http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/sprintnextel http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/sprintnextel Last fall, Google said third-party devices sporting its Android mobile OS would hit the market by the second half of 2008. With that deadline approaching, Google now says the fourth quarter is more realistic. Even that's pushing it, say the device makers. Sprint won't release a phone scheduled for this year until 2009 and the same goes for China Mobile, which planned a phone release for the third quarter. "This is where the pain happens," Google's director of mobile platforms Andy Rubin told the Wall Street Journal. "We are very, very close." Phone makers and Android app developers don't believe it, telling the Journal its too hard to build on Android while Google keeps changing it. Google's plan is to own the mobile platform the way Microsoft owned the PC. Who knew the Mountain View crew would skip straight to Vista? (Photo by traviscrawford)

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5018770&view=rss&microfeed=true Clearwire and new parent company Sprint Nextel certainly share one thing in common — operating losses. In an earnings announcement today, Clearwire posted a 76 percent increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year for a total of $51.5 million. But while the company's stock tipped up slightly, it ultimately posted a loss of $1.08 per share, thirteen cents higher than analyst expectations. But with investment pouring in thanks to the deal with Sprint Nextel, these numbers may mean little. The real news? "With respect to our recent announcement to combine Clearwire and Sprint's mobile WiMAX businesses to form the new Clearwire, we expect the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2008," said Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff.(Photo by AP/Marco Garcia)

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389760&view=rss&microfeed=true Illinois-based iPCS, a wireless affiliate of Sprint Nextel, has sued the number-three wireless carrier in Illinois Superior Court. Its claim that the new company Clearwire, with a majority stake held by Sprint, infringes on that exclusivity agreement signed in 1999. The affiliate successfully sued Sprint over the Nextel merger, with Illinois courts awarding iPCS a victory in March. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel (as it is officially known) reported $505 million in net losses for the first quarter on an eight percent drop in revenue, thanks mostly to attrition in the number of long-term contract customers. That the company can't get these issues worked out behind the scenes, or at least settle these lawsuits before a punitive verdict is reached, doesn't speak well of the management at Clearwire's new parent company. (Photo by AP/Reed Saxon)

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389684&view=rss&microfeed=true Sprint Nextel has revived serious discussions with startup Clearwire to form a joint venture that would bring in funding from the likes of Intel, Google and Best Buy to build a high-speed wireless network using WiMax technology. [WSJ]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=350244&view=rss&microfeed=true Sprint Nextel is handing out 4,000 pink slips to offset revenues lost from a whopping 683,000 defecting subscribers during its fourth quarter. The wireless carrier also plans to shut down 125 retail stores and stop doing business with more than 4,000 third-party vendors. [WSJ]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=346779&view=rss&microfeed=true Sprint Nextel plans to lay off several thousand employees, as newly installed CEO Dan Hesse seeks to show investors a new commitment to efficiency and cost discipline at the nation's No. 3 wireless carrier. Sprint, which let 5,000 workers go last year, has about 60,000 employees. [WSJ]

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=344740&view=rss&microfeed=true Sprint Nextel has a new CEO to replace Gary Forsee, who exited the company in October. Dan Hesse, former CEO of Embarq, a local phone company that Sprint spun out last year, will take the post. Hesse previously worked 23 years at AT&T, including a stint running AT&T Wireless. [WSJ]

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• McAfee's president and chairman-CEO resign after the company finds a $100 to $150 million discrepancy in the accounting of its stock options grants. McAfee notes that CEO George Samenuk is retiring, while the board fired president Kevin Weiss. [NY Times]
• CNET's CEO (co-founder Shelby Bonnie) quit over an options probe as well, after a report partially blamed him for improperly accounted backdated stock options. [Washington Post]
• Microsoft Germany's chief quit Friday, leaving a note to employees complaining that Microsoft restricted his operations and ignored him. [Techworld]
• Sprint Nextel chief Timothy Donahue (shown here presenting An Inconvenient Truth) announced he'll retire early, at the year's end, to "spend more time with his family and friends." As always, that phrase means he was pushed out the door but allowed the dignity of a resignation. [NY Times]

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