CTIA 2012
We're on the ground in New Orleans for CTIA Wireless 2012, the largest cell phone event in North America. Tune in here all week for full coverage.
Sprint Reveals Details of HD Voice Service
At CTIA this week, Sprint and Qualcomm revealed new details of Sprint's forthcoming HD Voice service. Sprint says they won't charge for the feature; it will automatically be used for all voice calls whenever the network and both phones support it. According to Qualcomm employees involved in the project, Sprint is also requiring that all phones marketed as supporting HD Voice include active background noise cancelation using two microphones. The HTC EVO 4G LTE is the first US phone to support HD Voice. The feature will initially be disabled in software, but can easily be enabled by Sprint once the network is ready. Network support for HD Voice will be deployed as part of Sprint's Network Vision upgrades throughout 2012, which also include LTE 1900, CDMA 800, and CDMA 1x Advanced. For the near future, it will only work between two Sprint HD Voice phones, and only on parts of the network that support CDMA 1x Advanced.
Sprint Putting Direct Connect In Android App Form
At a press event today, Sprint revealed Direct Connect Now, a push-to-talk / walkie-talkie service in the form of an Android app that will work with most (if not all) of the company's Android phones going forward. The app will be available soon for download from Google Play and Sprint Zone It will be fully interoperable with customers using CDMA and iDEN Direct Connect phones.
