Some particularly juicy rumors die hard, and this one certainly qualifies: CNBC is reporting that SK Telecom is looking to hook up with some private equity firms to buy out Sprint Nextel, though a deal is "not imminent." This one's been making the rounds since last year, though it's possible that SKT sees some new impetus for making a break into the US market now that it's sold off its share in Helio -- and buying the third largest carrier in the country would certainly qualify as "making a break." It's claimed that SKT's only interested in completing a friendly deal -- no crazy hostile takeovers here -- and some of Sprint's board members aren't keen on the idea at this point, so it's definitely a hit-or-miss proposition. If this all means we can get even half of Korea's domestic hardware on US airwaves, then hey, no complaints on this end.

Update: The Wall Street Journal is now suggesting that Sprint and SKT are investigating some sort of joint venture -- not a full-on acquisition -- that would see the lovebirds work together on handsets and services. Possible, but we're curious to know what exactly Sprint brings to the table in that equation. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

If you've been really eager, it's possible you already bought one of these. If you haven't, then here's your chance to see Palm's latest Windows Mobile phone from just about every angle you could possibly imagine. We've got the company's new enterprise-themed phone in-hand (and on-table), and we're currently putting it through its paces. Take a look at the gallery below for a slew of pictures, and stay tuned for a review from us coming soon.

We're not sure if you check most mobile provider's sites every ten minutes or so (like we do), but if you did, you would have noticed that the latest Palm Windows Mobile device -- the Treo 800w -- is available for purchase at Sprint's online store. The phone, which features a 320 x 320 screen, EV-DO Rev. A, WiFi, and GPS, is currently listing for $249.99 after a $250 instant savings, $100 mail-in rebate, and two-year contract. So if you've been absolutely, positively dying to get your hands on this thing -- now's your chance.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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]

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]

Well, it looks like the aggressively priced unlimited action really didn't come a moment too soon. We're no economists here, but it doesn't take rocket science, a Ph.D., collegiate level maths, or even a fancy calculator to crunch the cold, hard numbers coming out of Sprint Nextel's fourth quarter earnings call. For starters, the number three carrier in the US reported a net loss of nearly $29.5 billion, which -- get this -- is more than the combined value of its outstanding stock. Let us reiterate for emphasis and drama value: Sprint lost more money in the fourth quarter of 2007 than the company is worth. Wow. If it's any consolation, the staggering figure is largely due to a $29.7 billion write-down of Nextel's value, which as the Wall Street Journal lays out, makes the 2005 merger officially a "Deal From Hell." With postpaid subscribers continuing to migrate to other carriers, there's no telling how to stop the hemorrhaging -- especially if the fresh $99 unlimited plan doesn't end up doing the trick -- but something tells us the move to Kansas isn't going to magically patch it all up.

Unhappy with the lack of cultural integration between Sprint and Nextel since the companies' fateful merger several years ago, new CEO Dan Hesse -- who conveniently already lives in Kansas, having come from Embarq -- is moving corporate headquarters from Reston, Virginia back to Kansas City suburb Overland Park. While 4,400 peeps currently inhabit the Reston location (which it inherited as Nextel's former HQ), the Overland Park campus already employs a much larger base of 13,000. The chief says that Sprint will maintain a "significant" presence out in its Reston offices, but the big boys and girls in the boardroom are going to find themselves back in the land of Toto, tornadoes, and Garmin in the not-too-distant future.

[Via mocoNews]

As we mentioned yesterday, Sprint has gone on record saying that it's going to continue to stand behind its legacy iDEN infrastructure, the massive PTT network inherited from its Nextel acquisition and marketed under the Nextel Direct Connect brand. We can understand that there are thousands of companies and millions of individuals that rely on Direct Connect to go about their business -- but by the same token, we're surprised that Sprint isn't instead saying that it intends to aggressively push its upcoming CDMA-based Qchat system over iDEN and make the transition as smooth and inexpensive as possible for its Direct Connect customers. Whatevs; we suppose it's good news that Sprint intends to inject a handful of relatively exciting new hardware into the mix in 2008 -- something Sprint alludes to in its press release, along with the promise of several new "press-to-x" features that will allow users to send texts, pictures and the like just as they would a PTT call. Last time we checked that was called SMS and MMS, but what do we know?

Well, not the very top -- give the guy a chance, will ya! -- but it's clear that heads are already starting to roll at Sprint Nextel following last week's disastrous report of subscriber churn, with the company's chief financial officer, chief marketing officer, and president of sales and distribution effectively getting the boot as of tomorrow. In respective order, Paul Saleh, Tim Kelly, and Mark Angelino will all be "stepping down" on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) -- the first casualties of a planned 4,000 head count reduction. CFO Saleh is getting replaced in the interim by Senior Vice President and Controller William Arendt, while the other two positions will be temporarily filled by unnamed executives. Sprint lost 639,000 valuable postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, and taking a look at our decidedly unscientific poll may give you some idea why.

Update: Sprint sent us some more info regarding the other interim replacements: "John Garcia, currently senior vice president, Product Development and Management, will serve as acting Chief Marketing Officer. Paget Alves, currently Sprint Nextel's regional president for sales and distribution, will serve as acting president, Sales and Distribution. All will report directly to Hesse."

[Image courtesy of Chip Kidd, The New York Times]

With the bleak news out of Sprint's camp this morning, employees, stockholders, analysts, and subscribers all have to be wondering pretty much the same thing: what's going wrong? Xohm's just around the corner, so these guys have a pretty good lead on the competition in the race to 4G -- but is there something far more systematic about Sprint's core business that's causing paying heads to leave in droves? Go sound off over on Engadget!

New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

At first, we sorta thought those air raid sirens (you know, the ones that are freakin' loud enough to wake the dead) were enough of an "emergency alert" as it was, but consider this: they usually don't tell you the nature of the emergency or give you instructions on exactly how you're supposed to proceed. That's not the sirens' fault -- a mind-numbingly loud "whoop whoop" really doesn't have the bandwidth to reveal that kind of information to the human ear -- but now that SMS-capable phones are ubiquitous, it's time to smarten things up just a tad. The government's Emergency Alert System has had just such a plan in the works for a while now, and Sprint Nextel is becoming the first national carrier to trial a system capable of sending targeted, location based alerts when bad stuff goes down. The trial is taking place in scenic Contra Costa, California; no word on a national rollout, but if you find out about your next tornado, earthquake, or other scary sitch via text, your area have just gotten swept into the craze.

With falling subscriber numbers and some difficult Xohm decisions to be made in the coming months, Sprint wanted a new man at the helm, and has picked Dan Hesse for the job. Dan's replacing Gary Forsee, who held the job since 2003 and was pegged for replacement since August. Hesse hails from Sprint spin-off Embarq, and served as CEO of AT&T Wireless from 1997 to 2000, back in the glory years of that service. Here's hoping that he doesn't axe the WiMAX, but it's clear something has got to change in Sprint land to turn things around.

So Sprint busted out this really lovey-dovey press release today basically going over all the ways it takes care of its customers -- how you can upgrade your phone at a discounted price if you've stuck with 'em for a while, how they monitor your plan to make sure you're on the best one for your usage, and so on -- but there were a couple gems in there that are new and notable. First off, Sprint has announced here that they're moving to prorated early termination fees, bringing it inline now with all three of the US' other national carriers. Like T-Mobile, it intends to flip the switch on that action in early 2008. Secondly, starting next Monday, customers won't need to re-up their contracts to switch plans (why this was ever a requirement with any carrier simply bewilders us). Finally, the carrier says it plans to announce some "reward programs" next year for subscribers that've stuck with Sprint through thick and thin. No details there, but if they're gonna do up some crazy awesome plans and upgrade discounts (even better ones than it already has, that is), we're all for it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint's recent second quarter financial results showed an interesting mix of numbers: income dropped by 90 percent, wireless data revenue jumped by 40 percent and the carrier broke the 54 million-customer mark. Dropping from a $291 million profit in the year-ago quarter to a $19 million profit is, well, pretty huge. But, at least Sprint saw its average revenue per sub sit above $60 for its latest quarter, with $9.75 attributable to data revenue. Everyone break out some EV-DO data sessions in salute of this if you please. On a lighter note, Sprint CEO Gary Foresee said the iPhone "blip" has not significantly affected number ports to AT&T, although the level is up "slightly" from before the iPhone launch.

[via mocoNews]