WiMax: SPRINT WIMAX PHONE

Sprint’s EVO 4G from HTC is the No. 3 U.S. operator’s first WiMAX cellphone. It has two cameras, an 8 megapixel camera for taking photos and video and a second 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for applications like video chat.

Built-in mobile hotspot functionality allows up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 4G connectivity. Specs include a microSD card, optional HDMI output, WiFi and 3G/4G. It will work on Sprint’s 3G and WiMAX network.

Previously called the HTC Supersonic, it will use Android 2.1 with HTC’s Sense UI, a 1ghz Snapdragon processor, 512mb ROM, 4.3″ AMOLED screen, built-in FM Radio and Flash.

A Sprint 4G developer guide explains how developers can take advantage of its unique hardware/software capabilities, including the forward-facing camera, HDMI output; and network detection (3G, 4G or Wi-Fi) to optimize quality of data in an app.

You can post 720p video to YouTube or broadcast live via Qik. It also works with Android applications like Google Goggles, Google Earth and the all-new Gesture Search. The HTC EVO 4G will be available through all Sprint channels and through national retail partners, including RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart, this summer. Pricing will be announced at a later date.

Sprint has WiMAX in 27 markets and expects to quadruple its footprint this year with Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, New York City, Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis and the San Francisco Bay Area expected to come online this year. Clearwire currently covers 34 million people and plans to cover 120 million by the end of the year.

In other news Samsung introduced the Galaxy S (Model: GT-I9000), an Android-powered smartphone that incorporates a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and a 1 GHz application processor and advanced LBS (Location Based Services).

The ‘Social Hub’ provides always-on social networks connectivity. Other Key Features include a Daily Briefing (weather, news, stocks, and the scheduler), All Share (inter-device connectivity), Home Cradle (digital photo frame, table clock, calendar, and music station), Swype (easy way to input text on screen), and ThinkFree (view and edit Microsoft Office 2007 documents).

Samsung also announced the first mobile phone to be DivX Certified for HD video playback at 720p resolution. The Samsung Wave will demonstrate DivX HD playback as well as the new Galaxy S phone.

T-Mobile has announced that they’re making good progress on their super speedy HSPA+ network. By the end of 2010, T-Mobile expects to have HSPA+ deployed across the breadth of its 3G footprint, covering more than 100 metropolitan areas and 185 million people. More than half of that will be complete by the middle of the year.

HSPA+ service is currently available in Philadelphia and has now expanded into parts of New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, the Las Vegas Convention Center and Strip areas, and west suburban Washington DC, with Los Angeles coming soon. T-Mobile’s webConnect Rocket USB Stick, available next week, is the first HSPA+ stick available from a major carrier.

Customers can choose T-Mobile’s Even More webConnect data plan, which requires a two-year contract, and get 5GB for $60 per month or 200MB for $30 per month. Those wishing to avoid contracts can select the Even More Plus webConnect data plan, which costs $50 per month for 5GB or $20 per month for 200MB (but they have to pay for the modem). All plans have overage charges costing $0.20 per megabyte.

Qualcomm’s new Gobi modem technology is significant because it supports more than one type of 3G service. In effect, Gobi allows switching to a different 3G provider in software. Now it supports LTE, too.

Verizon Wireless and Skype today announced that Skype mobile will be available this Thursday, March 25, starting with nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones. Skype mobile uses the Verizon Wireless voice network for the wireless connection of the Skype-to-Skype calls.

AT&T says Verizon’s first LTE phone is ‘going to be a fat brick’. AT&T’s CTO John Donovan, at CTIA, claimed that Verizon was jumping the gun with its LTE rollout, suggesting initial devices are “going to drain the battery like crazy,” noting that “2012 will be the time when you’ll have decent handsets.”