Sprint and Digital Caddies Offer Innovative Technology Solution for Golf Courses

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., & SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 07, 2013 - Sprint a leader in the burgeoning field of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology, and Digital Caddies, Inc., a 10-year-old, golf technology pioneer based in Scottsdale, today announced a venture where Sprint will provide wireless coverage and Android tablet hardware for the new Digital Caddies “Players Network” tablet-based technology platform.

Digital Caddies Players Network is a caddie, a concierge and a course marshal all in one. Players Network tablets easily install on golf carts and wirelessly connect to the Web through Sprint’s nationwide high-speed network. This new technology is a powerful tool for golf course operators as it improves their guests’ experiences, builds guest loyalty, increases course revenue, and lowers operating costs. Digital Caddies is able to offer its new Players Network technology platform at no cost to qualifying golf course operators.

Benefits to Golf Courses

The Digital Caddie Players Network delivers an improved guest experience by providing instant and accurate yardages, along with real-time communication with the golf shop and staff directly from the cart. It will also soon include other content golfers can use, such as live delivery of news, sports scores and stock market updates. Course operators can increase revenue by promoting merchandise, food and beverage specials, lessons, repeat rounds or whatever they’d like to sell through promotional videos or graphics.

Connecting on the Greens

With more than a decade of experience in telematics, Sprint provides a robust portfolio of transportation solutions through collaboration with some of the most experienced and innovative application providers for fleet operators, automotive manufacturers and auto insurance providers. This extensive ecosystem enables customized solutions to meet each company’s unique requirements, including design, implementation and support. Additionally, with Sprint’s all-new network, known as Network Vision, 3G customers can expect better wireless signal strength, faster data speeds, and fewer dropped/blocked calls. The network build is progressing across the country, and Sprint expects to cover the majority of its existing network footprint with the improved 3G service by the end of the year, with the remaining build-out forecasted to be completed by early 2014.

“We are delighted at the opportunity to collaborate with Digital Caddies on this exciting endeavor,” said Kimberly Green-Kerr, regional vice president, Sprint. “The Digital Caddies solution extends Sprint’s existing connected vehicle focus to a recreational environment where it makes perfect sense and adds to the pleasure of golfing. It provides a unique business model and value proposition and offers a fresh new experience for the golfing enthusiast. Golfers can now enjoy similar features on the course that Sprint enables for automobiles and commercial fleets nationwide.”

The content provided through the Players Network is specifically designed to promote interaction between the golfer and the device throughout their round and thus provides an excellent opportunity for golf course operators and advertisers to interact directly with golfers in ways that have never before been possible.

“Our relationship with Sprint is a big key to the success of our launch,” said Digital Caddies President, Mike Loustalot. “Together, Sprint and Digital Caddies will provide golfers and qualifying golf course operators easy-to-use technology that also helps lower operating costs by better tracking golf car inventory, understanding driver behavior, and monitoring agronomy issues.”

The first complete installations of the Digital Caddie Players Network will take place this summer throughout Arizona, Southern California, Nevada and Florida.

“The new Digital Caddies tablets are great,” said Daryl Crawford, general manager at ASU Karsten Golf Course. “Our customers will love them because they’re easy to use and provide quick and accurate yardage information. We love the tablets because they’re sleek, unobtrusive and help us better communicate with our guests during their round.”

“We’re excited about the customer service and golf course management tools that the new Digital Caddies system provides,” said Tom Shultz, JDM director of operations for Wigwam Golf and the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club. “The tablets and service are free to my golf courses and my customers, which is awesome. The technology, graphics and ease-of-use are all phenomenal. The Digital Caddies system will help us to better manage our golf car fleet, pace of play and on-course food and beverage operations.”

ORLANDO, Fla. & OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 14, 2013 - Sprint today announced the summer availability of its first 4G LTE BlackBerry® smartphone, BlackBerry® Q10. Combining BlackBerry’s best physical keyboard and a touchscreen with the power of the BlackBerry® 10 platform, this dynamic smartphone will benefit from access to the Sprint 4G LTE network and the power to access Truly Unlimited? data, text and calling to any mobile with no metering, no throttling, and no overages, all while on the Sprint network.

Additional details, including pricing and availability, will be shared closer to the availability date. Customers interested in more information about the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone from Sprint can register for updates starting today at www.sprint.com/blackberry10.

Also this summer, Sprint will begin offering enterprise and government customers BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1. This latest update to BlackBerry’s multiplatform Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution provides device and application management for Bring Your Own Device programs and corporate-owned BlackBerry, iOS® and Android™ devices.

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1 brings new Regulated-level Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) controls and settings for enterprise customers in government and other industries that require an advanced level of security, control and logging. The server software is free to download, and existing BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5 customers can trade up their client access licenses for free through 2013.1

“We know our customers are anxious to get their hands on the new the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone,” said David Owens, Sprint vice president-Product Development. “The physical keyboard on this smartphone makes it incredibly easy to send emails or texts on the go. Our plans for the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone will make it easy to be productive at work and stay connected with friends and family without fear of overage charges or throttling. We are excited to welcome this new BlackBerry into our portfolio this summer along with the security offered by BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 for enterprise customers.”

Built with precision and offering premium performance in a signature design, the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone combines BlackBerry’s best physical keyboard and a touchscreen with the power of the BlackBerry 10 platform to help you communicate and collaborate faster and more efficiently. BlackBerry Q10 includes advanced hardware, communications and multimedia features. Its long battery life lets you confidently stay ahead and take action all day long.

BlackBerry Q10 features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB memory and microSD memory card slot that supports up to 32GB memory cards. It also offers a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with capacitive multitouch navigation and four-row, full QWERTY keyboard making it easy to use.

Continuing the BlackBerry tradition of long battery life, BlackBerry Q10 boasts a removable 2,100mAh lithium-ion battery. It also offers an 8-megapixel main camera with 1080p HD video recording and 2-megapixel 720p HD front-facing camera.

Additional key features include:

• Wi-Fi®

• 3G/4G LTE mobile hotspot capability

• Near Field Communication (NFC)

• Bluetooth®

• integrated speaker

• three microphones with noise reduction

The re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform offers a powerful and unique new mobile computing experience. It gives you a faster and smarter experience that continuously adapts to your needs. Every feature, every gesture, and every detail is designed to keep you moving forward towards your goal and includes advancements such as:

• The ever-present BlackBerry® Hub, which brings all your conversations together in one easy-to-manage place that you can access at any time from any app with a simple “peek,” so you’re always only one swipe away from what matters to you.

• BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, which protects what’s important to you and the business for whom you work.

• BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), which lets you share things with the people who matter to you in an instant. BBM in BlackBerry 10 includes voice calling and video chat and lets you share your screen with another BlackBerry 10 contact.

• BlackBerry® Remember, which helps you tackle tasks quickly with a new way to collect, organize and act on all the information sitting in different places across your smartphone.

Sprint customers are discovering Sprint 4G LTE in cities that have not yet officially launched, including Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco. Sprint has announced more than 170 markets where LTE will be available in the coming months. Sprint expects customers to benefit with better wireless signal strength, in-building coverage and fewer drops/blocks. In addition, Sprint smartphone customers also benefit from Truly Unlimited data, text and calling to any mobile with no metering, no throttling, and no overages, all while on the Sprint network. For the most up-to-date information on Sprint’s 4G LTE coverage, please visit www.sprint.com/coverage.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 06, 2013 - Sprint today announces the launch of Sprint CloudCompute, the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solution that integrates CSC’s industry-leading virtualized, utility-based cloud computing solution with Sprint’s robust cloud-aware Global MPLS network. The integrated solution provides secure, reliable networking and IT efficiency to business customers headquartered within the United States.

In the Ovum Business Trends Cloud Services Survey and as highlighted in Ovum's recent white paper, respondents rated cutting costs – whether IT or business related – and improving business agility as the most important factors influencing their decision to invest in cloud services.

“Sprint’s IaaS offering is coming to market at an opportune time,” said John Madden, principal analyst-IT Services, Ovum. “Customers are searching for the best options for cloud deployments including IaaS, and want to work with proven providers of IT services that are secure, reliable and well managed. Sprint’s relationship with CSC brings together high-profile skills of two trusted providers for IaaS: one with expertise in secure network services and management with ‘ownership’ of the cloud, the other with extensive experience in cloud and data center management. Sprint’s offering through its CSC collaboration gives customers another strong and viable option as they move ahead with their cloud decisions.”

“Sprint has a long history of providing comprehensive, integrated solutions,” said Mike Fitz, vice president-Wireline and Solutions Engineering, Sprint. “Companies can rely on Sprint as their single source for all their networking needs, which now includes cloud computing solutions. Investing in the network is critical to a company’s cloud strategy and success. Sprint’s all-IP network has the flexibility, scalability and reliability required to meet the performance demands of cloud applications.”

Sprint’s robust “cloud-aware” Global MPLS network is congestion-free, designed for low latency and jitter needed for critical, real-time business applications. Sprint offers Class of Service (CoS) at no additional charge to eliminate bottlenecks in a customer’s network through prioritization. Application performance is optimized through network-based Quality of Service (QoS), and Sprint’s comprehensive service level agreements enable full support of any and all enterprise cloud applications.

With Sprint CloudCompute, businesses will benefit from:

• Secure, private network access and seamless connectivity from the subscriber’s business into the IaaS environment

• Scalable, flexible and reliable cloud-aware network

• On-demand provisioning and management capability via Web portal

• Simplicity with a single account team, one contract and one invoice for all services

To learn more and view resources, visit www.sprint.com/cloudcompute.

A winning combination

Sprint advanced to a Challenger position within the most recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Network Service Providers (March 26, 2013). Since the previously published Magic Quadrant report, Sprint has grown its global MPLS, Ethernet and SIP Trunking coverage for business customers.

In addition, CSC is positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the 2012 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (Oct. 18, 2012).

A comprehensive approach to cloud

The key to Sprint’s cloud strategy is teaming with leaders in software and cloud computing while enhancing the services with seamless integration of mobility for virtually anytime, anywhere access from any device. With reliable, secure connectivity over Sprint’s network via 3G, 4G and all-IP Global MPLS technologies, businesses of all sizes can confidently embrace a variety of hosted services to improve their productivity and cost structures.

Sprint offers a wide variety of cloud-based solutions in addition to IaaS, including Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) with Sprint Complete Collaboration and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) with Office 365. Sprint also delivers an innovative private-label cloud services platform to wholesale customers, enabling them to quickly deliver simple and affordable brand-name software services to SMBs.