I have to wonder if Eric Schmidt woke up yesterday morning and said "aw, heck, why not....let's give the Nexus One to AT&T and Sprint as well." Less than 24 hours after an unlocked, unsubsidized Nexus One hit Google's website with AT&T 3G support, the announcement came today that Sprint would be joining the group. Sprint will be announcing a release date and price "soon."
Check out the press release below. Sprint users, you're getting ready to get access to the Nexus One boat (and Android 2.1, at that)! Who's excited?
Nexus One from Google Coming to Sprint; Availability Date Announced Soon
Nexus One is planned for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with twice the network coverage of AT&T and ten times the network coverage of T-Mobile, both by square miles; Expands Sprint’s Android portfolio
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., – March 17, 2010 – Nexus One, the first wireless phone sold through Google’s web store, is planned for Sprint’s 3G Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint (NYSE:S) will announce pricing and an exact availability date soon. Nexus One will benefit from Sprint’s 3G network with twice the coverage of AT&T and 10 times the coverage of T-Mobile, both based on square miles.1
Sprint currently has America’s largest voice calling area of any carrier reaching more than 307 million people in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands with a Sprint phone and plan that includes roaming. PC World recently said no one has a more reliable network than Sprint in a 13 city 3G performance test.2 Customers can check the quality of network coverage with street level mapping at sprint.com/coverage.
“Nexus One is a powerful device that belongs on a powerful network. This is another step in our continued partnership of innovation with Google,” said Fared Adib, Sprint vice president of product development. “Sprint customers already have the option of two amazing Android devices with Samsung Moment™ and HTC Hero™. It is a natural fit for us to add Nexus One to the list of choices available for Sprint customers who want the best value in wireless with the best in Android.”
Google's online consumer channel was created to provide an efficient way to connect online users with selected Android phones. Nexus One will not be available in any Sprint retail channels. It will be available directly from Google at google.com/phone. The online experience of Google’s web store is designed with a focus on simplicity allowing consumers to match a phone with the service plan that best meets their needs.
“While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint’s commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple,” Adib said. “Right now, our Sprint Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, Anytime(SM) gives customers unlimited calling with any mobile phone in America, unlimited text and unlimited Web for just $69.99 per month – the same price AT&T and Verizon charge for just unlimited talk. Our Everything Data plans include unlimited GPS Navigation at no extra charge and annual phone upgrades with Sprint Premier.”
Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, a version of the platform's Eclair software, which offers advanced applications and features including:
Google Maps Navigation: offering turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output.
Email: multiple Gmail accounts; universal inbox and Exchange support.
Phone book: aggregate contacts from multiple sources, including Facebook®.
Quick Contacts: easily switch between communication and social applications.
Android Market: access to more than 30,000 applications.
Hardware features of Nexus One include:
Display: 3.7" AMOLED 480x800 WVGA display
Thinness: 11.5mm; Weight: 130g
Processor/Speed: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 3G QSD8250 chipset, delivering speeds up to 1GHz
Camera: 5 megapixel auto focus with flash and geo tagging
Onboard memory: 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM
Expandable memory: 4GB removable SD Card (expandable to 32GB)
Noise Suppression: Dynamic noise suppression from Audience, Inc.
Ports: 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control
Battery: Removable 1400 mAh
Personalized laser engraving: Up to 50 characters on the back of the phone
Trackball: Tri-color notification LED, alerts when new emails, chats, text messages arrive
In addition, Nexus One offers new functionality and software enhancements including:
Enter text without typing.
Use a voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields: speak a text message, instant message, tweet, Facebook update, or complete an email.
Tell your phone what you want it to do.
Search Google, call contacts, or get driving directions by just speaking into your phone.
Take personalization to the next level.
Dynamic, interactive, live wallpapers react to the touch of a finger.
More widgets and five home screen panels allow for further device customization.
Capture camera-quality pictures and video with your device.
5 megapixel camera includes LED flash, auto focus, zoom, white balance and color effects.
View pictures and Picasa Web Albums in the new 3D Gallery.
Record Hi-Res MPEG4 video, and then upload to YouTube with one click.
Read your voicemail messages.
Get transcribed voicemail with Google Voice integration, without changing your number.
For more information on Nexus One, please visit www.Google.com/phone. Follow Sprint on Twitter @sprint to keep up with news on Nexus One for Sprint’s 3G Mobile Broadband Network.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 48 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first and only 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
Google, Nexus One, Android, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Voice, Picasa Web Albums, YouTube are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
Coverage comparisons based on publicly available information as of 1/01/10 inclusive of Sprint roaming partners.
PC World’s test included Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in 13 major cities in all regions of the country during December 2009 and January 2010. In all, roughly 9,000 individual tests of Sprint's 3G service were conducted from 280 testing locations. Testing sessions were one minute in duration per location, and network performance can be highly variable from neighborhood to neighborhood. In laptop-based tests, Sprint tied with another carrier for first in 3G network reliability.
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