Last May Wal-Mart launched “Common Cents Mobile,” one of many rebranded Sprint prepaid wireless services. Wal-mart also sells Straight Talk service, which runs on the Verizon and AT&T networks. Apparently to ensure T-Mobile doesn’t feel left out, Wal-mart’s now teaming with T-Mobile to launch a Wal-mart branded postpaid wireless phone service subbed “Wal-Mart Family Mobile.”

According to a merchandising VP at Wal-Mart, they’re launching a postpaid service, in part because there’s “a perception among customers that prepaid service doesn’t offer access to the best phones or the best network quality.”

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Sprint was the first wireless carrier to embrace femtocell technology, their Airave service debuting back in 2007 and allowing unlimited mobile calls over a user’s home broadband connection for an added fee. While the old version didn’t support EVDO wireless broadband, they’ve started shipping a new unit that does.

The new unit can run up to six simultaneous calls (up from three with the last unit), and Sprint is giving the device away free to customers who call in and complain about indoor coverage. In fact, we know someone who was given two Airaves for free; one for his home and one for his small business down the road.

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Nearly every major global telco plans to embrace LTE, a number of high profile major global WiMax supporters have either shifted from WiMax to LTE or shut down and WiMax’s poster children here in the States, Sprint and Clearwire, have both clearly stated they’ll jump to LTE if the wind blows that way (and it is).

That’s of course not stopping the WiMax 2 (802.16m) standard from being finalized by the IEEE this November, with initial deployments potentially in 2012. Earlier this year Clearwire stated they were in no rush to test the new standard. WiMax 2 can deliver 120 Mbps downstream and 60 Mbps upstream by using a 4X2 MIMO antenna configuration with a single 20 MHz TDD channel.

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After launching the HTC EVO to largely positive reviews back in June, Sprint is now gearing up to launch their second Mobile WiMax smartphone. The Samsung Epic 4G will be available starting August 31 for $250 after a $100 rebate and only if you sign a two-year contract with Sprint. The device mirrors the Samsung Galaxy S family of devices, but is the only one to support Mobile WiMax and have a slide-out keyboard.

The Epic comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1GHz Samsung Cortex A8 processor, Android 2.1 (no Froyo, yet), free 3G/4G hotspot functionality, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash capable of 720p video.

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Both Clearwire and Sprint this morning launched press releases stating they’ve expanded their joint Mobile WiMax into Modesto and Stockton, California, Jacksonville, Florida, Wilmington, Delaware, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

According to Sprint, these launches bring their total number of 4G-served markets to 48. Both companies say they’re still on track to deploy the Mobile WiMax service to the New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Boston later this year. You can find a state-by-state market coverage breakdown for Sprint here and for Clearwire here.

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Named after the Nike co-founder and track and field coach, Bill Bowerman, these Nike Mayfly’s aren’t your typical run of the mill sneakers. Built primarily for short bursts of speed (sprinting) providing optimum performance, the Nike Mayfly lives up to the insect of the same name with a short lifespan by only lasting only about 100km.

Innovation at its peak, the Nike Mayfly Men’s Running Shoe is an ultra-lightweight racing design. Created with a lifespan as short as its namesake, the Mayfly is designed to go 100km. Durable, breathable ripstop fabric makes up the upper, while a Phylite foam fuses the midsole and outsole together for the lightweight, minimal cushioning you need to swiftly go the distance.

Cushion, reinforcement but not build quality is sacrificed to provide athletes the absolute most lightweight and responsive shoe for the buck. Available at Nike.com for $45.00. I personally like the colors the best Go CU Buffs!… might get a pair just to kick around in.

[ Links: Nike, Nike Mayfly ]

Sprint alerted Forbes that the carrier’s first Mobile WiMax handset will launch in the first half of this year. Given the fact that the Sprint/Clearwire Mobile WiMax network has a limited reach of 27 U.S. markets, most of them little, the device will of course be dual mode – switching to Sprint’s EVDO network when Mobile WiMax isn’t available. It’s also rumored to be the HTC Supersonic, an Android-based phone that’s been gossiped about by gadget nerds since January.

Clearwire is going to need to quadruple their footprint in 2010 in order to meet their goal of serving 120 million customers by the end of the year, including the mega markets of New York and San Francisco. Later this year the 4G race begins to get more interesting, as Verizon begins launching LTE service in between twenty five and thirty markets.

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Novatel’s MiFi portable 3G to Wi-Fi router has become very popular among carriers, many of which are now selling rebranded version of the devices to their 3G customers (both Sprint and Verizon sell the unit as the MiFi 2200).

According to Security researcher Adam Baldwin however, the device’s security leaves a little something to be desired. A number of attacks can provide an attacker not only with control of the unit, but access to the GPS location of the MiFi device without the user becoming immediately aware. The attack can be executed without authentication and even if the GPS has been disabled by the administrator.

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Wireless carriers did a great job last week fund raising for Haiti relief, drumming up millions of dollars in user donations in very short order via SMS. Normally, there’s a ninety day window in between the user donation and the relief getting delivered, as user billing cycles must complete, payment must be verified, and then handled by an intermediary. Stepping up to the plate, Verizon Wireless has issued a statement saying they’ve immediately transferred $2,987,560 to the American Red Cross to expedite the aid process. Sprint meanwhile tells the New York Times they’re immediately forwarding 80% of their received donations, while AT&T is examining the possibility. Meanwhile, Comcast says they’re pledging one million dollars in support to the Red Cross and to the American Red Cross and to Télécoms Sans Frontières (Telecom without Borders), a nonprofit agency that brings telecom services to crisis areas.

This seems to go against the Neowin report where Cell Phone Companies are Withholding Support, but any support is better than none.

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The company says that Clearwire, Sprint and Comcast will all launch their wireless broadband service in Chicago at the same time. Up to this point, despite running all on the same network, the services have seen belated follow up launches after Clearwire first launches a new network. Clearwire also announced a slew of additional launches that are going to go live in November and December.

Charlotte, Dallas, San Antonio, Greensboro, Raleigh, Chicago and Philly will go live in November. Seattle, Honolulu and Maui will be going live in December. Clearwire is hoping to have 25 new markets launched in 2009.

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With almost two weeks under its belt and one WebOS update, the new kid on the block Palm Pre has established itself as a competent smartphone with its closest competitor updated from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS. But is the Palm Pre really worth the switch from your current phone? Is it really cost effective to switch?

Gadget lust aside, let’s let the people at Billshrink.com help make that decision:

At a glance, it looks like a Pre offers better overall savings on their wireless plans! For a closer look based on individual needs and for a detailed analysis of the feature, check out Billshrink.com.

Pricing Comparison

Palm Pre (Sprint)

• $199: cost of phone with $100 rebate
• $100/month: Sprint Unlimited data + voice
• $69.99/month: 450 voice minutes and unlimited data
• $89.99/month: 900 voice minutes
• $129.99/month: Family plan for 2 Pre phones ($19.99 for additional lines to family plan)
• $169.99: 3000 minutes shared plan
• $189.99: Unlimited family plan ($89.99 for additional lines to unlimited everything family plan)

iPhone (AT&T)

• $199+: cost of phone
• $150/month: AT&T unlimited data + voice
• $112.49/month: 450 voice minutes and unlimited data
• $109.99/month: 900 voice minutes
• $129.99 (for 700min and unlimited everything else) Family plan for 2 iPhones ($39.99 for additional lines to family plan)
• $209.99 3000 minutes shared plan
• $259.99 Unlimited Family plan ($129.99 for additional lines to unlimited everything family plan)

For a deeper level of analysis, people can even upload their current cell phone bills onto the site and BillShrink will analyze and recommend a more cost-effective plan based on their usage (texting, data and multimedia), who you call the most (in/out of network) and will even factor in location to recommend plans with the strongest signals in the area. Read more [ here ]