Sprint Cell Phones

Technology Review has a fascinating photo tour of a ReCellular facility, where many of the phones "traded in" for new ones end up. Dealing with thousand of phones at a time, the workers are charged with figuring out which phones can be reused, which can be broken down into their component materials and which are just plain useless. The photography is stunning, and you're just about guaranteed to see at least one of the models you used to carry (or maybe still do) nestled among of the piles and piles of disused handsets. Most interesting is the undignified, molten fate met by parts of the least lucky StarTracs and Nokia bricks, pictured after the jump. [Technology Review -Thanks David!]

The FCC has decided to refrain from making a decision on certain cellular roaming issues that some carriers are at odds over. The issue being contested involves the rights of smaller carriers that own spectrum in certain markets -- ...
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Over at BoyGeniusReport there's a bunch of images that seem to be leaked shots of an upcoming Nokia N-series cellphone, the N79. It's faintly similar to the N82, and supposedly has a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, and a 5-megapixel camera beneath with flash. BGR suggests we may learn more on Monday, from Nokia itself. There's also a bunch of confusion over whether the pics are real, but they certainly seem it to me, complete with its strangely pinstriped rear shell. What do you think, guys: Real or no deal? UPDATE: It looks like are pics of a Chinese-made knockoff of the N79. Oh well. [BGR]

The WSJ is reporting on a deal that's close to completion between Google and Verizon Wireless, our second-largest mobile carrier, to become the exclusive search tech across all of their phones—potentially bringing a Google search bar to the homescreen of every VZW piece. Aside from the obvious web and local searching, the Google engine would replace Verizon's proprietary content search for ringtones, apps, and the like. Both parties would split ad revenues, which Google is extra excited about for the location-based ad serving capabilities. If the deal reaches completion, look for a decidedly more elegant search on Verizon's phones, from top to bottom. [WSJ]

According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Wireless and Google are in the process of finalizing a large-scale deal. If it goes through, Google would be come the default search provider for Verizon Wireless's phones. In ...
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Your current cheap options for international data from AT&T are 20MB for $24.99 or 50 MB for $59.99—ream city, though without them there's no lube at all, as Blam found out when he came back from Brazil, where AT&T's int'l roaming discounts don't apply. AT&T now has two iPhone specific plans: 100MB for $120, and 200MB for $200, a savings of $0 and $40, respectively. Still, ouch. [AT&T]

Nokia's just come up with a new entry in its Arte series of "jazzed up" cellphones with the 8800 Carbon Arte. The old slider phone now has panels of carbon fiber in its front and rear faces, along with titanium and stainless steel. Internally it looks like the phone is pretty much unchanged, though now its storage has been bumped up to 4GB from 1GB. It remains a tri-band GSM phone, though, and Nokia expects it to hit the shops in Europe by the end of the year for around $1,600. [Phone Arena]

Verizon Wireless has made the UTStarcom Blitz available for sale via its web site. This messaging-focused device has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 megapixel camera with dedicated camera key and self portrait mirror. It has a 2.5mm headset ...
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Sprint has lowered the cost of its phone-as-a-modem service from $50 per month to $15 per month. The cost cut requires that the user have an EVDO-equipped phone that can be connected to a PC, and the user must ...
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Following up on rumorage that pre-sales for the HTC Dream/G1 would start Sept. 17, TmoWorld says they've got the full skinny on T-Mobile's Android debut party: Supposedly, pre-orders will be online only for eligible post-paid customers—lasting through
Oct. 3—who will get the phone on Oct. 13, the public launch day. TmoWorld says the subsidized price will be $199 w/ a two-year contract (no one-year option).

Price seems to be the blurriest bit of info, possibly because it isn't totally set yet. For instance, TmoNews, who has a more proven record, says it might be $150 for upgraders. (One scenario: It's $150 for pre-orders, $200 for eligible people with new two-year contracts. But that seems a little overly complicated.) Monthly plans will be $35 w/ unlimited data/messaging or $25 for unlimited data/400 messages. Most of this sounds about right—not too far off the mark, anyway. [TmoWorld]