Sprint offers upgrades without handsets

Sprint Corp. customers no longer have to bring their handsets to a store to get software upgrades and fixes: The company says it can now do all that over the air.

The new capability, already deployed by carriers overseas, is expected to become increasingly common across the industry as handsets become more like computers, jammed with a wide array of multimedia programs that occasionally clash because they weren’t written by the same software developer.

The wireless upgrades, available only on newer handsets, would be similar to the updates that Microsoft Corp. periodically distributes over the Internet to fix or enhance its Windows operating system.

Overland Park-based Sprint, for example, said it recently encountered a glitch on some phones. The preview option for listening to ringtones didn’t work even though there was no problem assigning those tunes to play when certain people called.

With the new service, upgrades and fixes will be downloaded automatically to a cell phone. Users would be alerted by text message.

Workplace

Flexibility, benefits on workers’ wish lists

Nearly every organization strives for improved employee morale and loyalty.

Randstad North America, the Atlanta-based subsidiary of Dutch staffing company Randstad NV, compiled a list of employer resolutions to help achieve these goals. The tips were culled from a survey of 2,639 employees and managers.

• 401(k) contributions: When asked their preference, 64 percent said they would prefer to have their 401(k) accounts funded instead of big raises or bonuses when business was good.
• More flexibility: Forty-four percent of workers said they wanted to be allowed to work from home when they needed to do so, and 52 percent wanted a job that did not interfere with their family and personal lives.
• Beneficial benefits: Nearly three-fourths, 70 percent, said a decent insurance/health benefits package was the prime consideration when weighing whether to stay or quit.
• Please be honest: A huge majority, 86 percent, said they would prefer to work for a boss who focused on ethics over profitability.

Motley Fool

Name that company

Canada’s oldest corporation, I trace my roots back 335 years, to 1670 and the fur trade. In the 1800s, I converted my trading posts to retail sales shops. I also operated in real estate, selling homesteads to new settlers, and dabbled in shipping, oil and gas, too. My main outlets are Zellers, Home Outfitters, Deals

Outlet.ca and my flagship brand that carries part of my name (which also is a body of water). I satisfy more than two-thirds of the retail needs of Canadians. Headquartered in Toronto, I run more than 500 stores and employ nearly 70,000 people. Who am I?