News

By the numbers posted today by Sprint, the company has a net loss instead of a profit. The company's total revenues for the quarter were US$9.1 billion, down $1.1 billion from Q2 2007. Its income figures worked out to a loss of $344 million for this quarter as compared to a Q2 2007 profit of $19 million.

Sprint loss a net 900k customers over the course of the quarter, dropping to 51.9 million total. The company had 54 million subscribers at this time last year. Its subscriber churn rate has improved, though, dropping .45 percent to just under 2.0 percent. Sprint says that its subscriber base is made up of 35.5 million CDMA users, 14.6 million Nextel iDEN users, and 1.7 million hybrid PowerSource users that have devices that work on both networks.

Sprint reported that its wireless subscriber ARPU (average revenue per user) remained stable at $56, but that data is making up an ever larger portion of that figure, standing currently at $15 per user.

The latest music-focused clamshell to come from the ailing U.S. manufacturer is the new Motorola ROKR EM28. It comes in a white and blue color scheme and featuresa 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture, a built-in FM radio and a standard 3.5mm audio port for music enjoyment, built-in microSD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support for stereo headsets.

With tri-band GSM (850/1800/1900MHz or 900/1800/1900MHz), the Motorola ROKR EM28 is planned to be available during Q3 2008, though pricing has not yet been announced.

Motorola's latest slider, the ROKR EM25, hit the music scene today. The phone features 1.3 megapixel camera, which also functions as a video camera, a microSD card slot to store your videos and pictures, SongID, a service that allows you to quickly and easily find artist and track information for songs that you hear on your car radio or other source, and the innovative FMShare feature allows you to share audio clips and FM radio stations with friends who have phones equipped with an FM radio.

The Motorola ROKR EM25 comes in stylish black and red color scheme and standard 3.5mm audio port and is planned to be made available in Q3 2008, though pricing has not yet been announced.

Movistar's Chilean is the very first carrier in the world to launch the BlackBerry Bold and its 3G data connection and high-res display.

The price is scored at 299,990 Chilean pesos (about $588) on a two-year contract.

No word yet when the BlackBerry Bold 9000 will hit North America and Europe.

Today Apple released an updated version of the iPhone's firmware, 2.0.1, a 250MB update that is available to iPhone and iPhone 3G users through the Apple iTunes application.

Apple only lists "Bug Fixes" amongst the changes. Early claims:

- Backup process for the iPhone is much faster.
- Netshare still works
- SMS typing faster

Sony Ericsson is excited to unveil an exclusive partnership between the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures release of EON Productions' 22nd James Bond adventure, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and the C902 Titanium silver edition. The phone, as used by James Bond - played by actor Daniel Craig in the new film - will be available for a limited period and include a memory card loaded with a host of 007 content.

The phone comes with an exclusive pre-loaded spy-style game, the full colour trailer of the film, behind-the-scenes interviews with the stars and exclusive content such as wallpapers and screen savers.

The C902 Cyber-shot^TM phone is used throughout the film by James Bond to capture evidence and assist the agent on his mission. The movie will hit theaters in November 2008.

The C902 Cyber-shot James Bond Edition will be available in titanium silver this July.

Sony Ericsson is taking mobile gaming seriously by offering a free Zeemote Bluetooth gaming controller to consumers purchasing the W760i cell phone in the Netherlands.

Zeemote's promising JS1 mobile joystick comes with 2 Zeemote-compatible games pre-installed and features 4 trigger buttons and an analog nub.

An additional 14 games are available through the Sony Ericsson website.

Motorola hired Qualcomm's former COO, Dr. Sanjay Jha, to become co-CEO of Motorola. Jha will also take on co-executive duties for the parent company along with current CEO Greg Brown, Motorola's existing CEO.

Jha is a respected member of the telecom industry and the news of his new job at Motorola has sent the company's shares up 9 percent today. Qualcomm's shares dropped a bit on the news, but some industry analysts are predicting that Jha's new position at Motorola could mean more business for Qualcomm in the future.

Starting today, BlackBerry Curve 8320 will have a new color scheme - sunset, a bright orange/red color. The handset is equiped with WiFi and offers UMA support that allows users of T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service to use the handset for free VOIP calls over their existing home WiFi network in addition to being able to do the same from any of T-Mobile's HotSpots located throughout the country.

The new sunset BlackBerry Curve 8320 is priced at $149.99 with a new 2 year agreement.

LG Voyager owners will be the first to take advantage of Verizon's free Visual Voicemail service. The software is integrated into a new "refresh" of the LG Voyager VX10000 phone.

Visual Voicemail was previously announced by Verizon as a free offering that would be integrated into popular phones. Both Visual Voicemail and the LG Voyager itself are answers to Apple's iPhone, as is the free price-point of Verizon's visual voicemail service.

New Voyager units will come with the update pre-installed. Existing Voyager owners can get the update by taking their phone to a Verizon Wireless store. As usual, we suggest that you call your local store first, to confirm update availability, before taking the phone to the store.