Why Apple's iPad Has Been Good For Sprint

itwbennett writes "Today, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said in an interview with Om Malik that the iPad has been good to his company because many people are opting for the Wi-Fi only iPad and pairing it with Sprint's 3G/4G Overdrive MiFi device (which the company sells with a special Overdrive case for the iPad) rather than choosing an iPad 3G that is limited to AT&T's network."

Comments

Good to know.

[jra]

Now, of course, Sprint's WiMAX network is *not* 4G; the ITU said so, last month, in an announcement covered here.

But whatever it is, it's good to know people like it better than AT&T's... cause I'm getting an EVO in a couple weeks.

Anyone using Sprint "4G" in Tampa yet?

Re:Good to know.

[UnknowingFool]

They like it better than AT&T's network now. The problem with AT&T was that they did not anticipate the influx of new subscribers that would actually use their data network. AT&T really needed to upgrade their infrastructure. If these people moved to Sprint, then Sprint would have the same problem unless they upgrade too. Same problem, different network.

Odd

[Anonymous Coward]

I find this rather odd. The battery life must be terrible and having to tow around two devices annoying.

It seems to me that the iPad should have just come with either
a) A real USB port that a 3G Data dongle (or in this case Sprint/Verizon fake-4G) can plug into and not break the device
b) An option port, where the iPad already supplies most of the hardware, and this option port is simply the appropriate radio (CDMA, GSM, UMTS, WiMAX, 802.11bgn+) like how laptops do it. The ipad is reasonably large enough to accommodate this.

Re:It's an ill wind that blows no good

[BlueBat]

Be careful, I think this is the same address link to a site that was being complained about being goatse. You have been warned.

But no GPS with WiFi only!

[ad454]

The WiFi-only version of the iPad and the iPod Touch are both missing one key feature present in the 3G iPad and iPhone, that I personally consider to be very important. And that is GPS! And that is a shame, since GPS maps look especially nice in the iPad's XGA and the retina display on the latest iPhone and iPod Touches.

There are external GPS hacks on iOS devices like:

• Roqy Bluetooth
• iGPSd Cables

But these are awkward to use, and in my experience, a lot of GPS software does not work with these hacks, as they do with Apple's built-in GPS receivers.

Re:But no GPS with WiFi only!

[digitallife]

That's funny, GPS on my base model iPad works great.

Your "GPS" is wifi-based

[rsborg]

That's funny, GPS on my base model iPad works great.

And won't work in the boonies.

The iPad wifi "GPS" is based on wifi points, and can work somewhat in the city, just like the original iPhone did.

There is no dedicated GPS chip in either.

Re:Your "GPS" is wifi-based

[farnsworth]

That's funny, GPS on my base model iPad works great.

And won't work in the boonies.

The iPad wifi "GPS" is based on wifi points, and can work somewhat in the city, just like the original iPhone did.

There is no dedicated GPS chip in either.

The GPS on my iPhone 4 doesn't work in the boonies, either. Or if it does work, it takes far too long to lock a signal making it essentially useless.

iPad 3G is not locked

[prichardson]

Contrary to the summary and many comments here, the iPad is unlocked. It will take any micro-SIM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad#Storage_and_SIM

Re:iPad 3G is not locked

[Pieroxy]

No it's not. If you go to any other country you can slap a local SIM card in it and get going. That's what we call "not locked".

Can't do that with a locked phone. As for T-Mobile, while Edge is way slower than 3G, it is still internet and it still works well.

Re:This is funny America home of the free

[TheRaven64]

You misunderstand what 'Free' means in American English. It means that the government is not allowed to exploit you - that job is left to corporations. See also: Libertarianism.