T-Mobile Adds First HSPA+ Phone With G2
T-Mobile is adding the G2 phone to its lineup of Android smartphones. The new G2 is also the wireless carrier's first phone to take advantage of T-Mobile's HSPA+ network. The T-Mobile G1 was the world's first Android-powered phone. It launched nearly two years ago. Now, its successor, the T-Mobile G2 is here to continue the revolution.
What's interesting about the way T-Mobile is marketing the G2 is that the carrier says the phone will "break new ground as the first smartphone designed to run at 4G speeds on our new HSPA+ network." In other words, T-Mobile is touting its HSPA+ as a 4G network and attempting to compete with Sprint's 4G WiMAX network. In theory, HSPA+ supports peak download speeds of up to 21 mbps and peak upload speeds of up to 5.7 mbps. Of course, real-world experience will vary.
T-Mobile has promised to offer HSPA+ in over 100 metropolitan cities for up to 185 million people by the end of the year. Two other major U.S. carriers (AT&T and Verizon Wireless) are working on 4G networks which will use the LTE standard.
T-Mobile hasn't provided a lot of details about the G2 at this point, but has promised that it will share more details in the coming weeks. Current T-Mobile customers will get exclusive first access to the phone.
