Remember the map wars between AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless? Sprint Nextel thought it looked like great fun, and it's joined the fracas with a direct-attack ad of its own. A new Sprint ad shows two young dudes lounging on a park bench--or rather, one guy lounges while the other is frantically battling his cell phone. That phone turns out to be an Apple iPhone, and as it turns out, the more relaxed guy, Matt, can help his buddy out. "My friend Steve's iPhone is cool, but it's limited to AT&T's 3G speeds," he says. "So I'm gonna use the Overdrive 4G mobile hotspot to make it up to 10 times faster. While that's happening, I'm gonna enjoy this tasty snack." He pulls out a Sprint- connected portable Wi-Fi hotspot and--of course--a tasty apple, and Steve's 3G troubles are over. Cue the legal fireworks. If AT&T got incensed over Verizon using AT&T's own 3G coverage maps as a weapon, you have to think that this no-nonsense critique of the AT&T network will cause some aggravation as well. Verizon could at least back its claims with some solid data, even if AT&T's spotty coverage has reportedly improved since then. Sprint is picking cherries to climb the Apple tree here. That "10 times the speed" claim rests on a worst-case 3G connection and the most positive 4G data Sprint can muster on its own network. "Triple the speed" might be closer to the truth on average. Besides, Sprint's 4G network has only opened up in 33 cities so far, with a heavy Midwestern concentration. Major population centres like San Francisco and New York, where AT&T's network quality has drawn the most fury so far, are not covered at all--so Matt's clever solution wouldn't help Steve at all in most cases. Sprint's own coverage information will make that very clear if you try to order an Overdrive gadget. With iPhones, iPads, and Google Androids flooding the market, all the major service providers need to figure out how to handle heavy Web use and streaming video for previously unheard-of millions of customers nationwide. This Sprint trinket and the accompanying ad campaign seems designed to steal iPhone users from AT&T, but Sprint isn't really ready to take most of them on anyway. By the time Sprint has covered most of the country, chances are that Verizon and AT&T have gotten their own 4G installations in gear. After the undisputed failure of the Palm Pre smartphone, Android handsets look like better ammunition for Sprint's war against the Big Two than the 4G network is.
单选题
Which statement concerning Sprint Nextel is correct? A. It was spurred by the map wars between AT&T and Verizon to have a slice of the market. B. It thought the map wars between AT&T and Verizon funny. C. It was irritated by the map wars between AT&T and Verizon.
单选题
What does the new Sprint ad indicate? A. iPhone is not a satisfactory electronic device. B. AT&T is the only service provider to users of iPhone. C. The data transmission speed offered by Sprint is faster than that of AT&T.
单选题
Which did not happen between AT&T and Verizon? A. Verizon used AT&T's own 3G coverage maps to indicate its incompetence. B. Verizon used its own 3G coverage maps to indicate AT&T's incompetence. C. There was a lawsuit between these two parties.
单选题
Matt's clever solution wouldn't help Steve at all in most cases, because A. Sprint's 4G network has only opened in Midwestern area. B. AT&T's network has covered most of the area. C. The coverage of Sprint's network is so limited.