Sprint to Offer First WiMax 4G Device by Summer 2010; Could it be the Supersonic?

Posted on Friday February, 19 2010 by rainfreak | 16 Comments

Together with their 4G partner Clearwire, Sprint has been hard at work since 2008 slowly rolling out the first 4G wireless network in the United States. But the question has always remained: what good is a 4G network if there are no 4G devices available to use with it? According to an article on Forbes, Sprint has now confirmed that their first WiMax 4G device will be available to consumers in the first half of 2010, and answering all of our questions. Well, almost all of them.

We still don't know yet what the device will be, but there is a lot of speculation that it will be the HTC Supersonic, a device that was first mentioned a few months ago. According to a few tipsters, the Supersonic will have a 4.3" display, an HD2 type (very thin) shell, a snapdragon processor and of course WiMax. The interesting twist for many is that the Supersonic is rumored, and shown in more than one leaked picture, to be running Android 2.1 with the usual HTC Sense overlay.

With Sprint still losing customers on an regular basis, their first WiMax device could not come at a better time. Their two year long investment into the future will clearly put them in front of Verizon and AT&T in the U.S. for 4G capabilities, and hopefully help their struggle against monthly churn. The good news for consumers is that once the first WiMax handest is released, there will certainly be more, not too far behind. Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, told Forbes that they are working with "several equipment manufacturers that will embed 4G capability into dozens of devices." Sprint and Clearwire are currently able to offer 4G services to 30 million people in 27 markets, but are planning a major push this year and anticipate bringing the total number to 120 million people, by adding Boston, New York, San francisco and Washington.

As an Android user I am definitely hoping that the device that Sprint is referring to this summer is the Supersonic, and I am exicted to see what other devices will follow. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: Engadget