Sprint CEO mum on plans for Phone 7 devices

After speaking at a CTIA conference Wednesday in San Francisco, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse took five or six minutes to pose for photographers with a life-size costumed version of the Android character as though he were at Disneyland. But when reporters wanted to ask a few followup questions, suddenly he had to catch a plane. As it is, a spokeswoman told me later, Hesse wouldn’t have been able to answer my questions about Sprint’s plans for Microsoft’s Phone 7 devices because it hasn’t officially announced anything yet.

However, enough is already known that Sprint is one of the U.S. carriers that will have to wait until next year to put Phone 7 devices on its store shelves alongside Google Android, RIM/Blackberry and other brands. Microsoft is initially going to distribute its new mobile operating system on handsets that operate on the GSM network standard, giving the first U.S. sales opportunities to AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint and Verizon operate CDMA networks and Phone 7 won’t be configured to operate on them until 2011. We’ll find out more at the official Phone 7 device launch event Oct. 11 in New York City.

Without Phone 7 to tease, Sprint chose to double-down on its Android bet at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications 2010 event by introducing Sprint ID, a strategy of offering mobile application “packages” of selected apps built around work, personal or other needs. The prepackaged application groups are intended to help users cut through the clutter of sorting through thousands of apps, uploading them and getting them to work. Hesse, in his presentation, cited Pew Research Center statistics that while one-third of American adults own a smartphone, three out of four of them don’t use most of the features they offer.

“It’s not because they don’t want to use the apps that are cool or make their lives easier. It’s because finding the right content is simply too confusing, time consuming and even intimidating,” he said.

Sprint ID will feature packaged apps, as well as related personalization touches such as wallpaper and ringtones from “brands you know and trust,” he said, and then proceeded to highlight app packages from such content providers as the entertainment TV channel E!, sports channel ESPN and online auction site eBay, among others. A smartphone user can load up to five Sprint ID packages onto their phones.

Sprint IDs can also be created for specific businesses, such as Santa Fe Tow Service in Kansas City, Mo. President Jon Kupchin said in a video clip that since his drivers are scattered all over town providing roadside assistance, they need a mobile solution to handle calls, create invoices and engage with other back office functions like human resources.

“They can actually clear their own calls, write their own tickets, print them in their truck, not have to hand write them and that just frees up time for everything,” Kupchin said.

Sprint ID will initially be available on three new Android phones that Hesse introduced Wednesday, the LG Optimus S, the Sanyo Zio and the Samsung Transform, whose net price tags, after a rebate and with a two-year service contract, will be $49.99, $99.99 and $149.99, respectively. Over time, Hesse said, Sprint ID will become available on all Sprint Android devices, including the coming Samsung Galaxy S Tab tablet computer, expected soon. But not on any other smartphone platforms.

The one question I got Hesse to answer while he was rushing to his “plane” was whether Sprint would offer Sprint ID on Windows 7 phones once it gets them. He replied, “Only on Android.”