Sprint's business as a wireless voice-service provider is in trouble. There's no doubt that Sprint's future position in the US wireless market depends on Sprint's (and CEO Dan Hesse's) ability to turn the company into a data-centric provider. Unfortunately, Sprint's WiMAX-based XOHM service has been delayed until later this year. That's bad news, but not as bad as if Sprint had decided to launch a their XOHM network before it was fully cooked and ready to go commercial.
So, while we wait for XOHM to get ironed out, Sprint has decided to work out the smaller details. They're working on things that a data-centric provider should offer - namely, features like MMS on Windows Mobile smartphones. For too long, Sprint has neglected to bring MMS, also known as "Picture Mail," to their Windows Mobile-based handsets. But, that's all about to change. Sprint is working with Microsoft to offer the long-awaited MMS feature on their stable of WinMo mobile phones. Sprint Chief Marketing Officer John Garcia says:
We're working with Microsoft to build a PictureMail application that will work on their Windows product to give you a similar experience as our other products. As some of you may be aware, currently, you can actually do this on a Windows product, but you have to do it through e-mail or Bluetooth. We realize this is cumbersome. We're working to enhance this for you soon.
That's great news for Windows Mobile fans that are dying to get MMS on their Sprint cellphones. Unfortunately, it seems that one man's good news is another's not-so-good news. Sprint and Palm have apparently held up their Palm Treo 800w launch due to the addition of this MMS software. On the one hand, it's good to hear that the Windows Mobile 6.0 (most likely 6.1 by the time it launches) Professional-powered smartphones will be getting jiggy with MMS. The other hand smacks us across the cheek to remind us that the addition of MMS means we'll be waiting still longer for the Treo 800w to become reality. That other hand sure is cruel, at times.
It's been a long wait (for both MMS and the Treo 800w), what's a few more months?
[Via: WMExperts]
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