If you’re just settling into the idea of 3G speeds on your mobile device, don’t get too comfy. Sprint Nextel hopes to bolster its market position with the release this summer of “the world’s first 3G/4G” handset, the HTC EVO 4G.
The carrier is emphasizing the value of 4G speed, 10 times that of 3G. It said the EVO, using Google’s open-source Android platform, will “download music, pictures, files or videos in seconds — not minutes.”
Sharing 4G
Although other carriers are gearing up for the next generation of wireless speeds, Sprint said it is “the only national carrier offering wireless 4G service today in 27 markets.” The 4G connection can also be shared through the EVO, which has mobile hot-spot functionality. Up to eight Wi-Fi devices, such as a laptop or music player, can use the connection.
The HTC EVO is built around the Qualcomm one-gigahertz Snapdragon processor and has two cameras — an eight-megapixel one on the back with a HD-capable video camcorder, and a 1.3-megapixel on the front. There is also HDMI-out for displaying HD video.
Using the new HTC Sense user interface, the EVO adds a few new angles. There’s Friend Stream, which combines multiple social communication threads into one update flow, a thumbnail view to switch between home-screen panels, and a “polite” ringer, which stops ringing once the phone is picked up.
Sprint also announced Tuesday its updated plans for providing 4G coverage. The company said it is “on a path” to cover 120 million Americans by year’s end, and it is adding Los Angeles and Miami to the 27 markets equipped with 4G.
‘App Store Trumps Speed’
Ken Dulaney, vice president for mobile computing at Gartner, described the EVO as a “great phone” and said he likes Android “a lot.” But, he added, a key question is whether…