Clearwire Will Offer Two 3G/4G Phones This Year
While announcing its first-quarter results, WiMAX carrier Clearwire said that it plans to offer two dual-mode 3G/4G handsets by the end of this year. One of the new handsets will be made by Samsung, while the other will be made by HTC.
Clearwire didn't offer up a lot of details concerning the new phones, but it did say that the Samsung phone will run on Android and will be "optimized for heavy video and video communications use." Additionally, both phones will feature Wi-Fi.
It's possible that the upcoming 3G/4G handset from HTC is the EVO 4G which has already been announced by Sprint and targeted for a summer release. As you'll recall, the EVO 4G has been touted as the world's first Android-based 4G phone. It has a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 8 megapixel camera, HD video capture capabilities, HDMI output, and the HTC Sense user interface. The EVO 4G also has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and built-in mobile hotspot functionality that lets you share the 4G connectivity with up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Clear's network boasts average mobile download speeds of 3Mbps to 6Mbps with bursts exceeding 10Mbps. Currently, users can get 4G service through a variety of devices including a 4G desktop modem, a 4G USB modem, 3G/4G USB modem, and WiMAX-embedded laptops.
In addition to the announcement that Clearwire will add service for a number of cities this summer, the company also said the following markets should receive service by the end of 2010: New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
