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Press Release -- August 15th, 2013
Source: Sprint Nextel
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Rock Out With New NextRadio App on Red Hot HTC One Exclusively from Sprint Beginning Aug. 16

NextRadio seamlessly brings live FM radio with interactive content to Sprint smartphones

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), August 15, 2013 – Do you love rocking out to your favorite local radio station on your smartphone but hate the toll it takes on your battery when you stream? Music lovers rejoice! Sprint signed an industry first and will offer access to the new NextRadio® interactive FM radio application beginning with HTC One® and HTC EVO® 4G LTE. This deal will allow Sprint to provide the NextRadio service on a broad range of Sprint smartphone devices during the next several years.

With NextRadio, listening to FM radio on smartphones offers a new type of interactive radio listening experience. When compared with streaming, NextRadio consumes about three times less battery life than other music apps. That’s because the audio is coming through a built-in FM tuner instead of over the Internet.

NextRadio is a free app that comes preloaded on HTC One from Sprint for all new activations. Customers who already own HTC One or HTC EVO 4G LTE from Sprint can download NextRadio through Google Play at no additional charge.

Don’t have HTC One just yet? No worries! Beginning Friday, Aug. 16, HTC One is launching in a hot, new red color, exclusively for Sprint customers. HTC One in red will be available in all Sprint Stores, Sprint Business Sales, Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and Web Sales for $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement or eligible upgrade (excludes taxes and surcharges). The device is currently available in silver and black.

And to turn up the heat even more, from Aug. 16 through Aug. 30, Sprint will offer a special promotion to make it even easier for customers to get their hands on the HTC One with interactive FM radio from NextRadio. For a limited time and while supplies last, customers can purchase an HTC One and get a second one for free, in any of the three color options – silver, black or red1.

“Our customers already enjoy listening to a variety of music apps on their smartphones, but NextRadio makes it easier than ever to interact with the local radio stations they enjoy listening to in the car virtually anywhere,” said Fared Adib, senior vice president-Product Development, Sprint. “Marking another innovation milestone for Sprint, our partners at NextRadio are transforming the FM radio listening experience by allowing users to interact with their favorite radio shows by calling or messaging directly from their smartphone.”

NextRadio allows users to:

  • Browse stations in their local area by genre or frequency, set favorites, view recently played stations or use a traditional tuner interface
  • Call or text the radio shows they love, providing the ability to send instant feedback to the station whenever and virtually wherever they are listening
  • Watch music and talk come to life with album art, station logos, song and show details, and instant actions like sharing or purchasing songs right from their phone

A headset or speaker wire plugged into the 3.5mm stereo audio jack is required and serves as the antenna for the FM radio chip. Customers can easily find a radio station from the NextRadio onscreen guide, which is divided by music genre or selecting the station dial position. The app also includes radio station logos, slogans and programming description.

“We’re excited that an innovative wireless carrier like Sprint is leading the effort to offer American consumers something they’ve always loved – listening to the radio – right in the palm of their hands,” said Gordon Smith, president of the National Association of Broadcasters. “This service expands on that experience by enabling consumers to interact with local broadcasters directly through the application.”

For more information about the NextRadio application, visit www.nextradioapp.com.

About Sprint

Sprint offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint served more than 53 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

HTC, HTC One and HTC EVO 4G are trademarks of HTC Corporation.

1Qualifying data plans and new activations w/2-yr agreement required. Buy One Get One Free HTC One valid from 8/16/2013 to 8/30/2013. Offer requires qualifying data plan and new activation with 2-year agreement. While supplies last. Other restrictions apply. See [Sprint web site with deal] for details.

Contact(s):

Sprint
Nichole (Cappitelli) Pichardo, 949-748-3364
nichole.pichardo@sprint.com

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