Sprint said to be cooking up a tri-mode cocktail; WiMAX, WiFi, CDMA handset
Many people have wondered aloud what Sprint’s next big move might be after the Pre jumps off this weekend. The Palm Eos? Perhaps, but it looks like the struggling carrier might have something even more exciting in its bag within the next year or so. Market analysis firm SmarTrend is reporting that an unnamed Sprint spokesperson revealed a tri-mode handset coming down the pipeline sometime in 2009/2010. Said phone will be sporting CDMA, WiFi and WiMAX compatibility, which would provide a healthy mix of CDMA coverage and beastly data speeds where WiMAX is available. Analysts guess believe this upcoming tri-mode beast may be Android-powered, though we have yet to see anything substantiate that claim. As Sprint continues to expand WiMAX coverage and tout “the first wireless 4G network” in commercials, it would indeed be nice to see a handset emerge with WiMAX compatibility before the year is out. We shall see.
Thanks, fresh!
I hope they get off that bogus bias thing against Zach now. What would be cool is if when the other carriers get the Pre, Palm jumps down with a WiMax version
me gusto eso del, yo quiero 4g.. lol i want that phone now… Atlanta has 4g xD
A Sprint employee that specializes ONLY in 4G has actually told me that they were introducing CDMA/WiMAX phones soon. Mentioned nothing of WiFi though. I asked if it was the HTC MAX 4G and she stated that while that IS the first 4G phone, it is unlikely Sprint will carry THAT phone, but will carry phones like we have never seen.
She told me this back in March
I hate to say it but a lot of them like to blow smoke up your but
WiMAX is a joke, as is Sprint.
LTE yEa!!!
yeah precisely. what a joke.we all know that sprint dosent have the resources to operate as an independent network, (relying on uncle red) let alone building a new one. so while everybody goes LTE 4G sprint is going where?
wimax isnt going anywhere.
@don louie
yeah, im sure. when everyone is going to be on LTE 4G, Palm will introduce Wimax, which -let me guess- will be availeble in like 7 markets. who will give a flying danm about wimax in 2013???? (wimax wouldnt be fully ready till then, judging by the current pace of building new networks.)
palm will do the same thing apple did and drop a 4g pre next year round this time-the commercails are misleading it kinda looks like the pre is 4g now
I hope Tmo gets the Pre.
WiMax is a joke! It still won’t be able to keep up with AT&T’s network speed! Wishfull thinking Sprint, ha!!
It’s like little monkeys write BGR articles. That or it’s all child laborers from China. Spelling and grammar errors everywhere.
…and that whole strikeout thing…it used to be funny when engadget would do it. But they over-did it and now it’s just part for the course…you expect a few in each engadget post. But it’s never been funny when BGR did it.
Analysts guess, nah, believe. Really? Do you know an analyst who was at first guessing this and now has upgraded his guess to a belief? What is the strikeout trying to convey? It makes no sense there.
@ K
“and now has upgraded his guess to a belief?”
Lol @ that line!
Stop bashing this great blog. Every bit of info counts! You know how rumors “gets upgraded”(-your words) to reality. So a good ninja picks up every thing dosent lose anything. That’s this nature of business.
FYI Currently using WIMAX in ATL on a trial period. So far the coverage is awesome and reliably hitting 8-14mb down. $40 a month no contract and never look for a hotspot. Happy so far. Purchased through Clear, I wouldn’t give Sprint a dime of my money. But hey, love it so far…
It’s funny how the sheep are saying Wimax is joke, not only is Wimax live, it is tested and proven. LTE has yet to experience real world testing. For someone to say Wimax is still slower than ATT, shows how much of a moron that person is.
@ilikephonesthatwork
FYI, Sprint owns 51% of Clearwire!
Its funny, people who dont have Sprint Bash Sprint and say WiMax is a joke. Yet, Sprint Users are Enjoying 4G in some markets now.
Meanwhile those same Bashers are waiting for LTE….
The next big hit mtv show ” Sprint: Rise and Demise”
1. Sprint EVDO is 2-3x faster then AT&T HSPA in California. AT&T Im sure is faster in many areas, but all the places Ive been, Id never rely on any carrier more then Sprint.
2. Sprint does NOT rely on Uncle RED (Verizon) only for roaming in some areas…T-Mobile is the same way with AT&T. Why pay more when I can still get my free roaming on a carrier that costs less, and hasnt locked out my roaming?
3. WiMAX is VERY much alive. Majority of countries that are in WiMAX trials are doing it in the SAME spectrum frequencies as the others. LTE however, almost every country wants to use a different frequency. I thought LTE was about ubiquity? Guess Im mistaken.
4. CLEAR is SPRINT! Clearwire who markets CLEAR is owned by Sprint to the key of 51%. So, saying you wont give money to Sprint, but giving to Clear is giving 51% of your money to Sprint anyway.
It should have been wimax,iden and cdma…
LTE != LTE. It will not be some universal standard that will allow everyones 4G networks and equipment to play nice with each other. You will have the same problems as HSPA with different frequencies depending on carrier. Some parts of Europe aren’t even sure where they will put LTE in the frequency spectrum yet. So Sprint might as well choose WiMax if they believe it is technically superior and it is already tested. LTE is probably going to be a mess for a long time.
as a sprint cutomer, i don’t mind roaming on verizon’s network, but i can see why that would get verizon customers upset. all i can say is don’t be mad becase i’m using the same network as you and paying about $20 less each month.
just switch to sprint, that way in addition to using verizon’s network you’ll be able to save some money, it’s a no-brainer.
completely agree…
but LTE wins…. Sprint is alienating themselves by going to WiMax = very few phones AND customers won’t be able to roam on other carriers networks which means they will have to rely on only Sprint for coverage
@Observer
When Sprint decided to go CDMA, Verizon all of a sudden said, “me too.” Trust me, there will be other US carriers on board with Wimax. Not to mention the many companies already on board. With Wimax Sprint will not need any roaming agreements, a single Wimax tower has a 30 mile range. The Wimax signal is so strong, ATT will be using Wimax for it’s rural customers in areas where there aren’t any land-lines.