PDD BRIEFS

By TWICE Staff On Aug 2 2010 - 4:01am

Sprint Prepaid Changes

OVERLAND PARK, KAN. — Sprint’s Virgin Mobile brand gained a new sub brand, but Sprint lost Dan Schulman, the architect of its recent multibrand prepaid- cellular initiative.

Schulman, who was president of Sprint Prepaid, is leaving the company to join American Express. His responsibilities have been handed over to the president of Sprint Consumer.

Earlier this year, Schulman unveiled a multibrand prepaid strategy to position various brands to different customer demographics and needs. Virgin Mobile is targeted to young social networkers, and its PayLo subbrand is targeted to low-usage consumers who mostly want to talk and keep costs down to about $20/month.

Leap Plans Android

SAN DIEGO — Prepaid cellular carrier Cricket launched third-quarter availability of its first Android smartphone. Details weren’t released.

Samsung Galaxy Appears

BELLEVUE, WASH. — T-Mobile accelerated the launch of its first Samsung Galaxy-class smartphone to July 15 to become the first U.S. carrier to offer Samsung’s flagship Android phone. TMobile’s version, the Samsung Vibrant, was originally scheduled for launch on July 21, but then AT&T announced plans to launch its version, the Samsung Captivate, starting July 18. Both cost $199.

AT&T Adds FLO-TV Phone

DALLAS — AT&T has begun offering its first Sharp-made phone, the FLO TVequipped Sharp FX.

The quick-messaging phone, distributed by Personal Communications Devices, features touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, IM, email and social networking. It retails for $99.99 from AT&T outlets after $50 mail-in rebate.