Sprint officially crowned its first LTE smartphone on Tuesday, giving the distinction to the LG Viper 4G LTE. The Android 2.3 hardware will get pre-orders on April 12 at one of the lower prices for LTE, at $100 on a contract. Smartphone plans cost the same and, at a starting $80, is both one of the less expensive LTE offerings and the only one with with unlimited (if on-device) data.
Leaks have put Sprint's version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus coming within one week in mid-April. Electronista has heard from credible sources that the target date is April 15. While unconfirmed, it corroborates both different tips to S4GRU and fits in with Sprint's habit of launching phones on Sundays.
Sprint in the wake of its fall results expanded its LTE plans and also touted the iPhone as a better option for its network than Android. The carrier now planned to add its original WiMAX city, Baltimore, to the cities getting LTE-based 4G by mid-2012. Sprint's home area of Kansas City was also new and would see a total of six cities getting the new network.
Sprint on Monday ended some rumors and detailed its first three LTE devices. At the front is its own version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The Android 4.0 flagship will be identical to the Verizon model but will be the only version so far to be officially blessed with Google Wallet support, letting it use its NFC to pay at MasterCard's PayPass readers in the US.
