Back in 2008, Sprint Nextel announced their development of the high speed 4G network. Since then, the company has released a variety of gadgets such mobile hotspots, USB modems and PC cards that allow devices to interface with the Sprint 4G network, but to date, there have been no 4G smartphones that could take advantage of the high bandwidth network. That is until now.

Sprint has confirmed that mobile phones that are capable of running on the 4G WiMax network are on their way and should be here before this summer. Currently, some 30 million consumers located in 27 US markets are covered by the 4G network and by the end of the year, the number of consumers within range of Sprint’s 4G network will grow four times to 120 million.

Not many details are currently known about the Sprint 4G phone other then it will run on the Google Android operating system and will include a touchscreen display. It will also include dual mode support so that the Sprint phone can automatically toggle between the 3G and 4G networks depending upon which coverage area the phone resides within.

It’s believed that both consumers and well as business clients will benefit from the higher speeds offered by the 4G network which by some accounts is ten times faster then 3G. This high speed network will especially appeal to those that regularly stream videos, upload/download digital images or transfer large data files.

It seems the summer always goes by fast, but this summer will be faster then usual with the new Sprint 4G phones and Shaw Communications announcing that they will be testing 1Gbps fiber service in Canada over the coming months.

Via: Engadget