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Sprint to launch WiMAX smartphone on 4 June

Friday, May 14, 2010

US operator Sprint Nextel has unveiled pricing and availability details for the HTC EVO, the industry’s first major WiMAX smartphone. The high-profile device will be available from June 4 for US$199.99 with a two-year contract. The device features Android’s 2.1 operating system, dual cameras (an 8 MP camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3 MP camera), HDMI output, WiFi capability and runs Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor and HTC’s Sense user interface. Sprint also claims the device’s touchscreen display – at 4.3 inches – is one of the market’s largest, and boasts a new video chat service from Qik. The device is available for pre-order now and will be sold through all Sprint retail channels as well as via national retail partners RadioShack, BestBuy and Wal-Mart.

In an interview with Reuters, Matt Carter, the head of Sprint’s 4G business, said the operator has a long waiting list of customers for the device. Analysts, however, have warned that the launch next month could be overshadowed by the unveiling of a new iPhone, also expected in June. Certainly, the device is key to Sprint’s ambitions to make WiMAX a mass market, nationwide success and a true rival to forthcoming LTE networks from AT&T and Verizon. In a statement, Sprint talked up the performance of its WiMAX network – which it claims is up to ten times faster than 3G technologies and gives average download rates of 3-6Mb/s – and said this gives EVO “the fastest data speeds of any US wireless device available today.” Sprint has launched WiMAX in 32 US markets so far and expects to extend this in 2010. When the device is out of reach of WiMAX networks, it will fall back onto Sprint’s EV-DO 3G networks. Sprint’s Carter also told Reuters he sees the device as only a part of Sprint's plan for regaining ground lost to Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which have both won customers at Sprint's expense for years. "They've been eating off what they perceived as a dead corpse but we're back," Carter said. The executive told Reuters that Sprint also was in talks with electronics companies including General Electric and Samsung Electronics about embedding WiMAX connections into consumer devices. Carter declined comment on timing for any products but said that devices being discussed included everything from e-readers to cameras and washing machines to medical equipment.



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