Sprint Outlines “Open” Approach at Ninth Annual Developer Conference

2009-10-27T21:42:01Z

Steve Elfman, president, Network Operations & Wholesale, Sprint, outlined the key tenets of Sprint’s Open approach in his keynote address at Sprint’s 2009 Open Developer Conference

•    Let consumers determine the application winners
•    Be easy to do business with
•    Create a developer’s “Garage” where new innovation happens
•    Use the proven Open Internet model as a guide
•    Support is best performed by the creators of the content
•    Open still requires management

Voice Services, Data Services and Google Voice:

• Sprint is making a change that will allow its customers to access third-party voice services, including the new voicemail feature in Google VoiceTM. Sprint will not charge customers for certain types of call forwarding. Conditional call forwarding for busy calls or calls not answered using the customer’s wireless phone will be free, beginning mid-November. (Standard charges will continue to apply for immediate call forwarding.) ¹

• Google announced it will offer a Google Voice feature that allows mobile phone users to take advantage of Google Voice without having to sign up for a Google Voice phone number.

• Google Voice lets users manage and control their voice communications and comes with a suite of voicemail and text messaging features.

• Sprint is working with Google to develop additional functionality to support services such as Google Voice that will deliver an even richer experience to Sprint customers.

Quotes:

Steve Elfman, president, Network Operations & Wholesale, Sprint:

“Sixty-five percent of U.S. wireless consumers already are using some form of wireless data services.”

“The popularity of smartphones and the Internet access and applications they provide are here to stay. We recognize the important role that developers play in a mobile environment. Sprint wants developers to be successful and profitable. We understand that their innovation is good for the mobile consumer, business and government services and our industry as a whole.”

Bradley Horowitz, vice president of Product Management, Google:

"We're excited Sprint customers will be able to take advantage of Google Voice voicemail with their mobile phones. We look forward to continuing this relationship and working closely with Sprint in the future."

"Free call forwarding and Sprint's Open approach create more opportunities for developers, large and small, to build innovative and useful applications."

Andy Baldocchi, senior vice president, Sales & Business Development, FunMobility:

“To take our applications to the next level, we’re going to have to have open APIs made available for developers like ourselves.”

“We must get really creative to get successful applications in the market. It could be a billing API which allows for flexible billing applications or an API that accesses the messaging stack on a phone, or it could be location-based APIs. And Sprint is delivering the developer tools more quickly than anyone else.”

Photos:

Check out pictures on FLCKR from Sprint’s Developer Conference

Related Information

•    Follow Sprint on Twitter: @sprint
•    Read the Press Release at Sprint.com
•    Sprint Frost & Sullivan 2009 Award

¹ Although no charges will be applied for conditional call forwarding (meaning busy calls or calls not answered), some Sprint customers may incur a $0.20 per-minute charge if they choose to forward calls directly into voicemail or to another number without first allowing the call to try to reach the number and getting a busy signal/no answer. This is called unconditional call forwarding (immediate).

Sprint Kicks Off 9th Annual Applications Developers Conference

2009-10-05T16:23:30Z

The Sprint Open Developer Conference kicked off today in Santa Clara, Calif. The event will give developers an opportunity to get hands-on training with the variety of operating systems we support, including Android, Palm webOS, RIM, Windows Mobile and Java ME, so they can create innovative new applications for our customers.

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Len Barlik, vice president, wireless and wireline services for Sprint.
“With today’s operating system platforms, powerful new devices – from handsets to embedded devices – and the strength of the Sprint Now Network and 4G, the opportunities are limitless.”

News Highlights:

Sprint Open Developer Conference in Santa Clara, Calif., on Oct. 26-28.
Intended for developers and companies interested in mobile and desktop development.
This year the conference is open to the entire developer community for the first time.
Hands-on coding sessions and breakout presentations, including 4G, M2M business solutions and monetizing content. Other sessions will focus on leading mobile platforms such as Android™, Palm webOS, Java ME, RIM and Windows Mobile.
Sprint invests in technology and processes providing developers access to important capabilities unique to the Sprint network and hundreds of APIs, including location-based services and presence.
Sprint customers already can download thousands of helpful and fun applications. With efforts such as this conference, Sprint is committed to supporting the creation of many more.
The first 400 developers to arrive at the HTC coding lab on Oct. 26 will receive a HTC Hero with one month of Sprint service*. Participants who register two attendees at $350.00 each will receive a free complimentary pass for a third attendee.

*To qualify, developers need to show their laptop with the Android development environment (1.5) installed and ready for the hands-on lab session. HTC will give away a number of additional HTC Hero devices at its booth throughout the conference. To be eligible to participate in the HTC coding lab and receive a HTC Hero.

Registration and more information:

2009 Sprint Open Developer Conference Web site

Videos:

What to expect at the Open Developer Conference

What you can do in the developer sandbox

More information:

Sprint Open Developer Conference gives developers hands-on training

Sprint Launches Support for Android on Sprint Developer Web Site

Sprint Demonstrates 'Open' Leadership with New Programs for the Developer Community

Announcements

Sprint Outlines “Open” Approach at Ninth Annual Developer Conference

Sprint Kicks Off 9th Annual Applications Developers Conference