Common Paradox Tech Blog

Here’s a funny story! Some time ago, Virgin Mobile snatched up a little wireless company called Helio, with hopes of using it to start a postpaid (on contract) cell service to complement its prepaid business. Then, Sprint, one of the largest postpaid carriers in the country, bought Virgin Mobile, effectively rendering Helio (subsumed into Virgin) pointless. And now, according to Virgin, Helio has an execution date: May 25th. Official statement, as passed to Crunchgear:

No customer will be automatically migrated to Sprint’s postpaid service. However, Sprint has created a special offer for our customers.

Current postpaid customers are being given $50 towards the purchase of a Sprint postpaid handset with a new two-year agreement. This credit is in addition to any applicable rebates that may apply. Postpaid customers moving from Virgin Mobile to Sprint will also receive $150 off of handsets as part of Sprint’s standing new customer offer. Activation fees will also be waived.

You’ve got to feel a bit of pity for Sprint. They’ve improved their network, coverage, stores, plans, phones, and customer service only to keep losing customers and money every quarter. As noted at eWeek, at least the losses are getting to the less painful stage: Sprint’s post-paid (traditional contract) subscriber count dropped by 148,000 in last quarter of 2009, though that’s nowhere near as bad as the 545,000 subscriber loss posted the previous quarter. Sprint’s also losing less money, with $980 million disappearing from the coffers, as compared to $1.6 billion the same quarter last year.

Additionally, Sprint’s also posted gains in their pre-paid count, adding 435,000 customers to their Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands. But those brands operate at a pretty hefty discount, and that’s not helping Sprint’s bottom line. It is worth noting that the bottom line has been affected by large costs related to the acquisition of the previously-mentioned Virgin Mobile and regional sub-operater iPCS, as well as investments in WiMax quasi-subsidiary/provider Clearwire.

At the very least CEO Dan Hesse and Sprint investors have to be happy that the pace of losses has slowed. Whether they’re just thinning out the herd so that only Sprint loyalists remain, or we’re looking at a slow change in the public’s perception of Sprint remains to be seen.

[via: MobileCrunch]

A Winnipeg man has been dumped by his girlfriend of two and a half years, after she found his phone riddled with sext messages. Only problem? He didn’t write any of them. Virgin Mobile did.

Apparently the cheeky monkeys over at Virgin Mobile had pre-loaded a number of suggestive text messages into at least one Samsung model, ranging from the relatively innocuous “Be there soon” to the crystal clear “Booty call.” When the wrongly accused man’s girlfriend found them, she naturally assumed she was a cuckholded Canuck.

The dumpee, identified only as “Darren P,” called Virgin Mobile to complain, and was told to put it in writing. So it sounds like if any action is going to be taken, it’ll be a while.

It’s not clear yet if he’s reconciled with his ex after these revelations came to light. But even if she comes crawling back, make sure to think it over, Darren P. She was looking through your phone! She thought you actually used the phrase “booty call” to make a booty call! Surely there are other fish in the frozen tundra of Winnipeg. [Metro UK]

A Winnipeg man has been dumped by his girlfriend of two and a half years, after she found his phone riddled with sext messages. Only problem? He didn’t write any of them. Virgin Mobile did.

Apparently the cheeky monkeys over at Virgin Mobile had pre-loaded a number of suggestive text messages into at least one Samsung model, ranging from the relatively innocuous “Be there soon” to the crystal clear “Booty call.” When the wrongly accused man’s girlfriend found them, she naturally assumed she was a cuckholded Canuck.

The dumpee, identified only as “Darren P,” called Virgin Mobile to complain, and was told to put it in writing. So it sounds like if any action is going to be taken, it’ll be a while.

It’s not clear yet if he’s reconciled with his ex after these revelations came to light. But even if she comes crawling back, make sure to think it over, Darren P. She was looking through your phone! She thought you actually used the phrase “booty call” to make a booty call! Surely there are other fish in the frozen tundra of Winnipeg. [Metro UK]

In my recent post on how stealth mode is a bad idea, I advised entrepreneurs to come out of their shells.  To build marketable products, you need feedback from customers, potential investors/partners and business advisers. And the veil of secrecy which comes with being in stealth mode blocks this feedback. But there is a flip-side that I want to make entrepreneurs more aware of: It is a tough world out there and some big and small competitors will deliberately or accidentally steal your ideas. A few of these players are predators much like the beasts of Pandora. So there needs to be a balance. You need to air your ideas, but use every available mechanism to protect yourself. When you do come under attack, run as fast as you can or fight like hell.

I’m going to explain all this through three examples. But first, I’ll cover the basics about patents.

While the US continues to enjoy one single iPhone carrier, Canada is about to welcome their 4th (or 5th if you count Rogers subsidiary Fido as a separate carrier), and that carrier is Virgin Mobile:

Virgin Mobile Canada will launch iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada [...]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Going Virgin Mobile in Canada