Sprint reportedly will launch a new smartphone that works with WiMAX, CDMA cellular and maybe Wi-Fi in early 2010
The
exact details are "still being finalized," said Scott Lane,
director of marketing and sales for Sprint's 4G unit, in an interview.
Lane referred to it as a "trimode handset," enabling it to function in three wireless modes. Including WiMax and
CDMA, the third mode will probably be Wi-Fi, although that part has
not been confirmed.
It could be first smartphone to work with the Clearwire WiMAX network. Sprint sold its WiMAX, Xohm to Clearwire, last year. Currently, Sprint employees on parts of the campus in Overland Park and customers
in Baltimore already have access dual-mode wireless network cards
that can access either Sprint's traditional high-speed network or WiMAX.
Cleawire delivers a "True Broadband" experience, mobile Internet
customers can expect to receive up to 4 Mbps download speeds.