The end of WiMAX, the first 4G technology in America launched by Sprint and Clearwire in 2008, looks to be two years away.

At the “Sprint Network Vision Strategy Update” in New York, Sprint executives announced the aggressive rollout of a 4G LTE network to the end of 2013, the fastest 4G standard available in the U.S. today offered by both AT&T and Verizon.

Sprint will “continue selling WiMAX devices throughout 2012,” said Steve Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale, leaving many to conclude that the WiMAX product roadmap would not go any further.

For an idea of how Sprint’s support for LTE will trump WiMAX, Sprint said that by the by end of 2012 it will cover 120 million people and 250 million by the end of 2013.

The announcement adds to a big week for Sprint. The company became the latest carrier to offer the iPhone, joining larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, when Apple unveiled its iPhone 4S on Tuesday. Elfman said he believes the network will be able to handle the increased traffic that comes with the iPhone.

Sprint plans to to launch 15 dual-mode 4G LTE/CDMA smartphone and tablets by mid 2012.

Most of us have heard different rumors and positive/negative descriptions of the Blackberry Playbook lately. Amongst these reports, RBC Capital Markets General Manager Mike Abramsky said that the first day of PlayBook sales were indeed successful. He mentioned the sales likely exceeded analysts’ expectations stating that RIM may have moved about 50,000 PlayBook tablets on launch day alone, including pre-order sales.

The analyst and his team did heavy research to come up with the estimated number of around 50,000 sold at launch day. Believe it or not, most of the stores called actually sold out of the Playbook and some are still unable to stock their shelves. Best buy alone holds stock at 180 additional locations in 10 major U.S. cities. They have the 16GB PlayBook listed as unavailable at 13% of stores, while the 32GB model is listed as unavailable at 87% of stores and the 64GB model is listed as unavailable at 91% of the locations viewed.

Abramsky also noted that the PlayBook may have outperformed first-day sales of Motorola’s XOOM and even Samsung’s popular Galaxy Tab. He also believes that RIM is on track to sell 500,000 PlayBook tablets in its first quarter of availability. Does this surprise you or is it what you expected? Let us know what you think.

Several users who purchased one have said great things about it. They love how different the UI is, how fast and smooth it runs as well as how easy it is to hold. Others, maybe those who haven’t even played with one, have negative things to say about it. Did you get one for yourself? We want to know your opinions. Leave your comments in the box below.

Source: BGR

Tired of your iPad yet? If so, the second one will be announced very soon so maybe you will see new features and updates. If you aren’t tired of yours that’s great, keep it. Apple is holding a special media event on March 2nd, 2011 in San Francisco, according to the Wall Street Journal.

We aren’t sure who will be the speaker of the show as we all know Steve Jobs is on medical leave. Maybe Tim Cook will be the speaker. We will know the day it happens. It doesn’t really matter who’s giving the speech though does it? As long as we get correct information I think things will be fine, don’t you?

So far, analysts expect the iPad 2 to be thinner than the first iPad and feature an improved display, as well as front-facing camera and Facetime video chat support. There is a rumor going around that it may be powered by one of Qualcomm’s multimode chips and will run on both GSM and CDMA-based networks around the world.

Are these features you’d like to see? What other things would you love to have in an iPad 2 that the current one doesn’t support? Leave your comments in the box below.

Source: BGR

A tipster at BGR just provided several documents that give additional details on the retailer’s new ‘Buy Back’ program. The new program is said to launch January 5th for smartphones, laptops, tablets and TVs; the service will be expanded to “other product categories” sometime during fiscal year 2012.

The “buy backs” availability will vary from that of computers, tablets and smartphones. TVs under 6 months old can be turned in for 50% of the original full-retail price; 6 to 12 months, 40%; 12 to 18 months, 30%; 18 to 24 months, 20%; and 10% during the third and fourth years of ownership.

So far, all “buy backs” will be issued in the form of Best Buy gift cards and the company is positioning the program to its sales staff as “protection against obsolescence.” What do you think about this? Is this new to you or have you always known Best Buy to do this sort of deal? Let us know what you think!

Source: BGR

There were high hopes for the HTC Merge to hit Verizon on November 18th, and those high hopes had quickly come and past. There has recently been sightings at Verizon stores with accessory inventory, giving new life to the anticipation for yet another world phone from Verizon using Android software. While all the accessories entering stores look to be complete, there is still no definitive sign on when the device will launch.

The HTC Merge is a mid-rage Android device, sporting Bing instead of Google Search (Identity crisis anybody?), an 800mhz processor, 3.8 inch, a full qwerty keyboard, 5 megapixel shooter, 4 gigs of internal memory, and running a healthy serving of Froyo with a some HTC Sense 1.6 sprinkles on top. The reason the Merge needs to hit the market, and soon, is because it’s been rumored to have LTE connectivity. With Verizon’s December LTE Launch, the Merge could be a hot seller up until the HTC Mecha comes into the playbook for Verizon. Either way, it looks like Verizon’s starting to rev up their engines for their 4G launch, and the Merge could help Verizon out in the upcoming Christmas season as an affordable 4G stocking stuffer.

We’ll let you know if we get any more news on this interesting slider and it’s impending release, so stay tuned.

Source:  PhoneDog.com

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