Sprint and Clearwire began deploying their 4G network about a year ago. Since then, the two companies have added a number of additional markets but the only devices offered so far to take advantage of all that speed are modems, portable wireless router devices, some WiMAX-enabled laptops and the Samsung Mondi MID. This could change in 2010, according to PC World.
Sprint has indicated that it plans on offering a 4G smartphone in 2010. But it has not revealed who the maker would be and what OS it would use. According to the report, this device would contain both a 4G/WiMAX radio and a 3G radio so that it can fall back to 3G where 4G is unavailable. The article goes on to surmise that Google Android is the likeliest OS for this device for a couple of reasons. Not only is it open source, but it also lends itself to easily building new applications that could use 4G’s speeds (like high-def video).
PC World also suggests that Samsung could be the manufacturer behind this 4G smartphone. With the WiMAX-enabled Mondi MID under its belt, it already has some expertise in this area and rumours suggest that its 4G smartphone is already being tested by Sprint.
Sprint is likely to wait until the Clearwire subscriber base reaches the 100 million mark. Sprint expects that this will happen in late 2010, suggesting a holiday release for this handset.