[kbenson]

I can see free with contract (we have that already), but free without? Maybe they could do it if they focused on what I've wanted in a phone recently, a small phonebook and alarm capable device that tethers extremely well with good battery life, so I can just pair it with a small tablet when I want the extra smartphone features.

I don't imagine that costing too much, so it might fall within any acceptable loss they have built in to their products. Then again, it would have less capability to generate revenue for them, unless it changed data that passed through it (replacing adds, etc), which would be pretty horrendous.