Sprint May Be Prepping an Android Phone with WiMAX

Sprint will release a smartphone that supports its 4G network next year, and this device might run Google's Android operating system.

This carrier has said officially that it plans to launch its first phone with WiMAX in 2010, but has kept quiet on other details. This will be a tri-mode device -- a device with CDMA, EV-DO, and WiMAX.

Support for this 4G cellular-wireless networking standard will give it peak downlink speeds of up to 12 Mbps, and average downlink speeds of 2-4 Mbps.

Android a Strong Possibility
The operating system for this upcoming model has not been revealed, but there are strong indications that it will be Android.

Sprint will soon launch its first Android-based phone, and Mathew Oommen, Sprint's VP of device and technology development, believes that Google's operating system is the best option available for creating streaming multimedia applications that can take full advantage of WiMAX's high data transfer speeds.

This device could be produced by Samsung, a company that is already working on Android-based smartphones, and has released the WiMAX-enabled Mondi, a Windows Mobile-based mobile Internet device (MID).

Source: PC World