Sprint is about to do you a favor, by selling you insurance on your phone. Both of Sprint’s no-contract carriers, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, are offering customers on the Monthly Unlimited plan a “unique opportunity” to insure their phones for $5 a month, even though the phone insurance window typically closes after the first …

Starting May 1, Verizon is offering a new prepaid cell phone plan…starting with a single phone. The Android -based Samsung Illusion will be the first (and right now, only) phone eligible for Big Red’s $80 prepaid plan, a monthly bundle that includes unlimited talk and text, and 1GB of mobile data. You can pick up the Samsung Illusion online or …

The Verizon and Comcast cross-selling romance deepens today as each offers each others’ network and entertainment services in six new markets around the U.S. Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and Salt Lake City are four new cities to access the duo’s deals, in addition to the state of Colorado. The expansion follows an earlier West Coast launch …

U.S.Cellular and Alltel Wireless have joined up with Wal-Mart to take on the cell phone frontier of big-box retail distribution. U.S. Cellular, a regional carrier out of Chicago, and Alltel, based in Little Rock, Ark., will begin selling select phones under the U Prepaid brand in 18 states some time in May. U Prepaid, a pre-existing Alltel brand, will kick …

There are several places where protective bumpers always belong: cars, children’s bowling parties, and electronics cases. Rubbery corners are a trademark feature in Ballistic’s cases for a variety of smartphone makes and models. In its most recent line for the iPhone 4 and 4S, the Ballistic LifeStyle Smooth series, the case-maker brings the silicone inserts to a fairly fitted design …

How do you get your ultrarugged phone some buzz? If you’re Sonim and the phone in question is the Sonim XP5520 Bolt for Bell, the answer is as easy as hiring Muay Thai mixed martial arts champion (and fellow Canadian) Simon Marcus to throw some punches and kicks on video (below). In it, Marcus and pals tape the heavy-duty Bolt …

I know what you’re thinking: how hard is it to mess up a simple flip phone? Stop your smirking! It’s easier than you think! Just look to the original Gusto with its cheap body and bad call quality. With the Samsung Gusto 2 for Verizon, Samsung has turned around most of the original’s wrongs. This update feels sturdy and strong, …

Here in the U.S., the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows phone has sold better than Nokia expected, but significant profit loss elsewhere has led to some vocal — and colorful — opinions from a former Nokia executive. Speaking exclusively to CNET UK, Lee Williams, who served as Nokia’s senior vice president of Symbian Series 60 OS from 2006 to 2009, paints …

A software glitch and stock shortage amount to a rockier start than Nokia could have wanted for its flagship Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone. Today the company issued a press release via e-mail answering common inquiries about the device. One of the most pressing questions is when the glossy white version will be available. The good news is: starting yesterday. …

The Samsung Nexus S 4G isn’t the only Sprint phone to tuck into an Ice Cream Sandwich update. Today, Sprint announced on its Web site that it’s readying over-the-air ICS updates for Android smartphones that include the Samsung Epic 4G Touch, among others. Sprint has promised to “begin to roll out Google’s latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, to …