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Sprint Matches iTunes Song Pricing, Readies UpStage By Barry Levine March 27, 2007 10:43AM     The Samsung UpStage, according to analyst Avi Greengart, is a double-edged sword. He said the UpStage design is exciting but also frustrating because you have to keep flipping the phone to make text entries. He also noted that Sprint is upstaging Apple because the iPhone is expected to be able to download songs only from a PC, not over the air.   Related Topics Sprint Samsung Apple iTunes iPhone Latest News Plasma-TV Ban Could Be Costly Barnes & Noble Nook Is Delayed Flat PC Shipments Hurt Dell's Stock Ballmer Says Windows 7 Sales Good New Pogoplug 'Cloud' Gets Social As the phone world prepares for Apple's iPhone release in June, Sprint Nextel and Samsung are gearing up to offer some competition. Sprint announced Monday that its price for downloading songs will drop from about $2.50 each to 99 cents, the same price for each of the more than two billion songs that have been sold through iTunes. Sprint said it has sold over 15 million songs since it began selling them to wireless devices in 2005. The new price includes a copy for the purchaser's computer, and can be any of the songs in its library of 1.5 million tracks. With this price drop, Sprint becomes the first of the top mobile phone service providers to match iTunes' song price. The UpStage Phone Sprint is also preparing to upstage the iPhone's release with its own new, Samsung-manufactured mashup of a phone with a portable music player. Called, appropriately, the UpStage, it is literally a flip phone. First announced in January, the UpStage is a phone on one side, with a small keyboard and screen for texting messages and identifying incoming calls. Turn it over, and the other side is designed as a music player, with a larger screen and music-player-specific keys. Newly released units have "Sprint" branded on the phone side and "Samsung" on the music player side. "The UpStage's double-edged design," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart, "is a double-edged sword." He said the form factor is "exciting, if all you want to do is make phone calls and listen to music." But he said it was frustrating to make text entries, such as for URLs or song names, because you have to keep flipping the phone. The Battery Wallet He said Sprint's 99 cent deal "acknowledges the current market expectation that digital songs cost that price no matter where you are." He noted that Sprint is actually upstaging Apple on this front because the iPhone is expected to be able to download songs only from a PC, not over the air, when it launches. The most innovative aspect of the UpStage, he said, is the battery wallet, included in the phone price. The UpStage phone slips into its case, which has an additional battery in it. He said this "dramatically increases" battery life, from 2.5 hours to 6 hours for the phone use and up to 16 hours for music playback. Sprint will also offer two new Power Vision plans for phone programming. Depending on the plan, Power Vision packages can offer up to 50 commercial-free radio channels, exclusive video programming of music videos and news, and unlimited use of Web browsing, Picture Mail, and mobile e-mail. The UpStage will cost $149 with a two-year contract. The iPhone is expected to sell in two models starting at about $500. Sprint said the 99 cents per song price would begin early next month.   Advertisement  Personal Tech 1.   Plasma-TV Ban Could Be Costly 2.   Call of Duty Is Setting Records 3.   Watchmakers Turn to the iPhone 4.   Google Will Caption YouTube Videos 5.   Call of Duty Shatters Game Records Frugal Twitter-Only Device Offered TwitterPeek doesn't need a data plan. Average Rating: Multimedia E-Reader Unveiled Creative Labs prepares Mediabook. Average Rating: AMD Unveils Processor Road Map Emphasis will be on graphics, video. Average Rating:

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Network Security Spotlight

House Lawmakers Push Ban on Peer-to-Peer Software Stung by an embarrassing electronic leak revealing ethics investigations into dozens of lawmakers, Congress moved to prohibit federal employees from using the file-sharing software blamed for the disclosure.   GAO: Los Alamos Computer Security Has Weaknesses Security weaknesses uncovered in Los Alamos National Laboratory's computer network increase the risk of a classified-information breach, says the Government Accountability Office.   Computer Security Firm Fortinet Plans IPO This Week Fortinet plans to go public in an initial public offering, giving investors a chance to tap a network security provider with sales that are expected to grow. The IPO could be valued at $137.5 million or more.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Flat Shipments Hurt Dell Despite Increased Earnings Dell's earnings are up and expectations are solid, but the company's stock still took a hit after analysts signaled the company isn't playing a key role in the PC market recovery.   New Pogoplug 'Personal Cloud' Does Social Networking Cloud Engines has released its newest version of the Pogoplug, a small "multimedia sharing device" that connects hard drives to the Internet and allows a user to access the files remotely.   Apple Tablet Rumored Delayed as Publisher Gears Up There have been so many rumors of an Apple tablet that it has taken on legendary status. But now the legend is being revised with reports of a delay and that a major publisher is getting ready.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

Flat Shipments Hurt Dell Despite Increased Earnings Dell's earnings are up and expectations are solid, but the company's stock still took a hit after analysts signaled the company isn't playing a key role in the PC market recovery.   Smartphones: A Bigger Target for Security Threats Smartphones are increasingly prevalent and adept at handling more tasks, including trading stocks, paying bills, and buying stuff online. That makes them attractive to thieves and hackers.   FBI Says Hackers Targeting Law Firms, PR Companies Hackers are targeting law firms and public relations companies with a sophisticated e-mail scheme that breaks into their computer networks to steal sensitive data, often linked to large corporate clients.

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