1. kbz1960's Avatar
    Why is this thread still going? Sprint RIM or whoever isn't selling the dead Sprint wimax version all though I haven't seen they will carry a lte version when/if avaliable. I had to wonder until someone else pointed this out.
    08-14-11 02:09 PM
  2. BBOttawa's Avatar
    It's a non story hyped up by sites trying to get page hits on the RIM is dying meme.

    "Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, said the cancellation of the cellular product was a "mutual decision." But Paget Alves, Sprint's head of business services, said tablets with short-range Wi-Fi Internet connections are far more popular today than tablets for wide range networks such as WiMax.

    "Right now the majority of tablets are Wi-Fi only," Alves told Reuters earlier this week. "People use tablets in fixed locations." For its part, RIM said that, instead of WiMax, it would prioritize product development around devices running Long Term Evolution (LTE), a rival to WiMax. RIM said it is already testing LTE PlayBook models and plans to enter operator test labs in the United States and international markets this fall."

    "Even Sprint, which currently depends on the WiMax network of Clearwire Corp for its high-speed offerings, is expected to announce LTE upgrade plans for its own network in October. Sprint, which has itself been working for years to stem customer losses, still sells a Wi-Fi version of Playbook."

    Sprint ditches 4G model of RIM PlayBook | Reuters
    08-14-11 10:15 PM
  3. s219's Avatar
    It's a non story hyped up by sites trying to get page hits on the RIM is dying meme.
    The significance is that Sprint was the only carrier that had committed to the 4G PlayBook. Regardless of how you want to interpret, spin, or un-spin the news, that aspect of it is a pretty big deal.
    08-14-11 10:38 PM
  4. BBOttawa's Avatar
    Actually it's not a big story, as Sprint announced the change to their 4g plans AFTER they had made the Playbook Wimax announcement. The surprise would have been if RIM and Sprint had decided to go ahead with a dead end technology via Wimax.

    From the Reuters article "RIM said it is already testing LTE PlayBook models and plans to enter operator test labs in the United States and international markets this fall."

    There is no spin, this is just a solid business decision by Sprint and RIM.
    08-14-11 11:02 PM
  5. s219's Avatar
    What you're describing as a business decision is not a reason to make an announcement or press release the way Sprint did, followed up by a separate "clarification" (ie, damage control) announcement from RIM. If that's the way they orchestrate business decisions together, it sucks. I'd further suggest that if there was some sort of positive direction from this, Sprint would have announced that (ie, the new future plans) instead of simply saying they "saw no market for a 4G PlayBook and that's that". Sprint would have been better off making no announcement (as is the normal case when product plans quietly change) rather than making that slightly negative announcement.

    My bet is that something broke down between Sprint and RIM, and the announcement is a tactical move on Sprint's part.
    Buzz_Dengue likes this.
    08-15-11 11:31 AM
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