Sprint drops WiMAX phones for LTE, 'all' to get NFC
updated 07:55 pm EST, Sat January 14, 2012
Sprint to move phones wholesale to 4G and NFC
Sprint in commentary during CES confrimed that it was dropping WiMAX on smartphones. The initial LTE smartphones were ultimately representing a full-scale switch to the technology for 4G phones, PCMag was told. The carrier was being more aggressive than it had suggested before and, when promising LTE in mid-year, had meant between January and June, Owens explained.
Simultaneously, consumer product marketing VP Trevor Van Norman mentioned to Light Reading that the company planned for NFC (near-field communication) to be a standard feature in every smartphone. While there would be some edge case free or low-end phones tat wouldn't have it, every other smartphone would get it from now onwards.
The planned switch may have given clues as to future iPhone releases. Sprint has committed to a multi-year deal with Apple to carry the iPhone and would have to either make a special exception for a 3G phone or else knows to expect LTE, NFC, or both. Both technologies have usually been left to Android, where Google takes a piece of Google Offers discounts.
Sprint regularly adopts basic technology first. It picked 4G well before other carriers were ready to deploy. Google helped it become the first to ship with a full NFC payment system in place through Google Wallet on the Nexus S 4G and now the Galaxy Nexus.
On Windows Phone, Owens said the HTC Arrive had sold poorly enough to reduce reasons to "jump back into the fire." A return might come in August or September, although with who wasnt mentioned.
Grizzled Veteran
Joined: Jul 2004
Finally, Wimax on phones is dead
It never should have been on phones as a pretender to the 3G data throne in the first place. It was meant for wireless ISP access for home computers and laptops for access on the road or in homes where wired internet was hard or impossible to get.