If you've used
Mobile GMaps on your J2ME-capable handset, you probably love the
GPS integration this third-party program has with Google Maps. With
gpsOne being built into most Sprint handsets these days, customers of that carrier get a cool mapping and navigation service -- of sorts -- for free. But Sprint doesn't like this and is threatening legal action against the maker of Mobile GMaps unless the company removes or obfuscates the GPS tracking functionality. Is this another example of not letting the customer do what they want with the handset that was purchased along with the data package being paid for? We hope not, but this reported action (for possible
revenue protection?) smacks of having no legal basis.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Admiral @ May 12th 2007 8:32AM
Carriers are the 'new' phone company, even though there are many of them, you must pay for everything. I wonder if they will insist on people 'renting' your handset from them. With CDMA, it could be a possibility, with GSM, it's less of a chance...things aren't looking good!
Jr @ May 12th 2007 1:53PM
Sprint unhappy with not being able to charge their customers...hmmm...after nearly four years as a Sprint customer, I finally had it with their lousy phones, horrid customer service, and the new focus on nickle and diming customers for everything.
Sprint used to be a haven for folks using data - not to mention the best value of the big four in terms of overall packages...alas, those days are long gone...
socko @ May 12th 2007 3:54PM
Sprint is doing a great job of scary customers away....
InfinityFlex @ May 12th 2007 5:36PM
I have a beta BB 8830 on Sprint and Google Maps does have GPS suppport, but only barely. When you launch it, it will find your current location and that's it (it says 'Press 0 to go to your current location). It does not track your movement or provide any other GPS navigation features. It is nice to have, but definitely is not a competitor to a full fledged GPS solution.
Now, the one thing on there that does work this way is the built in Blackberry Maps program. It doesn't announce directions to you and has a hard time finding certain addresses, but it's free. I wonder if it will make it onto the final version?
John @ May 12th 2007 10:08PM
What a load of crap. This is why people hate cell phone companies. Even the carrier rated to have the best service in the US, T-Mobile, has marginal customer service and a terrible offering of phones. The carriers complain that they have to subsidize phones and spend zillions on R&D and network buildouts for 3G and then have trouble making a return on it all. Its not because people don't want the services or can't afford high end handsets (Apple doesn't subsidize iPods, afterall), its because of crap like this. Why should anyone plunk down a ton of money and then face bad service and restrictive terms? They shouldn't.
I hope Apple cleans everyone's clocks with the iPhone and can break the quadropoly that the 4 big carriers have and instead let consumers buy the handset they want and run it on any network with the services they want a la carte and without ridiculous contracts.
Dr. Droo @ May 13th 2007 12:15AM
InfinityFlex, They're talking about Mobile Gmaps, not Google Maps. www.mgmaps.com.
MgMaps has support for MS Live Maps, Google Maps, and several others. It also supports GPS units, including Bluetooth ones in some cases.
John - Your concept of T-mobile is not the same as mine, which I share with a majority of their 25 million customers. Not a utopia, but T-mobile provides a service that allows you to choose whatever phone you want, instead of paying millions into exclusives like their direct competitor. They've consistently won awards for Customer Service as well.
OH, speaking of Expensive Exclusives, the iPhone is a good example of that. Not available unlocked, have to buy it from Cingular, will only work on Cingular's network, and must take a 2 year contract. Doesn't even have 3G, won't run on 'any network', will only at best run on a GSM network (sorry Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, and other CDMA customers.).
Jamar @ May 13th 2007 6:45AM
Here in China, there are only 2 GSM carriers, and 1 CDMA carrier (who also happens to be the second GSM carrier too- they push dual-mode phones quite feverishly). The carriers only compete for post-paid customers, though (with the same phone selction except for CDMA that gets its phones from Korea- doesn't help them get any more customers, though)- basic pre-paid rates are the same for all of them across the board (basic rates- 3cents/KB data, 5cents/min voice, 1cent/text with free incoming texts only). Of course, additional packages can be added which make things a bit cheaper (my current package plan gives me 20 voice minutes and 60 texts for $1.30/month with overage being 1cent/minute voice and same for texts; and an additional 50MB data for $3.20/month). Oh yes- and if you think that's because they don't have to spend as much on network maintenance, think again. I mean, trying to cover Tibet and the other mountainous/high-altitude areas of China must be fun. News like this makes me glad that I left the hostile US-based mobile market. In fact, I might stick to my current carrier and roam in the States when I get back- at only 30cents/minute and 12cents/text (and look at my package plan- I don't talk a whole lot) it's feasible to do so (I think that data goes something like $5/MB, though).
Downsouth821 @ May 15th 2007 8:42PM
Number 5 says that T- mobile is rated the best coverage in the U.S. T-Mobile coverage map is like cottage cheese lol. T-Mobile has no rural coverage. They customer service is pretty well but. For service and features thats a load of crap.
Robbie @ May 22nd 2007 1:32PM
too many people make comments when they dont know what theyre talking about
if you have an unlocked phone, you can use it on cingular. you are not stuck with their phones.
of course a gsm phone will only work on gsm networks. duh. its a gsm phone. there are very very few gsm+cdma phones that you would be able to use in the US
even if a cingular phone is 3g, the 3g wont work on any other carrier. not because of any subsidy lock, but because they are the only US carrier to use 850/1900mhz wcdma. tmobile will be using 1700/2100b. most other parts of the world use 2100.
Rizzo405 @ Dec 11th 2007 3:13PM
I worked Tech Support @ Cingular and am currently Adv Tech Support Sprint, both carriers are a joke! Sprint is so shady the newer phones will power cycle when left on roaming and after a power cycle by default the newer phones will go back to automatic, that would be fine if it automatically switched to the best signal but they will stay on Sprint with no bars, instead of roaming with 4-5, also noticed that when you try and data roam they will alot of times power cycle immediately and go back to default. I went to a meeting at Cingular where we were told text messaging was the milk cow for Cingular now and to push all texting services and plans, the $$$ to keep the network up to date isn't near what they bring in.