Starting next week, Sprint customers can purchase a Zte Peel, which will add 3G capabilities to the Apple iPod Touch.
The Peel attaches to 2G and 3G Touches.
User slide their Touch devices into the the Peel and instantly connect to Sprint’s 3G data network by pressing a button.
There are many texting applications in the App Store as well as Skype so the iPod Touch can be used as a bulky smartphone of sorts, as long as you are willing to pay $30 a month for 1GB of 3G data bandwidth through Sprint.
The Peel itself costs $80.
“ZTE PEEL unlocks the wonderful user interface and Web experience of Apple’s popular iPod touch and transforms it into a powerful mobile device using the Sprint 3G network,” adds Fared Adib, vice president-Product Development. “When combined with Sprint’s 3G network, ZTE PEEL turns an iPod touch from a portable device limited by the availability of Wi-Fi to a mobility tool free to browse the Web and use applications anytime, anywhere while on Sprint’s 3G network.”
Result for: sprint customers
The parent company of cell phone carrier T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, is in talks to either merge with or acquire the large mobile phone carrier Sprint.
Citing a gradual weakening of the US dollar and worsening profits at Sprint, Deutsche Telekom is now looking for any transaction that will help T-Mobile’s US branch gain ground in the large US market.
The deal, if it goes through, would make Deutsche Telekom the largest American carrier, and with the currency rate as it is, the deal would be cheaper than Telekom’s acquisition of VoiceStream in 2001.
Sprint has declined to comment on “market rumors.”
There is however a hitch to this report. T-Mobile uses the GSM standard while Sprint uses the mainly North American-focused CDMA network. T-Mobile phones are not compatible on the Sprint network and vice versa meaning Sprint customers would have to trade in their handsets or purchase new ones that are GSM (SIM card) compatible.
