Late's better than never -- usually, anyway -- and a rumored release date finally stuck long enough for the BlackBerry Curve 8330 to make an appearance on Sprint's online store. In fact, as "mid-May" goes, May 9 is actually on the early side of things if you want to get technical about it, so we guess some kudos are actually due here. Sprint's asking $179.99 on contract with rebates for the pleasure of indulging in its latest mobile productivity tool, which you'll ironically be using to respond to emails during meetings that you're supposed to be listening in on. Funny how the world works, isn't it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

After the April slip-up -- which we're hearing might be more RIM's fault than anything else, a thought validated by the fact that Sprint, Verizon, and Alltel have all slipped -- it looks like Sprint customers and would-be customers might finally be able to get their hands on some sweet, sweet Curve lovin' tomorrow. Boy Genius Report has netted what appears to be a page out of Sprint's internal Playbook, showing "direct ship" availability as of May 9 for a mere $179.99 on contract after the full menu of rebates has been applied. Not bad, all things considered (the price, that is, not the delay we've been suffering through).

It's been known for years that some of Sprint Nextel's Direct Connect spectrum causes bouts of interference with public safety equipment, and the FCC got the ball rolling on a plan several years ago for the carrier to swap some airwaves with agencies around the country by June of this year to keep everyone happy. Problem is, some 500 of those agencies still aren't ready to trade, and Sprint has taken issue with the fact that the FCC wants it to meet its end of the bargain by next month anyhow. Nevertheless, a federal appeals court has ruled in the FCC's favor, setting the wheels in motion for a possible massive loss of Nextel coverage on the drop-dead date of June 26 -- but industry analysts aren't too worried. Most seem to be predicting that the FCC will end up extending the deadline by six months or so anyway, so Kevin Martin and his ragtag gang must just love watching carriers sweat. Oh, not to mention a few million Direct Connect customers.

[Via Phone Scoop]

With the comforting knowledge that HTC's lovely new devices are inbound for Sprint, we admit, we're having an awful time working up excitement over the 800w at this point -- but we've got to give all these things a fair shake on the open market before we figure out who's king of the Windows Mobile hill this year. WMExperts claims that Sprint is now targeting July 22 for the grand entrance of Palm's latest Treo, a date that would still jibe with the timeline we've already seen in the wild. The potential launch date also brought with it a handful of new tidbits: Windows Mobile 6.1, integrated GPS, an illuminated keyboard that falls between the Centro's and the 700 series size wise, and it's apparently "very fast." It also seems that Sprint's version will likely be coming in Charcoal Black, a color that would fit in nicely with the carrier's trend of launching dark-ish smartphones. If the Curve is any indication, it's a color that'll suit the device well.

After yesterday's revealing of a sweeping new partnership with Verizon, Qwest took an opportunity during its earnings call today to go into detail on exactly what the deal means. The Baby Bell confirmed that Qwest branding will completely go away -- Verizon devices sold will be Verizon through and through, with no hint of rebranded MVNO action like the old setup with Sprint (which, in some cases, had meant Qwest exclusives like the Fusion). They also say that they're looking forward to implementing Verizon's next-gen (read: LTE) network just as soon as it's available, but really, here's our question: just what would Qwest be implementing, anyway? For all practical purposes, the company's doing nothing more than becoming a glorified authorized Verizon reseller; big wigs on the call said that the terms of the deal are "much, much better" than the old one with Sprint, and considering that they won't actually have to go through the daily grind of running an MVNO, it's no wonder. It's still unclear how Sprint customers are going to be transitioned, but we imagine Sprint proper would be happy to take 'em off Qwest's hands if it came down to it.

It looks like the price was right, because that possible deal mentioned by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg a while back to supplant Sprint as Qwest's wireless provider of choice has now materialized in the form of a gargantuan five-year deal. From what little has been said so far, it seems that the company might be abandoning the MVNO model it currently uses with Sprint and will simply be marketing Verizon Wireless devices through its website, telesales, and in-store channels, giving customers the option of being billed directly by Big Red (how very kind of them!) or having the charges bundled in with the remainder of their service. Also remaining to be seen is how the transition of Qwest's existing Sprint-based customers -- some 800,000 of them -- would be transitioned, if at all. More details are expected to emerge during its earnings call on Tuesday, and we'd imagine current Qwest wireless customers are on the edges of their seats.

We'd take this with half a tablespoon of salt for now, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint-Nextel Corp. is "seriously considering spinning off or selling its ailing Nextel unit." That's according to undisclosed people "familiar with the situation," though Sprint did decline to comment on whether it actually was considering a sale of Nextel. Also of note, Cyren Call is reportedly attempting to "assemble a consortium of investors to acquire Nextel as part of its plans to create a nationwide wireless network for public safety communications," and while it can't be confirmed, we are hearing that Sprint is "contemplating other possible buyers such as private equity firms." Still, these same sources made clear that "no deal was imminent and that Sprint was preoccupied for the moment with other matters." It's no secret that the firm would be way more attractive to suitors (read: Deutsche Telekom) if the flagging Nextel division was detached from the deal, but we guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, image courtesy of Flickr]

Just in case you haven't learned enough about the forthcoming Samsung Instinct from our hands-on gallery / UI video walkthrough, Sammy has launched a promotional website designed to give you the skinny. Within the site, you can peer at a handful of press shots, get schooled on all of its features and sign up to be notified when it's ready for your hands to be wrapped around it. Nothing too exciting, but those with the Instinct high on their list of next mobile to own will surely find it worth the click over.

If there's one thing Sprint doesn't need at the moment, we'd say that "a harder time getting cash" ranks high on the list. That's where big ol' number three finds itself at the moment, though, thanks to a credit downgrade by Standard & Poor's from "BBB-" to "BB," a move that puts its bonds squarely in junk territory. S&P has some harsh words for Sprint regarding the move, too, explaining that it went down thanks to its "assessment that Sprint Nextel's business risk profile is no longer supportive of an investment-grade rating given its deteriorating operating performance and lack of visibility in the wireless business." Lack of visibility in the wireless business, eh? Snap! The junkification of Sprint's debt coincides with the installment of a new CFO -- purely a coincidence, no doubt -- effective immediately.

But wait, the bad news isn't over. A workers' lawsuit filed in US District Court last week alleges that Sprint dumped pension plan cash into Sprint stock at a time when... well, let's just say that it wasn't exactly a solid investment. The suit names 12 Sprint board members as co-defendants and looks to recover the money lost as Sprint stock slid into the basement; furthermore, it's looking to garner class-action status, meaning that the carrier could potentially owe money to a whole boatload of employees if the plaintiffs win the whole shebang.

Read - Debt downgrade, new CFO
Read - Pension plan lawsuit

Over the years our pals at Deutsche Telekom haven't exactly played the most aggressive game in the States, but finally we have word about the first possible suitor for the ailing Sprint. Although the rumor originates from German paper Der Spiegel and doesn't cite sources, word has it Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA are making the possibility of snagging Sprint (and all its heavy baggage, read: Nextel) a "top priority" in a bid to take a competitor out of the game and pick up the number three spot. Supposedly formal negotiations haven't even begun yet, but if you thought the integration between Sprint and Nextel was messy, just watch what happens when you bring a third carrier into the mix -- and did we mention the infrastructure would be GSM with AWS, PCS CDMA, and iDEN, all competing for spectrum and handset allocation? Good luck guys.

[Thanks, Khattab]

So much for Sprint's claim that the April launch date was still on, eh? Turns out Sprint has now officially delayed the introduction of its BlackBerry Curve 8330 on the grounds that it has a "desire to conduct additional testing to ensure a high-quality user experience for all functionality of the [phone], including exclusive Sprint services like Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store." We guess we're willing to wait a few weeks to get all the bugs ironed out, sort of. Hang tight, folks.

Sprint's not going out of its way to make a big fuss about it, but its long-standing Voice Command service will soon be no more. The service, which allowed Sprint-Nextel phones to dial two buttons and then give voice commands to place calls, will be discontinued on July 1st, 2008, meaning that all your server-based contacts will soon be inaccessible. Aside from removing the VC fee from your monthly bill, Sprint's advising users to download and print their contact lists, and better still, it's encouraging users to rely on handset-based voice-activated dialing (or pick up a new phone if their current one can't pass muster). So long, Voice Command -- we can't imagine too many folks actually missing you.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Looks like we might all be waiting just a few more weeks before we're given the green light to descend into the next generation of push-to-talk nirvana (or hell, depending on your perspective). phoneArena is claiming that the national release of Sprint's QChat-powered PTT system -- and the phones to go along with it -- has been pushed back to June 15, though it's not known whether the delay's due to technical issues, a desire to have all of the new phones available on shelves at once, CEO Dan Hesse's whim, or something else entirely. For what it's worth, business customers in Denver and Kansas City already have access to the Sanyo PRO handsets, so you guys should really revel in your exclusivity while you still can.

Sprint contacted us today to let us know that it owns the exclusive North American rights to Qualcomm's QChat PTT technology, which raised a very interesting question: what the heck is Verizon using, then? PhoneNews is suggesting that Big Red's actually using an upgraded version of BREWChat, Qualcomm's old-skool PTT system that had originally been developed for and deployed on 1x networks. If true, that'd be a big ol' scoop of irony, considering that BREWChat had been billed all along as a precursor to QChat that would offer seamless upgrades to the newer system -- but since Sprint scored exclusivity on it, it's possible that Qualcomm is doing everything it can to skirt the issue and score some extra cash by hooking up BREWChat with some of its newer technology's goodies. We'll update this one as we know more.

[Via phoneArena]

Wow, it looks like someone was listening when we said that Pivot wasn't going anywhere just an hour ago -- Comcast, Time Warner (Engadget's parent company) and Cox have all confirmed to the AP that they've backed out of the quad-play partnership, leaving Sprint alone to awkwardly hang out with Advance / Newhouse, which declined to comment. That must be a fun party. Of course, this also means both of the partnerships Sprint and Big Cable got into have now failed, but that doesn't mean the competition in the space is over: both Time Warner and Cox say wireless is still in the cards for their companies, but Pivot was just too complicated a venture. Comcast hasn't said anything yet, but promised a comment tomorrow sometime between 7AM and 11PM.