PowerSource, or "hybrid" phones, are specialized cellular devices used by customers of the American telecommunications company Sprint Nextel.
Unlike some other mergers in the wireless arena, Sprint PCS and Nextel employed different air-interface technologies for their networks, making them incompatible.
There was an additional problem facing the newly combined company: prior to the merger, Nextel Communications had been issued a government mandate to reduce interference caused by its cellular network with public safety radio systems.
Simultaneously, Boost Mobile, a prepaid MVNO that operated on Nextel's network, was beginning to skyrocket in popularity, placing an even greater burden on the iDEN system.
Maintaining two active radios in a single handset is a power-intensive task, and some users have complained about lack of battery endurance in the ic402/ic502 models.
Phone selection was once a stumbling point, with the ic402 and ic502 (marketed as the Blend and Buzz) being the only two models available at launch;[1] both were basic units that lacked cameras or high-speed data and had low-resolution displays.