Introducing Nexus S 4G for Sprint | Hacker News Reader

Introducing Nexus S 4G for Sprint

googlemobile.blogspot.com

47 pointsukdm23 comments

I actually think this related announcement is cooler: http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/sprint-integrate...

"So now, calls to your Sprint mobile number can easily be answered from your office or your home phone, or even your computer through Gmail."

Sprint has, in the past, had its own services that would compete with this. That they're opening their network to an outside solution is great for customers. It is probably a sign of Sprint's weakness in the market that they're willing to do it, but I hope they will be rewarded with some customer share for doing this.

Yeah I found that one interesting too. May be a sign of more Google/Sprint integration to come.

I just recently had to cancel my Sprint service as I was no longer going to need it and it was a pleasant experience - the ETF came to only 63$ after Sprint paid $107 for returning the Epic 4G! (I wasn't aware you could return the phone - the rep went out of her way to inform me of that.) I wish them well.

That was silly. You could have probably gotten a couple hundred for that phone easy.

I know - Gazelle quotes $175 for the phone. But the battery was draining quite a bit faster than usual, it was rooted and I didn't wanted to sell it to someone only to get it back or have them ask it for less.

It's too bad they still don't offer a keyboard model. Does Google seriously think that virtual keyboards are acceptable for writing long messages? And the screen resolution is a disappointment. Isn't it about time to move beyond WVGA?

I've got to say, I used to think this too, but I've found that Swype is really good for entering data. Try it out sometime, you will be surprised.

I bought an Epic 4G thinking that I absolutely needed the keyboard, and now I barely use it.

Swype transformed my on screen keyboard experience. The stock android keyboard is lackluster, even frustrating. Swype beta made text messaging actually useful for me.

I've used Swype a fair amount. It works well enough for one-handled input, but it's still much slower than using the Epic keyboard with two thumbs. The real problem with Swype and other virtual keyboards is that they occupy ~40% of what's already a tiny screen. So then I can't see the context of what I'm replying to, or more than a few lines of my own text.

A tiny keyboard is still a tiny keyboard; hardware or software. You're not going to feel comfortable writing long messages on anything but a physical full-size keyboard until direct-neural interfaces appear.

I'm not that excited about this phone. Has the guts of the Galaxy S line that was announced over a year ago. The difference is that it has WiMax (nice) and NFC (with very few uses currently). Not worth a 2 year deal for a phone that will be 3 years outdated when the contract expires.

Great timing given the att acquisition of t-mobile, was just wondering if a nexus like phone would still have a carrier to call home.

Yeah, I predict the market for used T-Mobile Nexus Ones is about to get swamped, but this may cushion the blow a bit.

I wonder if voice integration will change while keeping an existing sprint cell number. I know at times I am not impressed with how the google voice service integrates with my sprint number, to the point where I am considering not using it anymore for business stuff.

Hi from Sprint - it works great for me, I've been testing for a couple of weeks. This is actual back-end call routing as opposed to VOIPing the call through the app on the phone.

http://bit.ly/sprintgooglevoice

As usual, not available in Canada.

Is there even a network compatible with Sprint's "4G" up here?

I just checked Sensorly, and looks like no (unless you count some spots on the border).

I'm not sure I'd trust the site on that - it doesn't even know that Bell and Telus operate CDMA networks here in addition to their new GSM.

Yeah the Sensorly data isn't perfect, but it's crowdsourced from actual people's phones, so I trust it slightly more than the official carriers' coverage maps. Their Sprint 4G data is pretty good.

Sensorly is always updating their app and maps, so they might add the Bell and Telus networks at some point..

Yeah, but it's not going to collect data about a network it doesn't know about, is it?

Don't think so. We don't even have a proper 4G roll out yet (Rogers just wrapped up their initial technical trial), and the big three have all confirmed that they're going for LTE.

Can't help you with the 4G or Google Voice but Future Shop is taking preorders for the Nexus S beginning today.

http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/17/c3741.ht...

Whoa. Waitaminuteherejustasec.

That page says that it's going to be available for Rogers and Telus. Does this mean that there's UMTS band 5 version of the Nexus S? Hopefully Google will be selling this unlocked too...

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