Sprint Customers to Get a PC-Like Experience of the Open Internet on Their Phones
As customers increasingly look to their wireless phones for their Internet “on the go,” Sprint (NYSE:S) will continue its leadership in employing an open Internet model with the launch of an enhanced mobile Web browsing experience on virtually all Web-capable Sprint phones. As the first U.S. carrier to launch the OpenWeb solution from Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq
PWV), Sprint customers will be able to get faster, more user-friendly renderings of Internet sites, even those not optimized for the mobile device. This enhancement will be automatic for customers who currently access the Internet on their phones and will require no additional action on their part.
“Whether clicking through the Sprint portal or typing in a URL, both new and existing customers can use their Sprint phones to search virtually any Web site and it will appear quickly and in a format they’re used to seeing on their computer screens,” said Kevin Packingham, vice president of wireless product management for Sprint. “By working with Openwave, we’re making that Internet experience even more customer-friendly and useful by enhancing the ability to translate non-mobile sites onto the mobile phone. While other carriers are just beginning to talk about open ecosystem initiatives, Sprint is continuing its efforts to give customers an even better experience with the Internet that we have always allowed.”
Each month, millions of Sprint customers visit Web sites using their mobile phones. With Openwave OpenWeb, these pages will automatically appear on data-enabled Sprint phones in an easy-to-read format that’s closer to a desktop experience of the Internet, regardless of the memory or processing power of the device. The enhancement is designed to adapt the standard layout of a Web site and reconstruct it to properly fit the screen of the user’s particular phone, providing automatic in-page navigation so users can reach the most important data from the Web site faster.
Available nationwide in the coming weeks, this enhancement follows Sprint’s launch of a more user-friendly mobile search product, Microsoft’s enhanced Live Search for mobile, in 2007. Sprint plans to launch additional mobile Web innovations in 2008 that will further enhance users’ experience on their mobile device. To access the mobile Web, customers should click on the Web icon on their phone’s main menu.
Sprint is committed to offering its customers an enhanced mobile Internet experience, along with mobile content and applications, when, where and how they want them:
- Sprint has employed an open Internet approach since first launching the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001.
- Through relationships with third parties, dozens of non-Sprint branded applications, games and other digital media operate on the Sprint network.
- Sprint will hold its eighth annual Application Developer Conference later this year to provide third-party developers with tools and resources for creating innovative products and services for Sprint customers.
- Sprint recently joined the Open Handset Alliance, along with more than 30 other participating companies, to support the free and open mobile applications platform named Android.
- As part of the planned 2008 commercial availability of our next-generation mobile data network, Xohm(SM), Sprint has commitments from ecosystem partners for WiMAX network access on new and innovative devices, including connection cards, Internet tablets, ultramobile PCs and other consumer electronic devices.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving approximately 54 million customers at the end of 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com.
