous when the rep tells them that they can access the web through their new Thinphone. People are really amazed. These things are going to kill ATT. The great thing is, this is a network-wide rollout for Sprint.
