Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has launched an Android-powered smartphone for $99.99, available through its Virgin Mobile USA prepaid brand beginning March 15th. Virgin Mobile USA offers the phone for $35/month with an unlimited data plan.
That pricing plan may turn out to be the best selling point for this phone. Many smartphone users spend an awful lot more time texting, browsing, and generally using the data features of smartphones than they do talking. Reducing the number of talk minutes to 300 and including unlimited texting and data could turn out to be a winning proposition.
The new Venture smartphone runs Android 2.3 and includes a QWERTY keyboard and a 2.8-inch touchscreen and a 2-megapixel camera. Those are not the latest and greatest specs, but that’s an awful lot of good stuff for $100 upfront and $35/month with no contract.