While Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) continues losing hundreds of thousands of customers every quarter, it has actually raised the bar on offering cutting-edge smartphones at the same time. Smartphones, which are slowly but surely replacing the standard cellphone for the typical "always need to be connected" consumer, are helping wireless carriers drum up wireless data revenue to replace the lost voice revenue as customers talk less.

Founded in 1999, TeleNav was one of the first companies to deploy GPS navigation on a cell phone in North America. Now, the company has more than 11 million paying end users.

What's next? TeleNav has filed for an IPO.

The flagship of the company is the GPS Navigator, which is more than just a GPS device with cool features like real-time traffic alerts, weather content, route-planning and so on.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) reported strong Q3 results, declared a dividend, and offered guidance for Q4.
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) Q3 earnings slumped and revenue was hurt by currency translations.
• BP (NYSE: BP) shares leaped higher after it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
• Daimler AG (NYSE: DAI) reported that it returned to profitability in Q3 but warned of decreasing revenue.
• General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) Q3 earnings beat expectations and it lifted its earnings outlook.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) posted strong Q3 earnings and expects full-year earnings ahead of forecasts.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has been on a roll lately. The third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. has been releasing a whole crop of new cutting-edge phones, has improved its customer service and seems to be on the way to a recovery. Well, everything but that last part.

Sprint Nextel, yet again, lost hundreds of thousands of customers in its most recent quarter in spite or marked improvements throughout its business.

U.S. stock futures were mildly higher, indicating a positive open for this Thursday morning following the previous session's sell-off. However, all bets are off before the U.S. releases third quarter gross domestic product that would give a better picture of the state of the U.S. economy and growth. The GDP data will no doubt affect investors' mood once released at 8:30 a.m., or an hour before the opening bell.

[Update 9:00 a.m.: The economy grew at a 3.5% pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. Futures got a boost from the reading.]

Economists expect GDP to have grown at a 3.2% annualized rate in the third quarter, according to Briefing.com after shrinking at an 0.7% annualized rate in the second quarter. If true, it would mean the economy is back on its feet after being knocked over by the worst recession since the 1930s. But many attribute the growth to government support programs such as cash for clunkers and mortgage modification and wonder what the fate of the economy be once gone.

After more than a year of speculation, it seems that German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom will not buy U.S.-based wireless giant Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S). Deutsche Telekom CFO Timotheus Hoettges indicated that the American wireless competitive landscape had consolidated enough, and the control that the four largest wireless carries in the U.S. have wouldn't make a purchase wise.

Hoettges was quoted as saying, "There are four national players in the U.S. market for 300 million households, while in Europe, where we have 350 million households, there are 50 to 70 operators." It's pretty clear that he thinks the U.S. wireless market is controlled by an oligopoly of operators, which seem to move in tandem with each other in terms of price control and roll out of new technology. Do the "large four" -- Verizon (NYSE: VZ)Wireless, AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA -- move in lockstep with each other for the most part to not give any of the competition a large advantage?

Despite a cautious report from home builders and despite a low volume day, today marked a clear win for the S&P 5000 and for the DJIA. The S&P broke through 1,100 and the DJIA broke through 11,000. We also had two mergers this morning, and while small they are signs that companies are willing to merge once more.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 10,090.76 +94.85 (0.95%)
S&P 500 1,097.52 +9.84 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 2,175.83 +19.03 (0.88%)

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For the past few years, Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has tried to enter the markets of its affiliate, iPCS (NASDAQ: IPCS). The result has been extensive litigation.

Well, in such matters, money is often the solution. So this week, Sprint agreed to purchase iPCS for $831 million (which includes the assumption of $405 million in debt). As a result, the litigation has been suspended.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) will be purchasing the prepaid wireless carrier Virgin Mobile USA soon, and the last legal hurdle preventing the finalization of that acquisition seems to be history. Sprint Nextel will settle all the outstanding class-action lawsuits -- many of which see Virgin Mobile's $483 million price tag as undervaluing the company.

So, Sprint will become the leader of value wireless as a result sometime later this year. It already provides the most value-conscious contract wireless customers with values you won't find on any other carrier, like free and unlimited calling at any time to any wireless subscriber in the U.S. on certain plans. Combine that with its Boost Mobile prepaid brand and its $50 "all you can eat" plan, and Virgin Mobile's large customer base, and Sprint's resurgence under CEO Dan Hesse is being built on value more than anything.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says Research In Motion's troubles are an exception to the greatness of the mobile Internet theme.

No, this isn't meant to be a bullish article. I am just trying to put Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take) in perspective because I think that people will confuse the greatness of the mobile Internet theme with the hazards of investing in the BlackBerry maker.

First, you have to ask yourself, what really went wrong with RIMM? Was it demand? No, demand was strong. They actually guided to the upper end of units. The issue was average selling price because it has gotten more competitive out there.

Clearwire Corp.'s (NASDAQ: CLWR) may be able to relieve some pressure on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s (NYSE: S) national wireless network, according to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. Although Sprint's existing 3G network is touted to be one of the most reliable in the U.S., moving customers to a more efficient and faster 4G network -- like the ones Clearwire continues to launch -- de-stresses Sprint's existing network.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) sent a letter to its Everything Data customers recently informing them that they could now call any mobile phone number in the U.S. -- at any time -- for free.

Sprint's new Any Mobile, Anytime calling plan gives those customers with at least a $70/month bill this new capability.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was just rumored to be under the takeover auspices of European telecom giant Deutsche Telekom. DT has been rumored to be looking strongly at Sprint Nextel to bolster its T-Mobile USA brand in the U.S. But now, that deal appears unlikely according to Thomas Weisel analyst James Breen.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Hold from Sell as it believes the company's second half of 2009 is tracking better than expected due to retailer restocking. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $33 from $15 but thinks Garmin's long-term trends remain unfavorable.
• Goldman upgraded Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) to Buy from Neutral citing potential EPS improvement driven by the Home division. Fortune Brands price target to $49 from $45. Note that the firm downgraded General Mills to Neutral from Buy.
• Oppenheimer upgraded FPIC Insurance (NASDAQ: FPIC) to Outperform from Perform to reflect the company's acquisition of Advocate MD and management's commitment to share repurchases. The firm set a $49 price target on the stock.
• PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) and Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) were upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• Synovus (NYSE: SNV) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Today was another up day and you have to wonder if the woes of the world we all felt a few short months ago are just gone for good. Bernanke said the recession is effectively lower. The inventories are getting low enough that a manufacturing surge could come. And inflationary fears are not scaring traders. If this was a football game, it seems that the bulls keep scoring, and the bears just got a couple accidental safety scores.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,683.41 +56.61 (0.59%)
S&P 500 1,052.63 +3.29 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 2,102.64 +10.86 (0.52%)

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