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SoftBank to Use Sprint Stores to Sell....Robots?

SoftBank will take advantage of their new Sprint ownership stake by selling robots at Sprint stores sometime next year, notes Bloomberg. SoftBank's "Pepper" robot, available in Japan for 198,000 yen ($1,900), is about four feet tall, dances, makes jokes, and "estimates human emotions based on expressions" according to the report.

"We will sell Pepper in the United States within a year after gathering information in Japan," insists SoftBank robotics CEO Fumihide Tomizawa. "I won’t be surprised if Pepper sales will be half to business and half to consumers." There's no word yet on pricing for Pepper here in the States, though you can learn more about the robot here (the video of the June unveiling is worth a look).
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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Might as well sell Lawn Mowers

Lawn Mowers are more useful than robots right now.

They even have smart Lawn Mowers that operate themselves.
Banger
join:2014-07-22
Sturgeon Bay, WI

Banger

Member

Re: Might as well sell Lawn Mowers

Well since they make robotic lawn mowers, why not? They can even sell vacuums.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah to IowaCowboy

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to IowaCowboy
You know that a lawn mower that operates itself IS a robot, right?

PlusOne
@78.129.148.x

PlusOne to IowaCowboy

Anon

to IowaCowboy
said by IowaCowboy:

Lawn Mowers are more useful than robots right now.

They even have smart Lawn Mowers that operate themselves.

At least a robot dancing around your house might take your mind off the fact that to use your Sprint cellphone you have to go out on the lawn to make a call. Sprint needs to keep their eye on the ball and improve coverage.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 recommendation

IPPlanMan

Member

Spend the money on backhaul...

Hey Sprint, your LTE sites in DC and SF need backhaul laid... So focus on that please.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

1 recommendation

smcallah

Member

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Yes, certainly plans to sell something at a retail store has direct bearing on cell tower backhaul build out. That is completely controlled by the same department, right?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Money ultimately comes from one pot.
Decisions are made from the top. Son runs with this, he owns it.

NYC33
@66.249.83.x

1 recommendation

NYC33

Anon

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Backhaul contracts had been paid from day one. The problem is under the old leadership sprint didn't pay a premium to escalate the delivery of fiber backhaul.

Money talks, Verizon paid a premium to get all their sites with fiber in a faster way. Sprint is still a poor run company. Sure the 8T8R 2.5gz is a game changer, but if you will have only 38k towers you will fail. Right now sprint will need at least 60 thousands towers if they want to win the coverage and fast speed war.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 edit

IPPlanMan

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Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Exactly. This money needs to go towards overhauling existing and Clearwire towers with LTE/Spark and new backhaul. Not this dumb crap. Sprint needs to accelerate this process significantly.

ev
@74.140.91.x

ev

Anon

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Yeah, blame the aggressive push to take control of Magenta. If they somehow managed to do it, they would've inherited a damn fast LTE network in most of the top DMAs without doing much work.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Yeah... But they would have had "no technological process" to unlock their dual mode capable phones to work with a domestic GSM carrier...

ev
@74.140.91.x

ev

Anon

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

They likely used that unlocking potential as a bargaining chip. Whether it was blue or some other color -- we'll never know.

Sprint (and Verizon) CDMA iPhones are essentially crippled devices and their low market resale value reflects this.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

The Verizon iPhone 5c/5s is unlocked out of the box for both domestic and foreign GSM carriers.

The Sprint iPhone 5c/5s is unlockable after 90 days, for international GSM carriers only.

ev
@74.140.91.x

ev

Anon

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

Interesting... Verizon iPhone 4s have no domestic GSM, correct?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Spend the money on backhaul...

As I understand it, the Verizon iPhone 4s is not officially unlockable for domestic GSM usage.
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

What the

This isn't an Onion article?

“The basic premise is to produce profit,” Tomizawa said.

Um. You do know that (MANY) Americans are relatively broke these days, can barely afford the basics, and this will be seen as quite possibly the dumbest thing ever.

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
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thedragonmas

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Re: What the

said by amungus:

This isn't an Onion article?

sadly, no. »www.bloomberg.com/news/2 ··· ths.html

of course, any old scifi buff wouldnt go near "pepper" especially a pepper thats "about 4 feet tall"

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89 to amungus

Premium Member

to amungus
This is dumb my phone can already do all I want.

Packeteers
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY

Packeteers

Premium Member

electronic friend

i don't understand why these guys bother with robots. just make a program anyone can load on a pc/pad/smartphone that you can have a conversation with. until there's a killer app like that, i don't see how these robots can be more than a demo unit.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

Re: electronic friend

So all you do with SoftBank's robot is have a conversation with it?

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
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thedragonmas

Premium Member

Re: electronic friend

said by smcallah:

So all you do with SoftBank's robot is have a conversation with it?


Main features of Pepper (planned)

Judges situations with an array of sensors, incorporates proprietary algorithms to control applications autonomously

Estimates emotions based on expressions and voice tones using emotion recognition functions

Over 12 continuous hours of battery life

Articulates gracefully with a high degree of freedom thanks to proprietarily developed joints

Can acquire various types of information and synchronize with cloud-based databases through an Internet connection

Uses sensors to avoid collisions and has autobalance to prevent falls, among other various safety features

Capabilities are expandable by installing various new types of robot apps

Aldebaran's software development kit (SDK) will be provided for a wide range of applications, from simple movements to advanced customization using widely available programming languages




i dont see "can lift X weight" or "can cook dinner" so yeah basically you just talk to it. and read the screen on the front (so definitely not accessible in my view, sigh, if only google glass had a bigger screen and they gave some thought to legally blind folks, but thats OT) plus, only 12 hours? so does it charge its self half way through the day or do you gotta stick a cord up its rear end to charge it?

looks like an over priced kids learning toy robot, though i suppose it "could" be good at that.

edit: fixed block quote formatting so post didnt look like one giant quote, my bad.

Gilitar
join:2012-02-01
Mobile, AL

Gilitar

Member

All hope is lost

This just further proves that all hope is lost for Sprint. By looking at recent advertising, the failed acquisition of T Mobile, and now this decision; Softbank obviously doesn't understand the U.S. market. Sprint will be the number four carrier in short order and I predict that Softbank will ultimately dump Sprint for a huge loss.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: All hope is lost

Selling a robot in a store causes all hope to be lost? Quite a stretch dont you think? I dont know anything about the robot but if it is pretty decent and unlike anything average americans have seen before it could drive people into the store to check the robot out. For 2 grand he better be at least worth the look. Once you have people in the store you will have eyes on the products and in front of sales reps.

Btw, sprint dropped its plan to acquire T-Mobile it did not 'fail'.

As for poor ads...I havent seen a decent ad from any company in a long time. Well, except maybe the K-Mart I shipped my pants.

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

thedragonmas

Premium Member

Re: All hope is lost

said by swintec:

Once you have people in the store you will have eyes on the products and in front of sales reps.

i remember when i was a tween, our circuit city was in the mall, theyd all ways put the really flashy stuff by the entrance to get you inside. it worked to. i all ways went by just to look around. first place i saw a "nebula ball" (plasma ball), and a light up crystal clear slim line phone. and other doodads. to bad they went down the drain.

though, i dont see how a robot is related to cellphones, i could see if they where selling laptops with cellular built in (i dont mean tablet, i mean an actual laptop here). or other cell based devices. but this would be kinda like a pizza joint selling tv's, at least the products should be related.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan to swintec

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to swintec
It's a sign of priorities. This robot shouldn't even be on the table.
Finish deploying LTE and Spark, especially to tier 1 markets like DC and San Francisco. Then Sprint can bring out the robot...

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

1 recommendation

swintec

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Re: All hope is lost

said by IPPlanMan:

It's a sign of priorities. This robot shouldn't even be on the table.
Finish deploying LTE and Spark, especially to tier 1 markets like DC and San Francisco. Then Sprint can bring out the robot...

Are the contractors working on all aspects of network vision being forced to stop to build the robots and then sit in the store to demo and then ultimately deliver it to the customer? I guess im confused what they have to do with it. Unless you think they have a robot clause in the vendor contracts that stops all progress?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: All hope is lost

Maybe Sprint could pick better contractors that don't run into these kinds of issues... They tend to cost more money.

SteelerRaw
@199.168.151.x

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: All hope is lost

said by swintec:

Are the contractors working on all aspects of network vision being forced to stop to build the robots and then sit in the store to demo and then ultimately deliver it to the customer? I guess im confused what they have to do with it. Unless you think they have a robot clause in the vendor contracts that stops all progress?

said by IPPlanMan:

Maybe Sprint could pick better contractors that don't run into these kinds of issues... They tend to cost more money.

Um what kinds of issues? Robot building issues...?

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
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IPPlanMan

Member

Re: All hope is lost

Backhaul and permitting for starters...

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec to IPPlanMan

Premium Member

to IPPlanMan
said by IPPlanMan:

Maybe Sprint could pick better contractors that don't run into these kinds of issues... They tend to cost more money.

Contractors that build robots AND do network construction? You are getting more confusing. You still havent explained how the network construction crews have anything to do with robots from Japan being sold in retail locations

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: All hope is lost

I'm not confused. Sprint's contractors for backhaul aren't up to the job. Whatever money is going to be spent on robots should be put into having more competent folks for the network buildout.

The network is the most important thing at this point and Sprint is blowing it.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: All hope is lost

said by IPPlanMan:

I'm not confused. Sprint's contractors for backhaul aren't up to the job. Whatever money is going to be spent on robots should be put into having more competent folks for the network buildout.

Network vision is already funded and has been for quite sometime but okay?

Wouldnt a better idea be, and how the rest of the business world works outside of your mind, is to sell a robot(s) and put the profit towards the network? Something tells me the robots have already been manufactured.

Christ, sprint could switch to two ply toilet paper in the bathroom of the break room and you would foam at the mouth over it.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: All hope is lost

Well it hasn't been funded enough... It's clear Sprint needs more resources devoted to this effort and it's clear there still aren't enough towers overall.

And of course, inadequate funding combined with poor execution gets you what we have today.

A network overhaul that's languishing.
A new network technology that's barely deployed.
A network that's being EOL'd when those towers are necessary to be competitive.
IPPlanMan

1 recommendation

IPPlanMan to Gilitar

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to Gilitar
We know you don't have coverage but check out this new robot...

NYC33
@66.249.83.x

NYC33

Anon

Seems the fiber backhaul picked up in some places

So I looked at sprint LTE update report from August 18 to the 30th.i see 20 LTE sites went online in San Francisco, and only 3 in nyc, and a couple in DC.

There is not a single market with 100% fiber backhaul yet. This little Japanese guy seems not to open the check books. This is why the Flamingo guy at Pink Mobile continue to make fun of Sprint. Pink Mobile without Deutsch Telekom funding have their network up to standard, but Sprint with a billionaire owner are not accelerating their deployment.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Seems the fiber backhaul picked up in some places

On S4GRU?
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

buy sprint's service or else!! (powers up laser!)

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· CJoMDSt0

Pegasus
Premium Member
join:2008-01-04
united state

Pegasus

Premium Member

Oh boy

The first & last time i was in a sprint store was when i was rocking the Samsung VGA 1000. I needed a new antenna installed. had to drop the phone off and wait 4 hours. Came back after all that time & my phone was wiped and the guy at the register installed the antenna right in front of me in 2 seconds. Now at least if you opt to wait the entire time in store you can possibly be entertained by a robot..