Dave Zatz

Sprint EVO: Finally, Pricing & Launch Details

Sprint held a second EVO launch event yesterday, where the Android superphone‘s launch date and pricing details were finally revealed.

The first 3G/4G handset hardware lands at a competitive $200 June 4th and the base monthly service package will run $80 a month. Which is $10 more than every other Sprint smartphone… despite CEO Dan Hesse’s CTIA keynote proclamation: “With 4G, we’re giving you more for free.” Sprint’s positioning the $10 surcharge as a Premium Data Charge, rather than a 4G tariff. And they really have to given Clear’s limited (but expanding) 4G footprint. However, “unlimited” data, 3G or 4G, truly means unlimited with the EVO. In the bigger picture, and for most, Sprint’s service plans are still more economical than the competition. That $80 also nets you unlimited texts, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling (any network), on top of 450 minutes of calls to domestic landlines.

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Digital Media Bytes: The Cable Show Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from The Cable Show: Cox improves search and discovery with new program guide Cable provider Cox Communications is rolling out a new program guide that will improve search and discovery of broadcast and on-demand TV content. The Trio guide was designed by Cox and Frog Design and implemented by … Read more

Where’d the CDMA Nexus One(s) Go?

The Google Nexus One Android phone launch and rollout has seen some highly bizarre twists and turns, culminating with the recent obliteration of Verizon and Sprint CDMA N1 handsets. When the HTC-produced Nexus One was originally introduced by Google, their intent was to modernize, or at least shake up, the way we do business in the US … Read more

Android Lands New York Times App

The New York Times has released an official news app for Google Android. At first glance, the app looks like a clone of the newspaper’s iPhone app. Both allow you to sort news by category (World, US, Politics, N, Travel, Magazine, Latest, and so on). And both apps are much faster and easier to navigate … Read more

The magicJack Giveaway

After CES I was pretty fired up about the possibility of a femtocell magicJack – a gadget to potentially route some of our cellular voice commutations over the Internet, thereby saving carrier minutes. The technical details were murky, but the concept seemed compelling. So I reached out to magicJack’s PR team and insisted they get one out to … Read more

The RCN TiVo Premiere Launches (Again, in DC)

While those of us in the know were aware RCN has been deploying customized TiVo Premiere units to all-comers in the DC area the last few weeks, a press release and updated landing page now make it official. Unlike the retail TiVo Premiere ($299), RCN’s rendition is currently limited to the the original TiVo interface. … Read more

Roku Steps Up Their Netflix Game

As the first Netflix-enabled set-top device (spun off from NFLX), it comes as no surprise that Roku ($99) will be their first partner to bring the entirety of Netflix’s streaming catalog to the 10′ interface. Instead of merely browsing your queue (TiVo), or top genre selections if you’re lucky (Xbox), come June, Roku will allow us to … Read more

Rhapsody Survey Reveals iPhone 4 ;)

While I regularly advise marketing folks to go easy on the exclamation points, and despite their minor grammatical gaffe, Rhapsody did fire off a notable tweet yesterday: is looking for iPhone app users who want to help in a BETA program! Join and test app builds before they go to market! http://bit.ly/9T2zY5 Not only could … Read more