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While the official announcement wasn't supposed to cross the wires till next week, The Wall Street Journal went early with its story (please don't get me started on this) and published a review of the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

Yes, that's right. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is officially part of the Sprint family; not that it was a complete surprise. The HTC Touch Diamond, as well as the HTC Touch Pro (no announcement on this model yet), were long rumored for a CDMA carrier months before Wednesday's early coming-out party. So now that the floodgates are open, here is what we know.

Word's out on the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

(Credit: Sprint)

There are a number of differences between the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and the unlocked version we reviewed in late June. First, it sports a purple/burgundy backplate to add more flash to an already sexy phone. The smartphone is also a smidge thicker and heavier at 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep and 4.1 ounces, but keeps the same 2.8-inch, 262,000-color TFT touch screen.

Of course, one of the highlights of the HTC Touch Diamond is the TouchFLO 3D interface, which provides a toolbar along the bottom of the screen where you can move left to right with the swipe of your finger to launch applications. Sprint's version is optimized so that you can access things like live TV, weather, e-mail, photos, contacts, and more.

In addition to the toolbar, there are several programs, such as e-mail, the camera, and music, where you can go flip through your files and messages by swiping your thumb/finger up or down the screen with a cool animated 3D effect.

Moving on to the features, the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, but rather than being content with the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the smartphone also ships with Dataviz's Documents to Go Suite and the Opera Web browser. We're sure many will be pleased with inclusion of these applications, which are arguably more robust than the former. Wireless options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (with A2DP support), EV-DO Rev. A, and GPS with support for Sprint Navigation.

Is Sprint Nextel on the comeback trail?

That's the buzz on various Web sites like The Wall Street Journal and TheStreet.com, as rumors fly that Verizon Wireless and AT&T executives say they are seeing fewer numbers ported from the struggling Sprint to their own networks.

The rumors have been bolstered by a research note published last week by a JPMorgan Chase analyst who quoted Denny Strigl, Verizon's COO, as saying that Sprint has been doing better in the past 30 days.

Press contacts for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon declined to comment on the rumors, according to TheStreet story.

Regardless of what Sprint and others are or not saying publicly, the speculation sent Sprint's beleaguered stock price up 13 percent last week and up another 5.84 percent on Monday. This boost in share price occurred despite a heavy sell-off in the overall market.

So what's happening at Sprint? Could the company really be making a comeback so soon? One thing is for sure: Sprint is spending a great deal of money and effort trying to at least give the perception that things are changing at the company. In the last few months, it has announced an aggressive marketing campaign starring its CEO Dan Hesse.

(Credit: Sprint Nextel)

Sprint also said last week that its new Samsung Instinct smartphone is selling like hotcakes, which could be a positive trend for a company that has been desperately trying to retain old customers and attract new ones. The company said last week that it had record-breaking sales in the first week the device was on the market. And it's even sold out of the device at some store locations.

These sales are despite the fact that the Instinct, a touch-screen device that looks a lot like Apple's iPhone, hasn't gotten smashing reviews. Several reviewers, including CNET's own Kent German, have noted major weaknesses, notably its lack of Wi-Fi and instant messaging. The call and video quality are also somewhat "erratic," German said in his review. And the Internet browser isn't all that impressive. Not to mention the fact that the phone has a small amount of memory and no editing features for its camera.

In other words, it's no iPhone. But at $129, it's a passable substitute for some people looking for a smart phone that has some iPhone-like features and functionality.

But the Journal article cautions investors not to expect a quick turnaround from the company. Verizon Wireless and AT&T are still tough competitors. And even though it's more expensive than the Instinct, the iPhone 3G lands on store shelves at the end of next week. And at $199 a pop, many analysts expect it to be a hit. Verizon is also set to introduce a new touch-screen smartphone, the BlackBerry Thunder, which could drive subscriptions and help retain customers tempted by the new iPhone.

Sprint has a long road ahead of it in terms of figuring out what to do with some of its assets. The company has already said it will spin out its WiMax assets to create the new Clearwire venture. But there has also been speculation that Deutsche Telekom is interested in buying the company. And there are rumors that Hesse's team is looking to dump the Nextel business, which has been the source of much of the customer defections. Sprint has been pushing its former Nextel customers toward phones with a walkie-talkie feature that uses Sprint's PCS network instead of the Nextel network.

Sprint will report third-quarter earnings sometime in August. Until then, the market will just have to wait and see if Sprint is still bleeding customers or if it's bottomed-out and ready for a comeback.

LAS VEGAS--Sprint Nextel will launch its first commercial WiMax service in Baltimore in September, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said Wednesday during a speech at the NxtComm trade show.

Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel CEO

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET Networks)

Sprint will turn up WiMax service in two other cities, Chicago and Washington, before the end of the year, Hesse added. But he didn't give a specific time frame for these deployments.

The much-anticipated WiMax service has been delayed several times. Initially, the company had said it would launch the service in the first half of the year. More recently, it has been vague about when it would deploy the service. It's been testing the mobile WiMax service with download speeds of between 2 megabits per second and 4 Mbps since the end of last year in Chicago and the Washington-Baltimore area.

The company has faced some delays due to technical issues having to do with backhauling or connecting traffic back to Sprint's core network. But much of the delay seems to be a result of financial and management issues at the company.

In an effort to appease shareholders and refocus the company on its core cell phone business, Sprint announced last month that it would spin off its WiMax assets and team with another service provider, Clearwire, to build a nationwide WiMax network. Clearwire has already been offering a fixed WiMax service in parts of the U.S., and it is currently testing a mobile WiMax service in Portland, Ore.

The new joint venture, called Clearwire, will be majority-owned by Sprint and has taken investment from cable operators Comcast and Time Warner Cable as well as from big tech companies such as Intel and Google.

During his speech, Hesse said that the new Sprint Clearwire venture has at least a two-year advantage over other wireless operators who plan to build 4G wireless networks. And he emphasized that this was a key differentiator given the fact that existing 2G and 3G networks were already running out of capacity for data services.

"As fast as (3G networks) are today, nothing will define wireless broadband like WiMax," he said. "The 4G technology is wireless at rocket speeds. And Sprint could have a two-year head start in providing broadband wirelessly at landline speeds."

He talked about using the new WiMax network to provide Internet connectivity to a slew of consumer electronics devices such as cameras, as well as bringing new services to cars, allowing parents to download videos directly to their cars while traveling so their kids could watch movies in the back seat.

Experts following the WiMax market say it is critical for Sprint to get a commercial WiMax up and running as soon as possible.

"Nothing beats proof of concept," said Paul Kapustka, founder and editor of Sidecut Reports, which has recently published a report on the WiMax market. "It's great to talk about this stuff, but seeing a network in action goes a long way. If Sprint wasn't able to get a commercial deployment out before the end of the year, then there would have been real questions about the viability."

But even if Sprint is able to hit its new September deadline, there are still big questions surrounding WiMax's future. Even with big technology companies such as Intel and Motorola backing the technology, some experts question whether mobile WiMax can be anything other than a niche market. Most of the world's major cell phone companies including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone, the world's largest cell phone operator, say they will use a competing technology known as Long Term Evolution or LTE to build their 4G wireless networks.

Six technology heavyweights came together Monday to announce an alliance to jointly license patents for the broadband wireless technology WiMax.

The group, which calls itself the Open Patent Alliance, includes Intel, Cisco Systems, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, and Alcatel-Lucent. The intent of the group is to gather rights to WiMax patents and license them to makers of consumer electronics devices, networking equipment, and computers.

During a Webcast Monday, executives from each of the six companies emphasized the openness of the alliance that was being created. And the companies said they hoped other companies would join the group.

"As a founding member of the alliance, our role is to work with different vendors and evangelize the benefits of an open model," said Sriram Viswanathan, general manager for WiMax at Intel Capital. "We will invite others to join and try to influence players who are whetted to other models to understand the benefits of openness."

WiMax is an IP-based wireless technology that offers high-speed Internet access similar to speeds delivered through Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless technology that uses unlicensed spectrum. So far the technology, which was standardized a couple of years ago, has been used mostly in the developing world to provide fixed wireless broadband.

Now companies such as Intel, Sprint Nextel, and Clearwire are pushing mobile WiMax to bring true broadband wireless to MP3 music players, gaming devices, smartphones, and a plethora of other consumer electronics devices.

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire announced earlier this year they are joining forces to complete the construction of a nationwide WiMax network in the U.S. And Intel already has plans to embed WiMax chips into its Centrino laptop chips. Samsung, Cisco, and Alcatel-Lucent have already been developing infrastructure equipment for WiMax networks.

But these companies all agree that for WiMax to be successful a more robust ecosystem is needed. The OPA is meant to encourage this ecosystem primarily by making WiMax-related patents inexpensive and accessible to anyone.

This is different than the cellular model, in which companies such as Qualcomm, Nokia, and Ericsson have separately developed technology and charged patent royalties for 3G products.

Cell phone makers can spend more than 25 percent of developing a new product on licensing underlying wireless technologies, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Intel's Viswanathan said these high royalties are to blame for stifling innovation. He said that cellular chips have not expanded to other devices such as cameras, music players, or gaming devices because of the high cost of licensing patents.

"We haven't seen a broad proliferation of cellular technology in anything other than handsets because the model is closely held and restrictive," he said.

A similar open patent strategy was devised in the video industry for video compression technology.

That said, WiMax faces many challenges. For one, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are the only major carriers building a WiMax network in the U.S. The nation's two largest cell phone operators, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, have already said they plan to use a competing technology known as LTE.

Still, WiMax backers say that WiMax has at least a three-year time to market advantage since LTE hasn't even been standardized yet. Intel, which plans to include WiMax in its Centrino platform, says it expects to seed the market quickly.

It's mobile or bust for cable operators that seem to be trying anything and everything to get into the wireless market.

One of the biggest shifts over the next decade in the cable market is likely to be a move toward wireless services. As cable operators face stiff competition from phone companies, cable operators large and small are looking for ways to take their services mobile.

Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., talked up his company's investment in a new joint venture to blanket the country with 4G, or fourth-generation, wireless at the industry's trade show in New Orleans this week.

Earlier this month, Comcast and Time Warner joined forces with Sprint Nextel and Clearwire to form a company that will build the next-generation wireless network using a technology called WiMax. Comcast is fronting $1.05 billion as part of the deal, and Time Warner Cable is putting in $500 million to help make the new network a reality.

Roberts said during his keynote speech Sunday that he sees the network as a way to open up new applications and devices for the company.

But Comcast and Time Warner aren't the only cable operators getting into the wireless game. Cablevision recently announced it will expand its Wi-Fi hot-spot service to create an outdoor Wi-Fi network throughout its existing cable footprint. The idea is to extend its Optimum broadband service to customers on the go.

So why are cable companies, which have no history of successfully doing anything in wireless, so hot to get into the market? The answer is simple. They have to if they want to compete with AT&T and Verizon Communications.

The phone companies have introduced TV service and faster, fiber-based broadband services into cable's territories. Services like Verizon's Fios are gaining market share. And even though the phone companies haven't integrated wireless into their offering yet, it's coming.

But with the cell phone market already 84 percent penetrated--according to the CTIA--the cable industry recognizes it needs to offer a new kind of wireless service. As wireless networks get faster, consumers are taking many of their broadband applications, like e-mail, Web surfing, and social networking, on the go.

"The delineation between wireline and wireless services is starting to blur," said Mike Roudi, group vice president of wireless services for Time Warner Cable. "And we think about mobility as a long-term opportunity that occurs when new networks are built that can deliver true broadband speeds wirelessly."

Roudi said this is why Time Warner has joined Google and Intel as investors in the new Clearwire.

Comcast's head of wireless, Tom Nagel, echoed Roudi's comments.

"Customers are already showing us that mobility and wireless are important," Nagel said. "And with wireless we can let them enjoy our products inside and outside the home with ubiquitous connectivity to a high-speed network."

Cablevision is taking a slightly different route. The company is using Wi-Fi to extend its existing broadband network to more customers, a smart choice considering the number of Wi-Fi devices already in the market. Not only do most laptops come with Wi-Fi embedded in them, many cell phones are also getting Wi-Fi. In fact, in the next three years some 1.2 billion Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets will be in the market, according to IDC.

"As more and more devices become Wi-Fi enabled, whether they be laptops, iPhones, BlackBerrys, or other portable devices, we believe we can create a compelling broadband wireless network throughout our footprint for our Optimum Online high-speed data service customers," Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's COO, said during the company's conference call with investors this month.

Cablevision will build the new network in the same footprint as its existing cable infrastructure. And the network, which will take two years to deploy, will deliver 1.5 megabits per second. The service will be an extension of it broadband service and will be offered free of charge.

Cablevision already has Wi-Fi hot spots up and running in 15 highly trafficked areas, such as tourist destinations. For example, Cablevision's Wi-Fi is available on all three Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry boats that connect Long Island, N.Y., to Bridgeport, Conn., a popular summertime route for many Optimum Online customers.

Risky business for cable
While it makes sense for cable operators to get into the wireless market, there's no guarantee that any of the plans that have been announced will actually work. In 2005, Comcast and Time Warner, along with Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications, formed a joint venture with Sprint Nextel called Pivot that was supposed to develop wireless services that the cable operators could bundle and resell to their customers. Two and a half years later, Comcast and Time Warner have pulled out of the partnership and Pivot is essentially dead.

Executives at the cable companies say the new Clearwire deal is different from the Pivot relationship.

"When we did Pivot it was a co-marketing arrangement with Sprint," Time Warner's Roudi said. "From a retail perspective, Time Warner was selling a Sprint-branded service and device. But with Clearwire, we will control the customer relationship including the service and phones. We will handle pricing, marketing, customer care, and billing."

Comcast and Time Warner believe that they each learned a great deal from the Pivot experience. And the companies believe they won't make the same mistakes in the new Clearwire partnership.

But many of the same challenges that the companies faced before haven't gone away. For instance, Comcast and Time Warner still need to figure out how to integrate their existing services and platforms into a wireless network. And while they may be marketing and selling the service themselves, technological integrations are still difficult when working with a partner that controls the network.

Even AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which essentially own their wireless networks, are still trying to figure out how to integrate their services.

Cable's "plan C"
But if the Sprint Nextel/Clearwire investment doesn't pan out, Comcast and Time Warner still have another shot at the wireless market with 20 megahertz of spectrum they acquired from the Federal Communications Commission's Advanced Wireless Spectrum auction held in 2006. Through a consortium called SpectrumCo., Comcast, Time Warner, and other cable operators spent $2.37 billion on a large swath of wireless spectrum that covers about 99 percent of the country.

Comcast's hiring last month of Dave Williams, the former CTO of Telefonica O2 Europe and former vice president of strategic planning at Cingular Wireless, prompted speculation that the company may be considering building its own wireless network or even buying a wireless company. But so far the company remains mum on its plans for the spectrum.

"Wireless spectrum is a valuable commodity," said Comcast's Nagel. "It's like holding the rights to oil or water. It will always have value. And it gives us flexibility for the future. We don't have any specific plans now, but over time we'll understand how to best use or monetize the spectrum."

But as cable companies, like Comcast, look to invest in new wireless networks, they might be overlooking a big opportunity. In cities, such as Philadelphia and New Orleans, citywide Wi-Fi networks built by EarthLink are being shut down as the Internet service provider abandons the network service market.

Comcast, which serves Philadelphia, and Cox Communications, which serves New Orleans, could easily buy these assets for a fraction of what EarthLink paid to install them. (EarthLink spent $20 million to build Philadelphia's network, which is 80 percent complete.)

For example, Comcast could test new wireless services using the existing network. It could see how customers use wireless broadband services outside their home, and then apply the lessons learned to services it plans to develop for the Clearwire WiMax network.

But so far, Comcast has not shown any interest in the network. The reason is likely political. Comcast was among the most vocal opponents to the Philadelphia Wi-Fi network. So justifying the purchase of these assets might be too difficult to spin.

But as other citywide Wi-Fi networks falter, cable operators in different parts of the country might consider picking up the assets. According to The Wall Street Journal, MetroFi, a Wi-Fi service provider, is also struggling. It has networks in Portland, Ore.; Aurora, Ill.; San Jose, Calif.; and other Silicon Valley towns.

"These citywide Wi-Fi networks could let cable companies put their toe in the water," said Craig Settles, an independent consultant specializing in municipal Wi-Fi. "Wi-Fi networks in many cities have failed because of the business models, not because of the technology. Cable companies already have the customer base and the services that could be rolled out onto these networks. So it makes sense."

Update 9:52 AM ET: A typo has been fixed in paragraph 6, changing a reference of megabits per second to kilobits per second.

An AT&T executive said Wednesday that the cell phone company will offer 20Mbps downloads over its wireless network as soon as next year. But don't get too excited; the real speed will likely be a lot slower.

Still, AT&T's network upgrade plan is expected to boost speeds significantly, which means that users of the hotly anticipated 3G iPhone, which is expected this summer, will be surfing the Web at lightning speeds compared with the slow 2.5G network they currently use.

It also means that AT&T's network, which is based on a GSM standard known as UMTS, or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, will remain competitive with the new WiMax network currently being built jointly by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire.

"The two-year head-start that Sprint and Clearwire keep talking about is getting smaller and smaller every day," said Roger Entner, a senior vice president at IAG Research.

On Wednesday, Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's mobility chief, told investors at Morgan Stanley's annual Communications Conference that AT&T is currently upgrading its 3G wireless network to the newest and fastest version of the UMTS technology known as HSUPA, or High Speed Uplink Packet Access-enabled. This new technology will increase the speed of the network fivefold, he said. But exactly how fast the network will run is somewhat debatable.

Today, AT&T's 3G network, which uses the UMTS technology called HSDPA, or High Speed Data Packet Access, can theoretically deliver download speeds of about 3.6Mbps. But in the real world, speeds are closer to 400Kbps to 700Kbps. The new version of the network, which will use HSUPA, will have a theoretical speed of 20Mbps and actual download speeds of between 4Mbps and 6.6Mbps.

Because the actual speed of a network is dependent on several factors, such as how many users are on the network and how far apart the cell sites are spaced, Entner says he typically divides theoretical speeds by three in order to get a ballpark idea of how fast the network actually performs. But even that calculation is likely to be generous. Many experts say real networks typically run only 20 percent of the theoretical speed the technology used allows.

That said, AT&T's HSUPA network will likely provide download speeds that are competitive with speeds that the Sprint Nextel-Clearwire alliance plans to deliver with its new network, which uses a different technology, known as WiMax.

Theoretically, WiMax can deliver downloads between 40Mbps and 70Mbps. But Sprint has publicly stated that its customers will likely see speeds in the range of 2Mbps to 4Mbps, which are in line with expected speeds using HSPUA.

The best part of AT&T's strategy is that it can achieve these new speeds simply by upgrading software in its existing 3G infrastructure. 3G handsets, such as the anticipated new iPhone, will also be able to take advantage of the higher speeds simply by upgrading their software. Meanwhile, the new Clearwire still has to build its network and get WiMax-enabled devices in the hands of subscribers.

"AT&T is in a good position right now," Entner said. "It can ride the technological wave of HSDPA and HSUPA technology for a while and get increasingly faster speeds."

Indeed, other carriers using different technology, such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which have used a 3G technology known as EV-DO, or Evolution Data Optimized, will not have the same growth curve in their existing infrastructure.

EV-DO infrastructure can also be upgraded by combining wireless channels. But even doing that will likely produce only a theoretical maximum speed of about 14.4Mbps. That is one big reason that Sprint Nextel said it will build a 4G network using WiMax and why Verizon Wireless has said it will use newly won 700 Mhz spectrum to build a 4G network using a technology called LTE, or Long Term Evolution.

LTE offers a theoretical download speed of 100Mbps. And AT&T has said that when it exhausts its UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA network, it will also build a new network using LTE.

Sprint Nextel's plan to spin off its WiMax network and form a $14.5 billion joint venture with Clearwire may have hit a speed bump.

On Monday iPCS, Sprint Nextel's largest affiliate, said it will try to block the deal that was announced last week. iPCS, which serves 640,600 subscribers in seven states, said three of its subsidiaries have filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois against Sprint for violating an exclusivity contract.

Sprint Nextel is spinning off its 2.5 GHz assets to form a joint venture with Clearwire. The new company, called Clearwire, will sell 4G wireless services using a technology called WiMax. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Intel, Google, and Bright House Networks have invested $3.2 billion in the new company.

iPCS , which sells wireless services under the Sprint brand in states like Illinois and Iowa, says it has the exclusive right to sell services under the Sprint brand in 81 markets. In its lawsuit, the company says that the new Clearwire service would compete against its iPCS's service, violating the exclusivity contract it has had with Sprint since 1999.

iPCS has already sued Sprint once before for violating the same exclusivity contract when it bought Nextel Communications in 2005. Earlier this year, an appellate court in Illinois upheld a lower court ruling that found Sprint in violation of this contract. And it ordered Sprint to divest itself of all Nextel assets in the iPCS territory. Sprint is appealing the decision.

Sprint and Clearwire, which value their new company at $14.5 billion, said they expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of this year. But the current legal troubles could slow down the process.

In anticipation of legal challenges, Sprint last week asked a Delaware Chancery Court to rule that the Clearwire transaction doesn't violate the exclusivity arrangement with iPCS.

A Sprint representative said that iPCS's lawsuit was in response to this filing.

Since the Nextel merger, Sprint has bought at least seven affiliates to resolve legal issues. And some analysts believe the company may try to acquire iPCS to ensure the WiMax spin-off goes smoothly. But with Sprint's core customer base dwindling and its losses widening, it may be difficult for the company to put a deal together any time soon.

Also on Monday, Sprint announced it had lost another 1.1 million customers. The company also reported a quarterly loss of $505 million.

Sprint Nextel subscribers continue to jump ship, as the company's sales decline and losses widen.

The company has been struggling for several quarters as customers have complained of poor service, especially from its Nextel division. Sprint bought Nextel for $35 billion in 2005, and the merger has largely been a failure, costing the company billions of dollars to integrate while causing the company to also lose millions of newly dissatisfied customers. Many Nextel customers have complained of poor service and a lack of handset choices.

Investors have been pushing the company to sell assets and focus on its core cell phone business. Recently, the company has been rumored to be in talks to sell its Nextel division. And last week, it announced would spin off its next-generation WiMax network in a joint venture that includes six other companies.

CEO Dan Hesse wouldn't comment on rumors that the company is thinking about dumping Nextel, but he acknowledged that Sprint has considered selling some assets. He said a spin-off of Nextel assets would involve "significant complexities."

The company lost $505 million for the quarter, compared to a loss of $211 million a year earlier. In February, the company announced a whopping $29.5 billion loss for the fourth quarter. This was due to the write-down of most of the assets from the Nextel merger.

Revenue in the first quarter also fell 7.5 percent, to $9.33 billion.

Sprint continued to lose customers in the first quarter, with about 1.1 million "post paid" subscribers, or customers who pay a monthly bill for service, ditching the service. This is compared to 1.07 million post-paid customers who left in the fourth quarter and a loss of 1.2 million customers in all of 2007. Hesse had warned in February that Sprint expected to lose about 1.2 million customers in the first quarter.

Sprint also lost about 543,000 prepaid customers, or customers who pay for service in advance. On the flipside, the company gained 343,000 customers through its youth-oriented brand, Boost. And it gained 183,000 subscribers from carriers that wholesale its network.

In total, Sprint now has 52.8 million subscribers.

The company's churn rate, or the rate at which people cancel its service, increased to 2.45 percent from 2.3 percent last quarter.

Meanwhile, Sprint's competitors have been adding customers. AT&T added 1.3 million wireless subscribers during the first quarter. And Verizon Wireless gained 1.5 million customers.

Despite the disappointing quarter, Hesse tried to remain positive. During the fourth-quarter earnings call, he had said it would take several quarters for Sprint to recover. And while the company is still clearly a long way away from a full recovery, Hesse said he sees "improved profitability in the long term."

The company is taking initiatives to get back on track. It is using its new "Simply Everything" service plan to help retain customers. This plan offers unlimited voice, data, text messaging, and Web surfing for $99.99 a month. Hesse wouldn't divulge specifics, but he said during the call that the plan is selling better than expected and has helped keep some customers.

Hesse is also continuing to cut costs. The company expects to lay off 4,000 workers. It also plans to close some retail stores.

RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330

(Credit: Sprint)

Just a quick heads up to all you Sprint customers: The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 is now available for purchase. Yes, that's right, the Curve can now be yours for just $179.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. Like Verizon's version, the Sprint Curve features Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-megapixel camera, and integrated GPS with support for Sprint Navigation. However, unlike Verizon, you can access Sprint's various multimedia services on the Curve, including Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. The sleek little smartphone is scheduled to arrive in our office today, so be sure to check back early next week for a full review.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, there are rumors floating around that the RIM BlackBerry 9000 will make its official debut on Monday, May 12. Oh, a girl can dream.