Sprint & Moto: Photon 4G for Sprint & Triumph for Virgin Mobile

[sciwizam]

Sprint and Motorola had an event today to announce Photon 4G and Triumph for Virgin Mobile.

Photon 4G : Photon's got the high-end specs of this year:Tegra 2, 4.3", qHD, Wimax 4G etc, along with being a world phone.

More interesting is the Triumph for Virgin Mobile.

Triumph : It's basically last year's high end specs.

• 4.8 x 2.5 x 0.4 inches
• 4.1-inch 480 x 800 display
• 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655 processor
• 512MB RAM, 2GB internal storage, microSD expansion
• Android 2.2 Froyo - Stock (my edit)
• 5 megapixel primary camera with flash 720p video capture, VGA secondary camera
• HDMI-out
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 1400 mAh battery

 

[alent1234]

what's so special about the specs? ever carrier has or will have a version of this phone

 

[boomhower]

what's so special about the specs? ever carrier has or will have a version of this phone

Nothing. It's just the specs of the year as stated in the OP, just like 1Ghz snapdragon was last years.

 

[Bateluer]

what's so special about the specs? ever carrier has or will have a version of this phone

Its rare that the smaller regional carriers get anything even remotely close to high end devices. This is good, gives options for consumers. I am assuming, though, that both the Photon and Triumph have the standard Moto bootloader defect?

Not seeing the Triumph on Virgin's site right now, or is it just me?

 

[sciwizam]

Its rare that the smaller regional carriers get anything even remotely close to high end devices. This is good, gives options for consumers. I am assuming, though, that both the Photon and Triumph have the standard Moto bootloader defect?

Not seeing the Triumph on Virgin's site right now, or is it just me?

Androidandme tweeted out Photon might not be locked...could me a mistaken rep. Triumph has stock Froyo, I'm hoping if they didn't bother Bluring it, they might not have bothered locking the bootloader.

https://twitter.com/#!/androidandme/status/78889088400363520

Well, what have we here? Motorola reps at the event today have said the Photon 4G will NOT come with a locked bootloader. Finally!

 

[alent1234]

it was a big deal 2 years ago when the radio chips only supported one technology, but now a chip from qualcomm will support CDMA/WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+/UMTS and whatever in one chip. coming this year it will also do LTE. makes it a lot easier to build one phone and make small modification to make it work across carriers

 

[zerocool84]

Its rare that the smaller regional carriers get anything even remotely close to high end devices. This is good, gives options for consumers. I am assuming, though, that both the Photon and Triumph have the standard Moto bootloader defect?

Not seeing the Triumph on Virgin's site right now, or is it just me?

Exactly, prepaid carrier getting a decently spec'd phone is great.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Photon is Sprint's Atrix. Despite being the first dual core phone out there (and it not having to go up against the Evo 3D) the Atrix has sold so well that its now $99.

The Triumph is a much bigger deal: A Pre-Paid phone with 1GHZ CPU, Flash, 512mb RAM, HDMI out. Depending on how much it costs, this could be the first serious Virgin Mobile phone....

 

[SAWYER]

The excitement of a new phone is long gone for me, it is one similar phone after another being announced now, I don't see how people stay interested.

 

[sciwizam]

AndroidCentral also confirms the Photon 4G has unlocked bootloader.

http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-photon-4g-has-unlocked-bootloader-sports-gorilla-glass

 

[shortylickens]

Keep in mind if you have official Sprint service you can roam on Verizon (only 3g and 1X). If you have Virgin Mobile there is no 4g and you can NOT roam at all. Its not an issue of paying more or risking cancellation. Its simply not allowed. In a tight situation this could mean not having anything except 911 service.

 

[sciwizam]

Update: The bootloader situation is still not clear.

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/0...le-bootloader-still-could-be-unsigned-though/

 

[senseamp]

I hope they get the Triumph out ASAP.

 

[boomhower]

Photon is Sprint's Atrix. Despite being the first dual core phone out there (and it not having to go up against the Evo 3D) the Atrix has sold so well that its now $99.

The Triumph is a much bigger deal: A Pre-Paid phone with 1GHZ CPU, Flash, 512mb RAM, HDMI out. Depending on how much it costs, this could be the first serious Virgin Mobile phone....

The Atrix's main problem is crap software. If the situation isn't improved for the Photon(who the hell thought up this name?) the result will be the same. The EVO 3D and Galaxy 2 will be strong competition on Sprint.

 

[gsaldivar]

Keep in mind if you have official Sprint service you can roam on Verizon (only 3g and 1X). If you have Virgin Mobile there is no 4g and you can NOT roam at all. Its not an issue of paying more or risking cancellation. Its simply not allowed. In a tight situation this could mean not having anything except 911 service.

For those living in metro areas with plenty of Sprint coverage, this is a non-issue and a reasonable tradeoff for getting a sizable discount on the service fees. :thumbsup:

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Atrix's main problem is crap software. If the situation isn't improved for the Photon(who the hell thought up this name?) the result will be the same.

Many Moto devices have had Blur and been successful (X). I think the problem with the Atrix is that:

1. It was on AT&T which many Android lovers feel is the worst network (for good reasons).

2. They pushed the expensive "turn it into a laptop" feature that no one really wanted over the "this is the first dual core phone!" attribute of the Atrix. In the AT&T store it looks like just any old phone.

With that said, I am really liking the idea of getting a decent Android phone with a service plan for about what my XM radio costs me.

 

[ponyo]

Triumph for VM is the real news. Finally a good enough phone for prepaid.

 

[Bateluer]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/06/09/motorola-photon-4g-to-ship-with-an-unlocked-bootloader/

Looks like the Photon does have a locked bootloader, tossed on the scrap heap before it even launches.