Sprint Also Increasing Upgrade Fees to $36

In lieu of yesterdays news about Sprint raising their ETF(Early Termination Fee) to $350, the group over at SprintFeed also got info on Sprint raising their upgrade fees from $18 to $36.  No one is quite sure why Sprint is doing this, and many people feel it is part of an Iphone recovery plan.  With this double whammy, I am sure there are more than a few upset Sprint customers.  These changes come in to effect the same day as the early ETF hike, September 9th, 2011.

Source: SprintFeed

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Klout: BlackBerry Users Have Highest Score vs iPhone & Android

Klout is an interesting startup that measures a individuals influence based on their ability to drive action. It aggregates data from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare to measure how many people you influence, how much you influence them, and how influential they themselves are. In short it calculates how influential you are in social media.

Klout posted some data on their blog earlier this week comparing the clout of iPhone vs Android users and found that iPHone influencers have a score of 42.0 compared to Androids 40.6. Not a huge spread but still this caused BlackBerry users to ask where they fit in. Turns out the average score of a BlackBerry influencer is higher than both Android and iPhone at 43.6.

While I am sure Android and iPhone users have some way to explain that away I simply think it is because social media and communication is so much easier and seamless on a BlackBerry. On an iPhone and Android every social media app lives in its own world.

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Video: New York Times Editors Swap Smartphones

Over the weekend the New York Times posted up a funny video. Two of their editors, Andrew Sorkin and Sam Grobart, swap their phones (an iPhone for a BlackBerry) for some interesting results. Its kind of funny to see what happens next so I won’t ruin it for you but let us know if you have experienced something similar!

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Study: BlackBerrys Are Significantly Less Susceptible to Hardware Faults

I always knew that Android’s large number of licensed OEM’s was leading to substandard hardware quality but this is pretty bad. A study by WDS found that out of 600,000 customer support calls fielded for each device category only 3.7% of BlackBerry support calls were for hardware issues. This compares to 14% for Android, 9% for Windows Phone, and 8% for iPhone. Kudos to RIM’s engineers.

This is significant because hardware issues are not something that can be solved by customer service agents over the phone. They either need to be replaced by the carrier or customer or the customer simply has to live with the defect. WDS details in their study explaining why Android is leading to both high and low quality hardware but Craig Rich, Chief Marketing Officer at WDS breaks it down in one paragraph why the overall Android experience may be suffering due to lower priced devices:

“Mobile operators have to make some important decisions when selecting which smartphones to range on their networks,” adds Rich. “They must balance the need to introduce low-cost smartphone devices with the Total Cost of Ownership; how much it costs them to manage that device in their network for the duration of the subscription. A $100 smartphone might not look so attractive if it drives x3 more support traffic over its lifetime, has an above-average return rate or damages the customer experience in a way that increases the likelihood of the consumer churning. “

While these numbers make sense for Android and Windows Phone do to multiple licensees I was surprised to see Apple had such a high number at 8%. They follow the same model as RIM by making both the hardware and developing their own OS and are known for high end products. That makes me wonder if maybe Google needs to start setting some hardware quality standards for Android branded handsets to ensure it does not deteriorate their brand.

David was actually pointing out to me this week that RIM was originally known for having a rock solid device line. I remember you had to hit your 8700 with a hammer if you wanted to break it. The trackball did lead to some more hardware repairs but RIM fixed that with the trackpad. The upcoming Bold 9900 seems to be another example of solid RIM engineering and I cannot wait to get my hands on it as my personal device.

The numbers from the WDS come from a study done from June 2010-May 2011 and covered 600,000 technical support calls taken by WDS across Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia. Check out the full study press release here.

Thanks Ashley for sending this one in via PCWorld – Img Credit Sam Spratt of Gizmodo

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Pretzil Cross Platform Social Network Passes 850,000 Users & 10 Million App Checkins

Everyone loves a good check-in app but the majority of them let you check-in to locations, specific activities, music, food, etc. What about an app/service that let’s you check-in to an app? That’s exactly what Pretzil is. Where users are checking in to a location using Foursquare (as an example) the same users can check-in to the Foursquare application with Pretzil and earn points for level of activity, socialize with others, discover new content and get rewarded. The Pretzil team announced they’ve passed 850,000 users and 10 million app checkins! From their announcement:

Pretzil is announcing that it has passed 850,000 users and 10 million app checkins on its platform. Pretzil is the first truly cross-platform social network that allows users to checkin to the apps they love whether it be on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and others.

Pretzil is also an entirely gamified platform where users get rewarded for participating. Checking in to an app earns you points that can be redeemed for virtual goods. This feature is very popular among Pretzil users and growing rapidly in what it offers as rewards.

Of the 10 million app checkins, over 40% of Pretzil users are sharing their location. This enables Pretzil to feed the real-time web with trending data across the 214 countries represented in Pretzil’s user base. It also allows Pretzil to answer the question: “what apps are popular around me?”.

Pretzil will be expanding its database of apps that users can checkin to, as well as a mobile suite to allow for more immediate checkins and app recommendations. Currently, Pretzil has raised $300,000 in angel funding and is entering a Series A round of investment.

Congrats to Pretzil! This startup began in October 2010 and so far it looks like they’re off to a great start. For interested developers, they also offer an API that you can use to integrate Pretzil within your app. For more info or to sign up and see which apps are available to check-in to, head on over to pretzil.com.